Get Cash Keep Control BLOG

By Stefania Aulicino

All businesses have a growth strategy, but too many pursue bad growth. Growth without profit is bad growth.

Profitable growth requires a sustainable business model. For entrepreneurial business builders, that’s doing what you love for people who benefit most from what you do best. When you pursue your passion, a sale is not the end; it’s the beginning of a cash annuity.

What is your customer annuity?What is the life-time value of your customer? You are not alone if you are saying “I never thought about my customers as an annuity.”

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By Stefania Aulicino

If you go to the airport but are not clear on where you want to go, any airplane will get you there. If you grow your company but are not clear on where you want to end up, any client prospect will take you there.

2009 was a wakeup call. A very challenging economy made it painfully clear that all growth is not the same.

Mic saw the revenue of his custom machinery company drop from $10million to $5million in 1 year in 2009 because he took the lazy path and accepted growth that came to him: I call that Reactive growth.

In contrast, Tina saw the revenue of her water management company increase from $9million to $10.5million with escalating profits to 10% because her passion guided her decisions. I call this Proactive growth.

What is the difference?
Proactive growth is passion-driven, translated into a set of financials out in the future.
Reactive growth is opportunistic.

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By Stefania Aulicino

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By Stefania Aulicino

When you need cash to grow, consider accepting my challenge: take equity off the table. Stretch yourself!

Equity is the lazy way to get cash. All you have to do is give up some of your ownership. Anyone can do that. Equity is overused and way too expensive for most of your growth needs.

Alternatively, if you are willing to apply some creativity, here are 2 of the cheapest ways to get cash to grow:

• Negotiate expenses
• Alter time

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By Stefania Aulicino

If you ask for cash the old way, you know what you will get… or more precisely, what you will give up!
Here is a new way to ask for cash to grow. It takes 3 special SKILLS:

1.      Declare your one-of-a- kind future

2.      Profit from your one-of-a-kind relationships

3.      Earn one of kind a pricing

Let’s look at those 3 skills.

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By Stefania Aulicino

Ask people who know and respect you, personally or by reputation.
More people are looking to put cash to work outside of the normal channels. They don’t want to put money in the stock market. With fewer traditional choices, many are open to put cash to work with people they know and trust.

The economy is NOT the issue.
It’s cheap to buy market share. Money goes a lot farther in a recession: top notch talent is available; real estate and resources are cheap. You can actually get more attention from decision-making executives with less competitive noise! You can get public notice for your actions with PR value. Besides, it’s easier to grow than to slow down growth. There are still buyers in this economy. The down turn will not last, and you will be ahead of the game when the economy improves. Do you really have a choice, anyway?

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By Stefania Aulicino

How many people do you know who spend their own money and know you- personally or professionally?

Yeah! A lot!! The biggest mistake Business Builders make is not inviting people whom they know to share their passion.

Do you harbor secret fears that prevent you from sharing your passion with people you know?
Fear you will not achieve your future?
Fear to admit your company needs cash?

Let’s look at those two fears.
1^st– Do you fear you will not achieve the future? Guess what- that is not a surprise!

Know any friends who have a career goal? They may or may not achieve it.

Know any colleagues who have 12 month sales goals. They may or may not achieve them

No one expects you to be different. The future by definition is an unpredictable.
The difference is your future is BIG, EXCITING and CONTAGIOUS so others want  to participate in your PASSION.

2^nd Are you embarrassed to admit your company needs cash? People know the difference between growth and survival; between investment and expense.

If you pay for your child’s education, you are investing in your child’s future success. If you pay for a cruise, you are spending money. Both use cash; one is an investment that has a future return. The other is an expense which does not.

As Business Builders we quickly learn growth consumes cash. The reason you need cash is to make the future you can “see” real. That’s different from needing cash to address yesterday’s excesses or to merely survive.

Cash in the hands of a Business Builder yields its own repayment. Growth funding delivers a product or service which earns a future profit.

If you just wanted to generate cash, all you need to do is stop investing for the future. Just staff for yesterday’s revenue levels. But that’s not you.

You’re a Business Builder so extinguish those secret fears. You’ll find the fastest way to get the right cash is to reach out to those who know YOU, personally or by reputation. People who know you AND spend their own money. People who are principals, not agents who invest the funds of others. Agents such as the bank or venture capitalists or Angel investment clubs. That is the difference between “creating” vs “finding” funding sources.

Principals offer you the biggest return on your passion because they are people who have a basis to believe in you. Principals are Fast, Cheap, Want you in control.

• FAST because they don’t have to analyze. Principals are building on long term relationship with YOU, or your reputation.
• CHEAP because principals catch your passion and assign a lower risk premium to your future.
• Want YOU in control so you can get cash on your terms. Take equity off the table; giving up ownership to get cash is the lazy way to do it. Instead, be simple- like an IOU that you repay as cash flow allows at your discretion, based on trust. Or be creative. Remember, any reduction in an expense is the same thing as cash to pay expenses- such as delayed terms or price discounts as a long-term partner relationship.

Plus, you know them all. It’s just a question of prioritizing and applying your new skill of inviting people you know. Don’t expect to get all the funds you need from a single source – use the Mosaic Approach.

Best of all, you don’t have to pay any commissions or fees for principal funding sources.

As you can see, there is no reason to be afraid of asking your friends to fund your company’s growth. Don’t let unfounded secret fears prevent you from sharing your passion with people you know. Don’t worry about who has discretionary funds; you can’t know that. Ask everyone. “No” is always an acceptable answer but you will never get a “yes” unless you ask.

When you reach out to people you know for cash there is a snowball effect. Once the first one buys your passion, the next one is easier. Perhaps it’s the mounting credibility of the number of people who believe in you. Or perhaps you’re getting more comfortable making your future tangible enough for others to buy it. Either way, sharing your passion with people who know you is the safest way to get the right cash to grow.

Stefania Aulicino, president of CapitalLinkUSA ensures business owns get cash to keep control of a bigger, more profitable company, faster, safer than they ever thought possible- in any economy. Let us help you become a magnet for non equity and equity sources to fuel your growth. Please explore our tools, solutions and consulting options tailored for different growth stages and different budgets: www.CashAndControl.com

By Stefania Aulicino

Stop selling; start growing! Selling is pushing what you have. Growing is creating a bigger future- a bigger, safer, more profitable future to SHARE.

Lane’s company delivers manufacturing expertise for clients who lack the economy of scale to make sophisticated engineering and equipment investments cost-effective to produce small runs of one-off products.

In good times, outsourced manufacturing is an easy “sell”: Lane produces complicated manufactured parts so his customers can deliver turnkey solutions to their end buyer and earn premium profits.

In uncertain times like today, Lane’s client prospects – typically with revenue of $7-$25 million annually- are slow to make the decision to outsource. Instead, Lane’s prospects focus on keeping their own operation running and their staff employed and end up squeezing their own profitability in the process.

Why on earth would Lane’s prospects hurt their own profits? They fear their customers and prospects will not buy; they see a small future.

How can Lane grow when his prospects are not growing? How can YOU grow when your prospects are not growing?

Don’t waste time with the wrong people who will not change the future.

As an Entrepreneur, it’s your job to declare the future and then move the promise of that future into the present. Invite your three counterparts to participate. Who? Your customer prospects, funding sources and employees.

Rule 1. Seek out decision-makers at your customer prospects who are equity holders in their company.

The future cannot be calculated or analyzed. The future can only be DECLARED.

Declaring the future is the job of the equity owner, the fellow business visionary.

Rule 2. Seek out sources investing their own money who see themselves benefiting from your company’s success.

Reach out to customers who need your solution to their market pain, vendors whose services are components of your solution and other players in your eco-system who value your company’s future. The interdependent players in the same eco-system are the ideal source of “safe cash” for you because your success is their success.

Rule 3. eliminate the vision gap.

As the business visionary, you can see the future, but are you leaving the rest of your team blind? Make the future visible for others by translating it into the universal language of business- dollars and cents. Share with your team your company’s revenue out 10 years in the future, assuming all the resources needed to grow were your own. Share your Optimum Growth Strategy- the one that delivers the highest return with the lowest risk. Now you empower your employees to make prudent decisions day-to-day in line with that future.

When you declare your future, share it, and invite others to participate in it, you attract others and create a synergy where 1+1 exceeds 10! Profitable growth, faster, safer than you ever thought possible.

The future starts with YOU. And that future is contagious! Let’s face it- we entrepreneurs are the solution in this economy (because we are the only ones that can change the future) and we have a big job to do!

Changing the future happens in an instant. Changing the future happens when you declare a goal and take committed action toward it. Its effects are continuous. The future is contagious. Pass it forward and you become a magnet for the big futures of others.

Stefania Aulicino, president of CapitalLinkUSA ensures business owns get cash to keep control of a bigger, more profitable company, faster, safer than they ever thought possible- in any economy. Let us help you become a magnet for non equity and equity sources to fuel your growth. Please explore our tools, solutions and consulting options tailored for different growth stages and different budgets: www.CashAndControl.com

By Stefania Aulicino

Sometimes I wonder what is affecting business builders more in this economy: Lack of confidence or lack of cash.

No one spends the cash they have if they are not confident; Not tax payers; not customers; not business.

If you had a job during the great depression- life looked good. If you had a cash reserve, you had choices of great value to buy.

In fact we all know lots of companies that were born in difficult economic times: IBM, Federal Express, CNN, Disney, GE, Berger King. What was the secret? Let me suggest 3:

1. Customers are easier to read: they tell you their pain and are quick to respond to real solutions (or let you know you are not on track so you can take fast corrective action).
2. Your Eco system is a source of safe cash. As industry insiders, this source of funding contributes a powerful market discipline which helps you make only SAFE investments for near term and future growth (they double check you).
3. Business builders who take advantage of the fire sale price of talent, real estate and other business building inputs available in a weak economy are ideally positioned ahead of the pack when the economy turns.(and it will turn!)

What if you had confidence like the person who had a job or cash reserve during the great depression? As a business owner, the parallel today  I’m talking about is non bank debt on your terms and equity that wants YOU in control. 

Let’s take a quick look at what confidence and cash could mean for you (let me stimulate some thoughts as you consider what’s true for you):

What’s working now?

• Existing customers are loyal Our products/service deliver great results
• Our team is very capable
• Market demand is there for our current and new product/services

What would you do with Confidence and Cash on your terms?

• Let our team know we are safe to ride out the uncertainty in the economy
• Give me the confidence to embrace profit-making opportunities despite potentially longer term cash flow return.
• Stay focused on our visionary growth strategy versus making decisions for near term cash flow.

Fortunately, as a passionate entrepreneur, you have many choices for cash to grow, even in the current economy, once you embrace the secret there is currency in your passion – that’s the source of cash on your terms. That’s not just cash- it’s confidence.

Stefania Aulicino, president of CapitalLinkUSA ensures business owns get cash to keep control of a bigger, more profitable company, faster, safer than they ever thought possible- in any economy. Let us help you become a magnet for non equity and equity sources to fuel your growth. Please explore our tools, solutions and consulting options tailored for different growth stages and different budgets: www.CashAndControl.com

By Stefania Aulicino

How many sources of cash are there? Most companies only think in terms of debt and equity. Companies thinking like that may not be getting the cash they want right now:  “The banks are not lending what I need”, “I don’t know people with money to invest in my company”. Thinking about debt and equity as inflexible templates causes too many entrepreneurs to give up their creativity and power such that they stop thinking about their options.

As a passionate entrepreneur, you have many choices for cash to grow, even in the current economy, once you realize the secret: there is currency in your passion. To tap the currency in your passion you must take 3 steps: Package, Match, and Price.

Package:         Your job as an entrepreneur is to package your passion. Passion is the ability to grow by packaging value that others want to buy. Nike began with a passion to develop performance shoes for professional athletes; then created a market for comfortable shoes for the every-day athlete. Today, Nike sells shoes for walking, tennis, basketball and more. Its passion-driven growth gave Nike its own unique currency. Today, abundant funding sources compete to offer cash –in any way Nike wants it!

What is a successful entrepreneur? Someone who understands how to successfully package their solution for a customer in pain at a value exchange that fits the customer’s budget. What is a successfully funded entrepreneur? Someone who understands how to package their passion for a source of cash at a value exchange that fits that source’s risk appetite.

That’s the power of packaging your passion. When you exchange dollars, someone else has set the price. In contrast, when you use your own unique currency, you set the value of exchange; the price- and the terms. It’s not debt- where the bank sets the terms; it’s not equity-where investors set the terms and may often take control.

Packaging your passion for different buyers gives the entrepreneur a myriad of alternatives for cash on your terms. Modified templates yield access to abundant debt with flexible repayment terms and variable interest payments; also available is unlimited equity which wants you in control because they want to share in a future only you can create.

Match:            Packaged passion must be matched to the buyer. How do you do that? Customize. It’s not a “pitch” – it’s a dialogue. A Pitch is generic; your elevator pitch or sales pitch.  A dialogue with someone who knows you directly or by reputation yields a customized match between a prospect’s pain and your solution.

Price:              Pricing is a reflection of value exchange. Not all capital experiences the same risks so not all capital needs the same return. It’s your job to modify the debt or equity template, customized as a win win for both parties.

Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. With equity, the highest valuation is not just a good idea, it’s an imperative, confirming you have identified the right investor who sees the same future you do and wants to share in the upside of what only you can create. With debt, the lowest cost is confirmation you have designed the best structure for that lender who sees opportunity where others see risk.

Carly had never reached out beyond the bank to get funding for her 7 year old company until she shared her passion of the future with a college classmate. When Carly customized her passion into a package he could buy, this friend gave her the $150,000 she wanted to accelerate her growth. To protect their friendship, they customized a debt/equity template; repayment in full at Carly’s choice of timing, plus a modest interest premium to market with an understanding the “lender” would be offered the opportunity to invest whenever Carly decided to share stock. Not debt. Not equity. Just Carly’s own unique currency. Realizing she didn’t have to get all the money she wanted from a single source, Carly discovered myriad options for cash- on her terms.

If you are a passionate entrepreneur not yet economically self-sufficient, you are not taking full advantage of your own currency. All it takes is 3 steps: Package, Match, Price. With access to cash to get all the resources you want, the only thing holding you back is you from achieving your full potential is you –and you can change that in a heartbeat.

Stefania Aulicino, president of CapitalLinkUSA ensures business owns get cash to keep control of a bigger, more profitable company, faster, safer than they ever thought possible- in any economy. Let us help you become a magnet for non equity and equity sources to fuel your growth. Please explore our tools, solutions and consulting options tailored for different growth stages and different budgets: www.CashAndControl.com