March 6th, 2007
Every business owner and salesperson has been told to perfect an “Elevator Speech” - 30 or 60 seconds of pith that succinctly explains what they do and why it’s great.
Entrepreneurs hoping to raise capital have been similarly encouraged to distill down the essence of their offering to just a minute or two if they hope to successfully connect with the short attention spans of venture capitalists and other investors.
But is that realistic? Can you really pitch an investor in 100 seconds or less?
Well, a couple of venture funds in New England have created Peak Pitch, to give the entrepreneurs trying to pitch them a few minutes of their undivided attention riding together on a ski lift or gondola during a couple of days on the slopes.
Sounds good to me! Just be sure you’ve caught your breath before you get on the lift!
March 5th, 2007
How would you like your shop to be “The Official Small Business of NASCAR?”
Sound sweet? Well then you better get your application filled out and submitted before the March 31, 2007 deadline!
The winner of this year’s promotional contest will receive a $10,000 “makeover package” along with a visit from NASCAR driver Carl Edwards who, along with being the driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series is also a small business owner himself.
While winning this contest does bring a certain amount of publicity, I think the real benefit would be the bragging rights that would accrue to a true NASCAR fan at his or her next chamber of commerce meeting - and for the rest of their life among their homeys for that matter!
So, if you’re a small business owner and a NASCAR fan, don’t wait another minute,click on this link to learn more and find out how you can apply for your chance to win.
March 2nd, 2007
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has gotten onboard the podcast train.
Their Small Business Resource Library now includes nine downloadable audio seminars and interviews (along with their transcripts) on topics ranging from Check List for Starting a Business to Selecting a Business That Fits and even Disaster Preparedness for Business Owners.
Most are relatively short overviews of the topics addressed, targeted at folks just starting out or just thinking about starting a business. But they still give you plenty of food for thought and may well make for instructive listening for those whose business isn’t serving them personally the way they thought it would.
Give a listen and let me know what you think.
