How do you get from being a Peace
Corps teacher to being a business plan professional?
Well, believe it or not, it's by a very
logical route.
First get a job as a librarian.
It's easy when you love the work as much as I do. Delve into all the
nooks and crannies of modern research, and find a favorite kid's book or
two to read from time to time. (Mine was Winnie the Pooh.)
Then have a friend of a friend ask you to
do some research on some esoteric new product that he is considering
investing in.
Then you're hooked.
The energy and ingenuity of entrepreneurs
is absolutely catching.
I found myself getting involved in
products that had no history, and no future as far as anyone could
tell. The ideas bursting forth in Silicon Valley in those days were
just astounding.
The best part of my career was helping
new enterprises find financing.
One of my more interesting tasks to weed
out the "slush pile" -- that stack of unsolicited proposals that
strangers sent to the venture capital firm. My job was to find the
diamonds in the rough, the ones we were going to explore further.
There weren't very many that I
recommended, perhaps no more than 2% or 3% of all that were sent in.
What I looked for, more than anything else, was that spark of inspiration,
that commitment, the hint of true entrepreneurial genius.
And here is the very best tip I can give
you: Don't worry about being perfect. No business plan is
perfect. No business is perfect. Rather than looking for
perfection, aim for projecting your energy and commitment.
Whether you are looking for venture
funding, SBA loans, angel investors, or bootstrap financing, put that
energy front and forward -- it will gain you more financing than any
amount of paper.
I am very glad you stopped by. I'm
a huge booster of small businesses of all ilk, and I'm looking forward to
seeing yours soon.
p.s. -- A visitor wrote in recently and
asked how I got from a fancy schmancy venture capital firm to a website.
Well, that's another tale.
The gist of it is here.
