In my previous article, I discussed how I found my lead investor with an idea and a plate of calamari.
Was it really that simple? Yes and no.
Today I am going to describe some of the details to help you your find investor.
Proper environment - I was at a country club. Was I there to do business? No, I was there to play golf and eat my appetizer. it just happened. The more often you can put yourself in the right environment to make connections, the better. How do you pick the right environment? Analyze your target market. For example, if you are selling business insurance, chamber of commerce card exchanges. If you are a pharmaceutical rep, maybe medical society events?
Focus - Abandoning the calamari... One of my clients told me a story about how he was at a trade show and his competitors were busy shoveling chicken fingers down their throats while they were closing deals. My personal rule for networking events is not to eat until I’m done making connections unless it would be socially awkward not to eat. I have hosted several events where I didn’t even taste the food because I was so busy.
Trusted advisors - My attorneys pointed out the flaws in the purchase agreement, where the opposing counsel neglected to include a non-compete. I have saved tens of thousands of dollars in taxes because I hire CPAs that aggressively look for legal, tax saving strategies
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
President Donald Trump has signed legislation that Congress approved this week that will allocate a massive amount in funding to support the U.S. economy and workers through the coronavirus outbreak.
The hallmark of the $2 trillion stimulus package were one-time $1,200 direct payments to adults making up to $75,000.
Click here to use the online calculator to find out how much you could get from the federal government as part of the relief package.
Covid-19 Help for Small Business
A $350 billion forgivable loan program designed to ensure that small businesses do not lay off employees
A 50% refundable payroll tax credit on worker wages will further incentivize businesses, including ones with fewer than 500 employees, to retain workers
Looser net operating loss-reduction rules that will allow businesses to offset more
A delay in employer-side payroll taxes for Social Security until 2021 and 2022
Sole proprietors and other self-employed workers could be eligible for the expanded unemployment-insurance benefits the bill provides
A portion of the $425 billion in funds appropriated for the Federal Reserve’s credit facilities will target small businesses
Click here to learn about some of the tax relief available for both businesses and individuals. Click here to apply for disaster relief loans.
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
Click here to read F.A.Q. on Stimulus Checks, Unemployment and the Coronavirus Plan. Click here to read the $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill - Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
What Appears to be Missing From the Federal Disaster Package
Independent contractors and gig economy workers may not be able to delay payments on self-employment taxes.
It appears there are no benefits specifically for helping healthcare workers. There is also nothing included specifically designed to help people start new businesses.
Am I Missing Anything?
Is there other money out there designed to help small business? If so, message me so I can add it to this article.
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
I really enjoy learning about how successful people become successful; however, I am often frustrated by the lack of early details. Learning about major wins is great, but what about the details about the smaller wins that led to these successes? Today, I am going to do that for you. I going to deep-dive a small win that led to a major success.
It can be done. In this situation, My lead investor wrote the first check. This was before I had a investor deck, before I had a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), before I had product-market fit, before I formed a legal entity, before I invested a dime.
I barely even had an idea. But I did have an investor. This is more important than everything else. Working capital and third party validation.
How I Found My First Investor With Calamari
I was sitting at a bar at my club one Friday evening after a late round of golf. The rest of my group had plans so I was there by myself eating calamari and watching golf on TV. Life was good.
Two guys came in and sat next to me. Lumpy, the chubby one one of the pair, was staring at my appetizer.
Me: “Would you like some calamari?”
Lumpy: “Yes!”
Sheldon: “Sure.”
After inhaling what was left on my food, the two of them proceeded to describe the inner-workings of the club. Who was relevant. Who was not.
Both Lumpy and Sheldon were members of the club for a long time and knew almost everyone. Sheldon came from family money. He had a bit of a gambling problem and went through a nasty divorce. Lumpy was more of a grinder. Probably earned most of his money. The grinding took its toll, he had some serious eating and people issues.
They were both fascinated by the fact that I was an entrepreneur. I told them the story on how I was recently bought-out of a company I previously launched. I also told them that the purchasers neglected to include a non-compete in their purchase agreement. This meant that I could use all of the connections I accumulated and the information I learned to start a new company. A new company that could directly compete with the company I just sold.
This small interaction launched an extremely intense “friendship” that lasted about a year. Sheldon eventually became my lead investor. He introduced me to 85% of the outside investors. He wrote a check before I did. Lumpy eventually wrote a check as well.
No plan, no business, just investors.
Not a bad return on investment for a plate of Calamari.
I will dissect the details of this transaction in a future post.
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
You have a better chance of dying in a car accident than catching the corona virus.
*The chance of dying in a car accident is 0.0167%
*Based on driving 10,000 miles.
*The chance of catching the corona virus is 0.01515%.
*That’s if we have 50,000 cases in the USA.
*There has been only 1600 cases in the USA so far.
…So that’s good news, right?
Everyone drives without worrying about dying. But based on the numbers: there’s a better chance you will die behind the wheel than the chance of you catching this corona virus.
If you do catch the corona virus, your chance of dying is less than 2.5%*.
So your chance of catching the corona virus and then actually dying from it is 0.000388%*.
To compare:
The chance of dying by getting struck by lightning is 0.00125%.
You are 3.2x more likely to get struck and killed by lightning than dying from the Coronavirus.
Thank you Alex Aleksandrovski Founder and CEO, Wooter for this information.
Are Lightning Strikes Really More Deadly than this Corona Virus? Update - 3/16/2020
As of today, there are 4,421 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 81 deaths in the United States. According to the National Weather Service, the U.S. has averaged 43 lightning fatalities per year. Based on that data, you are statistically more likely to die from this corona virus than from being struck by lightning. There are approximately 330,000,000 people in the U.S.
According to this data, there is a 0.0000130% chance of being struck by lightning in The U.S.
There is a 0.0000245% chance you will die of this corona virus in the United States.
Thank you Michael Andrews for bringing this to my attention.
Corona Virus Update - 3/17/2020
As of this morning, there are 4,510 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 87 deaths in the United States. Again, there are approximately 330,000,000 people in the U.S.
According to this data,
There is a 0.0013667% chance of catching this corona virus in the U.S.
There is a 0.0000264% chance you will die of this corona virus in the United States.
These numbers may go up, so we may periodically update this information as new data becomes available.
Corona Virus Update - 3/22/2020
27,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 354 deaths in the United States.
Some data for comparison purposes:
430 B.C.: Athens: As much as two-thirds of the population died.
1350: The Black Death: Responsible for the death of one-third of the world population.
1665: The Great Plague of London: deaths of 20 percent of London’s population
1918: Spanish Flu: 50 million deaths worldwide
1957: Asian flu: 1.1 million deaths globally, with 116,000 deaths in the United States.
1981: HIV/AIDS: 35 million people worldwide have died
2003: SARS: Infecting 8,096 people, with 774 deaths
Corona Virus Update - 4/10/2020
469,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 17,000 deaths in the United States.
21,500 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 1,076 deaths in Michigan.
330,000 million people in the United States, 10 million in Michigan.
676,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 35,000 deaths in the United States.
29,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 2,093 deaths in Michigan.
Corona Virus Update - 4/28/2020
1,035,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 59,000 deaths in the United States.
39,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 3,567 deaths in Michigan.
Corona Virus Update - 5/3/2020
1,188,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 69,000 deaths in the United States.
43,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 4,049 deaths in Michigan.
Corona Virus Update - 5/25/2020
1,678,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 98,000 deaths in the United States.
55,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 5,228 deaths in Michigan.
Corona Virus Update - 6/13/2020
2,117,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 117,000 deaths in the United States.
66,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 5,990 deaths in Michigan.
Corona Virus Update - 7/3/2020
2,837,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 131,000 deaths in the United States.
71,000 confirmed cases of this corona virus and 6,212 deaths in Michigan.
The Long-Term Damage Being Caused by the Corona Virus
I am deeply concerned about the long-term damage being caused by this corona virus. The stock market is experiencing a huge sell-off. Inflation is a serious concern. The unintended negative impact of regulatory policy surrounding the Corona Virus is also dangerous. Kids being forced to stay home from school. Sports seasons on every level being cancelled. Hourly workers being terminated or laid off.
Possibly the most damage is being inflicted on entrepreneurs and small business owners.
L.A. bars forced to close, restaurants go takeout-only. Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered bars to close and forced restaurants to halt dine-in service. Food and nightlife proprietors fear some establishments might not reopen.
The restrictions, announced by Garcetti in a Sunday night video news conference, went into effect at midnight and run through March 31. They also apply to movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers.
These type of regulatory actions can have a devastating impact on small businesses. Most restaurants are bars are small businesses. Restaurants are known for high overhead costs and relatively narrow margins. Chefs say an extended shutdown could have far-reaching consequences for the largest private-sector industry in the county, accounting for 355,540 jobs, according to a 2017 L.A. County Economic Development Corp. report. This is just in L.A. County.
If you shut down the main sources of revenue for these establishments, who is going to pay their bills? For how long? Again, restaurants are known for high overhead costs and relatively narrow margins.
This is happening across the United States.
What You Can do as an Entrepreneur or Small Business Owner
Raise capital early and often. Running out of cash is the #1 cause of business failure. This is why I preach the importance of raising capital. Entrepreneurs need cash to weather storms. In addition, equity capital is often not a loan, so this type of funding can come without interest or a defined payback schedule.
Innovate. Amazing businesses are born in tough times. Where are the opportunities? Where is the pain? Can you create a business to address that pain?
Review your insurance policies. You may be covered for some or all of your losses. Some policies include reimbursement for loss of income. This saved me and one of my businesses after a car ran into our office building!
Assistance. Federal, State, and Local governments often offer assistance to business owners in crisis. There are programs coming to assist those being impacted by the Corona Virus. President Trump signed a bill that allows the Small Business Administration to issue an estimated $7 billion in low-interest loans. The U.S. Small Business Administration announced on Thursday that small businesses with financial burdens caused by the pandemic and don't have credit available elsewhere can be eligible for loans of up to $2 million at 3.75%. Based on my research, your State Governor has to request these loans before they become available in your state. You can check the status here, https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/. As of this writing of this article, Oakland County, Michigan, has not requested access to these loans. Anyone connected with Governor Gretchen Whitmer may want to ask her when she plans on requesting these loans for Michigan businesses.
What You Can do as an Investor or Someone With a High Net Worth
Invest. There are massive opportunities for investing. Support the companies you already own and consider investing more into new opportunities. One of my favorite sayings is "You don't make money when you sell an investment, you make money when you buy your investment."
Hold. If you cannot justify investing new dollars, at least don't sell now. If you do, it will hurt everyone, including yourself. Buying stocks high and selling low is the opposite of a good investment strategy and it helps no one.
*Please read:
For healthy people, the chances of dying are even lower than 1%. Most common, you will feel symptoms similar to the flu and recover fully within 1-2 weeks.
But is very important to note: If you already have underlying conditions or serious ailments, such as an existing respiratory condition, then you can have fatal complications if you catch the corona virus. For these cases your chance of dying can be as high as 10%.
These conditions are rare but people do have them and for those people, they need to take the corona virus seriously. These same people must also consistently watch out for the influenza virus (better known as The Flu) as they can suffer fatal complications as well.
Additional Information: This information was received by me via email on 3/12/2020. Some of this information may have changed. In addition, none of the data in this article was verified me. Please contact me if you believe any of the information in this article is inaccurate.
Thank you again Alex Aleksandrovski Founder and CEO, Wooter for the email/data and www.videezy.com for the lightning video
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
During the last 30 days, the DJIA reached it's record high of almost 30,000. It has also lost over 20% in value during some violent swings down because of all the concerns around the Coronavirus. Some claim that the recent volatility has erased over $7 trillion in wealth in the last 30 days.
Why the Coronavirus May Not Be Bad for Investments
If you look at history, epidemics are typically good for investments. The markets actually recover much quicker than you would think.
Take SARS for example. SARS resulted in a total of about 8,100 people being sickened during the 2003 outbreak, with 774 people dying, according to data from WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Separately, the S&P 500 rose 11.66% in the roughly six months following reports of the 2006 Avian flu virus — a fast-moving pathogen also known as H5N1. The market gained 18.36% in the following 12-month period.
Data are similar for equity performance across the globe based on data from Charles Schwab, tracking the MSCI All Countries World Index 892400, -3.64%. The index has gained an average 0.4% in the month after an epidemic, 3.1% in the ensuing six-month period and 8.5% a year later (see graphic below):
SARS, Avian Flu, Swine Flu, and Measels all produced significant market gains as quickly as 3 months after the initial outbreak.
My comments:
- $7 trillion in wealth in the last 30 days was erased? Nothing was erased, the stock market is a zero-sum game. Wealth is neither created nor destroyed, it is transferred.
- Punctuated by recent events, I would argue that angel investing is actually less risky than investing in publicly traded stocks. I would also argue that entrepreneurship is less risky than working for someone else. I will be hitting both of these topics hard in future videos.
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
Is SEO dead? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine. SEO refers to the improvement of unpaid results and excludes direct traffic/visitors and the purchase of paid placement. Wikipedia
My google search of the term SEO this week shows 728 million results, so obviously it is a thing? But does it actually still work? I said still works because I know it worked in the past let me tell you a story
Before I wrote my book I had a radio show called the business reality network
On this show I discussed the realities of operating a successful business as opposed to the myths
Well one of my earlier listeners reached out to me and said he wanted to meet me
This kid comes out to my office, stereotypical programmer, and we start talking
He tells me that his dad is the head of marketing at one of the big four accounting firms and offers to show me how SEO works
I take him up on the offer, within a couple of weeks I am at least number 1 on google for some fairly-competitive keywords. Fairly competitive meaning there were over a million available search results and other companies were paying for ads targeting the keyword.
I say at least number one because often I would rank multiple times on the first page of a google search. Imagine googling a term like accounting services and see the same business ranked first, third, 4, 7! That was us! It cost me next to nothing!
That was over 10 years ago, today, I have not been able to come anywhere near those type of results using a SEO vendors. I believe most of it has to do with the updates to the Google algorithm. This type of results may not be possible anymore.
However, I know it worked in the past and I want to see if it will work again in the future. That is why I am putting out this challenge. Anyone that thinks they can show any type of measurable traction using SCO are welcome to participate in our SCO challenge. If you would like to participate in the seo challenge,
Please message me if you or your company would like to participate, just message me on any of my digital platforms to receive more information. The top performing participants will receive a ton of free promotion for me.
If none of the companies produce meaningful, measurable results, we will declare SEO dead and move on
Anyone that thinks they can show any type of measurable traction using SEO are welcome to participate in our SEO challenge. If you would like to participate in the SEO challenge, email me, info@OmegaAccelerator.com
Disclaimer: This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. Please consult the appropriate professional before doing anything you learn from the content posted on any of our digital properties. All stories are based on true events, but are altered to protect the identity of the individuals involved.
