Ep. 218 – Startup Secret Weapon: See Risk Like an Investor Part 1

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Welcome to Episode 218 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by producer Jason Pyles. This episode is Part 1 of 3, where Tom shares his StartUp Secret Weapon: Approaching Risk Like An Investor.

There are four major risk categories that every entrepreneur needs to understand and to be able to reduce in order to be successful.

Having worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs both as an advisor and investor, Tom can confidently say that all but a few understood how to think about and manage risk when they started out.

He was in the same boat back in the early-90s when he launched his first company, but fortunately, got some great advice from a mentor that changed the way he Continue reading

Ep. 217 – How to use Metrics to Make Financial Projections

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Welcome to Episode 217 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by co-producer Natalie Pyles. This episode is Part 2 of 2, where Tom and Natalie interview a dynamic, husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team, Tammy and Stewart Cook, founders of the App-Garden. App-Garden automates inefficient processes involved in school administration. They offer software that streamlines everything from training substitute teachers to managing permission slips for school field trips. There helpful tools are being used in 27 states and counting!

Today Tammy and Stewart talk about the importance of gathering data when scaling your sales department. When you are scaling your business and growing into a larger market your selling process will need to grow, too. It’s for this reason that budgeting becomes so important at this stage. You are going to need to be able to pay more for marketing and additional salesman because even if you have the greatest product in the world, if you can’t get the word out, it won’t sell.

If you have detailed data showing how many calls your salesman make for every appointment they book, for example, then you can start to make projections for the future. Stewart and Tammy use Excel to track many, many different aspects of their sales so that they can make improvements and so that they can know what to expect. This allows them to stay on budget and grow safely! Thanks for listening! Continue reading

Ep. 216 – Scaling a Locally Profitable Business Into a National One

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In Episode 216 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan is joined by co-producer Natalie Pyles. This episode is Part 1 of 2, where Tom and Natalie interview a dynamic, husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team, Tammy and Stewart Cook, founders of the App-Garden. Tammy and Stewart talk about the beginnings of their startup journey and the path they’ve taken to reach their present-day success!

Stewart and Tammy discuss how they adapted their business as they saw changes occur within their field. Stewart describes how their company was profitable but not as scalable as they wanted it to be. Stewart says that he and Tammy wanted to expand to other states until they were able to take their business nationwide. Tom asks the Cooks about transitioning from a legacy services-based business to a tech company and the creation of software. Be sure to also join us next Monday for Part 2 of our interview with Stewart and Tammy Cook. Thanks for listening! Continue reading

Ep. 215 – Equity Crowdfunding in North Carolina

SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Welcome to the Success in Business Podcast with your host Tom Ryan. Today in Episode 215 Tom is rejoined by producer Jason Pyles and guest Leo John, Legal Specialist with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State Securities Division.

There is no way around it: fundraising is essential to success in business. Leo John is back today to help us understand how Equity Crowd Funding compares to other types of fundraising. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between equity-based crowdfunding and other types of crowdfunding, like Kickstarter? Or, have you ever wondered how the funding caps might affect your fundraising goals? There are distinctions between federal and North Carolina crowdfunding regulations.

Learn more about Investor Protection and Education at the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. You can reach Leo John by emailing him at ljohn(AT)sosnc(DOT)gov or by phone at 919.807.2249. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back next Monday with another great episode full of business expertise!

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