Category Archives: Startup and Planning

Ep. 223 – From CPA to High-Growth CEO With Levi Morehouse

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4 Welcome to Episode 223 of the Success in Business Podcast, your host Tom Ryan and producer Jason Pyles introduce Levi Morehouse founder and CEO Ceterus Fortune 5,000 Fastest Growing Company. You build your business. They do your books. They love entrepreneurs and they try to help small business entrepreneurs have more time! Their business model is focused on certain small business niches like yoga and massage studios so that they can provide the absolute best accounting services period. This way they can provide industry specific business insights and information relative to their peers to give them an advantage.

Thanks for listening!

You can watch some testimonials from Ceterus customers here.

You can follow Ceterus on Facebook here.

You can follow Ceterus on Twitter here.

You can catch up with Ceterus on LinkedIn here.

Tweet Tom at: @TomRyanAVL

Do you have a question about your business? Tom would love to help you:

Leave a voicemail: (801) 228-0663

E-mail your questions: SuccessInBusinessPodcast@gmail.com

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Ep. 213 – The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign, Part 3

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Kickstarter campaigns can be very successful if they are done right! Today in Episode 213 your host and business coach Tom Ryan discusses with Jason Pyles what makes a video effective. There are a lot of things that you need to do right to achieve that high production value in your video. Campaigns with good videos are funded twice as well according to Kickstarter.

Hiring a professional videographer is a big investment so you really want to check their portfolio and their references. Jason tells a couple of funny cautionary tales to illustrate the importance of finding good talent. If your have a tight budget for your project then Tom recommends approaching a local college or university’s Video Department.

If you have an iphone you might be surprised at the quality of the video you can shoot on this kind of device. Just make sure you have a steady hand. A perfect solution to this concern is a this GoWorx GoKnuckles Handheld Mount.

Check out an example of a great kickstarter video here.

Audio quality needs to be sharp our people will tune out. You need to make sure your subjects are properly wired and that you are using good microphones.

A great location can add so much to your video. Choose a location that is relevant to your audience.

Thanks for listening!

Links for Today’s Episode:

Kickstarter Rules

Kickstarter Success

Kickstarter Projects

Continue reading →

Ep. 210 – Protection Against Business Catastrophe, Part 1

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In Episode 210, your host and business coach Tom Ryan along side Jason Pyles interviews Melody Herman about the safest way to protect your business from catastrophe. Though it may not seem like the most urgent item on your to-do list this morning, you just cannot afford not to put a safety net in place for you business, your employees and your family. Let’s face it, there are events that could come along and completely incapacitate your company, and you’d sleep a lot more peacefully at night if you knew you had a back up plan. Thanks for listening!

Links for Today’s Episode:

E-mail: melody ( AT ) popbenefits.com
Tweet Melody at: @PopBenefits and @ISI_PSI
Instagram: @PopBenefits
On LinkedIn
On Facebook
Pine Street Insurance.com

Continue reading →

Ep. 209 – The Secrets to a Successful Kickstarter Campaign

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-1 Start-ups are finding some creative new ways to get funding. Crowdfunding is incredibly popular right now so let’s talk about it!

In Episode 209, your host and business coach Tom Ryan discusses with Jason Pyles the secrets to using Crowdfunding or Kickstarter campaigns as a way to to fund your start-up. First, you set a financial goal. For example, you might set a goal to raise $50,000. People can donate toward you goal and receive rewards as an incentive. You might not have suspected, because the whole vibe is so chill, but there are some regulations that you need to check out and there are certain business types that tend to be more successful on Kickstarter, so be sure to do your homework.

Kickstarter has 13 million visitors every month. 80,000 projects funded so far. The secrets to a successful campaign center on how you spread the word. Next week we’ll talk about using videos to get funding. Thanks for listening!

Links for Today’s Episode:

Kickstarter Rules

Kickstarter Success

Kickstarter Projects

Continue reading →

Ep. 208 – Employee Stock Option Plans

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-4Continuing our discussion of non-salary employment packages, we have arrived at another option: Stock Options.

In Episode 208, your host and business coach Tom Ryan discusses with Jason Pyles the ins and outs of Stock Option Plans. An employer may offer the option for an employee to purchase stock, sometimes even before it has gone public. This can pay off big time if the company sees a future of sky rocketing success, but more often than not, the stock ends up dropping in value. The stock must be purchased, it’s not just given. So it is a risk for the employee. Tom Ryan recommends that employees considering a stock option plan consult an attorney with experience. Thanks for listening! Continue reading →

Ep. 207 – How Employee Equity Can Be Taken Away or Exchanged

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-5Tom is dutifully soldiering on teaching us about employee equity. Today’s podcast, Episode 207, centers on how employee equity can be taken away or exchanged. Business coach Tom Ryan, as always, is joined by co-host and producer, the one and only, Jason Pyles. After announcing Tom’s new clothing line “Jack Squat,” the two dive into the topic of employee equity. Continue reading →

Ep. 206 – Employee Equity Agreements for LLCs

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-2We are continuing our discussion about equity today. After a serious look at the risks, you’ve decided that the only way to attract the talent you need for your startup is to offer equity in your company as part of the compensation package. There are only two small problems: You don’t know how these kinds of deals work, and you don’t know how to put an equity-tied deal together. How do you even determine how much equity to offer?

In this week’s episode, host and business coach Tom Ryan talks about the logistics of providing equity-based incentive programs to employees. As always, Tom is joined by co-host and producer Jason Pyles. Continue reading →

Ep. 205 – How to Easily Give Equity to Employees

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-2After a serious look at the risks, you’ve decided that the only way to attract the talent you need for your startup is to offer equity in your company as part of the compensation package. There are only two small problems: You don’t know how these kinds of deals work, and you don’t know how to put an equity-tied deal together. How do you even determine how much equity to offer?

In this week’s episode, host and business coach Tom talks about the logistics of providing equity-based incentive programs to employees. As always, Tom is joined by co-host and producer Jason Pyles. Continue reading →

Ep. 204 – What You Need to Know Before Giving Equity to Employees

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-2Great talent can be expensive. For a cash-strapped startup, offering big salaries and other incentives to attract top talent isn’t always possible. That’s why many companies offer up a slice of the company as part of the compensation package. While this can be a great option in some situations, offering ownership to employees isn’t exactly a risk-free venture. In some cases, it can be a disaster for everyone involved. Continue reading →

Elementary Startup Planning: Financial Models and the Path to Profitability

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SIBP-Blog-NEW-B-2We’ve all heard the stats about business failure. According to some fairly reliable sources, as many as 8 in 10 businesses will fail within the first 18 months. But that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story. Many of those businesses were doomed to fail long before they ever opened their doors. Why? Their founders had no idea how the business was actually going to make a profit.

In my last post, I stressed just how important the financials are when planning a new business. The better your understanding of your path-to-profitability, the easier it is to both communicate and implement that plan. Continue reading →