Planning
There is a moment that a lot of entrepreneurs talk about. You have crossed some threshold, a million, five million, whatever the number was that used to feel like the finish line, and instead of feeling like you have arrived, you feel more exposed than you did before. The complexity went up. The stakes went…
There’s a specific kind of pause I’ve learned to listen for. It usually happens when a business owner tells me that they hit their sales targets – but doesn’t seem as excited as I would expect. So I ask how it’s going, And then there’s the pause. Sometimes it’s followed by a quick laugh. Sometimes…
There’s a pervasive myth in entrepreneurship: raising venture capital is the mark of success. The numbers tell a different story. In 2024, approximately 5.2 million new businesses launched in the U.S. According to PitchBook’s NVCA Venture Monitor, only 5,387 companies closed pre-seed or seed deals (typically the first round of institutional capital). That’s 0.1% of…
There’s a common myth in entrepreneurship: if you get funding, you’re set. It sounds simple. Raise a first round of venture capital, and success will follow. Here’s the reality: investors typically fund less than 1% of the companies that pitch them. Getting funded means you cleared a high bar—but that bar isn’t “this business will…
Just tell me the magic formula. THE PROBLEM I’ll just say it – there is no magic formula. There is no single “right answer” for how to build a successful business. One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that all the decisions are your own. That freedom can be a double edged…
THE PROBLEM Your first customer pays you – YES! You look at your bank balance – YIKES! If your customers are paying, why is there more money going out than coming in? Because you didn’t think about all of the things that have to be done to make your business work. You might be really…
THE PROBLEM Founders often build their financial models backwards–and there are two stages to this faulty foundation. THE SOLUTION Instead of letting you say, “Here’s how much revenue I’m going to generate,” Fric asks you to get clear on what you’re going to DO. We ask you to focus on the activities that drive revenue,…
HE PROBLEM There’s a lot of noise around doing “all the things” in your business. Everyone’s telling you the best practices for getting clients, for social media, for customer service. It’s too much information, too often. When you get overwhelmed with too much information, one of two things happen: decision fatigue or analysis paralysis. With…
THE PROBLEM If each sale isn’t profitable, you can’t “make it up with volume”. You need to know that at some point, you can charge more for your product or service than it costs you to build, attract, deliver, delight, and support. Otherwise, you don’t have a business. You either have a nonprofit or a…
😊 ANSWER: Most people sit at one of two extremes. Either: Both mindsets can stall progress. Sometimes, it’s even worse: you try to use a recommended template, spend hours and hours filling it out…and you end up more confused than when you started. You still don’t know what your business needs, you’re frustrated, and you…