yes you should ask for this money because this will be your liability These customers are entitled for unconsumed part of the year if you close down the gym, however if you plan to continue running the gym (whatever name) then you are liable to provide these customers services till their year completes

Great and very important question. Assaf did a great job with his answer, so most of my points below are agreeing with him, but I have a few extra nuggets ;) 1. The first thing you need to do is clearly define your target audience for the video and how you are going to use the video. Do the people watching this video know anything about your company? Or will this video likely be their first introduction to you? This will help you decide how much of the video is explaining who you are and what you do vs. why your viewer should take the next step with you (I'll go into more detail on this in a later point). You also need to understand how the video will be used. Will you be emailing this to sales leads? Will this be prominantly displayed on your homepage or acquisition funnel on your website? Will you be using this video as a video ad? Once you have this defined you can more easily craft the video. 2. Do competitive research! No need to re-create the wheel here. What do your competitors do in their videos? Just because they do something doesn't mean it's good... but it will give you an idea of what your audience may be accustomed to. If you feel like your competitors all leave out a key pain point that you've identified, you can key in on that and use that as a differentiator. You should also assume that your potential customers might be comparing you to your competion based on your video, so make sure you come out on top by crafting your video with your competitors' videos in mind. I've included some example explainer videos that I helped create at a recent startup as references: This is our first version when we were just starting out with a very small budget (~$500): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWUlmxBMV04 This is our most recent video with a much larger budget (~$3000): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-DfLOco4dk 3. Make sure your video is short and sweet. No longer than 2 minutes. May even need to be shorter depending on how you expect to use the vide0 (see point 1). The more engaged your audience, the longer you can allow the video to be. 4.Always have a call to action. At the end of the video what do you want the person watching to do? Sign up for an account? Start a trial? Call you for a demo? Make sure you are explicit with what you want your audience to do. 5. This may be obvious but if you are launching globably think about the language you should use in the video. Are you going to have it voiced over in multiple languages? Typically if you want to go with English but have clients in Europe a voice actor with an English accent (i.e. from UK) plays better with that audience as it feels more local then someone from the US (and typically people in the US like it too). 6. Personally I wouldn't describe your competitors or go into what they do or don't have for a few reasons: First, if your audience doesn't know about your competitor, they do now! Second, it might shorten the "shelf life" of your video as you don't control your competitor's product or roadmap so if you say you have something they don't, that could only be true right now and might be false quickly (and then you might need to pull the video). I have a lot more thoughts here. Let me know if you'd like to chat further!

Traditionally agencies and consulting firms grow vertically through a pyramid structure adding junior layers and mid level professionals who can be paid at a lower level and then billed back at higher rates to the clients as they scale once the rainmaker fills the pipeline. Another option is to grow horizontally and compensate people for bringing in work thereby gaining leverage through a network effect of casting a wider net. Both ways can work it is a matter of strengths and preferences.

Well explained question. I have a lot of experience with affiliate marketing (which is very similar to the situation you’re describing). The commission range varies widely depending on the industry, and can be anything between 2%-30% of the sale - depending on how high the sale is (usually, the higher the sale value the lower the percentage). In your case, and assuming that you charge your clients a monthly fee, then the best 2 options would be: 1. A one time fee which would be a percentage (10-20%) of the first months payment from the new client. 2. A smaller percentage (5%) of the monthly fee that the new client is paying you, over a 2-3 month period. Each option has as a stages and disadvantages. * the above is assuming you only pay the commission for actual sales (a new client who actually pays you) and not just a lead. There are numerous other payment options, but here is what is important: 1. Offer the salesmen at least 2 options, after you’ve calculated both and are sure that you’re happy with both. This is important because it shows him that you are letting HIM choose (gives a feeling of respect, cooperation etc.). 2. Offer him a fair percentage because at the end of the day, he is bringing you new business. 3. Taking point #2 into account, if you want to offer him 15%, start by offering 12%. At the end of the day this is a business negotiation, so chances are he will ask to raise the percentages a bit, and if you start a bit lower, you will have the flexibility to agree to his higher percentage request (which again shows your flexibility, fairness and willing to compromise- which will make him feel better). I’ve successfully helped over 300 startups and businesses and would be happy to help you. Good luck

If you're looking for a list of the software options out here, this is a fairly exhaustive list: https://www.capterra.com/task-management-software/ Personally I've used Jira, Trello, and Asana: Jira: The established leader for more technical task management and is used by organizations big and small for agile software development. I would use this software if your work is technical in nature and you are mainly going to have developers, product managers, and/or designers touching these tasks. In my experience, Jira isn't as easy to use for "non-engineering" roles such as marketing, sales etc. and you could have low adoption trying to push this software to those groups. Trello: Similar to Jira in its usage mainly for development work and not cross-discipline, but this software is a little lighter weight. This is great for smaller companies who have fairly simple projects they want to track across the engineering/product teams. Asana: This software is a little simpler to understand for non-tech roles. I've used this well to help coordinate projects cross-division (projects that span multiple teams including non-technical teams like marketing, sales, customer support etc.). Great for keeping the team focused across discipline on each task necessary for larger projects. Hope this is helpful.

Depends on why you are getting refused. What is it that makes them refuse your product? Maybe look into that and try correcting the issues! Good luck!

Typically these types of partnerships have detailed contracts that lay our which party is responsible for paying out any kind of competition winnings. There could be all kinds of goods/services trading places between the companies so it isn't as clear as "Company B always pays". You would need to look at the contract between the two companies.

Hi, First of all, well done for creating the MVP - this is often not an easy task. Regarding the valuation, the real answer (that not many people are willing to say), is this: you go outside, raise your thump towards the sky, imagine a nice number, and that's the valuation. Seriously, there is no "official" accounting method to evaluate a startup that is not already selling, and even then the sales don't necessarily indicate the value of the company. In any event, some of the below are good indicators of value: 1. Do you have a patent? 2. Have you already developed the technology? Is it working? 3. Do you have sales or traction? 4. How much is it costing you per sale/signup/download versus how much are you making (going to make) from each of these users? 5. How long has the team been together? If you're offering a technological solution, is the CTO a member of the team, or an external company? 6. Are there any similar companies providing similar services? If so, check how much money these companies have raised so far, or research there sales/results so far (I am happy to teach you how to do so - almost all the information is available online). 7. If the potential investor has made investments in the past, check how much he/she invested each time? 8. Do your research on the market and potential. You then take all the above, and reach the value of the company, based on which you are asking the investment for. I've successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs, and I'd be happy to help you if you need. I would need more details about the company, industry and team to give you an estimated evaluation. Good luck

I agree with Shannon, I think the first thing you need to understand if what is the goal for the SWAG you are selling. If the goal is a secondary revenue stream, and you believe it can be consequential towards your bottom line, then you can do the following: 1. Do some quick research on other startups/tech companies that sell SWAG to see where the market is priced at. 2. Do some quick market research with a survey to existing customers or even a random set of potential customers using something like Google Surveys (https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/surveys/) to get a quick barometer of the price point that feels plausible 3. A/B test different price points to understand your demand curve and maximize profit 4. Likely a good idea to price slightly higher than your ideal price and then offer a discount If instead you want to maximize the volume of SWAG sold to help evangelize your customer base and drive awareness/growth, then you don't want to maximize profit you want to maximize sales while staying within your acceptable cost scenario (may be comfortable losing a little money on each sale as a marketing cost, may want to be break even, etc.). You may even want to charge a premium for purchased SWAG to subsidize additional SWAG that you give to free to your highest profile customers or best evangelists. At my previous startup we used SWAG as a "user love" tool, giving out SWAG to our biggest fans or as a parting gift when customers visited our office. If you'd like to chat more let me know!

If your team is releasing updates constantly & there are edits to the list of features to do, Kanban would be the way to go. AGILE is best when everything is defined and would not change. I work in a company that worked on AGILE. But the nature of our team's work would constantly have numerous changes by the client mid-sprint. So, we shifted to Kanban

Podcast editors are in demand.

Hi Awan I founded and managed (for 5 years) a legal and business entrepreneurship program at a leading university. I also created a unique course on entrepreneurship (how to set up a startup from zero). I less focus on internet marketing, but cover all th rest. Let me know if you want to talk. Good luck

I think what you're asking is how do you know when you've reached true product market fit. There is a ton of literature out there on this and if you search for "product market fit" you'll probably have more than enough information to apply to your own business, but it depends a lot on the product and the market you are in. Some businesses, like those going after B2B, small businesses, have a harder time reaching "critical mass" because those markets are extremely fragmented. Others like Facebook, that targeted small, close knit communities with high k factors and word of mouth virality (colleges), can gain traction over night and can be very apparent. I would look for inflection points in key metrics that you are watching for your business: CPA (cost per acquisition), Organic/Non-paid acquisition, referrals, key retention metrics etc. to see if your k-factor is increasing. This can be a good leading indicator that you have reached product market fit. Good luck and if you'd like to chat more let me know!

Hi! A lot of my customers in the construction industry run into the same problem. The dollar amounts, any legal considerations, and other factors, should all be considered, and I'm sure will make a difference in how applicable these suggestions are to you. I would look into, or test, the following: 1. Changing your receivables process may rely on key Sales Process improvements. I'm happy to talk it through with you, and help you find the right solution. 2. You said it, but the first/best option is to make your customer the bank. Have them pay in draws/milestones/stages (whatever lingo their comfortable with) to cover your costs, and ideally pay you, as you go. 3. Offer a discount for paying the job up front and in-full. 4. I understand the bank offered a very small line of credit, but I imagine you'd do a bit better with a credit card. Estimate the monthly debt servicing cost per job, and charge your customer accordingly. This gives you the option to offer a discount if paid in full and upfront, without affecting your actual price or profit. ONLY exercise this option if you are disciplined enough to use the credit extended to you as intended and responsibly. 5. If you have a way of securing the short term debt, or maybe even if you can’t secure it, see if anyone you know who has some cash would be willing to buy options on your jobs’ profits or keep a running secured line of credit with you. If you don’t have anything with which you can secure a line of credit, see if working with an investor with small amounts at first, will lead to a trust and understanding of your business, that could lead to bigger amounts. Examples- You win a job paying $100K, but it will cost you $50K before you collect the payment in full 30-60 days after winning the job. a) You own a work truck worth $130K - use it as collateral to borrow $50k from an investor at a reasonable rate, for 30-60 days at time, to cover your costs until you can collect the full amount rom your customers. b) Sell an Option on X% of the profits. In this example, the investor buys the option for $50K, and you guarantee, let’s call it 3% of the profit, plus their initial investment. When you get paid the full $100k, they get $1,500 plus their $50K original investment back. If you make more, they get a little more. If you make less, they get a little less. I'm happy to jump on a call to talk through more solutions that fit you best or to follow up. I’m not a legal or tax professional or expert. Do your own research and consult with someone who is a professional before using any of the ideas above.

Hi! Having sold a number of different products and services to companies ranging from one man operations to Fortune 500 companies I believe I can help you get some clarity, despite not being an expert on retreats. First- I'm willing to bet you have more questions than you listed. Is that accurate? Do you think it'd be easier to talk it through over a call? If so, schedule a call, and I'd be happy to talk you through these questions and assist with your whole sales process, your funnel, and goals, as well as the tools and tactics needed. One key strategy is at the end of this answer. We're missing some key info, including - What type of retreat you're trying to sell, what's the price point, who are the target companies, etc... which would definitely help. Absent these answers, I'll do my best to address your questions. - Design the sales funnel after you have a lot more information about your customer and their buying behavior. I’m happy to help with this over a call. - Prequalifying depends heavily on a lot of different factors we don't have just yet, but here's some general sales insight. The two best pre-qualifiers are: A) can they afford your product/service and B) do they have both an actual and, more importantly, a perceived need for it? - Should you cold call/email? YES! That’s an emphatic yes. You can and should cold call/email/follow/connect/DM your target customers! -Who to contact will be something you learn quickly when you get some more info. -As far as what companies look for in a retreat - I have guesses, but I’m sure you know that answer better than me. Better yet, let your customer answer that for you. To wrap this up, I’d say there’s a key strategy that would benefit you greatly at this stage. Do some Sales Dev. Find a number of companies (I’d suggest at least over 100) that you’d believe could be your customers and get the contact info for the key roles that you think would be Power Sponsors or Decision Makers- I can help you with this step if you’d like. The best next step would be to set up calls to get more information (not selling, yet!) and the second best would be to email them a survey/form(I can help you set this up if you need). The goal of this action would be to find your questions above plus get all the extra information that will help you sell. Sometimes just having a contributing voice in a yet-to-be-developed product or service is cool enough to the participant that they don’t need extra incentive. It’s typically best if you incentivize their participation with some type of value add. Examples a % discount off the service when it’s offered, pre-sale discount pricing, access to aggregated information that’s valuable to them, and sometimes even a starbucks or amazon gift card. Please let me know if this helped. This sounds like a fun and interesting business. I’d love to help out.

It depends on the exhibitions. So exhibition organizers only you let you use their stands/stalls with limited options for changes (less common), some refer you to a list of 'approved' stand installers/designers (fairly common), and others let you do whatever you want so long as you follow a few basic safety guidelines (and stay within your stand limits). For the last option, there is a wide variety of service providers. I am in touch with an international stand creator - they create very unique stands, but they aren't cheap. If you have a high enough budget and are in the US or Europe, I could connect you. Good luck

It depends on the exhibitions. So exhibition organizers only you let you use their stands/stalls with limited options for changes (less common), some refer you to a list of 'approved' stand installers/designers (fairly common), and others let you do whatever you want so long as you follow a few basic safety guidelines (and stay within your stand limits). For the last option, there is a wide variety of service providers. I am in touch with an international stand creator - they create very unique stands, but they aren't cheap. If you have a high enough budget and are in the US or Europe, I could connect you. Good luck

This depends on the nature of your business, the requirements on how to develop it and on the locations involved. I'm not aware of your case, but I'd suggest that you are starting in a familiar environment (UK?) and then work remotely from anywhere in the world. This means lesser risks (language, regulatory framework, support...). Of course working remotely becomes rather challenging if you are running a "nuts & bolts" operations like a restaurant or a logistics company. You can then establish a presence outside the UK in a 2nd step, to expand your network but also to show commitment to that new market. Furthermore: depending on where you go, having a "home base" in the UK can be leveraged as an advantage.

I always recommend to continue working on the business in parallel with keeping an eye out for a cofounder. As you continue to move forward, it will become easier to get others interested and passionate about joining you. Keep potential cofounders that you may have already met updated on progress, so that they can see you're not just someone with a good idea, you're driven to implement it too. As they see you continue to make progress they will become increasingly interested in joining and helping you, as they see the potential develop, and what's clear in your eyes becomes more clear in theirs. Also, as you continue to build the startup, you will continue to iterate and validate it, and you'll get better at understanding and presenting to others its core exciting features / values, which will further help you pitch it to potential cofounders. Best of luck, and feel free to let me know if you'd like to discuss this or any other aspects of your startup in more detail Lee

Hi The best method in which to learn how to manage your relationship with the distributors, would be to read as many (at least 2-3) distributor agreements - as this will give you a good understanding of what to avoid/focus on/address when dealing with them. You can find some free examples online. I just recently finished drafting such an agreement for one of my clients and would be happy to give you some pointers if needed. Good luck

Godaddy is pain for developers and technical people, as it is set up for simple things. You can use any good hosting companies or any cloud servers. But if you need to talk to a human godaddy is a good option. Scalability will not be an issue with Godaddy, as they can sell you any infrastructure when you grow bigger.

Most businesses operating within the U.S. are obligated to file federal income tax returns, as well as state tax returns depending upon the state from which the business operates, the residency of its owners, and the business activities of the company. There are also additional filing requirements if you have non U.S. owners within the business structure. Happy to discuss in more detail.

There are a lot of pieces to this, but I'm glad you're asking. This can absolutely be done DIY, but you're right, it's time consuming and there are a lot of pieces to keep track of. An agency will already have a process in place to manage these different pieces for you. My agency specializes in PR, branding and digital marketing, so check us out if hiring an agency is an option for you - https://redchalkstudios.com/. For a DIY approach: - Instagram campaigns are managed using Facebook Ads platform. As a marketer, that's a nice feature, I can manage both FB and IG campaigns in one place. LinkedIn has it's own ads platform called Campaign Manager (https://www.linkedin.com/ad-beta/accounts). - For blogs, it's best to be consistent, but don't write for the sake of writing. Make sure to plan a content schedule that you can keep up with. For blog ideas, there are some awesome resources. SEMRush has a content idea generation feature, there are sites like AnswerThePublic where you can enter a keyword and it will populate common questions around that subject that you can answer with your posts. - Networking is something I'm personally working on, too. Each Monday I log into Meetup, Eventbrite and Facebook and search their "Business" categories for networking events. - Attending these networking events is also a great way to meet the event coordinators and introduce yourself as a possible event host and speaker. Also, if you do a Google search for "call for speakers" you'll find conferences/summits that are looking for speakers for their events. - Producing in-person events takes some planning. Who is your target audience? What are the problems they face with their business that you can coach them on? How big do you want the event? And how much do you want to charge? Where are you going to have it? There are a lot of logistics. Take notes during the events you attend as to what you like about how the event is held before you start planning your own. Hope this helps!

Hi I have personally used Wordpress for numerous projects - both simple and complicated, and in all cases the websites have worked fine and have been easy to manage. A good place to hire someone to build the website for you at reasonable prices is on Fiverr. Just be sure that you have a very clear specification document (description of the project) and that you clearly define expectations with the programmer. If it’s a project that costs more than $3,000, and if you’re using someone in the same country as you are located, then I would consider drafting a services agreement. I can help you with any and all of the above if needed. Good luck

1. E&Y 2. KPMG are big name in security auditing .They are one of the best around the world.