Business Growth Café

So you’re thinking about starting a business or maybe already have and now you are looking for investors.

You’re enthusiastic…who wouldn’t want to buy your product.  After all, it’s a billion-dollar market and all you need is just ½ of 1 %.  Then…you’ll sell.

But the journey from idea to an MVP to launch to growth is a long and not always straight road.  

Joining me at the Cafe this week is Xandra Laskowski is the founder and CEO of OSEA Angel Investors is a membership-based, women-focused angel investment group focused on and driven by executives and entrepreneurs with diverse and successful backgrounds to shed some light on the world of investing. 

Perryn Holtrop, Founder, and CEO of Pay Nation joined me at the Cafe this week to discuss the good, bad, and ugly of accepting credit cards for your business. During this conversation, we'll add clarity for those thinking of accepting cards and the areas you need to be careful you don't step in!

At the Café, I’ve invited Rich Cocuzzo, the founder and president of Sales Velocity Advisors, to talk war stories, the good, the bad, and the ugly of today’s business environment and to provide some insights on what to do and not to do when it comes to planning your sales strategies and tactics, especially during our current COVID-business environment.

Ryan Mason, CEO, and Founder, of Luxe Brands and BizBuzz, has had an incredible journey from sports to business, where one dream was crushed, yet like the phoenix, he has risen and leveraged his dedication to sports into thriving businesses.  An inspirational story for any entrepreneur.

As business owners, we spend so much time working in our business thinking about sales, cash flow, employees, competition, operations, we forget to not only spend time working on our business but frankly, working on ourselves.

At the Café I have Matt DeCoursey, CEO and Founder of FullScale.io, how of the podcast Startup Hustle and Author of the book Million Dollar Bedroom here to offer up some great advice on the importance of building your personal brand.

David Oates, Crisis PR Expert and founder of Public Relations Security Services joins me at the Business Growth Cafe to discuss why every company needs to have a crisis plan in place, not only to protect your reputation but also your company.

Katie Wagner founder, CEO of KWSM, A Digital Marketing Agency joins me at the Café to answer your questions and to offer up some great advice on the importance of implementing an effective digital strategy and campaign for your business.

In the world of startups getting a business off the ground is not easy.  There is so much work that goes into developing the plans, product, testing, etc. etc., yet in 60 seconds or less, that dream can come to an end.

Why, because their investor pitch didn’t go so well.  This may have been the result of the entrepreneur themselves…or in many cases, their pitch deck didn’t communicate and the brilliance of their idea got lost in the sea of pages, numbers, and rambling that caused the potential investor to say to themselves, next!

At the Café, Jasmine Foroutan, CEO of Pitch Genius joins me to offer up some advice on what a great and effective pitch deck should include.

I was inspired by a movie I recently watched called The Ultimate Gift. It's based on a book written by Jim Stovall.  Without giving the premise away, there are 12 gifts discussed in the movie that I believe are gifts we have all given, received, or wish we had.  Please listen in as I believe you will find this conversation relevant given the times we are living in.  Hopefully, in the end, you will find this is my gift to you!

As a business owner, you dream of cashing out one day.  The big score! But what is your company really worth?  Maybe not as much you believe it is?  What is the right exit strategy for you?  Sell the company?  Be acquired?  Merge?  Or, as another thought, sell it to the people that helped grow your business.

At the Café, I have Chris Kramer, Managing Director of Strategic Equity Group to discuss ESOP’s (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) as an exit strategy.

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