http://teamreserve.io is the product of 3 co-founders whilst https://valapp.io is effectively a solo run startup.

In this episode, we compare the two approaches and discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of each.

A co-founded organisation tends to have multiple hands working towards a common goal but each must pull their weight in order for all to win.

we talk about how to find the right co-founders, negotiating the share agreements and decision making.

The solo-preneur enjoys his freedom but sometimes feels a bit lonely. especially when it comes to making some decisions that would affect the future of the company. There is no one to bounce certain ideas off of. Suffering in silence is certainly a big concern in the solo-preneur's life.

We talk about accelerators, what they are and how to prepare to be interviewed by them.

Let us know about your company structure and how to cope with its specific issues.

https://www.inc.com/matt-given/do-you-need-a-co-founder-this-surprising-new-study.html

#startup #entrepreneur #cofounder #solo-preneur #accelerator

Thank you for listening to this episode. 

Today we discuss the founders discover new competitors to their respective businesses. Emeka and Uwa will expose how the threats felt and how they have decided to proceed.

#entrepreneurs always look out for threats to their operations. How they deal with this situation eventually determines how the business survives.

Also, in this episode, we discuss the elevator pitch #elevatorpitch. #statup #business #entrepreneurship.

We would love to hear from you. feel free to contact us.

teamreserve: http://www.teamreserve.io

valapp: https://valapp.io

In this episode, Emeka and Uwa discuss some of the health issues that can occur as a result of entrepreneurs pushing their bodies to their limits. 

There is evidence that suggests almost 50% of entrepreneurs suffer from a mental health issue. Uwa, for one, had a physical issue that his doctor attributed to one of five things - Stress, Age, Lifestyle, Genetics or Change in Workload.

So the question for you, dear #entrepreneur, is, are 50% of entrepreneurs mad or are all entrepreneurs mad 50% of the time. Might still work out to be the same thing, all things considered.

The stats mentioned in the podcast are all from one of the links below. 

The common solutions to help with the issues startup founders face are networking, taking regular breaks, more sleep, absence from alcohol, nicotine and caffeine, etc

This journey can be lonely at times and demands a lot of resilience. If you start to feel overwhelmed do not suffer in silence. Please, speak to somebody, either a trusted family member, friend and/or professional

Let us know if you have any suggestions or ideas.

Mental and Physical Health

Business Failure Rate

Welcome to our first podcast of 2020. In this episode we list our business goals for 2020 with measurable content. However, we begin the podcast by discussing Emeka's experience from his very first startup networking event.

This podcast offers some insight into the resources that already exist out there in the world. If you do not seek them out you may never find them.

You can, literally, complete your team from like-minded individuals you meet at these meetups. If you are looking for a similar event in your area search https://meetup.com for your preferred area.

Emeka had a major win this week. Wonderful news of how he signed up an excited partner. Congratulations Emeka, wish you many more successes.

Uwa has finally produced and released his explainer video and a how-to video, for good measure.

From around 28 minutes, we start to discuss our #startup #goals. As #Entrepreneurs we've been told to set them and aim for them. That is what we have done.

If you have your own goals, do not hesitate to share them with us.

For valapp.io, one of the goals is to have a completed pitch deck by end of January 2020. If you would like to create a pitch deck for your own business check this out for ideas on what you need to include.

For teamreserve.io, amongst the goals is the target of signing up 50 partners by the end of the 2020.

Both businesses want to raise funds to help move forward with good traction.

Please, subscribe and stay in touch.

In this part of the Fund Raising episode, we talk about our startups and how we can apply these fund raising ideas, or not, to out startups.

these wannabe entrepreneurs are struggling to determine if its a good idea to raise funds now and if they are prepared for the consequences.

Some of the tests a business owner would face might well hinge on the choices they make as it relates to fund raising.

What are the beliefs that guide such decisions? are they real or just limiting? could these beliefs be backed up by facts? how does one break out from the malaise caused by potential indecision or incorrect choices?

do you as an #entrepreneur have someone who would act as a sounding boarding for your decisions and finally how do you measure the results?

we would love to hear from you. feel free to contact us via email or by voicemail.

In this episode, we talk about fund raising and who should be going for funding.

The two wannabes talk about and explain seed funding, bootstrapping, series a/b/c/d etc.

From our perspective, there are things you must consider as an #Entrepreneur before you rush headlong into raising money from an external investor.

Here are a few funding options to consider https://www.profitbooks.net/funding-options-to-raise-startup-capital-for-your-business/

We discuss most of them in this episode.

Some areas where you can raise funds include: 

In this Episode of WANNABE Entrepreneurs, Emeka and Uwa give updates on the progress they've made on their startups. They celebrate some of the goals achieved and delve a bit more into their plans for the following week.

Whilst listening to the update you will understand, their desire to do what they believe to be best for their dream whilst remaining cognisant of the end goal.

This episode provides the greatest insight into different ways of working with software developers, handling user feedback and juggling the founder's feature list, the cost of implementing the feature and actually doing what the customer wants.

For the first time, both WANNABEs, mistakenly :-), accomplished some semblance of the goals they committed to in the previous Episode. Well done WANNABEs, onto the next one.

Emeka's Goals

Uwa's Goals

Next week, we talk about "WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO START LOOKING FOR FUNDING?"

In this episode Emeka and Uwa discuss crucial points that must be considered in deciding if a business is worth pursuing.

Specifically, we address "Cost of Acquisition" and "Customer Lifetime Value".

Cost of Acquisition is essentially how much it would cost to get a customer to use your site or app. Costs include fees for advertising, marketing and follow-up.

Customer Lifetime Value is the total amount of money a customer will spend on your site before moving onto other things or unsubscribing from your service.

I ask probing questions about the Lifetime Value and why it is even necessary.

Business Update:

Emeka and Uwa give an update on how their businesses have faired this week.

Both had issues achieving their targets and one of us actually unilaterally changed the goal :-o

Issues Included:

This is our best episode yet. Listen and enjoy.

Send us questions, comments or any other feedback.

Useful Links

https://blog.hubspot.com/service/how-to-calculate-customer-lifetime-value

https://medium.com/swlh/5-simple-ways-to-calculate-customer-lifetime-value-5f49b1a12723

This is episode 5 of the WANNABE Entrepreneurs podcast. In this podcast Emeka and Uwa discussed some of the delays they've found have tried to hinder their best laid plans on the path to working on their businesses full time.

They discover that sometimes the solution to the challenges one faces are right there staring you in the face.

Whilst exploring the solution, which is to talk to those around you, the issue of revealing your idea to an idea thief came up. It is our shared belief that most ideas cannot be stolen. Each idea carries with it the unique signature of the originator. An idea thief is merely an impostor and would soon burn out.

Don't let this stop you. you need to step out to be seen.

Another point that came up is that sometimes someone not tied to the internal workings of your business could actually do a better job or can make an easier job of marketing your business.

Take a step back from your idea sometimes in order to be able to sell it.

Here we used the term "MVP" quite a lot. MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. This is essentially the minimum number of features required to get the product or business you are working on released. The MVP, it is believed, saves you from endlessly writing new features and never knowing if those features are actually wanted by the customer. So, get to MVP and then ship.

Uwa gets a kick up the backside for constantly writing code and adding features whilst he should be focusing on marketing the solution. Its been over two weeks and he still hasnt done his videos. He has written the script for one of them though ;-)

Uwa should aim to create a community, find a way to create content for social media marketing sustainably and find a way to reach potential customers.

Uwa needs to complete the instructional videos and the marketing work by end of the week.

Emeka has good news this week. 

His landing page is now up and running. YIPPEEEEE!!!!

Over the next week Emeka wants to get his application to MVP stage by:

1. Completing the on-boarding of studios. At least one more studio should be on the site

2. End users must be able to complete a booking from doing a search to actually having a session booked.

----- Links to tools mentioned on the cast -----

Pexel - this is a good source of images. Most, if not all, are royalty free

https://www.pexels.com/

Canva - use this create images you can use on your social media channels. the format the images to the correct sizes for you and you can add captions. All free of course

https://www.canva.com

So one might take an image from pexels, format it via canvas and then use it on social media. I was paying for this solution for years. Up until last month in fact. And the quality of the one I paid for was not as good as what I got from canva and pexel.

Flipboard Mobile App - This gives you news articles related to the categories you select on registration. Very good for news and sources of content.

In this episode we discuss 3 ways you can select the one business idea you should be focusing on.

Do market research to ascertain the demand and market fit.

We list things like key aspects to consider such as your passion, skillset, experience, etc

It is also ok not to start your own business but to join an already existing enterprise. Either it is best to keep shipping.

As always, we provide the weekly update on how we got on with our own endeavours.

Let us know your thoughts and any feedback you might have.