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What is a B Corp?

Before we even dive into what a “B corp” is, we need to talk about terminology. Like a C corps or an S corps, people are often referring to a “benefit corporation” when they say “B corp.” But B corp is actually different from a benefit corporation, although they’re related.

A benefit corporation is…

A benefit corporation is a type of formal legal business structure, like a C corp or S corp. In addition to making a profit, shareholders hold benefit corporations responsible to contributing in some way to the public good. In some states, benefit corporations are required to produce proof that they’re contributing to the public good. They’re taxed the same way as C corps, which means they’re subject to double taxation.

Benefit...

As an employer, I hate what I’m about to tell you.

The best way to fund your startup company is to stay at your current job.

I’m not suggesting you stay employed so you can steal office supplies and clients. What I’m telling you is that you can make starting a business significantly less burdensome if you’re still pulling In a regular paycheck.

As long as you’re willing to invest your moonlight hours to develop your business, continuing to take a salary while launching your startup company is basically like asking your current employer to fund your new startup – without actually asking them.

There’s a way to have your cake and eat it too. It has less to do with deception and trickery, relying instead upon commitment and focus. The goal is t...

Women are starting businesses at impressive rates — but they’re still not getting as much money to fund those new businesses and startups as men are.

According to research from Kaufman, 40 percent of first time entrepreneurs in the United States are women. Even more impressive? The number of women-run businesses in the US is growing at twice the rate of man-owned businesses.

But women aren’t getting nearly as much money for those businesses as men are. In the startup world, women founders got only 2 percent of VC funding in 2017.

That means women are forced to look to other money sources when they’re looking to launch a startup or small business. And many are looking specifically for business loans for women.

However, there aren’t actually...

When we want to achieve a certain goal or go somewhere, we plan for it. Why? Simply because taking action and not thinking of the consequences that goes along with it produces chaos and a waste of resources such as time, effort, and money.

Why A Startup Business Plan is necessary

For instance, our lives. I’m pretty sure we all have a plan for our own lives. We want to achieve this and that by a certain age. We look forward the next day because we have a plan to fulfil.

Why do we do this? It’s not because we’re bored or nothing better to do but because we value our life. We want it to be meaningful. We don’t just want to survive, we want to live.

And for this same thing, we need to have a startup business plan. We didn’t think of building i...

In today’s world, you’re likely going to pitch far more investors through an initial email than you will in person. A great email pitch won’t necessarily get you a meeting but a bad one will definitely prevent one. Therefore creating the perfect email pitch is essential.

The perfect email pitch is a little longer than a commercial, but not anywhere near as long as an infomercial. Your goal is to pique the investors’ interest by tapping into each of the key areas they are interested in.

Key Ingredients

Investors hear hundreds of pitches per month, but in each case they are looking for a few key ingredients that make them lean in and ask for more.

The key ingredients for an email pitch can best be described by what the inves...

CHAPTER TWO: Control The Venue

In This Chapter:

-How to control the location, medium and time of meetings
-How to optimize your schedule for each meeting medium
-How to share your “Go-To” preferences

Once you’ve managed to get your arms around the optimal duration for meetings, you can take your scheduling to another level by optimizing the venues.

The typical cadence of a meeting goes something like this:

It’s not that hard to figure out how to pitch angel investors properly. Most of it comes down to common sense and just treating angel investors the way you would want to be treated.

Despite what you may think, if you want to pitch angel investors you’re not expected to go through some elaborate sales routine. It’s a matter of presenting great information in a compelling way, but doing so honestly and with compassion.

Start with the Elevator Pitch

The first thing you’re going to send to angel investors is your elevator pitch. Your elevator pitch isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a short, well-crafted explanation of the problem you solve, how you solve it, and how big of a market there is for that solution. That’s it. You don’t need to “sell” the ang...

Do you know all of the possible types of business your startup could be? It’s probably not at the top of the list — but it should be. The legal formation of your business — or, in other words, the type of business you form — affects everything from the structure of your company to your personal and professional liability to how you pay taxes. It’s a lot — we know.

And when you’re setting up a startup, you have a lot going on. You have to figure out your market. You have to determine what you’re going to sell them. You have to create a website, social media presence, a blog. You have to pitch and find investment and, and, and…

The list is so long that it can be overwhelming. But if you’re committed to getting a startup going, then you’re com...

What is a minority-owned business?

In order to be considered a "minority" in the world of small business, you must be at least 25%...

• African-American
• Hispanic-American
• Asian-American
• Pacific Islander
• Alaskan Native
• American Indian

Women-owned businesses, on the other hand, are another category.

In order for a business to qualify as minority-owned, it needs to be at least 51% owned by a person or persons from one of those groups.

Additionally, you’ll often need to be certified as a minority business enterprise (MBE) or a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) in order to qualify for certain loans or grants.

That’s not the case for all loans and grants, however, so make sure it’s a requirement before going through the process of gettin...

A weird thing started happening about five to ten years ago. In cities across the country, coffee shops rapidly made the transition from lively spaces full of chatter, dates, friends, and books to libraries inhabited by intense humans staring into screens, each in their own earphone-isolated world.

I was one of those people; one of the first to start working remotely when I wasn’t able to get a “real job” during the Great Recession.

Back then, even as the coffee shops filled to a breaking point and people waged passive aggressive evil eye wars over the too-few plug points, we were still in the minority.

Today, however, we’ve added coworking spaces in every major city and more than a few minor ones, but coffee shops are still packed to break...