Filtering an entrepreneur and truth in marketing
# Entrepreneur of the Week and Dim Bright # Post 5
Familiar with these success photos with a free guide designed to upgrade your life?
Write "I" in the comments. ?
This is a post that is probably going to annoy a lot of entrepreneurs. And rightly so.
Why? Read and understand.
In the beginning, when professional Facebook groups were less common,
The bulk of the entrepreneurs' self-marketing was “that one is a cheater, but I am not. Then choose me. ”
Can connect to the line of thought at the marketing level, but admits I never understood it.
I want to choose the one that suits me best from the good guys. Why is a cheater even an option?
(I define the rules of the game, remember? # Post 4)
Then came the guides of "10 tips for choosing an entrepreneur" or "7 questions for filtering an entrepreneur" etc.
Written how not .. by entrepreneurs.
This usually amounted to the same point as the previous marketing strategy - the entrepreneur who advertises "by chance" meets all the requirements on the list, and the obvious conclusion is to go for it.
Want samples? Accept.
Over X years of experience in the field / Success in the real estate crisis in 2008.
Between us, how does it help me? Yes, it filters a lot of entrepreneurs. But seniority does not necessarily indicate experience.
Suppose you are looking for a flip, what would you prefer?
An entrepreneur who has been in the field for a year but has already made 30 transactions or an entrepreneur who has been in the field for 6 years and made a similar amount of transactions? (5-6 flips a year is also nice for an entrepreneur)
Admit it is a bit of a tricky question because there are more parameters. But you got the point.
Ask for recommendations!
Recommend as their name implies - recommend.
An entrepreneur will probably not send me an investor who is quarreling with him, even with justice he was with the entrepreneur.
Or alternatively, investors from a successful investment versus investors from a failed transaction.
And if he's a dubious type, he can even bring in phones from people who have not necessarily invested with him.
what do we do with it? How do you get more objective information?
Answers in tomorrow's post.
-
How do I act as an investor today?
Get the guide "8 Tips for Vads for Filtering Entrepreneurs":
I even took a photo near Porsche for the impression)
Google.
Doesn't that sound tragic? It's nothing more.
Almost every sting article starts with the sentence: "From a simple search of the entrepreneur's name on Google…"
So start from there and exercise discretion. It will therefore save a lot of time research and mental anguish later.
2. Calf questions.
Many investors try to impress the entrepreneur with their knowledge and proficiency.
Even if they do not have.
It can be quite embarrassing and the developer will pick it up straight.
Maybe he will also play on it and inflate your ego.
I'm not saying you should not do your homework, or be naive. Yes?
Suppose we are on a scale of 1-10?
Download 2 levels of the knowledge you have. On this interval you will see how the entrepreneur reacts to you and his patience. (On Relationships and Communication in the Next Section)
In addition, if the explanation is 2 levels below, you will understand more and identify discrepancies if any.
3. Try to take the entrepreneur out of balance. (Excuse me entrepreneurs?)
It's a bit of a dirty trick I admit, but we're going to put a serious amount on the entrepreneur and we have to make sure that the sweet talk and patience is really part of his character and not just part of the marketing and persuasion moves.
If something goes wrong with your relationship and communication at the stage when they are trying to recruit you, what will happen next when your money is already with him?
Here you can ask questions directly out of nowhere such as: "How do I know you are not cheating on me?"
Sequence of questions without having the opportunity to answer, upload names of competitors you have checked, change requirements in the middle, start tinkering with a mobile in the middle, etc. (Even the previous section sometimes works here)
Of course, keep to the limit of good taste and do not break the man.
There is a difference between heating and burning.
4. Networking.
Perhaps the most important tool I have in an arsenal. It's important enough that I talk about it tomorrow in a separate post.
5. Did we talk about seniority in the beginning? I want to expand.
Beyond the amount of transactions the entrepreneur made and the time frame in which he made them, it is equally important to understand what transactions he made and where?
An entrepreneur who worked for a decade in Israel and has now started working in the US, it's great that he has such experience in real estate, but in the US things work a little differently.
An entrepreneur who is active in the US in the field of rentals and flips and offers me a commercial deal that he found, not sure I will go with him on the deal even if it is an entrepreneur that I already have experience with and I trust him.
6. Not every entrepreneur is an entrepreneur. (Did I tell you this is a post that is going to be annoying?)
People in the country have a tendency to present things in a way that they think you would like to hear.
We inflate a resume, everyone who starts a business is interviewed on TV as an "expert on ...", and everyone who offers you a deal is an entrepreneur.
Let's dwell on the latter - the same entrepreneur who offers you a deal, is this his operation and he is the man in the field?
Is he the one who gives an answer in case things get complicated?
Or is he marketing the deal / recruiting (“collaborating”) / has a local partner and a host of other word games?
That will not be interpreted differently, also to market / recruit / collaborate, etc. is completely legitimate.
It's just not the kind of deal I'll get into today.
I'm looking for the entrepreneur, the person who is there, who is responsible for what happens and runs the show. Do not want a broken phone.
7. I want to talk to the boss.
Continuing from the previous section, today I am no longer content to talk to the salesman at a particular company.
He is an expert, but in sales.
He knew how to present the deal to me very well, probably in a way that would convince me, but he usually got stuck in the difficult questions. And anyway, chances are he won't be there for me if things start to get complicated.
Therefore, it is important to me that combining the examination of the deal and the deal itself will have a direct (and preferably personal) connection with the big boss.
If he's a busy person and we're not allowed to know, that's fine. There are more deals.
This is one of the reasons I invest mostly (but not only) in small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
Sounds a bit condescending maybe, but after a few dozen deals, it keeps you from a lot of trouble afterwards.
8. Control of the transaction.
The section that might annoy entrepreneurs the most.
(Entrepreneurs: there is no such thing, I'm just rambling. Your control, continue to #post6.?)
Once you have transferred the money, you are in a kind of inferior position.
An entrepreneur needs freedom of action in managing the deal, he is the expert, he makes things happen.
What can you do?
A. Contract changes.
Yes. It's possible. And that they will not tell you otherwise.
Directly, in the form of an appendix, a personal contract or .. do not have to take the deal.
Admittedly, sometimes if the contract protects me as a good enough investor, I also do not make changes to the contract.
Do not have the background or patience to read contracts? Transfer to an attorney on your behalf.
It is important to enter into this "marriage" correctly.
B. Direct contact with other investors, if you invest in a group. Do not be left alone in front of a wall in case things do not work out with the developer.
Is the entrepreneur interested in "protecting" investors' privacy? Another excuse, without asking them? Consider if you are interested in continuing.
third. Here I will put together things that are very transaction dependent, therefore change:
Collateral, ownership percentage, contact details of the staff abroad, appointment of a trustee ..
-
It is important to note, none of these clauses alone are invalidated or automatically approved by an entrepreneur,
In the end it's a relationship with people. And people are complex.
Everyone has their limits.
An entrepreneur who did not suit me, can be amazing for someone else and vice versa.
-
How do you filter an entrepreneur?
If you are an entrepreneur, how do you filter an investor?
(In general. After this post I must already be disqualified?)
Responses