Business Funding Indianapolis

This morning, I'm heading out to run the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.  After weeks of training, it all boils down to left, right, left right.

I'm thinking that training and running a race is no different than preparing for funding your company.  Business funding in Indianapolis or any other city involves the same discipline and persistence.

There will be positive days and negative days along the way especially if you are in a project involving business formation.  As a business consulting firm, we see the training from an outsiders perspective.

Our advice: Stick with the training.  When you cross the finish line, you will appreciate all the work along the journey.

What race are you running?

Be+Do+Solve(TM)

The door is open.

The time for complaining about the economy is over.  Whether you are a start-up dealing with business formation issues or a existing company looking for ways to grow your business, it's time to walk through the door.

Business owners need to take a step back from the noise and review the landscape.  Broadly speaking, business are failing and people are losing jobs.  Upon further review, some businesses are failing due to bad management or lack of investing in their infrastructure during the good times.  If your organization is looking to survive or grow, you may want to explore strategies outside of working with banks or grants for funding sources to assist with growth.

For example, one of our clients, a start-up, is working on closing their first round of funding.  They will use the funding to begin production of their product.  In concert with the funding round, they have secured LOIs (Letters of Intent) and other agreements which will generate revenue in their first year.  As a potential solution, we have been approached by and are in talks with several marketing firms which can make the investment.  The marketing firm would be the strategic partner and investor.  The revenues of both companies are projected to benefit from this partnership.

Although we are a business consulting firm based in Indianapolis, we are observing the success of alternative business models from Seattle to South Africa.

Have you been successful with strategic partners investing in your business?

Be+Do+Solve(TM)

This morning, I read a press release with title "National Law Enforcement Leaders: Dropout Rates Fueling Violent Crime" issued by an organization named Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

The global education landscape has many issues.  This press release focuses on the issues in the United States.  Once again, the pundits and officials have convened to report on a report that high school dropouts in the United States are less likely to be productive members of society.

The press release speaks to the lost wages and taxes, and the costs for incarceration. The sad thing is that this is yet another group of adults that are wasting money gathering data that yields the same results and trends from a decade ago.

In my opinion, let's stop wasting money on reports and invest (time, money and skills) in our youth.  Too often, we cut the funding or invest in archaic, corrupt or mismanaged school systems.  If these school systems were corporations, they would be out of business. 

The corporate world needs to take action as well.  For a sustainable business, you need a diverse a deep talent pool.  As dropout rates increase and graduation rates decrease, the talent pool is depleted.  One way to help your chances is to include high school internships in you strategic plan implementation.

You might ask what we are doing at S4X to help the cause.  We require our employees to volunteer 1% of annual hours worked.  Personally, I am a mentor in the Starfish Initiative in Indianapolis.

You might want to pay attention if you are not involved.  The future of your business is at stake.  In the United States, we easily create business solutions yet we have difficulty creating solutions for the education system.  What are your thoughts on the education system in your area?

Be+Do+Solve (TM)

In the City of Indianapolis, there is a major decision about to happen related to the funding of art programs and organizations.  According to a recent article in the Indianapolis Business Journal, due to budget deficits (not unlike many other cities in the United States), the funding for the arts could potentially be phased out over the next three years.

Multiple online communities and social networking sites including one by the Arts Council of Indianapolis have been create a dialogue and to post comments and concerns.

From a business perspective, I understand why cuts need to happen in the short term.  However, expenses can be decreased without sacrificing an often overlooked business development and employee attraction/retention.

In today's market, the "quality of life" quotient is a key reason why people live, work and play in a given location.  As an entrepreneur trying to attract the best talent for your team, you need all the help you can get.  This includes the arts and cultural aspects of your community.

What do you, your employees, friends and family members do when they are not working?  I'd guess that the arts are involved in more ways than you think.

Be+Do+Solve (TM)