Live Q&As

Depending on your business, online advertising can be an inexpensive and somewhat effective tool to build brand awareness to a target group of customers.  Advertising platforms are sophisticated in their ability to use customer behavior for ad placement.  However, you get what you pay for - you are still focused on customers that might not be looking for the product you are selling.  Small businesses might be better served by lead generation platforms that might better connect you with potential customers, even though you may have to give them a higher percentage of your revenue.  If you are bricks and mortar -- focus on promotions that will drive foot traffic.  

This is a tough one to answer in just a few sentences as it really depends on a number of factors.  Start building your model based on expected traffic, expected revenue per customer based on price points (is this fast food or sit-down, low-end or hig- end?), throughput of customers per meal (are you open for breakfast, lunch or dinner? etc.) You also need to forecast how long it will take for traffic to ramp up and how much will it cost to drive traffic.  Also, think through the mix of new customers and repeat.  Is this something people will eat once a week or once a month?  You also need to think through the ongoing expenses - once you build out the space, you'll still have food expense, which can be expensive.  Since you can't store most food inventory for very long, you have to figure out a sophisticated approach to forecasting demand.  So...you have a lot of questions to ask yourself. 

There are certainly a lot of options out there for sweet tooths -- so clearly there is a business model to be found.  The issue will be finding a niche for yourself among the many cupcake companies.  The takeaway from the proliferation of cupcake and hamburger chains has been that people are willing to pay for high end treats.  If we are going to eat "unhealthy," we want to do it right.  This is also part of an experience - so creating a unique experience for buying candy, cupcakes, chocolate or all three is part of the model just as much as the products themselves.  Look at what has been successful among brands like Georgetown Cupcake, Pinkberry and Elevation Burger and think about what they have done well and where there might be additional opportunities that their current product lines don't address.  

President Obama has already shown his commitment to supporting small business and entrepreneurship through the  Startup America Initiative and the JOBS Act.  I expect that continue. However, I think there is a lot more to it than just tax rates and reporting requirements -- entrepreneurship is a state of mind that we need to continue to see as solution to solving the many problems we face.  Turning problems into opportunities for innovation and job creation -- that is where entrepreneurship and startups can really make an impact.  We need to focus on the success stories and celebrate more role models that have started businesses.  

Before investing your entire nest egg, think about how you can test the market for your services.  Talk to health-care professionals first and understand their current demand, how much they will be willing to pay for a retainer and what kind of pilot arrangement they'd be willing to commit to.  Understand your competition - are they using other providers (which would require switching costs) or are they not engaging any providers (which might mean a longer sales cycle because they don't have a budget)? Try to forecast  when you might line up some initial paying clients and when you will have enough for the business to be sustainable.  If you don't have enough runway in your savings, you may need to think about initialy  consulting as part of a group or on the side before you fully commit. 

I'd put potential books into a few categories.  First look for biographies of entrepreneurs that might inspire you, such as Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. Then look for some books that might help you think through your business concept and how to execute - like Eric Ries' "The Lean Startup" or" The Business Model Generation."  I'd also look for books that are relevant to your area of expertise, whether it be technology, consulting, social entrepreneurship.  That should give you a good start after you wake up from your turkey...

The great thing about being a student is that you are likely surrounded by a lot of creative people and resources.  Go to the art department at your college and see if there is anyone who needs a project for your class.  There are also a lot of Web sites for crowdsourced/curated logos.  Same goes for Web sites - go find the computer science students who might be interested in getting involved with your company.  As for the logo - it isn't necessary priority #1 or #2, but it does help you express your brand and vision.  It also makes things feel more legit and serious if you can see your company name.  Make sure you do a lot of market testing on company names and logos before you go  live -- it can be very expensive to rebrand so you want to do it right the first time.  

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are making your way out of other financial difficulty..but perhaps this business will eventually give you the stability you need if this is an area where you can really flourish. 

Yes, get smart and educate yourself.  Learning from others successes and mistakes is better, faster and cheaper than learning from your own. 

Coincidentally I have a cousin exploring this business model -- a socially-conscious/community approach to launching a restaurant.  A rising tide lifts all boats - if the community supports a restaurant either through philanthropic monetary donations or through supplies - does it bring more business to the community or create stronger ties?  These social ventures are difficult because it is hard to measure success and continue investment.  How long do you measure if this investment is improving the community? How long do you give to show success? Like any business, it always takes twice as long and twice as much money to reach profitability.  You'd really have to find the right investors or suppliers that truly understand your mission and are willing to support for the long haul.  Your business plan would need to show some certainty on those commitments or outline other back up options. 

This area has an abundance of resources for entrepreneurs -- whether through MD's TEDCO, Small Business Development Centers, Choose Maryland, Northern Virginia Tech Council, SBA universities like UMD, Georgetown, GW, and George Mason, Maryland Biotechnology Center, the list goes on and on.  

VC firms will need to be open minded about crowdsourced funding due to its increasing popularity on sites like Angel List.  These sites also give VCs insight into deal flow and help build future pipeline of early stage deals.  Entrepreneurs do need to be aware of their capitalization and careful about having too many small investors that might cause problems in later rounds.  I think crowdfunding can be a helpful substitute to a friends and family round - to help fund development so you can test the market.  Beyond that, I think it is important to really know your investors and what they can bring to the table in exchange for equity.  Angel investing is very risky even for the most sophisticated investors, so the diligence really needs to go both ways.  Crowdfunding helps bridge that gap from idea to prototype or early product-- but doesn't necessarily provide the type of capital needed to move from product to execution.