29Nov
Building an Advisory Board

Building an advisory board is an overlooked tool that is very beneficial to a business. It consists of a hand-selected group of advisors that believe in your leadership and are there for the sole purpose of providing strategic advice for your business. They are aligned with your culture and mission and are committed to your success. However, forming the perfect advisory board for you may take quite a bit of planning in order to see a strong return on investment. Do not worry though, that is why we are here to help and give you guidelines before you build your own advisory board!

Know who you are and what you stand for

Complete your Values, Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan first. You must know what you stand for, why you exist, and where you are going. You must be able to articulate this to any prospective board member. Think about creating an advisory board composed of people who have already achieved what you are trying to achieve so that you can learn from both their successes and their mistakes. In addition, you must be able to share your target customer profiles and your competitive landscape.

Goals/plan

Create a set of objectives you want your company to reach. By outlining your goals, it allows you to select members that help you reach these objectives. This also sets expectations for your advisory board members. It gives them an idea of what their role and purpose will be while serving on your advisory board. By creating these expectations, it allows you to get exactly what your company needs. The wrong advisors will be a waste of time and money and can potentially lead you down the wrong path.

Choosing the right people

Diversify

After outlining what expertise you and your start-up may lack, it is time to start looking for the right people. Selecting the right advisors is just as important as selecting the right employees. Each person should bring a different background, that way your advisory board will be able to cover every area and offer different perspectives. For example, cybersecurity is now a critical addition to any board. Typically, you want to aim for a small group ranging from no more than 4 people. If you choose carefully then a small group of people will suffice. The smaller the better since it will make for easier communication between you and your members.

Term of Membership

It is often difficult to recruit advisory board members: it is always more difficult to terminate their membership. Advisory board members tend to get comfortable with their positions and take initiative to remove them as personal criticism. Therefore, it may be useful to appoint members to a specific term (one, two, or three years) so that an active step has to be taken to renew membership, rather than to withdraw it going forward. This issue might be particularly important when an advisory board is first being established.

Mentors

Members of an advisory board are composed of people who truly care about the success of you and your company. They have no legal obligation or equity in the business, they act only as your mentor and their main goal is to give you advice. With that being said, you will want to seek people you know within your professional network. This way they will be more willing to mentor you. However, be careful in choosing friends or family, as they may not always give you the most honest advice. Not to mention having friends or family on your advisory board may result in conflict/relationship issues that you will want to avoid. You need people who will be brutally honest and willing to challenge your ideas in order to bring different perspectives to the table.

While reaching out to people within your professional network may be easier, you should also aim to seek people outside your network. Finding members of higher stature might be more difficult but extremely beneficial for your company. They will add credibility and this will play an important role when your start-up is in the early stages of funding. It will give your company some traction, which is crucial in the development of any start-up. Not only will it add credibility but also it can expand your professional network and form contacts that can be very useful in the long term.

How to find mentors

At ProMontreal entrepreneurs, we offer a mentorship program where anyone part of the Jewish community can apply and we will connect you with the perfect mentor for you. Over the years, we have connected with successful entrepreneurs and lawyers who are eager to see start-ups succeed. If you check out our mentors on our website, you will find a list of them on the page already.

Compensation

It is important to remember that the people on the advisory board have no equity in the company and are merely there to guide you because they want to see your company succeed. In the early stages of your business venture, it’s a good idea to reward them with dinners, entertainment, etc. It does not need to be a lot but still something to demonstrate your gratitude for their help. As your company progresses, then you will want to think about higher compensation, maybe even a salary but that is all entirely up to you.

You may not have all the expertise in any business venture you dive into but that is normal. Advisory boards can be helpful and fulfilling, or they can be a waste of time. In the end, you get out of them what you put into their creation, development, and operation. That being said, there are many tools to help you realize your vision so do not be afraid to take the risk.

29Sep
How Small Businesses Can Promote Themselves on TikTok

How Small Businesses Can Promote Themselves on TikTok. You might be wondering if an additional social media page is necessary for your small business and if promoting your business on Tiktok can help. TikTok appears to be more of a platform for funny lip-sync videos than a place to market products and services. However, there is a lot of opportunity for small businesses and new brands to use TikTok to reach their target audience in a fun and creative way.

Let’s go over some ideas and examples for the material you may share on TikTok to help promote your small business.

Videos of daily activities.

Firstly, posting videos of your company’s daily operations is a great way to start. These videos show visitors how work is done there. If you take this recommendation, you should create a DVD that details your company’s typical activities and focuses on the tasks that are considered to be the most vital. As a result, this will help your customers understand what it’s really like to be a small business owner.

Highlight your staff.

Employee spotlighting gives your brand a face and showcases the people behind your products and services. Can each member of your team make a video introducing themselves? Or are you a family-owned company? Give your customers a chance to meet the individuals that run your company.

Inform your audience.

On TikTok, you can provide material to your audience that educates them about your industry or expertise. If you’re committed to learning and helping others, you’ll gain credibility, and people will return to you for your honesty.

Share content that reflects your brand.

Essentially, content that demonstrates a brand or business’s values performs best on social media and has the third-highest ROI. In addition, customers are more aware than they have ever been of the charitable organizations that the companies they favor provide financial support for. As a direct result of this increased awareness, customers factor in this information when making decisions about what goods and services to acquire from those businesses.

Considering this, demonstrating your brand’s values on TikTok is an effective way to engage your audience. Thus, people who share your beliefs will take note, and you may be able to convert them into clients.

Idea.

Was there a particular event or circumstance that inspired you to develop the concept for your business? How did you think about your little business?

Production process.

Demonstrate to customers the process of making your products. It shows your commitment to creating value by displaying the time, effort, and attention you put into your work.

Product How-To

Have an excellent procedure for producing your products? With the help of a brief instructional video, show your customers the process of making your goods and services.

Answer Questions

Above all, a great way to engage your audience and develop relationships is by responding to questions. For instance, you can use TikTok’s built-in Q&A function or make videos that answer customer questions.

Protip: use this as a means of understanding the issues clients are having with your business. Particularly, if the same questions are coming up, you may need to update your FAQ page or add new information to your website.

Demo’s

Lastly, small businesses can utilize video to teach customers how to use their items properly.

The video suggestions above are all great tips on how small businesses can promote themselves on TikTok.

21Aug
How to Growth-Hack Your Startup to Success

How to growth-hack your startup to success. The most crucial area of marketing for start-ups is probably growth-hacking. It provides a marketing framework that may generate a high return on investment with few resources. This is essential for early-stage start-ups due to their limited access to resources.

The core foundation of growth-hacking is virality. As such, if you want to get good results, you must count on those who hear your message to share it with others. While a variety of growth-hacking strategies can assist you in becoming viral, the fundamental ideas are what matter. Below you will find key ideas on how to growth-hack your startup to success.

1. Promotion and development go hand in hand

The typical corporate structure and the division of labour in most traditional organizations create a clear divide between tasks like product development, marketing, and design. However, as a result of this, small start-ups can suffer. One of the leading causes of startup failure is premature scaling. A great example of this would be pouring part of your limited resources into a product before product-market fit.

Growth-hacking can help with this since it doesn’t view startup marketing as something that exists in isolation. Instead, it views the creation and popularization of a product as a whole and it makes use of contemporary digital resources to accomplish this.

Being flexible is one of the advantages of startups over a large company. When a product’s level of complexity is still low, tweaks are simple to make.

So, if the item you produced is difficult to sell, the solution from a growth-hacking standpoint isn’t always to “sell ” it harder or in a different way. Instead, it may be beneficial to return to product development mode and ensure that what you are selling addresses a real need for a real set of people. When you achieve product-market fit, marketing your product to these customers should come naturally and without effort.

A repeating cycle of creating, selling, getting feedback, reiterating, and reselling leads to a better product and greater growth.

2. Create something worthwhile to spread

Even if a product is excellent, this does not necessarily mean that consumers will be eager to spend their social capital promoting it.

You typically need to provide people with a bigger incentive to do this in order to get the desired result.

One of the best examples is Dropbox’s referral program, which rewards customers with more storage space for introducing friends. Dropbox increased by 3900% with the aid of this program.

Moreover, there are various approaches that can help you get the same result. For instance, if you’re conducting a closed beta, giving users a limited number of invites to share with their friends can boost the perceived value of each invite and generate a sense of scarcity.

The consumer’s motivation for spreading your content should be built into the product, regardless of the strategy chosen (or piece of content). If your K-factor is greater than 1 (i.e., the average consumer recommends your product to more than one additional person), your growth rates will start to compound very quickly.

3. Put conversion and retention first

Finally, your product must encourage, but also capture and profit from ever-increasing popularity if you want to achieve virality.

A skilled growth-hacker is not deceived by meaningless statistics like website visits and share counts. These things are wonderful, yet they are only surface-level. The attention you can attract is ultimately important, but only if it results in actual business growth.

In conclusion, a startup founder must have a growth-hacking mindset because it is crucial for both product development and marketing.

Focus on bringing in and measurably keeping clients rather than developing your brand. Use a scientific approach with exact tools and quantifiable outcomes. Continuously improve your product, reach your target audience, and incentivize your consumers to stay and spread the word.

7Aug
How to Craft an Investor Update

Crafting an investor update can, at first glance, seem like a challenging endeavor, but let’s demystify the process. As a budding entrepreneur, understanding that this task is a crucial element in maintaining a transparent and symbiotically beneficial relationship with your investors is key. It’s not merely a corporate requirement; it’s an exceptional opportunity for you to pause, look back at your journey, pinpoint any stumbling blocks you’ve encountered, and envision a path forward. This guide is designed to help you navigate this seemingly complex task with ease and efficacy.

We’ll kick things off by digging into why these updates are so important. Regular and clear communication with your investors provides a peek into the engine room of your business. This allows them to spot potential hurdles and golden opportunities, sometimes before they even become apparent to you. This proactive participation not only keeps them actively involved but also engenders a feeling of mutual advancement and success. Moreover, there’s compelling data backing up the importance of these updates – according to research, startups that offer regular investor updates are three times more likely to receive additional funding from existing investors. So, it’s crystal clear; crafting effective updates isn’t just a polite gesture, it’s a strategic move that could positively influence your venture’s durability and expansion.

Understanding the significance of these updates, let’s delve deeper into their composition. Your guiding principles should be simplicity, brevity, and clarity. An investor update need not be a lengthy or elaborate document; in fact, a well-crafted update can be as succinct as it is insightful. Here’s a suggested framework to help you structure your updates:

1. Highlights: Kick off your update by sharing the positive strides you’ve made since your last check-in. These could be critical milestones reached, new clients brought on board, innovative features unveiled, or any other accomplishments indicative of forward momentum. Remember, your investors are looking for signs of progress, so take this opportunity to showcase your wins.

2. Lowlights: This is your chance to demonstrate your transparency and resilience. Share the difficulties currently on your plate, and elucidate the strategies you’re utilizing to surmount them. This forthrightness not only bolsters trust but also exemplifies your proactive approach towards problem-solving.

3. Asks: A golden opportunity lies here to leverage the collective wisdom and far-reaching networks of your investors. Whether you need introductions to potential customers, help with recruitment, or advice on a critical issue, make your requests here. Remember, specificity is crucial – the clearer your asks, the better your investors can assist you.

4. Thanks: A simple but essential gesture – acknowledge the investors who’ve lent a helping hand with your previous asks. This not only promotes active participation but also nurtures a feeling of community and shared victory among your investors.

5. Customer Story: Add a vibrant splash of human interest by incorporating a compelling customer story. This breathes life into your product or service, showcasing its impact in the real world and resonating emotionally with your investors.

6. KPIs: Wrap up your update with key performance indicators, restricting yourself to five or six vital metrics. These could be revenue figures, headcount, runway, or a “north star” KPI that suggests future earnings or traction.

As for how often these updates should be sent, it largely depends on your startup’s stage. If you’re in the very early phases, consider weekly updates. As your venture finds its footing and matures, transition to monthly updates. Once you’re a growth-stage company, a quarterly rhythm usually suffices. Investor updates aren’t mere paperwork; they’re a fundamental aspect of demonstrating to your investors that you’re an engaged entrepreneur and a responsible custodian of their capital. It’s a mechanism that builds trust, stimulates open communication, and ensures swift intervention can be taken if things are veering off course. Your investors are not just check-writers; they are partners on this exhilarating journey. They can provide invaluable help and guidance when they’re in the loop, regardless of whether the news is upbeat or somber.

So there you have it. Crafting investor updates isn’t just a mundane task; it’s a process of introspection, communication, and active engagement. It’s about showing your investors that you genuinely appreciate their partnership and are dedicated to keeping them involved in your voyage. With these guidelines, you’ll find this task less intimidating and much more rewarding.

10Jul
Bill 96 and its Implications for Commerce in Quebec

Quebec’s commerce sector stirs as new language restrictions under Bill 96 take effect on June 1, 2023. The government argues the law preserves and elevates French in Quebec due to perceiving it as threatened. However, the implications of this bill for English language and allophone businesses in the province have sparked concern, with its measures perceived as excessive by anglophone rights groups, including the Quebec Community Groups Network.

Starting from June 1, Bill 96 mandates small Quebec companies to disclose the proportion of employees incapable of communicating in French. The provincial government will then publish this information in its searchable public registry of companies. This requirement applies to businesses with five to 49 employees, with new businesses required to declare this information upon registration. Existing businesses are required to do so when filing their annual update.

The ability to communicate in French at work includes attending meetings, understanding instructions, participating in training, and writing/sharing documents. Premier François Legault seeks to limit English usage in Quebec through extensive toughening of language rules in this legislation.

The implications of these provisions on commerce in Quebec, particularly for English language or allophone businesses, are significant. Bill 96 enshrines in the Charter of human rights and freedoms a new “right to live in French,” requiring businesses to inform and serve consumers and the public in French. Every business offering goods and services to consumers, including those catering to other businesses, must comply with this obligation.

Businesses failing to meet the bill’s requirements face steep penalties. Under Bill 96, violations of the Charter result in increased fines: individuals face fines ranging from $700 to $7,000, while companies face fines ranging from $3,000 to $30,000. A second offence incurs double the fines, while subsequent repeat offences result in triple the fines. If an offence continues for longer than one day, it will constitute a separate offence for each day it continues.

In addition to fines, Bill 96 includes administrative penalties, allowing the Minister of the French Language, in consultation with the Office, to suspend or revoke permits/authorizations of companies repeatedly violating the Charter. Additionally, Bill 96 expands the francization requirements for companies. Previously, only companies with 50+ employees in a six-month period had to register and obtain a francization certificate. Starting from June 1, 2025, companies employing 25 or more people will be subject to this obligation.

Non-compliant companies unable to fulfill francization obligations or reject the Office’s language learning services can’t contract with civil administration or receive public subsidies.

Bill 96 imposes strict language regulations on Quebec’s commerce sector to strengthen French usage, burdening businesses. It mandates disclosing non-French competent workforce and serving customers in French, with significant fines and permit suspensions. Concerns arise among anglophone groups and non-French businesses, impacting linguistic diversity and the economy.

Businesses must comprehend Bill 96’s expectations to ensure compliance and avoid penalties. Understand employee language abilities, communicate with the government, and consider language learning services. Consult legal and HR professionals, engage the Office, and support French promotion in Quebec’s commerce sector.

25Mar
Dissecting Different Types of Revenue

Developing good analytical techniques to help you monitor your business performance is important. It will help you avoid silly mistakes that can negatively affect your business. If you have an SaaS product or B2B business model, your recurring revenue is subscription based and often times, contracts differ and generate different income. The terms; committed annual recurring revenue (cARR), annual recurring revenue (ARR) and bookings are used interchangeably. However you should commit to using one to normalize all your revenue. Being consistent will avoid confusion and mistakes. Here’s a break down what each of these terms mean so you can pick what’s best for your business.

ARR, MRR & cARR

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) normalizes the recurring revenue of your term subscriptions into a one-year period. It is the amount over a set period of time usually the contract length, in a year. Committed annual recurring revenue (cARR) is similar to ARR except it is a future amount. It is a committed amount, because that revenue is not readily available to your business just yet. ARR and cARR is especially useful if the majority of your contracts are minimum 1 year. Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) should be used if your contracts are typically below one year. The recurring revenue in a one month period.

ARR Vs MRR

When is Annual recurring revenue (ARR) used? ARR is used in B2B subscription businesses when the minimum subscription period is one year. Businesses with multi-year contracts are more likely to use ARR, and businesses with lower transaction volume and higher transaction value are more likely to use it. B2B and B2C businesses with monthly subscriptions should use MRR. Companies might use MRR and ARR interchangeably and tend to use ARR as a valuation metric and MRR as an operating metric. Let us compare these two metrics. ARR is useful to reference in board meetings or when analyzing the overall performance of the business. MRR is more useful to analyses day to day operations of the business.

ARR Vs Bookings

The total amount signed over a period is referred to as the bookings. This period can vary depending on many things. It could be, the business, individual or customer. In contrast to ARR’s minimum one-year subscription period, no time frame is specified. For instance, suppose we examine three different revenue streams for companies A, B, and C;

A: $1,000 in bookings with a 2 year contract

B: $1,000 in bookings with a 3 year contract

C: $1,000 in ARR

Looking at these three companies, we notice they have $1,000 in bookings. However, if we standardize this to ARR we can easily compare each of these companies revenues. Company A has $500 ARR, company B has $333 ARR and company C has $1000 ARR. This is where analyzing revenue can get confusing if not all normalized to one metric. For simplicity, bookings are standardized to the ARR metric.

Adopting the ARR metric to your business practices will simplify the way you analyze your revenue!

19Jan
How to sell as a Founder

Even though you have a great product, it WON’T sell itself. Every founder will have to sell their product at the very early stages and often times don’t have the skills or practice to do so. It is not an easy task, and it is the most crucial part for every company. What’s the point of putting your blood sweat and tears into a product you can’t even sell. So next time you’re negotiating with your first few customers , remember these 10 tips to make sure you close every deal.

TIP #1: Be Passionate

It should be a given that you are passionate about your product otherwise you might be in the wrong business. Share this passion with your clients, nobody is going to trust a product that its own founder is not passionate about, you will lose clients immediately. Show them how much you care about believe in this product and you’ll gain their trust.

TIP #2: Get to know the customer

Closing a deal is more than pitching your product; it is about connecting with your customer and getting to know them and their needs. Build relationships before sales, people are more inclined to buy from people they like. A Linkedin study shows that a salesperson who creates connections with their customers create 45% more opportunities. Ask the right questions and have conversations try to find things you can relate to such as hobbies, sports, kids whatever it might be. Be viewed as a person who is genuine and wants to help rather than just sell. They might not need your product but if they like you they will want to support you.

TIP #3: Don’t oversell

Creating trust and being transparent is super important with your customers. If you break their trust then you’re building a bad reputation for you and your company. Creating a good reputation is especially important for companies in the early stages of their business. Now the worst thing you can do is make promises you can’t keep. Do not commit to things you can’t deliver, its dishonest and will break the immediate trust you have with a customer.

BE TRUSTWORTHY

TIP #4: Learn from others

Get ahead of the competition. Check out what your competitors are doing to sell their products, what’s working, and not working with their customers, use this as leverage. Explore products that you might buy and see what those companies are doing. Do your research and learn from other peoples mistakes or other peoples wins.

TIP #5: Improve your pitch

Giving a great pitch is key in a startup. It is not something that comes easy, it takes a lot of practice to master it. Practice it repeatedly until you can amaze your audience. However, don’t focus solely on pitching a presentation, remember to connect with your customer as well.

TIP #6: Persevere

Do NOT give up easily and do not take no for answer! Follow up with your customers without being too pushy.

TIP #7: Know you will not close all deals

Do not be too hard on yourself if you don’t close the deals, it’s going to happen. It’s important to not let that get you down and to keep pushing through it. Do not give up easily just because you lose a few deals it’s all part of the process and you’ll only learn from your mistakes.

TIP #8: Referring to competitors

As mentioned, being trustworthy and transparent is key with new customers. Refer to your competitors and show your customer how your product is so much better than the rest. Do not be afraid to highlight how you’re company differs and even if your price point is a bit more than the competition, stick by your products worth.

TIP #9: Fire bad customers

Talk to the right people, and don’t waste your time and energy in customers who have no use or interest for your product. Focus on the target market and find the right people to sell to. Spend your time with prospects who are ready to buy your solution.

TIP #10: Celebrate the wins!

Celebrate every new customer! It’s easy to get too ingrained in the daily grind of sales and building a company and forget to celebrate the wins. Celebrate every win with your co-founders and your team.

9Sep
Financial Mistakes to Avoid for Every Startup

Financial management is a challenge for many small business owners. As a business founder, it is your duty to ensure that your company grows and thrives in the most efficient manner possible. However, if you’re not cautious, you may wind up making expensive errors. A recent study shows that in the first year 4% of Canadian businesses fail and that percentage rises to 30% in the fifth year. In Canada, 7000 businesses go bankrupt every year. A lot of different factors lead to this failure but poor financial planning is one of the main causes.

A lot may go wrong, from capitalization problems to budgeting to incorrect accounting procedures. Whether the company is just getting started or has already made it through the first few years, sound financial management is essential.

To avoid financial catastrophe, stay away from the following frequent blunders:

1. Separating personal and business accounts

Many entrepreneurs will fail to open separate business accounts and use their personal accounts. When first starting it out, it may seem easier to just work from your personal accounts, however this will become difficult to maintain your business budget and expenses. It’s important to create separate accounts so you can effectively monitor your businesses finances.

2. Poor tracking expenses

At the early stages of a startup, there may not be that much capital to invest for growth, however it’s important to keep track of every expense. You need to have a control of debt to avoid digging yourself into a debt hole that’ll sink your business.

3. Sticking to a Budget

This is the most crucial part of financial management. It will allow you to not spend more than what’s coming in. Sticking to a budget will protect your businesses sustainability and it’s a good way at addressing resources.

4. Business Credit

In todays world, credit score means everything. Having a bad credit score will impact your financial management tremendously. For a business, a bad credit score will cause a lot of difficulties to obtain loans which is imperative for a business growth. Not only is maintaining a good business credit important, but personal credit will also still have an impact on your business. For startups, since the business is still small creditors will look at personal credit scores of the shareholders and determine if they will grant the credit. A bad credit score ruins your credibility in terms of your financial management which is not a good look for a startups founder.

Different types of business credit:

Business credit card
Seasonal commercial loans
Term loans
Installment Loans
Business Line of Credit
Business Taxes

A lot of founders tend to be confused about business taxes. When first starting out, you should seek professional help in order to avoid any mistakes. A small mistake can end up becoming costly to your company and you don’t want that at the early stages of your business. Make sure to file your taxes on time, monitor due dates and regulations.

These small mistakes can easily slip under the radar but will end up costing you big time. So be sure to stay away from these common mistakes to keep your small business a float for a long time!

28Jul
4 Steps to Starting a Referral Program

Whenever we need a product or service, we’ll turn to our family or friends for recommendations. For instance, studies shows that a buyer is 50 times more likely to purchase a product that is recommended by family or friends. Referral programs take advantage of this word of mouth marketing by using your already loyal customers to act as brand advocates. This is done by providing a referral code to your customers to share with their networks. When a friend uses the code to make their first purchase the referrer is compensated. This may be in the form of a discount, a freebie, or a monetary reward.

Referrals are a good way to get new clients because people are more likely to trust their friends and family. This is why one of the most effective communication strategies for organically scaling a company is word of mouth. Via in-person encounters or online social networking messages, we exchange positive user interactions. In a nutshell, referrals are more important and reliable than paid advertisements and other media platforms. Look no further ,this guide will teach you the fundamentals of referral marketing as well as how to run your own referral program.

Why Start a Referral Program?

If done properly, this marketing strategy can acquire a lot of new customers for your business at very low costs. By taking advantage of your current customers to spread the word, customer acquisition cost (CAC) is very low. The customers that you gain will also become of high value and are more likely to refer more people.

Referral programs have been proven to help business generate higher revenue. For example, Paypal is famous for using a referral program and helped the company achieve 7-10% daily growth and a user base of over 100 million people.

With the right software, referral programs are easy to track in sales and provide a business analytical tool to use.

How to Build a Referral Program?

1. Have Amazing Products

Before even considering starting a referral program, make sure you have exceptional products and services ready. If you don’t have any great products, nobody will want to refer your business to their network.

2. Designing your Perfect referral Program

Key things to remember when designing your referral program:

Choose the right software
Catchy headline
Referral messaging
Easy to refer

Many different software’s already exists that help you to create your referral program very easily, choose the right one for you and your business goals.

Next, you need to craft the program to get your customers attention if you want to get them to refer your business. Use catchy headliners that describe what the program is and what are the benefits in one sentence. For example, a good headliner would be “Refer a friend for 15$” or “Give 30$ get 30$”.

On top of sharing referral codes, you should consider crafting automated messages to make it easier for your customers to share with friends. The message should be kept straight and to the point but in a friendly manner. Make sure that sharing the referral code is as easy as a click of a share button either to social medias or emails. If your customer has to take extra steps, chances are they won’t refer. Most referral program software’s already give this option to link to social medias and other platforms.

3. Choose an Incentive

Two sided incentive
Type of reward

Based on your marketing goals, choose an incentive that will respond well with your customers. First, figure out who will benefit from the reward, either your customer, the referred or both parties. Rewarding both parties is the most effective method, customers will be more likely to refer people from their network.

Next, determine what kind of reward you want to give. Since every business is different, every reward will be different. Its important to know your customers and offer rewards that align with your brand. Don’t offer incentives that wont interest your customers. It can be in form of discounts, cash, coupons, points, company merchandise etc. Also choose something that wont cost you your profits.

4. Promote the Program

Promote the program through your website, social media & emails. Let your customers know! For instance, you can implement automated messages to appear as soon as customers enter your website to get their attention!

5. Track your Progress

It’s critical to set up an analytics and analysis framework for your referral service if you want to see results. Choose a referral program software that has built-in analytics like referral relation delivery, A/B checking, and referral monitoring. Use these analytics to help you determine what content is more efficient.

18Feb
How to Tell your Startup Story

The key elements to include are:

Problem
Solution
Product
Traction
Team
Vision

It is always difficult piecing together your start-up story in a deck at the very early stages of your business venture. The early stages are crucial in the growth of a business and acquiring investors are quite tricky. Creating the perfect pitch deck will allow you to smoothly deliver your start-up story to investors to secure that funding. It requires a lot of time and detail and how you piece this together will be the foundation in delivering the perfect pitch to investors. The key elements that are essential in the deck are as followed: problem, solution, product, traction, team and vision.

Tag line

At the very beginning of the deck, the slides should start with a one-liner description of the business. This slide is literally one line or tag line that gives some insight on what the business is at the start. Its short and sweet, be creative!

Problem

The first key element you want to jump into is the problem. This is a great start to the pitch deck as it will allow for the smooth transitioning of the rest of your story. Identify the problem in a clear bold manner. This will intrigue the investor to continue onto investigating what solution you bring to the table and in finding out how big and real is this problem. Its important to keep this slide short, you can go into further detail in person or in a document. For the purpose of the pitch deck, it should remain short and straight to the point

Solution/Product

You pointed out a problem now provide your solution! A good format is description of the solution followed by a few points as to why your way is the best way. Following that, you can proceed two ways either: go into how it works with a few screenshots/demonstrations or go right into your vision. Since all stories are different and depending on what your business is, choose as you see fit based on your start-up. If your startup does not requires much explaining, go right into the vision of where you see your simple concept growing into something massive in the future. If the vision slide is not included in this section it can be included in the end as well.

Traction

Convince your investors your solution is scalable! Its time to give your start-up some credibility with some data. This slide can be “where were at today” showing the kind of attention and momentum your start-up has gained. For early stage companies, this momentum can be the amount of users on a wait-list for when the product is ready or some early users your product has gained. Investors care about the last 3-6 months and the next month. Having a weak 3-6 months prior will lose many investors, if your next month is weak then you’ll lose your momentum. If you can, time your raise according to that.

A great additional add to this section would be to add testimonials from some of the users or clients. This shows that your product is already in use by real people and is already creating a buzz. This is the section that will excite investors.

Market Opportunity

You’ve sold the investor on your ability to execute your solution, so now you should tell them how big the market is. Using graphs and charts from credible sources that can easily present that there’s a huge market opportunity is and that this company is venture scalable.

Vision

What is in store for your company in the next 10 years? If you did not already include this slide now would be a good time. This will show how you plans to take this simple solution to a massive company and what great things it will accomplish.

Team

Introduce the dream team who is going to build this. Include the main team members with titles and summaries of past roles. This will indicate why they’re fit for to build this start-up. This can be done in one slide without going too in depth about each member.

The ask & funds slide

How much funding will it take for you to drive this business? The ask slide should be left for the end of the pitch deck. Include how much funding you will need to bring this company where it needs to be and what does that money get you. How will the funds be allocated and what will you be doing with it. What does that mean for your company?

Thank you/information

A thank you slide with your contact information is appropriate for the very last slide. For example, add an email, LinkedIn, company website or social media.

These are the key elements that every deck needs in order to successfully get across an investor. The order in which you present the key elements should follow the order listed here. However all start-up stories are different and may take a different flow. Some other elements that are optional to add could be competitors, revenue model and financials. Since this is a deck, you don’t need to give away all your information at the very beginning it might be better to include this is a business plan instead, however this is also your business so build a deck that feels right to you!

Know who you are and what you stand for

Goals/plan

Choosing the right people