Last Update: Friday July 25, 2008

Money - Equity - Index - Exchange

Money is a key -- especially the right $$$

Step 1.	Initial Idea	$
Step 2.	Start-up	$$
Step 3.	Incubate	$$$
Step 4.	On Your Own	$$$$

Step 5.	Employer	$$$
Step 6.	Growth	$$
Step 7.	Sustainabilty	$
Step 8.	Exit at the top	$$$$

About the key questions within Money

Throughout the website there is an emphasis on questions and answers.

Questions take you inside an issue. You begin exploring unknown areas of an issue. Questions beget answers and they also beget more questions.

You will find many questions within this section, always just below the Steps-Money Box in this right column.

Soon, you will discover that each question goes to an answer by a business owner who has been profiled on the show. You will also discover that each answer opens more questions that go to more clips with answers, but also with more questions. You'll discover that it feels like an infinite regression, but it is not.

Each step of the way, along each path, you will soon be challenged to log in and answer these questions for yourself. Right here, online. As you answer questions you begin populating a template for an overview or profile of your business. Answer more and you populate a transcript template, then a case study template. You will be invited to upload a picture in lieu of a video.

From that information, you have an adjunct website that you control. You have the possibilities of doing collaboration events with your staff , suppliers, customers and other business associates. You also can elect to be considered by your peers for an episode of the show.

Finding Money from Step 1 to Step 8

Every step in business requires capital, either by bootstrapping from cash flow, increasing debt (loans), or using equity.

The bottomline is basic to business: If you don't survive, you are not a business. But also within your bottomline is your integrity so we say, "Do whatever it takes, but be ethical and fair." Please take some time with this special episode, "We'll Show you the Money"

Be resourceful, creative and tenacious. Each key point of this episode should be reviewed no matter what step along the way you are.

Do you watch a few key ratios each month? Is everyone in the business anxious to see what the indicator reports are telling you this month?

If "No," you might find this episode about reading your financials to be helpful. Many businesses require this course as part of their employee training.

It was based on this episode.

To build a sustainable business requires building on the right foundations.

Sharing equity at the outset has proven to be a powerful tool. If you have not thought about Employee Stock Ownership, there is an entire episode of the show focuses on it.

If you have never heard of the Small Corporate Offering Registration (often just called a "SCOR"), check out that episode.

For every step along the growth path, there is a corresponding page about money. At Step 8, these discussions turn to an exit strategy. There are many shows where we look at buying a business to expand or the selling of your business as an exit strategy. In one episode we focus on the sale of one's business to another privately-held business while the other focuses on selling to a publicly-traded company.

Click here to return to the Overview of the Steps & Money.

Historical footnote: This first iteration of this page was introduced on the web in June 1995 and it was first picked up by the Internet Archive on November 14, 1996. Obviously it has been updated and reworked several times. -BEC

About Online Workshops - Case Study Guides

On every page about money, you will discover a link to case study guides within that step. We encourage you to spend time with those guides.