StartUp Growth Expert - Latest Comments

Re: 5 Tips for Choosing a Managed Services Provider for Your Business

Olly Poole — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:06:04 -0000

Great tips about choosing a managed services provider for your business! This is very useful. I agree when you said that we shouldnt underestimate the importance of experience.

Re: Importance of Surety Bonds

surety bonds — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:33:44 -0000

The person or company who issues the bond is called the surety. Both the obligee and the principal can benefit from a surety bond, but they benefit in different ways.

Re: Top 4 posts of 2011

Kaye — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:01:47 -0000

Thank you, Vinil. You are the greatest. Kaye Loraine

Re: Qualities of A Great CEO

Bruno_lean — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:07:22 -0000

Patricia is quite right in her assessment. But todays CEO's lack business ethics to run the business. Also basic etiquettes also matter.
Bruno Lean
www.remarc.in

Re: Confessions of a Workaholic

Celticsballa15 — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:02:00 -0000

Hi, How are you doing Ms.Thomas ? I am doing a research paper on workaholics and i was wondering if you could answer a couple questions for me? If you could answer these questions for me as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated. I know you are probably busy but i would really aprreciate it if you could answer these questions for me. Thanks.

1) How would you define a workaholic?

2) What do you feel are some things that cause a person to become a workaholic?

3) Are there any symptoms that you can see that tell you if someone is approaching it?

4) How can you stop being one once you are already one?

5) Do you know anyone that is a workaholic?

6) Are you at severe risk or could you die from being a workaholic?

7) I see that you are a recovering workaholic, what are some of the challenges you had to struggle through while trying to recover?

8) Was it hard for you to recover?

Re: List your executive summary here and get noticed by investors

Financeavikmukherjee — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:09:41 -0000

DELPHI KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Objective
We intend to offer high-skill high-demand professional post-graduate courses in collaborations with global apex professional bodies along with fully integrated state-of-the-art residential facility for graduates and faculty-members. We also plan to be the first educational institute in India to be accredited by multiple global accreditation bodies and adhere to the best practices in all our activities.

Mantra
Excellence in Education.

Mission
Our mission is to impart specialized education, leading to the most demanded professional qualifications in the world, while providing world-class residential and recreational amenities to foster erudition and research amongst our students & faculty-members and to inculcate the best practices in academics.

Problems Plaguing the Professional Post-Graduate Education Sector in India
There is no education institute in India that provides management education, which would lead to any high-demand internationally acclaimed professional charter. Professional post-graduate education in India is marked by hordes of graduates (2.04 lakhs in 2010 ) thronging to various b-schools, spending around Rs. 6 – 8 lakhs over 2 years to obtain MBA or equivalent PGDM qualifications, in the hope of getting lucrative jobs.
However, barring the elite institutes, since none of the b-schools offers specialized courses, there is no differentiation between them. This is resulting in compromising on the student intake-quality and hence, average to below-average placements, which in turn results in inferior applicant quality and thus, most of such institutes have either fallen into or are going to fall into this vicious cycle of sub-standard quality in the near future.
Increasing numbers of pass-outs from such institutes, in order to enhance the career further and increase the earning potential, pursue international professional charters, for which another 2-3 years and more money need to be invested. Recently, many institutes have come up which prepare the candidates only to take the examinations of these specialized charters. These training institutes, even though are unorganized and unrecognized, are thriving since more and more professionals are feeling the need for international professional charters, as an ordinary MBA/PGDM qualification loses sheen pretty soon. Such charters are generally divided into 3 levels, and the trainings are offered at around Rs. 25,000 per level. So, in order to ‘complete’ the professional qualification, a graduate needs to invest around Rs. 8 – 10 lakhs, including registration fees, etc. and 5-7 years.

DKF Model of Professional Post-Graduate Education
Through DKF model of professional post-graduate education, a graduate needs to invest 2 years (full-time) and around Rs. 6 lakhs in order to obtain management education coupled with the internationally acclaimed professional charter. Thus, his investment, both in terms of time and money, is substantially reduced.
We intend to promote three non-competing avenues for higher education – Business, Technology and Corporate Training.

The School of Business (SoB) will offer niche high-skill high-demand courses leading to globally recognized professional charters in various fields of management. All the courses will be launched in collaborations with global apex bodies. All the courses will be the first of their kinds in India.

The School of Technology (SoT) will offer high-end technology courses in IT, leading to globally recognized certifications from various international professional bodies. Once again, such courses will be first of their kinds in this country.

The School for Corporate Learning (SCL) will offer trainings to corporate houses. All the courses or workshops will be customized according to each and every client’s requirements. The training modules will be developed jointly by the corporate house and us. The concept of co-creation, proposed by the Late C. K. Prahalad, will be practised in the education sector for the first time in this part of the world.

Our Unique Value Proposition
We are going to offer specialized industry-oriented courses, which will be different from traditional MBA programs in a number of ways. Since these courses are designed to lead to some of the most coveted professional charters in management, the students will earn a much higher return on their investment of time and money. Coupled with that, we will offer state-of-the-art residential facilities to them and faculty members.
We will stand apart from other educational institutes in a number of ways.
 We will offer only highly specialized courses, hitherto unintroduced in this country.
 In line with our vision of becoming a premier institute in this country, we will function in the lines of the high standards set by the accreditation bodies (like EFMD, AACSB, etc.) and we will be the first institute in this country, to be accredited by multiple international accreditation bodies.
 All the courses will be launched in collaborations with international partners, who are the global apex bodies in their respective fields and every term/semester, at least one faculty member will visit the campus to deliver one full course.
 The faculty-members will enjoy unlimited opportunities for research and consultancy and will be part owners of the institute leading to higher than the current industry remuneration.
 The student facilities that have been planned are unmatched in the country.
 The campus will be fully Wi-Fi enabled, residential campus (the students will have the option of choosing between single-occupancy and twin-sharing hostel rooms) and will house a students’ recreation complex as well.

Competitive Advantage
We have successfully concluded the first round of talks with our proposed collaborators, all of whom have expressed keen interest to collaborate with us. In the initial years, we will operate from our campus in Kolkata. Once we break even, which we expect to do in three years, we will take our collaboration to the next level, whereby we will be the exclusive national knowledge-partner from India for all our collaborators. This will enable us to be the lone institute to offer such courses in India and no other institute in India will be able to replicate our offerings. In order to achieve this objective, we intend to establish more campuses in various locations in India.

Milestones
We plan to start classes between June – July 2012, with 250 – 300 students across various courses. We propose to increase our scale of operations to 1,000 students in our first campus over a period of 10 years. Within the same timeframe, we also plan to establish 8 (eight) campuses all over the country.
Institutes with similar scales of operation are expanding to multiple locations across the globe. However, since they do not offer specialized courses, they are betting on the success of their traditional offerings only.

The Team
Knowing and working together for a long time, our team of lecturers, research scholars and professors, functions like one big extended family. We have huge experience in start-ups including establishing new educational institutes. Most of us have worked in the industry for many years and over time, we have developed close networks with the industry as we have been arranging for final placements for students. The core management team comprises of professionals with national and international exposure. Primarily all of us are academicians, with at least a decade of academic experience. Thus, we have the judicious mix of start-up experience and academic experience. Our years in academics have helped us identify marketable and profitable hiatuses in the current course offerings in the professional post-graduate education sector in India.

Risk Mitigation
The core management team has developed intimate professional contacts with numerous under-graduate colleges and various training institutes (for CAT, etc.) over the years. Being academicians ourselves, we have established warm rapports with other senior academicians who are competent in successfully delivering such novel courses.
The risks that we think we are going to face are mainly due to the student community being unaware of such unique courses. One of the many ways in which we have thought of addressing this issue is by conducting information sessions with large groups of students and making them aware of the huge potential of these courses. Such information sessions will initially be conducted at the under-graduate colleges and then at our campus itself, where the students will experience the campus, including the various facilities that we have planned for them.

Funding & Exit Strategy
In order to start our operations, we need funding of Rs. 15 crores, with an additional investment guarantee of Rs. 15 crores. We have already booked 10 acres of land for this project for around Rs. 1 crore. We need immediate funding in order to purchase the land and start construction of the scholastic building and the student hostels. The contractors, designers, architects, etc. have been shortlisted and we are in a position to start the tender/EOI process in about 4-6 months. We expect to generate revenue of Rs. 10 crores, Rs. 17 crores and Rs. 24 crores with net profits of Rs. 1 crore, Rs. 8.5 crores and Rs. 14 crores in the first, third and fifth years of our operations.
We will buy out the financiers’ contribution after 5 years of operation. However, since we will expand our operations to 8 campuses in the country within 10 years of operation, we seek long-term association with our investors.

For further queries, please feel free to contact us at:
Delphi Knowledge Foundation – delphiknowledgefoundation@gmail.com
Phone Numbers: (0)8961528492/9007566206/9874228175

Re: List your executive summary here and get noticed by investors

Robert Oz — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:25:19 -0000

1. Franchise Restaurant (name withheld, but it's very popular)
2.
3. Restaurant and Bar
4. Unique Selling point - I want to take a hit franchise restaurant and move it to a better and cheaper location in another city. I can't say anymore without giving the idea away. Also, I want to add upgrade this franchise restaurant with a full bar which should really increase profits in my target location.
5. Business Plan is set and ready to go. All the numbers are done as part of the franchise process, and all the restaurants in the franchise are successful.
6. Area for Restaurant: Southern California (please contact me for more specific info)
7. Restaurant and Bar, requires Investment of $1,000,000 (USD) [one million dollars] Hoping to work with the right Angel Investor.
Contact:
Robert Oz
OzVenturesLLC@gmail.com

Re: Innovative Businesses that could shape the future – Part 1

penny stocks — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:26:58 -0000

We turn to IT. Dyer recalls Sinclair speaking earlier about Tesco's business proposition. “They've nothing that innovative,” Dyer says. “A can of beans is a can of beans but they execute brilliantly. I think even some of the new players out there have ...

Re: List your executive summary here and get noticed by investors

Fruittiland — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:24:37 -0000

Looking for PRIVATE INVESTOR from CHINA to invest in Lease Birdnest House. We build and lease the birdnest house, manage and guarantee buy-back fo the product. Leasor can monitor the activity on net. Investment range between USD188K.
Interested investor please email to fruittiland@yahoo.com

Re: How to Start a Film Production Company?

Edward — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:48:51 -0000

Great Article! Another important tip for aspiring entrepreneurs in the film and movie field is to stay in touch with the independent film makers in the community as well as the small business owners in the community. When you make members of the community (people or locations) stars of your films, the community will thank you by supporting you in further endeavors. I talk about this and many other tips that I have given my entertainment law clients at http://edwardelkins.com/tips-i... You'll also notice that my article links back to this one- that's because this article is a shining example of why someone entering the entertainment industry needs to talk to experienced people in the field they are entering.

Re: Innovative Businesses that could shape the future – Part 1

montessori gold coast — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:11:33 -0000

Not surprisingly, millions of dollars of private capital are chasing innovative and disruptive business models. New-age entrepreneurs are making a go for ...

Re: Innovative Businesses that could shape the future – Part 1

montessori gold coast — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:11:17 -0000

Business and economic development tops the priority list of the survey takers, with 41 percent rating it No. 1. That's not surprising, given the news ...

Re: 30 Valuable Websites for Entrepreneurs.

Jana — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 23:39:03 -0000

Great list! Here's one more: http://entrepreneurdex.com. It is entrepreneur entertainment, fashion, interviews, community, education, etc.

Re: Confessions of a Workaholic

Sri — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:48:39 -0000

Interesting story and a great eye opener for all workaholics. Maintaining a work-life balance is critical. I agree that one should spend time doing things one likes personally - be it watching sun rise or sunset, music, going out, spending time with family or even going on an adventure trip. Thanks for sharing your personal story and experiences.

Re: Win a free copy of my ebook on business plans.

Donald Fleming — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 02:30:59 -0000

Hi! This is such a great article and I am sure a lot of entrepreneurs are going to benefit from this. I have been giving advice like these to many up and coming business people and have been successful so far. I am Donald Brownlie Fleming, an Australian Entrepreneur, ebook author (Master Selling by Donald Brownlie Fleming) and a Philanthropist. If you have time, maybe you can visit me too.
http://blog.donaldfleming.com....

Re: Why Participate in a Business Plan Competition?

Marcie_Hill — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:33:43 -0000

I entered a business plan writing contest to challenge myself. I had never done anything like it before and wanted to see if I would pull it off. I wrote a complete business plan in six weeks, and made it to the top 10. However, I didn't progress because the judges didn't understand how I was going to get paid as a blogger. And, it was very well written if I must say so myself.

So, I commend anyone who takes the time to enter contests. Even if you don't win, you will have the beginning of your business plan, and all you have to do is build upon what you have.

Re: Understanding the Power of Intention

Derek — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:45:17 -0000

Love Harv and his workshops.

Derek Olson
http://www.PeakPotentialsForum...

Re: 30 Valuable Websites for Entrepreneurs.

Laura Petrolino — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:53:42 -0000

I'm not sure why I'm just seeing this, but many thanks for the inclusion! An honor to be among so many greats! Great list!

Re: How to Start a Recording Label?

Edward — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:30:23 -0000

It was a pleasure helping by doing this interview. Edward Elkins, Esq. http://edwardelkins.com

Re: The Most Important Document In Your Business

Rhuarhii — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:12:27 -0000

The most important document in your business is the one that defines your company values as well as setting out why it is remarkable and how it will bring a 'new meaning' to the product/service you are marketing. Without it your sales brochure is meaningless however well designed it is.

Re: Funding Options For Business Acquisitions & Start-Up’s

WilliamBruce — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:08:26 -0000

Great article, and very thorough. Thanks for posting.

William Bruce
WilliamBruce.wordpress.com

Re: Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation.com

Gerald — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:34:15 -0000

We are great fans of mycorp.com it is a continued resource and easy to use tool for us as thriving entrepreneurs in the sustainable lighting and Eco manufacturing space.
Gerald Olesker
CEO/ ADG Eco Lighting Products and GreenHotelLighting.com

Re: 30 Valuable Websites for Entrepreneurs.

Devesh — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:57:07 -0000

Thanks for including 'Entrepreneur In Making'!!

Re: 30 Valuable Websites for Entrepreneurs.

Ashley — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:50:26 -0000

Nice list! Know some of these and they are awesome people!

Re: 30 Valuable Websites for Entrepreneurs.

Guytest0 — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:02:52 -0000

Free tool for startup to manage the development lifecycle, bugs, requirements and more like managing the customers inquiries and more
http://www.informup.com/StartU...