There are 2 things that investors always want to know when looking at your company:

1. Who are your competitors?
2. What are your competitive advantages?

Of course, every company has competitors.  Don’t be a naive entrepreneur by stating that you don’t have any competition.  Whether it be direct competition or indirect competition, there must be a way that your customers are currently fulfilling that need.  Also, having competition validates your space for sophisticated investors. Once you have accurately identified your competition and their strengths & weaknesses, now it is your job to boast your competitive advantages.   Do you have unique access to resources that your competition does not have?  Here are a few examples of appealing competitive advantages:

• A signed contract with a large distribution partner that gives your company exclusive rights to sell your product or service
• A patent on your technology
• Other intellectual property that maintains your advantage (trade secrets, etc.)
• Exclusive relationship with an expert or celebrity

(There are many more, but that starts to give you an idea)

I have a prediction. In 2007, Fidel Castro and Speaking Roses (SRII) will both go the way of the Dodo bird. Here are some remarks from SRII’s most recent 8-K filing:

“As of the date hereof, the Company has recently been unable to obtain financing from external sources under terms which it deems to be reasonably acceptable, and the revenues generated from the Company’s operations are insufficient for the Company’s current needs. Consequently, Dos Lagos, an entity whose sole member is Roland Walker, a director of the Company, has extended debt and convertible debt financing to the Company as described in Item 1.01 of this Form 8-K. 

The total amount of notes payable as herein described has significantly increased the debt of the Company and will likely negatively affect the ability of the Company to raise additional funds. While the Company is attempting to obtain additional commitments from its directors and certain shareholders to continue to fund its operations, no assurance can be given nor relied upon that the Company will be able to obtain such commitments on terms and conditions reasonably acceptable to the Company or that the Company will be able to continue to operate as a going concern. The Company’s expenses continue to exceed the Company’s revenues by a significant margin. Accordingly, until such time as the Company is able to operate profitably, the Company can give no assurance that it has or will have sufficient capital resources or liquidity to satisfy working capital and operating requirements.”

Burn rate is defined as the amount of money you need between current sales and overhead when you are in a negative cash flow situation. When the filing says “Company’s expenses continue to exceed the Company’s revenues by a significant margin” they are talking about burn rate. SRII’s current burn rate is about $500k per month. Ouch.

When I landed in Miami in 1993 it was believed that Fidel Castro would be dead by 1995. He’s still alive although most believe he will be dead by this time next year. 

When I left Speaking Roses about a year ago I thought the company would be bankrupt by the summer. I was wrong. Rolly Walker and they rest of the board are so financially committed that they think they have no choice but to keep dumping money into this black hole. It’s the perfect case study in escalating commitment.

I think 2007 will certainly see the end of a couple of things that should have died a long time ago. For the sake of good business and democracy…let’s hope so.

Nominations for the vSpring V|100 are due by January 2. Don’t forget to vote!

Over Commit, Under Deliver (or the Sky West/Delta Airlines mantra)

I got on a plane two hours late for Montana this morning. The flight was supposed to leave at 9:30. At 9:20 I went to the desk and asked if the flight was still going to be on time. The agent replied that the flight would board in 10 minutes. Forty minutes later I learned that the flight wasn’t even on the ground. We were then further delayed by fog in Montana but we weren’t told that until we got on the plane. It finally backed out of the gate at 11:30.

Note to Delta: We’re big people. We can take the truth. If its the fog, then tell us its fog. If the plane is late, then tell us the plane is late. Don’t BS me at every question when you know the truth.

I learned a long time ago to under commit and over deliver with the customer. Its a simple principle of business that keeps your customers coming back. Its obvious what the gate agent should have done. She should have told me the truth, under committed on the time we’d get on the plane then got me on the plane much earlier than she said she would.  I think American’s would be much more patient with the airlines if they would practice this one simple thing.

Think about how this situation applies to your business.

Some Interesting Notes

The typical American spent $100.60 for every $100 of take home pay. Apparently some American’s think that’s a good thing. Apparently some American’s are stoned.

The average car wreck cost the economy $170k. Who knew?

ICE arrested 1200 illegal immigrant workers at Swift & Company meat packing plants. The result? Thousands of LEGAL American citizens have lined up to fill the Company’s open positions. So much for the idea perpetuated by the likes of George Bush, Bob Bennett and Chris Cannon that American’s “won’t work those kinds of jobs”. I always believed that was a lie and the aftermath of the Swift raid proves it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I’m really looking forward to 2007. I think its going to be a huge year for me. I hope it is for you. Stayed tuned next week for my post on 2006’s best blog posts and for the winner of my jerk boss contest.

We’re not even out of 2006 and we’re already talking about the 2008 election. Its going to be a long two years. Here’s the candidates that seem to be emerging as the front runners:

Democrats: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

Republicans: John McCain, Rudy Guilliani, and Mitt Romney.

So who is the best candidate for business and economic growth in 2008? Let’s take a look:

Hillary: Attorney (but she knows land deals)

Osama Obama: Civil rights attorney with no business background

Edwards: Got rich suing companies

McCain: Career politician (but he did work in his father-in-laws beer business)

Rudy: Prosecutor and career politician

Romney: MBA/JD from Harvard (cum laude). Former CEO of Bain Capital and Consulting.

From Wikipedia: 

Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., a Boston-based management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney left the company to co-found Bain Capital, which quickly became a highly successful private equity investment firm.

In 1990 Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, Romney managed an effort to restructure the firm’s employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while increasing fiscal transparency. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.

Following his year at Bain & Company, Romney returned to Bain Capital. During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital’s average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent. During Romney’s tenure, the firm founded, acquired or invested in hundreds of companies including Staples Inc., Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Brookstone, Domino’s, Sealy and The Sports Authority.

Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. He brought the games out of scandal making a $100M profit. He also brought Mass. out of financial ruin as the state’s governor.

Hummmmm, who would I vote for if I were strictly judging the candidates on their ability to promote business and economic growth?

I think the answer is clear.
(Thanks to Jon for inspiring this post)

I’m flattered to have been recently asked by the folks at Connect Magazine to contribute to their new blog here. I’ve been asked to post in the Web Marketing and SEO (search engine optimization, in case you don’t know the acronym) section, although I expect they’ll allow me to post in some of the other sections from time to time.

In case you don’t know me, my name is Joshua Steimle. My last name rhymes with “timely.” I run a web design and search engine optimization firm here in Utah called MWI. You may have seen our office down near Point of the Mountain in Draper. We’re right next door to that miniature golf place, but no, we don’t take many lunch breaks there. In fact, I haven’t been there at all yet. I’m waiting for some free passes.

I have my own blog at DonLoper.com where I write about business, entrepreneurship, leadership, web design, branding, SEO, advertising, and a host of other topics. My firm also manages a blog focused on organic search enging optimization at TheOrganicSEO.com.

I hope to post unique content here on the Connect Blog on at least a weekly basis. While I say “unique” I may repurpose content from other writing I have done from time to time, but I’ll never publish duplicate content here, if only because of the damange duplicate content can do to my search engine rankings.

I look forward to publishing here and hope the content I generate will be of interest to someone out there.

After much anticipation Launch has finally launched. Here’s a quick FAQ:

What is Launch?

Launch is an online magazine developed in partnership with Grow Utah Ventures and Lumin Publishing. The magazine is geared toward Utah entrepreneurs, investors and small business owners.

What does it cost?

Launch is FREE!!! So go subscribe today.

What’s the URL?

www.launchutah.com

What will I find in the first issue?

Funding advice from Brock Blake of Funding Universe, an entrepreneur round table moderated by yours truly, a mentoring column by Craig Bott, a discussion with Ryan Money and Shawn Nelson and much much more!

Who writes for Launch?

Utah entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and service providers.

What’s the format of the magazine?

It comes with a cool page flip application that feels like you are reading a real magazine online. You can also get the HTML version. I recommend saving Launch to your desktop and then using it from there.   

So what are you waiting for? Go grab your free copy and enjoy. If you have any feedback you can send it directly to me. I’m on the editorial board and I would love to hear your thoughts.

I’ve been using Linkedin for about a year. I really haven’t seen much benefit from the service…yet.  Paul Allen claims that he has seen an incredible benefit and Marty Fahncke has seen some benefit as well.

Right now, I view Linkedin as something of a popularity game. The more connections you have the cooler you are - kind of like high school. In October, I had about 35 connections. Then I got motivated to add more. Yesterday I hit 76 connections and I also have 10 recommendations. My goal is to be at 100 connections by the end of the year.

Can you help me hit that goal? Let’s scratch each other’s backs! Here’s the link to my Linkedin profile:

http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=3158154

To do an invite you will need my email, which is ctknud “at” gmail dotcom. If you don’t have a Linkedin account I recommend setting one up. After you do, shoot me an invite and I’ll join your connections.

Also, if I’ve worked with you in the past I am more than happy to provide you with a recommendation if you give me one as well.

Let the fun begin!  

I guess this was started by Jeremy Palmer. Now Janet is calling me out. So here are five things you didn’t know about me:

1. In high school I framed houses - my language has never been the same. One cold snowy day I was standing by a heater and my German army woolly pants caught on fire. Stop, drop and roll works really well in the snow.
2. I have an obsession with helicopters and Legos  
3. My first management job was as a warehouse manager for a food storage company.
4. I married a girl from Montana who hates horses and camping (she’s starting to warm up to camping)
5. If I could be a full time photographer I would do it in a heart beat. I’m still just a hack.

I tag:

Russ, Pete and Connor 

Any Utah entrepreneur or entrepreneur wannabe that tells you they don’t want to be on the V|Spring V100 is a liar. I already have a list of 20 or so people I’m going to nominate. If you want me to nominate you then drop me a note telling me why you are cool and I’ll do it. If you have words in your name like Money, Bob, Brock (and Jeff), Hanks, Tetro, Bott, Hall, Colin, Lemon, Don Loper or Thorpe then you’re already on my list. If I missed you then tell me so.

Click here to vote. 

Thanks in advance if you vote for me.