Startups - Shoot for the Moon - How Entrepreneurs, Their Investors and Advisors Together Pave the Way to Success
Over the last 10 years we have seen many, many entrepreneurs presenting their startups at our European Venture Markets. And as we could see in following up with an E-Mail only addressing the participants of the last two years: most of them were still in business!
Now that is good news and shows that not only the companies in the bright lights of the media (like the Ubers of the world) are contributing to our economies! To illustrate that: I lately had an exchange with a company after visiting a VC where they were discussing their options between aiming to become the dominating force in their respective technology versus implementing their services in niches where they were really needed and building up a steady business with a very healthy profit margin. Guess what, they went for the second option.
So even though I certainly believe that shooting for the moon and thinking really big is necessary to stay focused and accelerate growth, I also have a lot of respect for the entrepreneurs who decide to build solid and respectable SMEs, even stay local and are active and valuable members of their regional economies.
And, they all have one thing in common and we decided to make that the theme for our upcoming EVM in Frankfurt : They all benefit not only from their investors (Angels, VC), but also from the support of their advisors!
This is often overlooked but every company needs a good tax advisor, good legal support, marketing agencies and often strategic advisors when it comes to expansion or other major decisions to be implemented. I am not going to reveal too much but our keynote at the EVM will also be about the issue how a company was able to reach a turnaround with the combined help of advisors!
Advisors have the advantage of taking a look from 30.000 feet above your company, because they are not involved in daily operations and thus are often able to offer pretty straight forward opinions solely based on their experience and an outsiders view!
And that is so valuable! When you are operating and working hard to expand your business and grow the company it is easy to overlook important issues, if it is only a simple VAT-problem or a significant problem like the upcoming new European Data Protection Rules (by the way, another issue we cover for you at the EVM in Frankfurt). Your advisor will be there for you and tell you in advance how to handle these issues or help solve the problem.
Once you are on the growth-path and have chosen to go international the role of your advisors becomes even more significant. And that is a reason we are so pleased that EY has hosted our events in the past and is hosting our upcoming ones in Frankfurt and Hannover: not only do they have a comprehensive site for startups with the EY Start-up-Initiative, they have a network of 220.000 professionals all over the world and just a phone call away! And when you go abroad it makes all the sense in the world to rely on the experience and the support you can access in working with a large service provider. Like your local advisors they will have you covered in all segments of you business and the earlier you talk to reputable advisors, the better; it certainly will help you to avoid costly mistakes that a trial and error approach could cause!
Also it is always good if your advisors know each other so they can for example make sure that the tax strategy your tax accountant suggests is congruent with the legal requirements in the areas you are operating in.
Just wanted to mention this and remind you of the importance of choosing good advisors to accompany your path to success! (We also can talk with you about financial support that is available for advisory services)
If you are looking for investors or simply good advice: Join us at the EVM in Frankfurt at EY Eschborn/Frankfurt and
CLICK RIGHT HERE
for information, to apply as a startup or to simply get your ticket!
Let's Venture Together!
Markus Kuntze
EVM Team