session 4: marketing you idea (part 1)

This session was one I was looking forward to.
Marketing your ideas.

But before we could start that, Craig laid out some corporate structures.
There are three ways you could look at building your company, and advantages and disadvantages to each.

Sole proprietorship is like a kid with a shovel, who decides to start clearing snow. This is the easiest way to get started and you claim it on your personal income tax as additional earnings. But if Mrs. Jones slips, she could sue the kid and take him for his skateboard, hoodie, mp3 player, dog, everything. Disadvantage.

Partnerships are similar, but you "partner" up next to others with same liabilities and tax benefits. Be cautious because you could also end up with a huge bill.

Corporations are a lone legal entity. Taxation changes (doubles) but you can raise more money (equity options, shares), and the company is liable, not you.

All that said, you should still ask yourself "why not incorporate?"

We capped that off with a corporate governance slide. It's likely you (the entrepreneur) will hold most/all of the positions (shareholders-board of directors-senior managers).

TARGET MARKET TYPES
It's not fair to you or your customers to say "my market is the world." Businesses spend millions of dollars researching who their customer is and how to talk to them.

To narrow down your target market, start with consumer, industrial or export markets.
Consumer markets are value-driven and emotional. It's the most frequently sought market. Industrial markets should be overlooked, you may be able to sell to companies, institutions or government. It's a more rational market but look more carefully at price, dependability and quality. Export markets aren't as visible but obvious for some businesses. Craig gave the example of a collectibles shop, a small fraction of the total sales may happen through the foot traffic, while most transactions were sold online and shipped.