I wrote this article a few years ago.  Thought I’d update it a bit and resend.  Very timely message.

My wife came home last night all misty-eyed.  She had quite an amazing thing happen at the office, where she works for one of the top acupuncturists-chiropractors in New York City.

A very humble woman had come in to pay cash for a previous visit she had with the doctor.  Evidently there was a problem with her insurance not covering her visit and she scraped up the money to pay the doctor herself.

The woman explained to my wife that she has had back pain for five years and her regular doctor was recommending surgery.

My wife knew the woman was a recent immigrant from Africa and gently explained to her that not all doctors are honest or have her best interest at heart.  She recommended the woman get at least two more professional opinions before making a decision.

The woman said, “OK” and thanked her for the doctor’s time as she felt much better for the first time in a long time.  And unfortunately she would not be coming back since her insurance didn’t cover it.

My wife said she understood and told the woman if anything changed to please call back and make an appointment.

After the woman left, a man who was waiting in the sitting area, walked up to my wife and as he pulled out his wallet said, “I heard that discussion and I would like to pay for that woman’s next five visits.”

Amazed, my wife thanked him and called the woman.  The woman soon returned to learn what had just happened.  As she was thanking the man, he humbly waived her off by saying it was nothing for him to do it.

The woman’s beautiful smile showed her immense gratitude as she sat down to wait for the doctor to see her, while trying to hide her tears. (Read more…)

Hope you’re about to have an UnReasonable Thanksgiving!

In case you were not able to make our call earlier this month, we’re doing it again.  We had almost 300 signups, so we figured it was important for some entrepreneurs.

Next Friday, December 2^nd, at 12noon PST, 3PM EST, we’re holding a teleseminar Smart Funding– Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street!

Marissa Feinberg* from Green Spaces will interview me on:

• Why Wall Street and banks are not equipped to fund small businesses
• What are the five crucial components that do into a smart capital raise
• How entrepreneurs can take matters into their own hands for getting funded
• What are the key stumbling blocks to raising capital and how to avoid them
• What goes into an action plan for raising smart capital
• Tips to keep focused and held accountable to raising capital while running your business

Interested in learning more and signing onto the call: Smart Funding Teleclass:  Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street!

Hope you can make it.  And until then, always be UnReasonable!

Stefan

PS:  Know others who may want to join us to learn about smart capital, feel free to:

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*– Marissa Feinberg– if you are not familiar with her, is a major player here in NYC for green small business owners.

Ever since I was a small child I remember my grandmother being there for me during many of my most challenging moments.  From typical childhood stuff like not doing well in school or a girl I had a crush on rejecting me to more intense things later in life like when I took company #2 into bankruptcy or divorcing of my first wife.

The message was always the same, “Stefan, never give up!”

She should know.

Oma (German for grandma) was born and raised in Munich just before WWI.  And by her early 30’s she watched her life tear apart, piece-by-piece.

During the early part of WWII, Oma and Opa (my grandfather) helped hide and get their Jewish friends out of Nazi Germany.   In 1942, during the second bombing they had endured since the beginning of the war, Opa was killed.  It was also the second time she had lost virtually everything they owned.  Oma told me she is glad Opa died that way because she was sure he would have ended up in a concentration camp for refusing the Nazis’ request for using his thriving business to supply German troops on the eastern front. (Read more…)

We’ve been overwhelmed with responses and thanks for your patience as we put together the details for the Smart Capital Mastermind Group program starting January 10^th, 2012.

As we mentioned last week on the teleclass, we can only take 24 kick-butt entrepreneurs that are really ready to build their capital infrastructure… smartly.

Remember, smart capital is way beyond just raising money.  As we discussed on the packed call last week, it is about thinking way outside the box!

The Smart Capital program might be a good fit for you if:

You don’t just want capital.

You want the right amount.

From the right sources.

Under the right terms.

… and you want it ASAP!

To see if the program is a fit, just check out the Smart Capital Mastermind Group program page.

Then to see if you’re eligible after reviewing the details, just fill out the application by clicking the “apply now” button at the bottom of the page.

We’ll get back to you within 24 hours with next steps as soon as we get your application.

That’s it!

For now, just click here to check out the program details and determine if you’d like to apply.

And remember, always Be UnReasonable!

Stefan Doering
Founder/CEO
BEST coaches, Inc.

PS:  Remember, we’re only taking 24 like-minded entrepreneurs in the program. Just click here to see if it is a fit.

Last week we had a great call with close to 300 signups!

Smart Funding-Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street

During the interview, we covered:

• Why Wall Street and banks are not equipped to fund small businesses
• What are the five crucial components that go into a smart capital raise
• How entrepreneurs can take matters into their own hands for getting funded
• What are the key stumbling blocks to raising capital and how to avoid them
• What goes into an action plan for raising smart capital
• Tips to keep focused and held accountable to raising capital while running your business

Click Here to listen to the 75 minute recording

Learn exactly what to do to take matters into your own hands to capitalize your company… smartly!

Stefan Doering
Founder
BEST coaches, Inc.

Here in the United States, it seems to be so important for us to be #1.

Most of our politicians constantly want us to fix this or that so we can “be #1 again.”

But exactly what is it we want to be the best at?  More importantly, is what we think we want to be #1 at is really best for us?

For example, here in the US our current measurements for success are essentially the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and stock prices.

These measurements for success are flawed at best, and downright dangerous at worst.

GDP basically measures our economic success based on how much product we sell.  If we sell more “stuff” from the previous period, our economy is “growing”.  If we sell less, our economy is “in trouble”.

Hardly a sustainable business model!

Monitoring the stock market to see if stocks are going up in price or down is the other tool.  This has little, if anything to do with how the companies listed on the stock exchanges are actually doing as a company.

Many of the stock prices fluctuate based on things completely out of the businesses’ control.  Like investors’ mood swings on the economy, or a natural disaster in another part of the world.

(Read more…)

Occupy Wall Street has gone viral.  As of today, “occupations” in solidarity are now in dozens of US cities, from Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Denver, Illinois, Knoxville, Portland (Maine), Tennessee, Texas, as well as more than 20 other locations in California and Florida. Demonstrations are also taking place in Australia, Canada, Japan, and Mexico.  And most recently, major labor unions are now on board, bringing millions more.

Statement of Occupy Wall Street:

Occupy Wall St. rally -- Oct. 5th, 2011

“We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.”

Last night, Occupy Wall Street had their biggest protest to date.  Approximately 10,000+ were there, including dozens of other organizations focusing on anything from labor to environmental issues.

So what’s going on?

Simple:  people are tired of waiting and trusting others have their best interest at hand.  Tired of trusting those who promise to take care of them and then do the opposite.  Mainly government and big business.

Occupy Wall Street’s strategy is an excellent one for those also wanting work.  Instead “looking” for a job, consider taking on the mindset of an entrepreneur or intrapreneur (corporate entrepreneur).

And create it.

Five Steps to Creating Your Dream Job (or customer): (Read more…)

This week I started facilitating another FastTrac NYC class of about 30 entrepreneurs.

I like starting this intense seven days of training with a powerful guest speaker.  A good friend, David Kistner, was kind enough to visit the class.

What was supposed to be about 60 minute presentation ended up with me having to kick him out after 2 ½ hours.

The participants just wouldn’t let David leave.

Mainly because David was telling them the real skinny on what is going on out there on how best to grow their businesses.

And he would know.  David has raised millions of dollars for his chain of green dry cleaners, Green Apple Cleaners, one of the greenest and cost effective dry cleaners in the US.

On the topic of raising capital, in addition to the millions in outside capital David has raised, he also has put in a very large chunk of his own money.

But most entrepreneurs don’t realize the difficulty in getting funded.

We have all heard how some banks are lending, SBA loans are available, investors are investing and so on.  What these guys don’t tell you, though, is how difficult it is to actually get the money from them.

Now that I have helped four green businesses raise over $3MM for their businesses in the past 10 months, here’s my checklist to get you ready:

Top 10 Checklist for the Road Show (in order of importance):

1. Passion— #1 thing investors look for is your passion for what you do.  Because they know entrepreneurs with passion will work hard at doing what they love.  You cannot fake this.  It’ll be obvious.  Stay real.
2. Conviction— small business owners who know they will ultimately be successful are less likely to run for the hills and when things get tough.  You are more likely to keep at it until you figure it out.  And less likely to lose your investors money. (Read more…)