Episode 62: Stephanie on Money Talks with Hugh Meyer
31m
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What's Your Ask? with Stephanie Sims
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In this Episode . . .
Stephanie shares that her parents owned a business while she was in high school, but when time came to sell their business and retire, they struggled to find buyers. She realized then that the business was sellable, but they didn’t know how to talk about their business as an investment.
For Stephanie, it is fun to see people get excited, but she tries to help when they are frustrated because they see a way to grow but don’t know how to find the money to do it. Most entrepreneurs are not finance people, so don’t always understand their financial health and what pieces to put in place. They need to know their numbers in order to look and ask for capital. The numbers are very revealing!
The world changed during the pandemic. Toward the end of the year, and people adapted, there was quite a bit of money raised. The changes, including the world of Zoom, made people transition to a different way of approaching the investor. But, she did see a lot of people panic, but most turned the panic into productivity.
The biggest misconception people have, is there is this huge pool of money just looking to be spent. That isn’t how it works. They generally won’t fund 100% of the round, and sometimes they simply aren’t interested because it isn’t big enough for them. Reality is this – there are different kinds of capital for companies at different stages.
Fundraising is just like sales and marketing – you need an ideal client, and you need a message that resonates with them. You can’t stand up and simply ask, “Hey I have this thing, do you want to buy it?” Building connections is key, even though the digital world continues to advance. It’s time to pull back automation and create genuine relationships. The touch and customer service are needed.
Philosophy needs to be aligned with whomever you work with. It isn’t always prudent to get involved, and there are always going to be other opportunities.
Finally, Stephanie shares this piece of advice, “money is not your problem.” Rethink things if you feel money will get you where you want to go.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode...
Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.
Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.
The episode Episode 62: Stephanie on Money Talks with Hugh Meyer from the podcast What's Your Ask? with Stephanie Sims has a duration of
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More episodes from What's Your Ask? with Stephanie Sims
Episode 66: Stephanie on HerCsuite Radio; How to Leverage Your Value
*This episode is a shared episode directly from the host, Natalie Benamou.
In This Episode:
Are you looking for investors in your business and unsure where to start? Let’s take a walk with Stephanie Sims, founder of Finance-Ability®, former investment banker and finance expert. Stephanie gives her advice and strategies on moving from “shiny object syndrome” to prioritizing your growth strategies. This conversation with host Natalie Benamou and Stephanie Sims shows you how you can start leveraging your value today.
Evaluate Your Business:
1. Take a step back and understand what you want the business to be.
2. Develop your “credible milestone ask” based on what the next goal/objective is for your business.
3. Focus on your strengths and recognize your weaknesses when expanding your team. Hire people who will balance you out.
4. Think early about your path to profitability instead of only focusing on growth.
The Ask:
● Things don’t have to be perfect when asking for money for your business.
● Be open with investors about your experiments (what worked and what didn’t work).
● Watch out for “shiny object syndrome”. Is it going to add value to your business?
Know Your Worth
● Giving equity away for your business: If someone wants to invest in exchange for 5%, you need to know if that’s $50,000 or $500,000. It’s important to have a sense of the dollar value for what you’re giving away.
● Receiving equity as partial payment at a new job opportunity: What does the deal look like if the equity doesn’t materialize vs. if it does happen. Are you comfortable with the balance of risk and reward that you’ve agreed to take to make that deal work.
Thank you, Stephanie Sims, for this conversation, your expertise and helping entrepreneurs understand how to leverage their value.
Stephanie Sims has more than two decades in finance, quality & IT management and valuation of public and private entities. Stephanie’s experience with large transactions and her knowledge of how due diligence works made it easy to spot one of the key reasons that entrepreneurs face such difficulty getting financing: they don’t understand the fundamentals of evaluating risks versus rewards. Developing this knowledge base led her to see that everyone has the ability to manage their finances successfully, but they don’t always realize it. And that’s where the notion of Finance-Ability was born.
Natalie Benamou is the CEO of HerPower2 Lead and HerCsuite™ an online platform for Executive Women.
HerCsuite™ is an online membership platform transforming the way women meet, engage and thrive together. Close The Promotion Gap Inside Peer-to-Peer Curated Mentoring Circles and Level-Up Your Results.
Reach out to Natalie Benamou at HerCsuite™.
LinkedIn: Natalie Benamou HerPower2 Lead HerCsuite™
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Credits: Thanks to Julie Deem and the Business Podcast Editor for editing our podcast!
Episode 65: Stephanie on Matt Wolach, Sales as Principle Source of Capital
In this episode…
This is a shared episode by Matt Wolach. Matt starts the episode introducing Stephanie, asking where she is today and how she got there.
They kick off the show agreeing that raising capital is truly all about sales. People looking for funding need to look at what is right in front of them - creating something of value that clients and future clients will pay them for.
One of the mindsets that is super important is that of an investor. And then you ask yourself, “What is the best use of the resources I already have?”
When it comes to timing, Stephanie shares the best way to know if you’re ready to raise capital is when you know how to turn $1m inside your company to $2m. One needs to understand what makes a good investment inside your business first.
The show turns to talking about fundraising being truly a sales and marketing process. However, there are a few metrics, key numbers and KPIs to keep an eye on.
Finally, they wrap up with Stephanie sharing advice to those setting out to find funds and the right investor. And of course, ways to keep up with Stephanie.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode...
Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.
Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.
Episode #64: Stephanie on Lead Like a Woman
In this episode…
Andrea begins the episode introducing Stephanie, and asks her exactly what it was that drove her into owning her own business. More specifically, what drove her to Financeability.
What gave Stephanie the heart for business? It stemmed from watching her parents who owned their own business. When her parents were ready to retire, they reached out to Stephanie who helped them place value on their business so they could talk about it like the asset it was.
Stephanie shares how she helps businesses plan an exit strategy that doesn’t just include hanging their hat on the door and that’s that. Understanding the end game is crucial, and not everyone knows that.
Another major playing piece for those wanting to ask for money is knowing their ideal investor. Without knowing that, there is so much wasted time and energy.
There are two groups that Stephanie works with, and those are founders, but the second one that really excites her is working with organizations that serve groups of founders. She explains why, so make sure you listen!
The episode wraps with words of advice and sharing what she believes is her superpower and how it helps others.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
- http://leadlikeawoman.biz
Sponsor for this episode...
Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.
Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.
Episode 63: Leadership Journey
In this Episode . . .
Robbie gets this episode started by asking Stephanie about her leadership journey and when she realized she had a knack for leading. To Stephanie, being a leader is equal parts inspiration and risk/action taking. One must have a bold vision to share with people that will get them excited about doing something. In the same sense, one must also be willing to roll up their own sleeves, dig in and do some work as well.
Mentors were important to Stephanie, and among the top of that list are her parents. They encouraged and supported her in multiple ways during her leadership journey. No matter how crazy of an idea, they were there for her and provided the push when needed.
At the age of 12, Stephanie thought she wanted to be a doctor until the opportunity arose at summer camp to practice on cadavers. It was then her dream of being a doctor was called off. By the age of 13, she was working on spreadsheet for her parents, and with her father being an accountant, she was off and running in the world of finance.
Robbie and Stephanie talk at length about networking. Prior to the pandemic, networking was largely face-to-face. Things, events, and the mode of networking has changed drastically since March 2020, and these changes will be a permanent thing.
The episode wraps with Stephanie sharing what excites her about the future, and how she will be mentoring and reaching groups of entrepreneurs.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode...
Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.
Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.
Episode 62: Stephanie on Money Talks with Hugh Meyer
In this Episode . . .
Stephanie shares that her parents owned a business while she was in high school, but when time came to sell their business and retire, they struggled to find buyers. She realized then that the business was sellable, but they didn’t know how to talk about their business as an investment.
For Stephanie, it is fun to see people get excited, but she tries to help when they are frustrated because they see a way to grow but don’t know how to find the money to do it. Most entrepreneurs are not finance people, so don’t always understand their financial health and what pieces to put in place. They need to know their numbers in order to look and ask for capital. The numbers are very revealing!
The world changed during the pandemic. Toward the end of the year, and people adapted, there was quite a bit of money raised. The changes, including the world of Zoom, made people transition to a different way of approaching the investor. But, she did see a lot of people panic, but most turned the panic into productivity.
The biggest misconception people have, is there is this huge pool of money just looking to be spent. That isn’t how it works. They generally won’t fund 100% of the round, and sometimes they simply aren’t interested because it isn’t big enough for them. Reality is this – there are different kinds of capital for companies at different stages.
Fundraising is just like sales and marketing – you need an ideal client, and you need a message that resonates with them. You can’t stand up and simply ask, “Hey I have this thing, do you want to buy it?” Building connections is key, even though the digital world continues to advance. It’s time to pull back automation and create genuine relationships. The touch and customer service are needed.
Philosophy needs to be aligned with whomever you work with. It isn’t always prudent to get involved, and there are always going to be other opportunities.
Finally, Stephanie shares this piece of advice, “money is not your problem.” Rethink things if you feel money will get you where you want to go.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- Finance-Ability
- Stephanie Sims
- Stephanie Sims LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode...
Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.
Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.