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Question: What is one major challenge I should be aware of before manufacturing my product abroad?

The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is a popular topic when it comes to manufacturing abroad, and for good reason. It is very easy to lose product quality while manufacturing elsewhere. Things usually start off OK, yet as time goes on, the quality can fade without your awareness. To better prevent this from happ...

What is a small business startup loan?

A startup business loan is any type of loan that helps businesses with little to no business history. It's one of many financing options for founders who are looking to either get started or improve their young companies.

Can Startups get a business loan?

Yes, it is possible for startups to get business loans.

However, startups may face more challenges in obtaining financing than established businesses because they often have limited credit history and may not have a track record of profitability.

Startups should carefully research and compare the various financing options available to them and choose the one that best meets their needs and goals.

It's also a good idea for startups to work with a financial a...

You’re automating a majority of your work, but what do you know about workflow automation? Implementing tactics that decrease the workload of your team members and eliminate unnecessary routine is crucial to business success.

Here’s how you can automate your team’s workflows to create more efficient, productive work processes.

Why is Workflow Automation Vital for Success?

If you need a reason to implement automation into your workflows, just check out these key statistics from Cognizant’s 2015 business process automation study:

• 20% of organizations who use process automation report at least 15% cost savings
• Half of those implementing new automated workflow strategies see significant improvement in their overall systems within 3-5 years

T...

Ok. You have a great thing going with your new startup and are thinking about applying to an accelerator. Good on you. You have done your research to figure out if your company is a fit for a program like YCombinator, Techstars, UpRamp, or one of the many others in the world and now you are ready to start the online application process. Good friggin’ luck, because you have likely already lost the game.

Out here in Colorado there is a consortium of 70+ accelerators called the Global Accelerator Network, and their members report that 30% or less of their accepted cohort startups come to them from online submissions. The other 70% is accepted based on investor, mentor & alumni referrals. Knowing that the typical accelerator only accepts 1% of...

When you’re looking for grants to start a business, you’re looking in an area that’s crowded with a lot of competition. But, if there’s one thing startup entrepreneurs are known for, it’s tenacity.

The reason there’s so much competition is, a) there are a limited number of grants and, b) grants — unlike other forms of funding — don’t have to be paid back. You also don’t have to give up any equity in your company in order to win one. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?

So while we don’t always recommend grants as the first place startups go looking for funding, they’re absolutely a great option for a certain subset of companies. Here’s an overview of how to secure grants to start to business, as well as a few types of grants for starting a busines...

We all love celebrating the big wins with big announcements.

✓ We celebrate our big product launches.
✓ We celebrate key partnerships.
✓ We celebrate when we raise a big funding round.**

All of those sound amazing — and sometimes they are. But, what gets lost are the victories that actually matter: the small victories.

Small victories are what lead to the big announcements. But, they often get overlooked for one reason or another. Things like:

★ The first paying customer you signed.
★ The first month you broke even.
★ The first customer acquisition campaign that actually yiel...

Startup Founders are busy. In the long list of things competing for your attention, cap table management is probably not high on the list. However, not having an accurate record of your company’s ownership structure can lead to costly mistakes down the road. Employee trust can be undermined if stock option grants are not handled properly, and closing a round of finance can be delayed, or even placed at risk if cap table errors or omissions are revealed during the due diligence process.

Captable.io is a cloud-based tool designed to make cap table creation and scenario modeling as easy as possible. Built by Founders for Founders, Captable.io is a free product that guides you step-by-step through the cap table creation process, prompting key ...

Business incorporation! It’s not the sexiest topic — but it’s very important. So let’s take a look at one type of business incorporation — LTDs — and see how they compare to a couple others. Bear with us, here. We promise you’ll be glad you paid attention.

1. What is an LTD?

LTD stands for “limited,” and it’s a type of business incorporation used primarily in the UK, Canada, and Australia. When you see it — or “LTD” — as a suffix to an official company name, it indicates that it is a private “limited company.” That means that if anything happens to the company — like bankruptcy or getting sued, for example — then the investors are only responsible for the capital that they originally invested. This arrangement protects the personal assets o...

What do Karl Marx and Monday mornings have in common? Considering how most people feel on Monday mornings, Marx and Mondays are more connected than you’d think.

Marx predicted that as skills became more specialized, the personal contributions of workers would become less distinct, leading them to lose sight of the results of their efforts. Without a sense of accomplishment at the end of a task, workers would eventually become apathetic to their roles.

This is a sentiment that’s grown increasingly strong in today’s digital world.

In contrast to the industrial age, the digital age provides a far less structured work environment that often lacks fixed schedules, the need for offices, and tangible products. On top of that, it deals in the curre...

What is a convertible note (aka Convertible Debt)?

A convertible note (otherwise called convertible debt) is a loan from investors that converts into equity. It’s a common way for investors to invest in early stage startups, particularly ones that are pre-valuation.

Here’s how it works:

An investor loans a startup a certain amount of money, but instead of expecting their money back in the form of payments with interest, their “payment” comes in the form of equity.

That conversion from the balance of the loan to preferred stock happens at a specified point — usually a new valuation at the conclusion of a new funding round.

When a company accepts investment in the form of a convertible note, notes are issued instead of priced equity.

Key par...