I’ve been working on a new  workbook to go with my “Seven Stages of Raising Capital workshops”. It’s nearly there. The difficulty is in making a relatively complex process appear practical in a 2 hour time frame. The workbook will help as attendees can take their own business and work through the process.

I’m sending up the drafts to Cochin in India this week so they can complete the layout in time for the first workshop next Wednesday.

On the Tuesday I’m speaking at the Eco Innovation Forum. The topic is “Australian Small Scale Offerings Board – A Capital Underdog’s Guide to Raising Capital”. I’ll be giving a broad outline of the ASSOB Capital Raising Platform. Some successful Eco case studies and then a shortened version of the seminar on Wednesday in Sydney.

First time I’ve used Eventbrite and I’m impressed. Have my next three workshops on there.

Also a big congratulations to Jessica Watson. I particularly like this line from her ….

I have to  disagree with Mr Rudd I don’t consider myself a hero I’m an ordinary girl who had a dream. You just have to have a dream and set your mind to it.’’

During her circumnavigation of the globe she nourished herself on 10 different Easyfood meals.

Easyfood is presently on the ASSOB Capital Raising Platform.

Image via Wikipedia

Capital Underdogs are businesses that need capital or private investors (private equity) and havent been able to find it.

My blog at CaptialUnderdogs.com has plenty of valuable advice for businesses in this situation.

From reading and deciding upon hundreds of Capital Raising Applications I see Venture Funding as based around 7 stages …

1) Evaluating – Could the business raise capital
2) Preparing – Getting the business Investor Ready
3) Discovery – Finding information to support the capital raising
4) Building – Getting the story, events, credibility and lists straight
5) Telling – Spreading the story far and wide
6) Collecting – Receiving and distributing the money
7) Delivering – Fulfilling the promises made during fundraising

For the second stage “Preparing – Getting the business Investor Ready”

I’ve just written a blog post on the topic.

Enjoy!

Dharmesh Shah, Chief Technology Officer & Founder of HubSpot wrote a blog post where he reflected his experience to produce 9 Quick Tips Learned While Raising $33 Million In Venture Capital.

I thought I would take a slightly different approach and rewrite these relative to my experience at the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board. At ASSOB we are a step or two before Venture Capitalists get involved. Some do in some matters but it is mostly Private Equity investors.

You can read my post entry here.

Was “Australia Day” here yesterday and I got thinking about how so many ventures are dependant upon funding from friends, family and fans to get to the next level.

Many people say friends, family and fools.

Which got me thinking. How can someone with a business opportunity needing early stage funding from private equity or investors prepare themselves better. On my “Capital Underdog” Blog I added a new entry which I believe should be invaluable for someone seeking to raise funds from friends, family and fans.

Read it here!

I’ve just added a new post to my Capital Underdogs blog.

At ASSOB where I spend my working day I sit on both the Admissions Committee and the Listing Committee. Applications received for Capital Raising often need improvements and over the years I have broken the areas that need improvement in to  16 different areas.

All 16 are detailed here …

Ironing

A chore to many, a vocation for others.

Beautifully captured here by the meanest indian.

Her blog is worth subscribing to as well!

Just imagine ironing all the fabrics below with the iron above!

Recently on Facebook I posted the following photo …

It got a few comments. Space utilisation is excellent but imagine the annual stocktake?

The shop was located on Mahatma Gandhi Road, Ernakulam, Cochin in India.

Often in the film industry sandals are needed for large scenes with lots of actors.

Making them new and aging them can be costly and the result may not always be aesthetically pleasing.

Stitchwallah in India can locate oodles of these sandals in used condition. Perfect for a films tight budget and aesthetic needs.

Check out how they look here!

My cousin Hilary Niederer has been building a new blog for her fabric sourcing business in India.

What has amazes me has been how many niches are just in the area she works in.

The niche can be as narrow as …

Ikat weaves from orissa

… or as broad as Jewellery

In itself sourcing fabrics for films in India is a narrow niche but as you can see from the rich variety of products there are hundreds of sub niches. If you want to build a social marketing profile for yourself then the narrower the better but it has to be wide enough to have a few thousand raving fans.

Cousin Hilary Niederer now has her own blog.

Stitchwallah!

Hilary sources fabrics for costumes in films.

As you can see in her IMDB entry she has worked with costumes in films like The Kite Runner, The Last Samurai, Kate and Leopold, Narnia and many others.

Visit www.stitchwallah.com now to check out Hilary’s latest fabric discoveries.