Banking Services for Start ups

Banking services is probably one of the most irritating essential services you need when starting up a business. Unless you're a freelancer, salesperson or simply an entrepreneur, you'll likely appreciate having a merchant front to account for your business spendings and avoid checks.

If you're on a low budget and do not require a lot of services, Pay pal probably works the best. However there are low cost/ free bank services for the entrepreneurs. Some are listed here.

Standard Chartered Business $aver Current Account
There isn't much written about this on the website, except that cheque books are free with this account. If it's the rest of the account fees are the same as the previous SME banking account product, then there shouldn't be any fall below fee charges. Still, best to call the bank up directly for a chit-chat session.

Since the interest rates are high, this account is probably the best if you have high liquidity.

DBS Entrepreneur's Account
Most of the fees are waived for six months, do note the minimum monthly average balance (MMAB) is S$10,000 for DBS's Business Account.

OCBC Business Banking
This account sells on the ease of transactions with customers, i.e. offers a variety of payment options for you to collect money from your customers. It's also clearer on its bank charges.

However, there is also a monthly account charge of S$35 and a fall below fee of S$35 (MMAB is S$5,000). If your business has constant cashflow this account is probably the best option.

Maybank FlexiBiz Account
No MMAB, and similar interest rates as Standard Charted Business $aver. Charges 50cents per cheque signed though.

Banks do change their policies and product features regularly. While we make the effort to keep the information up-to-date, please call the banks for a one-on-one discussion to see if they meet your needs!

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5 Tips on securing VC investment

Many friends have feedback to me about their difficulties in raising funds from Venture Capitalists for their start-up. Here's my advice on how to get your money from VCs, hope this helps!

1. Know Your investor

Not many VCs are willing to invest in early stage startups, hence it is important to know which VCs carry such a portfolio for a better chance.

2. Know what they are looking for

In general for startups, investors look at PITS

1. Potential (Market Size)

2. Innovation (Product Differentiation)

3. Team (Founders’ skillsets and background)

4. Scalability

At the minimum level, have a working prototype ready before you do your pitch. VCs rarely give out money if you have nothing to show. Better still, get paying customers to further prove your product’s value.

3. Gain visibility at conferences and events

Attend conferences and entrepreneurship events, meet and talk to more people out there - they might have contacts that they can link you up. Even if they don't, you gain visibility and to some extent credibility when people know about you and speak about you.

4. Get a mentor

Do you have a mentor for his business yet? If not, ACE also does matchmaking to link start-ups with successful entrepreneurs as their mentors. Choose wisely, and mentors can be wings to your business. Moreover, having a great mentor gives confidence to investors. 

5. Build relationship

Besides having a good business idea, it is important to establish relationship with the investor. Seeking investments are often not a hit-or-miss pitching event, but about slowly building the relationship with them such that they can feel safe betting the money on you. One of the VCs i met mentioned that he sometimes put money on people who remind him of himself in the younger days.

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Startup accelerator profile- I/O ventures

With the rise of Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship is fast becoming a popular career choice for the fresh graduate. The increase in new enterprises also bolstered the industry for startup acceleration. Not only is Silicon Valley the ideal environment for tech startups to grow and mature, but it is also the ideal hunting ground for incubators, venture capitals and angel investors. Just as startups seek to differentiate themselves out of the millions of startups out there, startup accelerators themselves must also start to prove that they are a worthy incubator to cut the best deal.

This got me interested in the different startup accelerators out there. For today, my focus would be on I/O ventures. It's founder, Paul Briegal, came down to my college for an informal sharing session.

They have the basic criteria of most incubation programs out there - a pool of qualified and experienced mentors. But three things that I found really unique and could potentially be their winning formula are

1. Accessibility - Mentors are not remotely situated up on their ivory towers
2. Focus on casual setting - Emphasis on an informal environment so that startups can let their hair down and comfortably share. 
3. Focus on relationships - Win. Securing investment is not usually a one-off decision. Building relationships with the investor is key.

Innovation is not just seen among startups, but clearly among incubators as well. Startups now not only demand money, but "smart" money. Money that comes with advice and skills that will take their business higher, faster and bigger. It would be exciting to see how Silicon Valley and the global entrepreneurship scene will develop in the next 5 years.

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How to build a successful presentation team

Presentations are still the most common method to convey ideas and messages in business. Analysts present their findings to higher management through presentations. Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to potential investors through presentations. When it comes to presentation, there is usually a time limit, but there is usually no rules to say that you have to present on your own. In fact, the more successful presentations revolve around a team rather than a single member.

Here's are 3 tips on how to build a successful presentation team

1. Present By Expertise

People would present better if they know the content. Thus, let your team present according to their expertise - For example, the CTO should handle the technology, the CEO handle the commercialization plan, the COO handle the operations section.

2. Order by presentation style

Recognize that everyone has their own presentation style. You would want an enthusiastic speaker to start to get your panel's attention in the beginning. However, it is impossible to get full attention throughout the whole presentation. Order the less exciting presenters in the middle where the content is less important, and finish with an enthusiastic speaker to wrap the presentation.

3. Have a fair mix

A successful presentation team need not have a team of Barack Obamas. In fact, a good mix of exceptional and OK presenters can do a better job. The exceptional presenters can leave a better impression and what they presented will be etched in the panel's mind. Also, a team of mixed gender also seem to prove useful in improving the presentation.

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Cash is King

In an internship review of 12 students working in startup companies, 3 noted that the biggest lesson in running a business is that Cash is King. In many situations, the reason why small businesses fail is not because of a lack of innovating idea, nor due to poor execution, but because of the depletion of cash reserves rendering business operations to shut down.

Thus it is imperative for business owners to manage their cashflow well.

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When Hiring, go for attitude rather for aptitude

You'd think, “sure, they’re a pain but they produce such high quality work I’m willing to put up with them.” Big mistake.  One bad apple spoils things for everybody.

When it comes to hiring for a startup, it is more important to see that the candidate is 200% eager to do the job, rather than hire someone experienced who expects to be treated like a superstar.

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SEO starting tips for beginners

Tips on what to do first for SEO 

A very simple advice is to do a Google search for some of the "best practices for SEO". There are about 100+ best practices but by paying attention to the top 5 maybe 10, you'll get the biggest bang.

Key areas are:

- Start with key phrases and keywords you want search engine to find the site.
- Create Content with the words/phrases has some bearing.- Create different pages for different keywords/phrases to avoid dilution i.e if a page has too many meanings, it will be demoted by search engines.- Setup proper meta-tags- Title the pages properly- Get links from other sites (e.g blogs or websites of association or affiliation orgs) using proper link text that matches those keywords.

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Pros and Cons of Patenting your product

A case sparked much debate over the need for a patent at work today.

Pros

- Protection - it helps to prevent to a certain extent competitors from copying your innovation

- Asset - gives your product credibility, as a patented product will more likely  give a wow effect to the consumer 

Cons

- Application costs - much money and specialized skill required, as a result, inventors are usually unwilling to fork out additional resources especially in tight situations

- Possibility of failure and thus a waste of money

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Government Grants in Hong Kong and Singapore

Grants are an excellent sources of funding in startups. Here are the links to information on funding grants for your startups in two of the most competitive economy in Asia: HongKong and Singapore

HongKong: http://www.gov.hk/en/business/supportenterprises/funding/

Singapore: http://www.enterpriseone.gov.sg/en/Government%20Assistance/Grants.aspx

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