Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered: A, B, C, D and E, F through H, I through L, M and N and P and Q. This week’s installment is brought to you by the letter R.

Ramen Profitable

This term, coined by Paul Graham, is used to describe a startup that makes just enough money to cover basic expenses and not much else; in a ramen profitable venture, the founders are left with just enough money to buy pre-packaged ramen noodles for sustenance.

Ramp Up

To “ramp up” is to increase the output of a company’s product or service in anticipation of an increase in demand. Ramping up can occur during the early stages of a startup, or it can occur when a company releases a new product or service.

Recapitalization

Recapitalization occurs when a company restructures its debts and equity to create a more stable capital structure. During recapitalization, a company may exchange one form of financing for another; for example, a company may opt to remove preferred stocks in favor of bonds.

Roadmap

A roadmap is a visual planning device that defines where your business is, where you want it to go and how you plan to get there.

Rockstar (or Wizard, Ninja)

These terms—most popular in reference to the developer community—are used to describe people who are masters of their craft. “Rockstar,” “wizard” and “ninja” have earned a bad reputation, however, for being indicators that an employer hasn’t researched his or her company’s needs before seeking developer talent.

ROI (Return On Investment)

ROI is a profitability measurement, calculated by dividing your company’s net profit by its net worth (or total assets).

Rounds

Rounds are a series of funding phases through which startups raise capital. The seed round is the initial funding used to launch the business, while subsequent rounds—referred to as “Series [A-F]—are used to grow and expand the business.

Runway

The runway is how much time your company has left before it goes out of business, assuming your current income and expenses remain constant; your runways is calculated by dividing your available cash by your burn rate.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

The post The EntrepreLingo Series: R Is for Roadmap appeared first on Startup Southerner.

This weekend I had the privilege of attending the second annual Girls to the Moon Campference, an event for young girls and their caregivers that featured over a dozen speakers and covered topics ranging from astrophysics to puberty. The campference, which was held at Nossi College of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, is just one of the ways Girls to the Moon works to equip young women with tools to discover their best selves and inspire change within their own communities.

One of the sessions at this year’s campference was “How to Go for It: Starting Your Own Business,” which served as an interactive crash course in entrepreneurship. The session was hosted by Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons, the mother-daughter team behind the mobile app MixTroz.

Girls and their caregivers divide into groups during the “How to Go for It: Starting Your Own Business” session at the second annual Girls to the Moon Campference

Schrader and Ammons kicked off the session by breaking girls up into groups of ten and assigning each group a business concept. The girls were then challenged to develop a basic business model based on the concept they were assigned, including an overview of how their company makes money, its target customers and its competition.

I watched as a hundred girls brainstormed their way to viable business concepts within ten minutes. Not only were these young ladies learning to work as a team, but they were also learning how to think like entrepreneurs.

These are just a few of the lessons they learned—lessons that may serve as a reminder to those of us just starting out on our entrepreneurial journeys:

1. Entrepreneurship doesn’t start with an entrepreneur. It starts with a problem.

This was something the founders of MixTroz made clear from the very beginning. “We didn’t start our business by saying, ‘We want to be entrepreneurs,’” Ammons explained before assigning business concepts to each group. “We started our business by solving a problem.” The problem a company solves can be just as important as the solution it creates; the more pain the customer feels, the more likely he or she is to pay for a solution.

2. Know what makes your company valuable.

We’re not just talking about money here; your value proposition is what sets your company apart from the competition. What makes your product better than the other guys’?

3. Know your customer.

Reaching your target market can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. Identify your customers first, then shape your business to accommodate their needs. Don’t waste valuable time and resources on people who aren’t interested in your product.

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Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered: A, B, C, D and E, F through H, I through L, and M and N. This week, we’re taking a look at P and Q.

Pain Point

The pain point is the problem an entrepreneur attempts to solve with his or her product or service. Identifying the customer’s pain point is essential; the more pain a customer feels, the more likely he or she is to pay for a solution.

Paradigm Shift

A paradigm shift is a major change that occurs when a new technology drastically alters how a product or service is completed. One of the most well-known examples of a paradigm shift occurred in 1913, when Henry Ford introduced the assembly line to his auto manufacturing process.

Pipeline

The pipeline is where your product or service exists when it is past the starting point but not yet complete. Something that is “in the pipeline” is currently in process.

Pitch Deck

A pitch deck is a visual presentation that provides an overview of your business. A pitch deck covers everything from your company’s team members to its business model and how a potential investor’s money would be spent.

Pivot

A pivot occurs when a company’s business model changes in response to feedback from its customers or to changes in the market. A pivot does not necessarily mean a business is doing poorly; in fact, it may indicate that a business has discovered a better solution for their customer’s problem.

Preferred Stock

Preferred stock is an option that offers higher claims on assets and earnings than common stock. An advantage of preferred stock is that it is more secure; preferred stockholders are paid a guaranteed dividend before common stockholders. A disadvantage is that preferred stockholders are not granted voting rights in the company. And—because of its guaranteed dividend—preferred stock trades at a more stable price, meaning there is a lower chance of making a significant capital gain.

Proof of Concept (POC)

Proof of concept is a study or demonstration that leads to documented evidence that the success of your company’s product or service is feasible.

Prototype

A prototype is a replica of the product your company plans to manufacture or sell. Prototyping is an essential early step in developing a product; prototypes have the ability to show strengths and weaknesses in your product’s design. Initial prototypes can be made of household items, while later prototypes—like the ones created just before production—are usually made from the materials of which the actual product will eventually be made.

QoQ (Quarter over Quarter)

Quarter over Quarter comparisons reflect changes that occur from one quarter to the next; comparisons are calculated by subtracting the previous quarter’s numbers from the current quarter’s numbers, then multiplying that value by 100 to get the percent change.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

The post The EntrepreLingo Series: Minding Your Ps and Qs appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered: A, B, C, D and E, F through H, and I through L. This week, we’re taking a look at M and N.

Makerspace

A makerspace is a co-working environment specifically for craftspeople. Makerspaces usually feature designated work areas and provide members with access to expensive equipment—such as woodworking tools, CNC routers, 3D printers, etc.—for a more affordable membership fee.

Market Penetration

Market penetration—part of the Ansoff Matrix—is a low-risk method of business growth; it occurs when a company successfully enters a market in which similar products or services already exist.

Mentor

A mentor is an experienced businessperson who offers his or her knowledge and advice to less experienced entrepreneurs. Mentors are volunteers and do not have a vested interest in your business.

Mezzanine Capital

Mezzanine capital is a type of financing in which the lender is given the right to convert any debts into equity interest or ownership in case of default. Mezzanine capital ranks higher than equity, but is still subordinate to bank loans and secured loans.

Microfinancing

Microfinancing is for low-income entrepreneurs who do not qualify for, or have access to, traditional financial services like loans or insurance. In microfinance, entrepreneurs receive funding in small increments from multiple lenders. The loans are then paid back over time, much like with a traditional loan. Kiva is one example of a microfinancing platform.

Micropayments

Micropayments are digital payments that are so small, credit card companies cannot process them; they can range from fractions of pennies up to several dollars. Micropayments are made through micropayment processors in exchange for online apps or services.

MoM (Month over Month)

Month over Month comparisons reflect changes that occur from one month to the next; comparisons are calculated by subtracting the previous month’s numbers from the current month’s numbers, then multiplying that value by 100 to get the percent change.

Multi-Sided Platform (MSP)

Multi-sided platforms facilitate direct interactions between two or more sides of the market—the vendor and the customer, for instance. Etsy, eBay and Facebook are all examples of multi-sided platforms.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

First introduced in The Lean Startup by Eric Reis, the minimum viable product is the product with just enough features to allow you to learn the most about your customers with the least amount of effort.

NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

This is a legal document between two or more parties that outlines confidential materials or information that the parties wish to withhold from outsiders. NDAs can protect anything from proprietary information to trade secrets.

Niche

Your niche is a subset of the market in which your company exists. Market niches are specialized and form as a product changes to satisfy a certain need in the market, or as the price range and production quality change to better serve the target demographic.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

The post The EntrepreLingo Series: M and N appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Being an entrepreneur in the LGBT community comes with a unique set of challenges. Sometimes those challenges are present in the form of subtle—or even overt—discriminations from potential customers or investors. Sometimes they occur in the process of trying to make valuable connections in an ecosystem dominated by straight men. And sometimes those challenges arise when a business owner decides to come out to his or her advisors or employees.

These challenges have existed for as long as LGBT-owned Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs) have existed, and since the late 1980s, LGBT Chambers of Commerce have been popping up across the United States, including in the South, in an effort to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business owners overcome them.

The purpose of any local LGBT Chamber of Commerce is to establish and nurture a network of business and professional resources for LGBT and allied communities. Chambers often encourage communication, fellowship and support among member businesses by hosting networking events and mixers. Most chambers also feature an online directory, which allows people to search for LGBT-owned businesses in various industries within their community.

When LGBT chambers were first formed, the organizations operated locally and independently. But In 2002, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) was founded to serve as the national advocate for all affiliated LGBT Chambers both present and future.

The NGLCC serves LGBTBEs in a number of ways. They offer a certification process through their Supplier Diversity Initiative (SDI), which provides LGBTBEs with opportunities to gain exposure within corporate procurement processes.

The NGLCC also takes an active role in legislation at a federal and state level. The organization partners with Federal Agencies such as the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Transportation and the U.S. Small Business Administration in an effort to ensure the implementation of pro-business, LGBT-inclusive policies.

The organization’s headquarters, the Supplier Innovation Center in Washington D.C., offers further business resources to SDI certified LGBT businesses and serves as the nexus for those connections. It also houses all SDI certification documents.

In addition, the NGLCC partners with banks, shipping companies, airlines, hotels and educational facilities to provide LGBTBEs with the tools necessary for success.

To learn more about the NGLCC and its affiliate chambers, visit their website.

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Jeremy Lekich, Founder of Nashville Foodscapes

Jeremy Lekich, founder of Nashville Foodscapes, has been working with residents of Nashville, Tennessee, to create edible landscapes since 2011. What started as a college requirement quickly turned into a passion—and ultimately a business—for this Nashville native.

Lekich’s belief in educating others about food and his talent for designing beautiful, functional landscapes has resulted in features from NPR and The Daily Meal, to name a few. He sat down with us to answer a few questions about how he fell into foodscaping, his experience as a small business owner and about the importance of finding the right people when growing.

Q: Has growing and gardening always been a passion of yours?

A: Not really. I grew up in suburban Nashville. My parents would take me to Radnor Lake—and maybe they had a small garden—but it was never an active part of my life growing up. It was in college that I discovered a love and passion for gardening and growing food. It just totally consumed me, and I haven’t turned back.

Q: What exactly sparked your interest in gardening, and how did that lead to the foundation of Nashville Foodscapes?

A: I went to a small work college near Asheville, NC called Warren Wilson College. It’s a work college, meaning every student has to work 15 hours a week as part of their education… You can do everything from washing dishes to working on the farm there, to building instruments and renovating buildings.

I was on the landscaping crew, and we took care of the entire landscape grounds, as well as an edible foodscape in front of the eco-dorm. The landscaping supervisor there was very different from most of your conventional landscapers; he really loved using native plants and creating landscapes that looked pretty wild. Between that and working on the landscape, I really grew to love learning about these plants. And being down in the foodscape, I was learning to grow all these foods. I would give tours to visitors of the college—parents of new students and existing students and all kinds of people. And after hearing 20 times, “Oh my god, it’s so beautiful! I want this in my front yard or my backyard!” I was like, maybe I should consider starting a business doing this!

Originally my major was biochemistry, and I spent a lot of time in the laboratory, and I pretty quickly realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life doing that. I really wanted to spend the rest of my life outside and working with plants. That kind of laid the foundation for Nashville Foodscapes. My last year of college I took some business classes and started formulating a business plan and coming up with names and doing market research.

Q: So is your overarching mission, then, to promote urban farming?

A: I’m hesitant to use that phrase because when people think of farming, they think of rows of vegetables, and this is somewhat different. I would say we’re spreading a culture of food can be grown in our everyday landscapes. It doesn’t have to be regulated to a little garden or to a farm somewhere; it can be integrated into our everyday landscapes. So that’s my main goal and mission is to show that growing food can be very beautiful.

Q: Let’s talk about funding. Did you have to raise a lot of capital to get Nashville Foodscapes off the ground?

A: I had to purchase a truck and a trailer and tools, but I would say the overhead was low compared to other businesses… But there was definitely an investment of time and money and energy in starting it. For about a year and a half—or maybe two years, even—I was waiting tables part-time, and I was using that money not only to pay my bills, but also to build up our tools and using some of that money for marketing. And so I was definitely investing money into getting the company going.

“This has very much been a bootstrapped, slow-going process. I’ve actually started another business since then with two other partners called Compost Nashville, and we offer a composting service for people who don’t want to do it at home. And it’s been the same way. We talked about going the investor route, and we were like, ‘You know what, let’s do the bootstrap way,’ because then you’re only accountable to yourself and your clients… I really am proud and happy with the way that we started.

Q: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced—or continue to face—as a small business owner?

A: The challenges of starting a new business are many. For being in what we consider an entrepreneurial country … they sure do make it difficult for people to start businesses. Part of it was being able to pay for all that insurance and worker’s comp—all the protections you need as a new business. That’s expensive.

The other is that balance of knowing when your business becomes your livelihood, and when do you still need to maintain that second job. For me it was waiting tables; there was definitely that transition of, “OK, I’m almost making enough money to quit this job, but not quite yet.” And it was definitely a leap of faith when I did quit that job and make this my main livelihood.

Another challenge is growing a business. They say that one of the biggest failures of new business is growing too big too fast. We’ve run into that a couple times—we got all this demand, and I tried to meet it, and then our quality would go down because we were trying to do too many projects. It was learning that and finally saying, ‘Hey, sorry, we’re maxed for this Spring. We can put you on the list for this fall.’ And also, hiring someone full-time. I was at a point where I needed someone full time, but I couldn’t necessarily afford them. What I ended up doing was hiring someone full-time, and it really hurt. There were times when I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pay myself anything that next month, but I had to go through that to get to the point where we were a bigger company. So there’s the challenge of not growing too big too fast but also growing and having to make some sacrifices to make that happen.

Q: Speaking of growth, where do you see Nashville Foodscapes in the next five years?

A: I’m not trying to be a millionaire, but it’s a funny balance—until I find the right people, I don’t really want to grow, though I do want to help more and more people grow food. But at the same time, I’m almost at capacity. I can’t do any more work without just not getting enough sleep or not feeling like I’m not spending time with my partner… It’s really a hard balance to strike, and it really took a lot of deep thought for me and coming to terms with what my priorities are.

Q: Any words of wisdom for new or growing startups?

A: Learn a bookkeeping software and get your bookkeeping together in the beginning. That was something I learned later and I’m still trying to get on top of, and I wish it was something that I had just integrated into my life from the beginning because it would make things a lot easier if I had all my bookkeeping stuff together… And get a good accountant, someone you trust who can help you learn that stuff because there’s so much that you can determine for your business if you have a good understanding of your finances.

I would say also don’t hesitate to reach out to people who are in your field to collaborate with them. I have a number of landscapers that I work with, and we especially in the United States have such a competitive mentality. And I don’t think that’s all bad, I think there’s some good things to that, but I think it goes to too much of an extreme. And I have found that everyone wins in the end when you can collaborate with people. There have been a number of jobs I have collaborated with other landscapers on… We brought them on, it was awesome, we had fun, and then they brought us up on a project, and we ended up being able to make more money in the end and have more fun and produce a better product. Reach out and make a community and create collaborative relationships with other people in whatever field you’re in. And I am confident that it will be better off than trying to be an isolated, competitive, bullheaded business person.

The post Q&A With Jeremy Lekich, Founder of Nashville Foodscapes appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered: A, B, C, D and E, and F through H. This week, we’re looking at I through L.

Incubator

An incubator is an organization that provides startups with the support and resources they need for growth and development. All incubators provide different levels of assistance; however, many feature educational resources, access to office space and/or mentorship programs.

Intrapreneur

Like entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs are innovators; however, they innovate within a pre-existing corporate setting.

IPO (Initial Public Offering)

The IPO is the first stock a private company makes available to the public.

Iteration

Iteration is a term you hear most often in tech startups. It is the practice of developing software in stages, testing each stage, receiving feedback from your team or users, and then making improvements based what you find. This method allows developers to identify problems early in the development process and make changes more easily, rather than waiting until a project is fully developed.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

A KPI is a performance measurement that demonstrates how well a company—or part of a company—is reaching certain key objectives. Those objectives vary from venture to venture, but examples of KPIs may include customer acquisition rates, manufacturing quality or even employee turnover.

Launch

To launch is to introduce a venture or new product or service to the market.

Lean (or Lean Startup)

First introduced by Eric Reiss in his book The Lean Startup, lean practices involve using iteration and validated learning to reduce risk and avoid the need to raise large amounts of funding. Over time, however, “lean” has evolved to simply mean a business is committed to keeping its overhead costs low.

Leverage

Leverage is the money a business borrows in an effort to increase its rate of return on investment. Leverage is calculated by a company’s total debt, divided by its total equity.

Liquidation

Liquidation is one step in the process of dissolving a company. During liquidation, business operation comes to a halt and the company’s assets are divided among its shareholders or sold to pay off any remaining debts. Liquidation may also refer to discounting inventory in an effort to sell it off.

LLC (Limited Liability Company)

In an LLC, company members are not held personally liable for the company’s debts. An LLC combines the flexibility of a partnership with the protection of a corporation.

Loss Leading

This is a pricing strategy wherein certain products—or leaders—are sold at a loss to attract customers and stimulate other product sales. For instance, an electronics store may sell DVDs at discounted prices to attract customers who may also purchase televisions and stereo systems.

Low-Hanging Fruit

“Low-hanging fruit” is a metaphor for an easy solution that yields the best results. In sales, for instance, this term is used to describe the customer who is most likely to buy or use a specific product; by targeting low-hanging fruit, companies can drive sales while saving money on marketing and customer acquisition costs.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

The post The EntrepreLingo Series: I Through L appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Jeff Estes, Owner of 5 String Furniture [photo cred: Caleb Chandler Photography]

Estes occupied a desk next to Nate Akey, founder of 5 String Furniture. A welder by trade, Akey had a tendency to cover surrounding workspaces with metal dust after a day’s work. Estes would retaliate by piling loads of lumber onto Akey’s workbench, and a friendly back-and-forth would ensue. It wasn’t long before the two became good friends and started taking on projects together.

The two partnered for builds in some of Nashville’s more well-known establishments, like Frothy Monkey’s downtown location and Black Abbey Brewing Company’s Fellowship Hall. In 2014, Estes and Akey moved into a 4,000 square foot workshop and dissolved their own companies, forming one partnership under the 5 String name.

Now, just two years later, Estes has assumed full ownership of the company and is working hard to build a team, a brand and a larger client base for 5 String Furniture.

According to Estes, the business was left to him when Akey realized he needed a change. “We were taking cash from our jobs and putting it right back into the company,” Estes says. “We barely paid ourselves.” Because of that reinvestment plan, however, the two were able to buy the majority of their tools in the first year without a bank loan. Things were beginning to look good for the business. “And then,” Estes say, “we kind of hit a hard spot.”

Rien Long [photo cred: Caleb Chandler Photography]

Estes admits that he had no idea what to do at first. “I literally turned wooden bowls for 30 straight days,” he says. He was frustrated and didn’t know how to get the business back on track. But then he realized: to keep the business alive, he had to do whatever he could to generate income. So he started flipping lumber.

Together with Fort Houstoner and former Tennessee Titan, Rien Long, Estes flipped enough lumber to get 5 String back on its feet. And soon enough, three big jobs came in at once.

Estes remembers this as his defining moment. “That was my choice,” he says, “I could get rid of the company and liquidate all my assets or say yes and see what happens. I said yes.”

Cooper Collins [photo cred: Caleb Chandler Photography]

A few weeks later, Cody Bonnette—a musician and pipeline welder from Baton Rouge, Louisiana—got in touch. “We happened to have two big jobs that I needed a welder for,” Estes says. “He happened to be the best welder I’ve ever seen.”

Some more jobs came in, and Estes got yet another inquiry for work, this time from an experienced woodworker named Joey Mullen. “He brought in a level of execution that we were missing,” Estes explains, “If I wasn’t there, Joey was bridging that gap.”

Cody Bonnette [photo cred: Caleb Chandler Photography]

Estes isn’t taking his team for granted; he makes sure each member is fairly compensated and will continue to be fairly compensated as the 5 String grows. “I don’t want them to feel like a year from now they’re not getting gains when the company does,” he says, “It’s a team effort. These guys, they care.”

Likewise, Estes wants his team to know when things are going well and when they’re not. “My number one thing is transparency in business,” he says. “If something’s going wrong with the company, my employees are the first to know it… I think it shows a level of trust… And it’s not comfortable to tell them those things. It’s sometimes embarrassing. If you run a small business, you have to let that pride and ego go. You can’t hold on to that. It’s damaging to your reputation and to your productivity.”

Joey Mullen [photo cred: Caleb Chandler Photography]

5 String is planning a big move to a new workshop soon, where they plan to open a retail store and begin production on a new line of customizable bar stools, desks and dining tables. In the meantime, Estes is focusing on building new relationships and growing the business quickly and sustainably.

The post Jeff Estes of 5 String Furniture Talks Change and Growing Pains appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered: A, B, C, D and E. This week, we’re taking a look at F through H.

FMA (First Mover Advantage)

The advantage one gains by being the first company to bring a particular product or service to market; examples of FMAs include brand recognition and customer loyalty.

Foodpreneur

A combination of the words “food” and “entrepreneur,” a foodpreneur is one who owns a food-based startup.

Franchisability

The ability of a business to be replicated in other markets. A company’s franchisability is determined by its ability to provide potential franchisees with organization, training, promotional materials, marketing and managing assistance.

Freemium

A combination of the words “free” and “premium,” a freemium business model refers to a system in which a company’s base-level tools or services are accessed for free, while their more robust features can only be accessed after a premium is paid.

Frothy

“Frothy” is used to describe a market in which assets have been detached from their intrinsic values and their prices have been driven to unsustainably high levels. Markets “froth” just before they bubble.

Gamification

Gamification is the method of incorporating game mechanics to non-game products or services to incentivise purchasing or customer/user engagement. This is done by rewarding customer/users with real-life prizes or achievements.

Gazelle

Gazelles are rapid-growth companies that start from a revenue base of $1 million and increase by at least 20% annually, meaning they double their revenues after four years.

Ground Floor

The ground floor is the startup phase of a new business where market entry costs are lowest.

Growth Hacking

Growth hacking is a way to grow and engage a company’s user base quickly and more economically than traditional advertising would allow. It is done by utilizing alternative methods of advertising, such as social media, viral marketing and targeted advertising.

Hockey Stick

A “hockey stick” is the shape a line graph takes when a company has experienced dramatic growth over time. The blade of the hockey stick is represented by the slower, early stages of growth. The shaft of the hockey stick is represented by the later, more rapid stages of growth.

Hostile Takeover

Sometimes during an acquisition, the target company’s management does not want the deal to go through. In these cases, a hostile takeover may occur, wherein the acquiring company goes directly to the target company’s shareholders or replaces the target company’s management just to get the acquisition approved.

Hustle (or Side-Hustle)

To hustle is to earn one’s living in non-traditional ways. Bootstrapping entrepreneurs often have side-hustles that help fund their businesses or cover living expenses during their startup’s early stages. Examples of hustling can be having a part-time job, doing freelance work, selling one-off goods or performing odd-jobs for friends and neighbors.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

The post The EntrepreLingo Series: F Through H appeared first on Startup Southerner.

Someone new to the world of entrepreneurship will notice right away that entrepreneurs have an interesting way of speaking. From “unicorn” to “bootstrapping” to “foodpreneur,” entrepreneurs use a lot of strange language to describe what they do. By combining words, or by assigning new meaning to old ones, they have created a whole new vocabulary to better communicate their needs and ideas in an ever-evolving ecosystem. The EntrepreLingo Series is an effort to fill our readers in on some of the weirder—or less straightforward—terms you’re sure to hear in an entrepreneurial environment. So far, we’ve covered A through C. This week, we’re tackling the next couple of letters, D and E.

Debt Financing

Getting a loan to fund your business. Debt financing is a method of financing through which no ownership of the company is lost; however, it often requires some kind of collateral or agreement between the lender and the business owner.

Deep Dive

Deep dive is a brainstorming method in which a team of people are deeply immersed in a process or idea.

Deliverables

This is a project management term that refers to the quantifiable goods or services that will be available to customers once a project is complete.

Disrupt

To disrupt is to break into a specific market with a game-changing product or service. Disruptive businesses are often high-risk because they require customers to change their behavior; however, this risk may later yield a higher payout. 

Due Diligence

Due diligence is investigating before investing; it is the process of auditing a business and its financial liabilities before investing.

Early Adopters

The beta testers and trendsetters of society, early adopters are those who begin using a product or service as soon as it becomes available. This term is part of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory; early adopters fall near the front of the innovations bell curve.

EBITDA

Your EBITDA is your earnings before interest, taxes, depreciations and amortizations.

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a sales pitch that is deliverable in the amount of time it would take one to ride an elevator to the top floor of a building. Usually only 30 seconds to a minute long, elevator pitches are succinct, persuasive and introduce the company’s product or service and its value proposition.

Emerging Technologies

A term used to describe technologies that have the potential to change society as a whole. Examples include artificial intelligence, stem cell therapy and nanotechnology.

Enterprise Value

This is your company’s total value, calculated by adding the market value of common stock, market value of preferred equity, market value of debt and minority interest, minus cash and investments.

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is one who takes risks, builds and organizes ventures that may capitalize on specific opportunities. They are self-starters who see needs and seek ways to meet those needs.

Equity Financing

Equity financing is the practice of trading ownership in your company for capital or assets. The most common method of equity financing is selling shares.

Evangelist (or Business Evangelist)

This is a person who believes so strongly in a company’s good or service that they try to convince others to buy and use it by using word-of-mouth marketing techniques.

Exit Strategy

The strategy by which a business owner limits loss once he or she “exits” the market. The exit strategy may be executed when a company fails to generate a profit, or even when a venture meets its profit objective. Exit strategies may also be executed during extreme market changes, or if the owner wishes to cut ties with the business.

See something we’ve missed? Leave your contribution in the comments below!

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