The One Color to Avoid in Business Plans and Logos
As many entrepreneurs well know, there are plenty of ways to scare off investors when you're pitching your company. One not-so-obvious way to raise red flags, however, has nothing to do with your idea or how well you sell it.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a new study, "How Images and Color in Business Plans Influence Venture Investment Screening Decisions," indicates that investors are less likely to take a stake in a company that has logos or products containing the color red.
The study's authors, who examined results from a business-plan competition and two survey-based experiments, say that their research indicates that people tend to rely heavily on mental shortcuts drawn from our past experiences--also known as heuristics--when making split-second decisions.
“Humans are not as rational as a lot of people tend to believe that we are,” H. Dennis Park, an assistant professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business and one of the study's authors, told the Journal. The color red is often associated with error or poor performance, especially in the U.S--think about all of your grade school papers marked up with red ink. A pitch or a logo containing this color may subtly remind an investor of mistakes and thus raise literal red flags about your startup's potential.
But here's the good news: once people are made aware of the fact that they are making decisions based on stereotypes, they tend to act more objectively, according to Park. Some venture capitalists, like Madrid-based Luis Martín Cabiedes, make a conscious effort to rebel against traditions in the startup world that promote unconscious bias. Cabiedes told the Journal that he does not watch PowerPoint presentations, read business plans, or attend demo days to make investment decisions. Instead, he relies on in-person interviews with company founders.
"It’s very important to not be affected by the impression that the entrepreneur or the business plan is giving you," Cabiedes said.
The Business Plan that Always Works
Why is it that business plans never come to life? Why do almost all of them, once written, sit on a shelf and gather dust, while the futures they describe never see the light of day, and the businesses they lay out wobble their way into uncertain futures?
A traditional business plan is head-centered; it's an exercise in what business owners think they should do. Writing a traditional business plan is usually precipitated by one of two thoughts:
1. We'd better write a business plan because "that's what most successful businesses do"
2. We need to write a business plan if we want to go out and borrow money.
Traditional business plans are quite intentional. They are thoughtful, analytical, complete, decisive--all of the hallmarks of a supposedly "smart" business.
Traditional, head-centered, static business plans don't work. A plan that starts in the head, with logic and reason and thoughts, lacks passion and excitement and purpose. And a plan that starts with the assumption that it's been able to capture and account for all the relevant changes that will happen in the future is obsolete before the ink is dry on the page.
The business plan that will always work starts from a different place with a different set of operating assumptions. It starts from a heart-centered approach, which means it starts with experiencing the feelings you have. Not only does this plan tolerate change, but it relies on your building in change as a key factor that will keep you on the best course.
When I work with Entrepreneurs, I lead them through something I call 'The Dreaming Room.' This is the step before the business plan. In the Dreaming Room, we set out to imagine our businesses-but not from a logistics standpoint. Rather, we dream about the vision for the business. Why do you want to build it? Who will benefit? What will it mean to the world? Only after you understand those things, can you write any kind of tactical plan that will truly get you there.
The real difference between the business plan that always works and the traditional business plan is in how you think and feel about the plan--it's your attitude and your relationship to the plan that will make all the difference.
How to Make the Best of Shrinking Office Space
Mad Men's Don Draper has a desk, chairs, and a couch in his office. Plus, enough room to practice his golf putting skills, hold a meeting, and engage in inappropriate office behavior. If you're a bigwig at your company, you may be lucky enough to have an office with a door, but the chances of a couch and place to practice your putting is pretty slim. If you're not on the senior team? You're lucky if you have your own three-walled cubicle. And, in many places, even the CEO is sitting at a shared table.
As office space premiums increase, employees' personal space decreases, and it's not all fun and collaborative. Oh sure, the one big open space in The Office allows Jim to torment Dwight more effectively, but not everyone is so creative. Instead, we get to hear things we shouldn't.
For instance, one day, while I dwelt in cubicle land, I was on the phone with our in-house attorney, discussing the upcoming termination of an employee. After finishing the call, I turned around and discovered that said employee was standing just outside my cube, talking with someone. She gave no indication that she'd heard my conversation (whew!) but what if she had?
Fortunately, while I had been begging for private office space for a long time to no avail, this incident finally got me and my job-share partner an office. After all, if we were in charge of terminations, we should probably have some privacy. But this meant someone else got kicked to the cube, and was that person happy? Of course not.
And while my work required privacy, what if your work doesn't strictly require privacy? Is it OK in that case to not even have a cubicle, but to sit right next to your co-workers? After all, you only need enough space for your laptop. Many people don't even have office telephones any more--every call goes directly to your cell phone.
Many people feel that this close type of seating arrangement can boost creativity and collaboration, but it can also boost TMI. For instance, in The New York Times, Bryan Langlands shared his story of how his whole office found out about his coming colonoscopy due to close quarters at the office. (We'll ignore the irony of addressing your lack of privacy by explaining, in detail, why you want privacy to The New York Times.)
Some people need room to breathe and room to think. Some people just need a little space and some need a little quiet. Open office plans, tiny cubes, and no doors that shut can exacerbate the lack of privacy at work. When your company doesn't have the funds to give everyone a Don Draper-styled office, here are some things you can do to help alleviate the close quarters problem.
Have an available private space. It can be small office with a desk (and if you do use office phones, a phone that can be programmed with anyone's number). It needs to be clear that this isn't a place for someone to set up shop permanently, but only a place for people to use from time to time. Some people may need to use it to make a personal phone call while others may need it to be able to work without interruption on a particular project.
Embrace telecommuting. Telecommuting doesn't solve all privacy complications (for instance, there is no school today and my daughter is reading over my shoulder as I'm typing this, helpfully pointing out any grammatical errors), but it certainly does solve most of them. Some businesses and some employees don't work well with the telecommuting model, but a lot do. If you're not going to have privacy at the office, make sure that everyone who can has the opportunity to work from home.
Acknowledge that sometimes people need a break. If your employees have no privacy at the office, don't freak out when one of them disappears for a while. She's probably taking a walk or went out for a long lunch because that's what she needs in order to maintain her level of work. Not everyone loves constant contact with everyone.
Invest in high-quality headphones. Many people bring their own, of course, but consider it a cost of doing business if you're not springing for gobs of office space. Some great, noise-canceling headphones can help ameliorate the constant noise present in open office spaces and cubicle farms.
Investment Property: Land, House or Apartment?
Investment Property: Land, House or Apartment?
Indonesia is experiencing a significant upward movement in the property. The new residential area grow in a fresh new and not yet touched many people around. Apartments are mushrooming in big cities. Indonesia increasingly making rich properties. What would be your choice in property investment? Lets you see the following brief explanation.
Ground
Like gold, land practically unaffected for inflation, the price can not be decreased. For the land is one of the easiest investment properties among other properties. Here are the pluses and minuses if the investment ground:
Plus:
• The price that tend to rise each year
• Lack of maintenance costs
• If the strategic location, the price can be many times
• No need to use insurance
Minus:
• Soil is more difficult to sell compared to an apartment or a house, especially if it is not located in developing regions
• Must be the boundary / fence being misused others, and therefore should be given extra scrutiny
• Vacant land will not get the rent such as a house or apartment
• The vast land, the more difficult it is to sell
• Difficult used as collateral in bank debt
Home
The house is a basic need of people in Indonesia. Where now is difficult to get a house, the price soared, with the economic instability in the country, more and make it difficult to own a home. So it also can be used as a property investment opportunities by you who have more capital, to rent out the house you have. The house is still a natural thing for our society than by staying in the apartment. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of investing home:
Advantages :
• The house is relatively easy to sell
• Can be used as collateral to the bank
• Can be leased so that augment your income each month
• House prices each year also increased every year
• The high demand, especially if it is close to the motorway access, the intersection of main roads, shopping centers, educational or other entertainment
Deficiency :
• Keep insurance costs
• Experiencing depreciation of the economic value each year
• Keep the cost of treatment and if it is in a residential complex, costly safety, hygiene and so on
• Paying the United Nations, making it more expensive than land investment
• Sometimes there are to be repaired or renovated if you do not trim tenants in rent your home
Apartment
For investments this one is also promising. Usually apartments are equipped with facilities that are not available when you rent a house. Many apartment building you might see while traveling. That's why the apartment business, fairly promising. Here's a little explanation of investment apartments, on the advantages and drawbacks.
Advantages :
• A strategic location, usually in the middle of the city, usually located in the Central Business District, expatriates and close to the university
• Facility somewhat fuller than the house, as described above
• Easy to rent at high prices, thereby increasing your pocket each month
Deficiency :
• The cost of treatment is much more expensive
• If the mortgaged to the bank, the transaction value is lower than the house
• Do not have Broking because they do not have land
• Spacious apartments are usually smaller than a house
• The resale value smaller than the land or house
• Can not renovate as you like
Yes, that is our exposure on the investment property that you may live. You already know the comparison of each unit, so set your goals from now.