CONVERTING CUSTOMERS TO INVESTORS
Karl Dakin
Capital Coach | Stakeholder Investor Campaigns | Design, Stage, and Manage or Support | Reduce Time, Money, and Risk of Raising Funding | Increase Probability of Success! | Opportunity Management
CONTENTS
·?????? Quick Calendar
·?????? SuperCrowd Chicago
·?????? Funding Points
·?????? Quotation
·?????? Successful Funding
·?????? Don Cohen Show
·?????? CAP – AI Avatar
·?????? Quick Assessment
·?????? Opportunities
QUICK CALENDAR
I quickly list here upcoming opportunities where I will be sharing information, lessons in funding, or meeting in person or via videoconferencing.
June 11 – Successful Funding – currently being scheduled
June 12 - SuperCrowd Chicago – Crafting Crowdfunding Offers to Customers
SUPERCROWD CHICAGO – JUNE 12 – NOW ALSO FREE ONLINE
I am co-sponsoring and will be speaking at SuperCrowd Chicago next week. This event promises to bring together leaders in investment crowdfunding to share what works and what does not work and the next steps in advancing investment crowdfunding as an alternative, if not the best option, for small businesses raising funding.
You have three options:
1.???? Watch for free on Internet TV
2.???? Watch for free on social media, where you can comment and ask questions of the speakers
3.???? Attend in person
You may may watch for free on live streaming on e360tv network (Roku, Apple or Amazon) or watch at s4g.biz/12jun24.
You may watch it on LinkedIn at this link:
You may attend in person and use the coupon below to obtain a discount of 50%.
In all cases, I will do a 15-minute presentation, and you may download my slide deck and workbook materials now at the QR code below:
FUNDING POINT - CONVERTING CUSTOMERS TO INVESTORS
A small business benefits by elevating a relationship with a customer to that of an investor. Within the relationship with a customer, the purchase of a product or service may be a one time, one and done transaction. The customer satisfied whatever motivation they had at the time and left never to be seen again. If the relationship expands to include an equity position in the small business, the relationship will continue for the life of the investment.
As discussed in prior editions of this Instant Funding newsletter, an investor relationship may be short or last for life. Within the investor relationship, the interests of the customer/investor are in the business and not in whatever benefit comes from a single purchase. This interest may be parlayed into several actions that benefit the business. The customer/investor may:
1.???? Make another purchase and possibly a series of purchases from the business,
2.???? Give preference to the products and services of the business over those of its competitors and possibly purchase exclusively from the business
3.???? Tell others (friends, family, associates, the public) about the business,
4.???? Tell others about the products and services of the business,
5.???? Advocate for the business,
6.???? Share market feedback with the business,
7.???? Advise the business, and
8.???? Share ideas for new products and services.
A customer may do all of these things without ever being an investor in the business. However, as an investor, in their own self-interest, the incentive to help is always present.
When a small business seeks to raise funding, it is recommended that it consider its customers as a primary, if not the superior, target.
Since the customers of the business may not be ‘accredited investors’ as defined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a business may only seek funding from its customers through investment crowdfunding at the federal (Reg CF or Reg A+) or within the regulations of an individual State.
When seeking funding from customers, it is permitted to combine an offer of equity ownership with the products and services of the business. This investment package may be crafted in several ways to create a value of the package that exceeds the price of the investment. The offer of the investment package thereby also serves to promote the generation of new customers.
QUOTATION
I received a humorous birthday card from my oldest daughter and son-in-law with a fictitious quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt:
“Speak softly and carry a big stick. Unless you can ride a dinosaur. Then do that instead.”
领英推荐
SUCCESSFUL FUNDING
On Tuesday, June 4, my guest on my Successful Funding show was Kon Apostolopoulos. We discussed leadership. The conversation focused on the investing in relationships where a business may benefit from advancing the careers of its employees.
You may see the show recording at:
You can see all of my shows at the time of broadcast or recordings of past shows at my profile on LinkedIn.
DON COHEN SHOW
On Monday, I was a guest on Don Cohen’s show with Kon Apostolopoulos where we discussed strategy. Strategy is the map of getting from where you are to where you want to be. The greater challenge is often the communication of the strategy to the team and to the public.
You can see a recording at:
Tomorrow, Monday, June 10th, I will be a guest on Don Cohen’s show with Todd Dewett where we will discuss leadership.
You may view the show at:
I enjoy being a guest and engaging in conversations with other guests and with Don on building communities and using LinkedIn as a communication channel. Every show is its own adventure as we start with a word of the day and then see where the conversation goes from there.
Don is an expert on LinkedIn, particularly on the use of Live streaming to build brands and communities. We will discuss using LinkedIn as a social media platform for building communities that support raising funding.
All shows where I have been a guest can be viewed on Don Cohen's LinkedIn page under Posts.
CAPITAL COACH
I am now field evaluating the Capital Coach, an artificial intelligence learning management system avatar (AILMSA) that I have trained on the topic of funding. The Capital Coach is embedded as a widget on my Dakin Capital website at https://dakincapital.com/CAP. The Capital Coach represents a proprietary data set on the Knowledge Avatars learning management system with licensed access to Open AI. Could you give the Capital Coach a try and ask it questions about funding?
I am working with Knowledge Avatars to make CAP the ultimate tool to support small businesses and community projects in raising funding. Two current challenges are (1) training the AI avatar to match specific funding situations and (2) explaining that a highly personalized AI avatar is so much more than a chatbot powered by a Large Language platform. Unique, non-public information about an individual or an organization cannot be obtained through a chatbot. The recent advances in AI have narrowed the field of prospects who stand to gain from personalized AI to high-net-worth individuals, professional service providers, organizational leaders, and other similarly placed who work with fast-moving, fast-changing information that may never be public.
Please share your feedback. Karl Dakin at [email protected]
QUICK ASSESSMENT
I frequently receive direct requests for assistance in funding. As much as I would like to help everyone, I realize that constraints of time, money, distance, prior knowledge of an industry or capital market may prevent me from making a significant contribution.
People send me slide decks and ask for money or for me to introduce them to an investor. It takes time to evaluate an investment opportunity. I cannot refer to an investment opportunity without completing an evaluation first.
To aid me in assessing an investment opportunity and determining if I may be of help, I have created a short set of questions that span a variety of small business topics. Anyone seeking my assistance may download and complete these questions from a folder I have set up in my Box.com account. The answers may be sent to me at Karl Dakin – [email protected].
OPPORTUNITIES
RCI Community Funds
I am teaming with a number of experts in community engagement, organization and funding to develop a model for a community investment fund that can provide capital to a set of local projects that can collectively and interactively generate sufficient economic activity to serve as a foundation for a community’s future growth.
We are seeking seed funding in the form of a short-term loan that will be repaid out of the Reg CF crowdfunding campaign. Anyone interested in learning more and discussing a demonstration, please contact:
Karl Dakin at [email protected]
AeroCine
With avian flu in the news and a growing number of cases of diseases and pathogens transmitted by air, I am advocating the use of cold plasma as a safe and effective way to continuously disinfect the air and surfaces within any kind of building.
I can provide Pathogen Focus disinfection equipment and conduct a small-scale clinical demonstration on-site in the field. Anyone interested in learning more and discussing a demonstration, please contact:
Karl Dakin at [email protected]
SUBSCRIBE
You may subscribe to this Weekly edition of my Instant Funding Newsletter, or you may subscribe to my Daily edition.
Karl Dakin, the Capital Coach
Dakin Capital LLC