One of the surprising aspects of building and running The Coffee Studio has been the volume of requests for business advice that we've received over the years from hopeful entrepreneurs. While every business is different of course, some financial fundamentals are universal, and we've found ourselves explaining/reviewing similar principles to wanna-be small business owners time after time.
We also receive a fair share of calls from hopeful investors and/or potential partners interested in being a part of our own business' future growth plans. We generally decline meeting requests from these kinds of folks (we'd never get anything done if we took every meeting requested of us), but a little over a year ago we agreed to sit down and have some coffee with Larry Baker, one of the co-founders of Bolstr. Based in Chicago, Bolstr is a community funding platform where high net worth individuals can invest in their local businesses. And I have to say I'm really glad we did, because these guys (and gals) really have their act together, and they're building a super interesting investing/funding platform. We were very much impressed.
Then recently, Bolstr got back in touch asking us if we would be willing to share some of our advice for their small business growth blog, The Vault. So now you, too, can learn what we've been telling all these folks to think through before they go start their new business.
