Last Updated on November 19, 2020
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About Stephen Halasnik
Over the last 25 years, I have built 6 companies. They have been in the $5 million-$25 million yearly revenue range and 2 of those companies made the in Inc 500 and Inc 5000 list.
About Financing Solutions
Financing Solutions began in 2012 after my business partner and I saw that there was a need for small business capital and that we had the experience to make decisions about providing unsecured business lines of credit.
Contents
How Did You Get Your First Several Customers Or Users? How Many Users Or Customers Do You Have Now?
We started our company by using google and bing pay for click advertising and we also used brokers who sent us leads. We have about 1,000 clients today.
How Does Your Company Grow And Acquire New Customers?
We use a variety of lead generation strategies. From direct mail to SEO to PPC to Social media to podcasts.
What Actionable Tips And Tricks Do You Have For New Founders Who Are Looking To Get Their First Thousand Users Or Dollars?
Marketing and lead generation is the most overlooked and required part of building a business. If you can’t get prospects coming to you and convert them to clients then you don’t have a business. As a result, don’t spend all your time coming up with a finished product/service before you launch. Figure out a way to test your market so you know if their is a need. It’s ok to start with a future promised product so you can see if prospects are really willing to pay for what you are selling.
What Is Something You’ve Learned That Would Not Be Obvious To Somebody Who Hasn’t Worked In Your Space Before?
Running any business is about taking calculated risks. You want to minimize as much of the downside as you can leaving you with the greatest chance you can be successful in the long term. The longer you can stay in business the better chance you have of figuring it all out. Also, people who have never owned their own company think that starting a company and running a business is really risky and I think it is more risky working for another company.
What’s The Craziest Thing That’s Happened To You (Good Or Bad) On Your Founder Journey?
I watched the world trade towers fall from the horizon in 9/11 and 4 weeks later I knew it was time to close my $5 million company because we would go into a major recession. I was right top close it and I started another company that later made the Inc 500 fastest growing list.
What Are Your Favorite Books?
Anything You’d Like To Plug?
Every business or nonprofit should have a cash backup plan. My company, Financing Solutiions (www.financingsolutionsnow.com) provides lines of credit that costs nothing until used making it a great cash back up plan.
Recommended posts:
- From A Small Farm Village In China To Successful Entrepreneur With Jing He
- How To Carve Out A Niche With Evian Gutman
- Building A Site With Over 1M Job Postings With Doane Baber
Book summaries, notes, interviews, and more!
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