Not to be confused with a small business loan, a small business grant is a sum of money that a private organization or government entity gives to a startup to use toward very specific business functions. The biggest difference between the two is that a loan needs to be repaid, and a grant does not. However, the operative words in that initial definition are: “to use toward very specific business functions.” A small business loan affords you freedom to use the money however you see fit to run your business, whereas a small business grant must be spent in ways specified by the granter.

Building a business is exciting. At Founders First, we work with thousands of entrepreneurs and have found that starting a business pretty much always includes the same steps, but there’s one thing we’ve discovered that most new entrepreneurs overlook that can set them up for failure, and it just might be the reason why 80% of all new businesses fail in the first five years.

Most commonly, an angel investor is an individual with a high net worth who often personally funds startups at early stages. It’s understood across the industry that these investments are very high risk, but rarely represent more than 10% of the angel investor’s portfolio. The rest of their portfolio is predominantly made up of more traditional investments with less risk. Meaning, they have other investments to fall back on should one risky investment fall through, but if that risky investment succeeds, the payoff is exponential.

So you’re thinking about getting a small business loan to fund your startup. There are quite a few steps to take before securing a loan - like preparing a business plan, expense sheet, and financial projections to start - but first you need to decide whether securing a loan is the right option for you. This may be the most important financial decision you’ll make as an entrepreneur, and you want to be sure your decision making is sound.

Let me make this clear. I don’t find relaxing very relaxing. If there’s anything my twenty years building businesses has taught me it’s that the greatest feeling on earth is the rush when things all come together. The perfect product release, an elegant code fix to a complex problem, hitting $10 million in revenue, closing an important partnership, national media coverage, or even just an email from a happy customer or words of confirmation from a team member.

Venture capital is a type of startup funding that comes from investors, banks, and various other financial institutions. It’s notoriously difficult to raise capital and most sources will tell you that it takes a lot of patience and perseverance to get a yes from investors. However, there are some oft-overlooked dangers in the fundraising process that pose a threat to first time founders and serial entrepreneurs alike.

Venture capital is a type of startup funding that comes from investors, banks, and various other financial institutions. It’s notoriously difficult to raise capital and most sources will tell you that it takes a lot of patience and perseverance to get a yes from investors. However, there are some oft-overlooked dangers in the fundraising process that pose a threat to first time founders and serial entrepreneurs alike.

During the eighteen years I held the title CEO in various companies I maintained a singular focus on becoming successful. Success to me meant solving problems in new ways, delivering solutions customers desired, and growing the influence of my business in the eyes of my peers.

Julius Thomas enjoyed a successful career in the NFL before retiring in 2018. He and I were teammates when we both played for the Denver Broncos. He was a master of focusing on the processes that lead to success, not the outcomes.

What do you do when you hit an obstacle? Do you tell yourself it wasn’t meant to be and give up? Do you comfort yourself with a movie and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s? Or do you get up and try again?

I’ve played football professionally and experienced a level of success that many people dream of emulating. I caught Peyton Manning’s last pass in the NFL, scoring points that all-but-secured victory for the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

In her hit book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck makes a powerful distinction between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Someone with a fixed mindset tends to believe that situations and abilities can’t be altered. A person with a growth mindset, however, understands that we can always change, always become better, and always find ways to contribute more. “This,” she says, “is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”

There are a lot of talented people in the world. That’s true in your field of expertise; it’s especially true in the highly competitive world of professional sports, where the potential rewards are huge. Who doesn’t want to play in the NFL or the NBA?

Some of my friends are professional athletes who have made millions of dollars in their sport. But let’s face it, most people are not going to make it to the pros. The competition is too fierce and talented, and the odds for most athletes are too long, no matter how hard you work at it.

What’s your plan for your life? Do you know where you plan to be a year from now? Three years? Five years?

Wherever you want to go, you’ll need goals to aim toward. You’ll also need the adaptability that enables you to move quickly when circumstances change. No one knows that better than an NFL player. Even for the best, life in the league is short and retirement comes early.

What’s your plan for your life? Do you know where you plan to be a year from now? Three years? Five years?

Wherever you want to go, you’ll need goals to aim toward. You’ll also need the adaptability that enables you to move quickly when circumstances change. No one knows that better than an NFL player. Even for the best, life in the league is short and retirement comes early.

According to a study by the National Institute of Mental Health, 72% of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues, compared to just 48% of non-entrepreneurs.

We recently sat down with the Entrepreneurship Center at UNC to talk about the unique mental health struggles entrepreneurs face, what drove Aaron to create the Founders First System, and our Broken to Brilliant workshops.

With the technology at our fingertips for communications, we have lost of art of writing a handwritten letter or note. This shift to electronic correspondence in our culture caused the magic of a personal message is lost in translation. When we physically put pen to paper, our emotions are transmitted to the page. That's why we treasure the finger paintings that are children created. It's not because these works of art are instant masterpieces; in-fact, they are worthless to everyone but you. I wanted to share a few exercises and best practices to regain the magic of writing a letter by hand.

What if I told you that two simple lists could change your life forever. These are not mere to-do lists or even a guided checklist to follow for self-improvement; they are more focused on you. Make a list of things that you need to stop doing and another list of things to start doing today. The stop/start exercise will shift your life trajectory if you are honest in examining the positive and negative patterns in your routine. 

We recently shared the findings from our “When to Help” campaign. The objective of the campaign was to collect and share stories from entrepreneurs about their experience as founders, particularly times during which they felt they were heading into a personal crisis, and when they wished they had gotten help along the way. In sharing these stories, we're hoping that others will have a deeper understanding of the challenges of the entrepreneurial journey, and as a result, better understand when they can help.