nataliebenamou

*This episode is a shared episode directly from the host, Natalie Benamou.

In This Episode:

Are you looking for investors in your business and unsure where to start? Let’s take a walk with Stephanie Sims, founder of Finance-Ability®, former investment banker and finance expert. Stephanie gives her advice and strategies on moving from “shiny object syndrome” to prioritizing your growth strategies. This conversation with host Natalie Benamou and Stephanie Sims shows you how you can start leveraging your value today. 

Evaluate Your Business:

1. Take a step back and understand what you want the business to be. 

2. Develop your “credible milestone ask” based on what the next goal/objective is for your business. 

3. Focus on your strengths and recognize your weaknesses when expanding your team. Hire people who will balance you out. 

4. Think early about your path to profitability instead of only focusing on growth.

The Ask:

● Things don’t have to be perfect when asking for money for your business.

● Be open with investors about your experiments (what worked and what didn’t work). 

● Watch out for “shiny object syndrome”. Is it going to add value to your business? 

Know Your Worth

● Giving equity away for your business: If someone wants to invest in exchange for 5%, you need to know if that’s $50,000 or $500,000. It’s important to have a sense of the dollar value for what you’re giving away. 

● Receiving equity as partial payment at a new job opportunity: What does the deal look like if the equity doesn’t materialize vs. if it does happen.  Are you comfortable with the balance of risk and reward that you’ve agreed to take to make that deal work. 

Thank you, Stephanie Sims, for this conversation, your expertise and helping entrepreneurs understand how to leverage their value. 

Stephanie Sims has more than two decades in finance, quality & IT management and valuation of public and private entities. Stephanie’s experience with large transactions and her knowledge of how due diligence works made it easy to spot one of the key reasons that entrepreneurs face such difficulty getting financing: they don’t understand the fundamentals of evaluating risks versus rewards. Developing this knowledge base led her to see that everyone has the ability to manage their finances successfully, but they don’t always realize it. And that’s where the notion of Finance-Ability was born.

Natalie Benamou is the CEO of HerPower2 Lead and HerCsuite™ an online platform for Executive Women.

HerCsuite™ is an online membership platform transforming the way women meet, engage and thrive together. Close The Promotion Gap Inside Peer-to-Peer Curated Mentoring Circles and Level-Up Your Results. 

Reach out to Natalie Benamou at HerCsuite™.

LinkedIn: Natalie Benamou HerPower2 Lead HerCsuite™

This podcast is sponsored by Aaptiv, our favorite health and wellness app with over 4,000 videos. Listeners can get your free 30-day trial here

Credits: Thanks to Julie Deem and the Business Podcast Editor for editing our podcast!

Today, I’m excited to talk to Natalie Benamou, the Founder & CEO of Herpower2 Lead.

Natalie is a strategic thought leader with 30 years of experience creating ‘Blue Ocean’ strategies that help differentiate businesses from the competition and leading organizations. 

She has served as President of HBA Chicago (Healthcare Business Women's Association) as well as A Heart For Animals, an all volunteer animal rescue that has saved over 3,000 pets.

Natalie founded HerCsuite™, an advisory & networking platform for executive women leaders, to empower female executives. She is a super connector and helps women make meaningful business relationships, gain visibility, and advance to the C-suite and beyond.

Natalie is also the host of HerCsuite™ Radio, a podcast for women leaders on the move.

In this episode…

As they start, Natalie shares the scariest ask has ever been when asking for herself.  It is getting others to see the vision she has and join in the vision she has.  She leads with empathy, and asks “what does success look like to you” in hopes they are aligned and can work together. 

Natalie and Stephanie have a lengthy discussion on failures, the fear of rejection and how to rejoice with getting “no” knowing it leads to bigger and better things.

In addition to failures, they talk about resilience and flexibility.  Without those, success will not be easily achieved.

Lastly, Natalie shares she loves to say “yes” to the asks she gets but now asks herself if she can make a difference, can she help people, and still live her purpose.  If she can confidently say yes to these three questions, she can say yes.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliebenamou/
• https://hercsuite.com/
• https://www.rejectiontherapy.com/ 
• Finance-Ability
• Stephanie Sims
• Stephanie Sims LinkedIn

Sponsor for this episode...

Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.

Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.

Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.