There are dreams and then there are what I call “Big
Dreams.” In the last year, I’ve had a number of clients with Big Dreams. One
wants to have her own show on HGTV, the Home and Garden Cable Network,
another client dreams of starting his own internationally syndicated sports
radio show, and still another is actively taking steps to buy a horse farm
and riding resort in Canada.
In many cases, big dreams require more chutzpa than
money. But there are some dreams that require both.
I was first turned onto the idea of investing in other
people’s dreams in 2003 at the Making Dreams Happen workshop in Boulder,
Colorado. In searching for local entrepreneurs to speak to the group, I came
across an article about a bike lover and passionate environmentalist named
Doug Woods. Doug wanted to start a bike taxi business. Picture a two wheeled
rickshaw bike-powered by a University of Colorado student with strong legs.
There was only one problem – Doug had no money. That is
until he decided to ask family members, friends, and acquaintances, many
from his church, to invest in his dream. After reviewing his carefully
researched business plan, dozens of people invested anywhere from
$2,000-$5,000 in Doug’s business. Up until an unfortunate car accident put
his business on hold, Doug and the people who invested in his dream both
realized a very handsome return on their investment.
Doug’s story got me thinking. In addition to investing
in Fidelity or Vanguard, why not invest in other people’s dreams? If you
attended this past summer’s Work at What You Love workshop, you got to hear
from entrepreneurs Heather and Nancy Whitley of Possibilities, LLC who spoke
on this very subject. These two average income women are well on their way
to raising $25 million dollars from a variety of sources to fund their big
dream. Their story offers some wonderful lessons for anyone with a dream.
1) Capitalize on Trends
Like many income streams, the Whitley’s business
involves capitalizing on trends. One of the trends they’re addressing is
that many of the “follow your own road” baby boomers won’t want to take the
same aging path from retirement community to an assisted living facility to
a nursing home.
The Whitley’s, who operate Barton’s Angels (BartonsAngels.com),
a company that provides private home care services to elders and their
families, is building on this trend by being one of the first to pioneer an
emerging trend known as “aging in place.” Unlike retirement or assisted
living communities which involve moving out of a home you likely lived in
for decades, aging in place uses technology and a sense of community to
allow you to manage your own health care in your own home. Put more bluntly,
the concept of aging in place addresses the universal desire people have to
live out their final days at home.
Rather than a facility operated by on-site nursing or
other medical staff, the Whitley’s plan involves meeting health needs in
three ways. One is by returning to an old-fashioned sense of community
whereby residents more or less look in on one another. Another is by
designing homes that will include technology allowing residents to, for
example, send an EKG to their doctor simply by holding their phone up to
their chest. And the third leg involves having a full-time “health care
concierge” whose job it is to help residents arrange their own in-home care
as needed.
To date, the Whitley’s have partnered with a developer
in Boston to turn an empty factory building in Easthampton, Massachusetts
into 70 upscale aging-in-place condominiums called Paradise-One (Paradise-One.com).
In addition to forging some of the pretty impressive corporate partnerships
that you’ll hear about in a moment, they’ve also signed on the area’s
premier architectural firm and building contractor and gotten enthusiastic
initial support from town officials.
2) Find Your Niche
As of
July 1st, 2005 there are estimated to be 78.2 million baby
boomers representing a gigantic marketing niche. Drill down, though, and
you’ll find smaller typically underserved demographic groups to tap. For
example, Aegis Gardens in Fremont, California (Aegisal.com)
is believed to be the first for-profit assisted living community to target
Asian Americans. As children break with the tradition of elders living with
their adult children, their parents are growing more comfortable with the
idea of being in a community where staff member speak Mandarin and Cantonese
and understand the importance of culture and customs.
As a lesbian couple themselves, Heather and Nancy are
targeting a similarly growing – and graying population – the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). As the first generation to live
outside of the closet, this group’s retirement needs are largely
unacknowledged by traditional retirement communities. For example, a couple
who has spent their life together will not find it acceptable to pay
thousands of dollars to live in a place where they are discouraged from
holding hands in public or worse, denied the right to participate in medical
decisions for their partner including watching a loved one be moved to a
nursing unit or other facility without regard for the relationship.
There are different ways to decide on the right niche
market for you. It could be a group you identify with, say women
experiencing breast cancer or single fathers. It might be a population you
enjoy working with – seniors, children, or musicians. Or, it could simply be
a group where you see a market need.
3) Do Your Homework
You don’t raise $25 million dollars – or indeed start
any business – without first doing your homework. Among other things, the
Whitley’s learned that by 2009 there will be 5.7 million GLBT people over
the age of 50. They also discovered that 76% of their market group aged 45
to 55 is actively planning for retirement living options as opposed to 31%
of their heterosexual counterparts. And they found out that the LGBT
community is more inclined to be early adopters of technology than their
heterosexual counterparts. All good information to support their business
idea and to share with potential investors.
If you’re looking for demographic information in the
United States you can always start with the U.S.Census Bureau (Census.gov).
Or you can seek out more specific information through a company like
Packaged Facts (PackagedFacts.com)
which the Whitley’s used. Packaged Facts has information on anything from
the U.S. market for gourmet foods to pet products in non-traditional
outlets, even the so-called Dad market. Some information you can access for
free and some you’ll need to pay for.
4) Tell, Tell, Tell
Since you never know who you’re talking to Heather
advises new business owners to talk about their business idea to anyone and
everyone who will listen. If you’re lucky, you may find the pay-off for all
this chatter may far exceed your wildest dreams. At least it did for the
Whitley’s.
While at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of
Commerce (NGLCC.org)
annual conference in San Francisco, Heather struck up a conversation about
her business with a woman at the trade show. “We’d be very interested in
talking to you,” said the woman. “Great,” Heather replied, “Who are you?” It
turns out the woman represents one of the biggest technology companies in
the world.
Unfortunately, I can’t reveal the name until all of the
final contracts are signed, but suffice it to say that a few people and
conversations later and this company which is quite literally a household
name offered to partner with Paradise-One. The partnership involves building
“smart homes” allowing residents of Paradise-One and their health care
providers to use technology to be alerted to potential medical problems. For
example, computerized refrigerators can monitor a sudden drop in the number
of times a person is accessing food. “Smart” beds will be able to detect a
rapid weight loss.
Talking about your business puts you in a better
position to meet potential customers or clients, referral sources, vendors,
marketing opportunities, or even partners.
5) Ask, Ask, Ask
One day Nancy found her way to the website of one of
the leading product development firms in the world. On a whim, she decided
she had nothing to lose by popping them an email to inquire about the cost
of their service. When the reply came back indicating a $70,000-$80,000
price tag, she politely wrote back that it was beyond their marketing
budget.
In another, “bowl me over with a feather” moment Nancy
couldn’t believe her eyes when the product development company wrote back
the next day to say that they were so excited about the Whitley’s business
idea that they would be willing to fly out from the west coast and do the
work pro bono.
What are the odds that a company will offer you $80,000
worth of services for free? Pretty slim. And yet, in my own life I can point
to countless examples of situations where by simply finding the courage to
ask, I have received far than I ever dreamt in return.
6) Sell Your “Sizzle” and
Yourself
If you plan to approach investors or a lender you’ll
definitely need a business plan. Business Plan Pro (PaloAlto.com)
can help get you started and offers over 400 free templates. When you’re
going after other people’s money, you need a good business plan that
includes, as Nancy and Heather call it, your “sizzle.” The sizzle that got
me to invest is the concept of aging in place, a receptive untapped niche
market, and the big name high tech connection.
In addition to your sizzle, Doug Woods says you need to
realize that people aren’t investing in your business – they’re investing in
you. He is utterly convinced that it was his passion, his excitement, and
his determination to succeed that won his investors over.
7) Create a
Grand Vision
In Studs Terkel’s book
Working:
People Talk About
What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
is an insightful quote from Nora Watson. Watson says, "I think most of
us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of us, like the assembly
line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit." I think our
dreams are too small as well which perhaps explains why so many people
have such a hard time thinking big.
I’m not necessarily talking about making a lot of money. I’m talking
about making a lot more happiness.
Let’s say you’d like to work
at home and work for yourself. Too many people stop there. Having a
grand vision for your life might include working at home with a
beautiful view of the mountains, the ocean, or the Paris skyline.
Working for yourself is great but what if you bumped up your goal to
work for yourself and take most of the summer off or maybe spend the
winter working from your seasonal office in the Caribbean? It takes not
one ounce of energy more to dream big than it does to dream small.
The Whitley’s grand vision
combines making money with being happy because what makes them happy is
providing an underserved population with an opportunity to age with
dignity. That’s why these two inspiring entrepreneurs have plans to roll
out other aging in place communities on the north shore of
Massachusetts, in Costa Rica, and who knows where next!
Do you have a big dream that
you’ve abandoned because of money? Dust it off and use these seven steps
to find a way get others to invest in your dream and make it happen!
To learn more about Nancy and
Heather’s Big Dream or to request an investor packet before the
mid-February deadline visit
Paradise-One.com.
live
life on purpose
