RevRoad + The SOSTAC Method

Planning and executing your marketing strategy can be done in so many ways. The more experts you talk to, the more opinions you’ll get, and rarely will you find overlap. So, RevRoad set out on a course to answer the question: What is the best marketing framework to help entrepreneurs build a robust  marketing plan that is simple enough to use on a daily basis? Not surprisingly, we came up with many answers. However, we decided to look at successful marketers such as Netflix, H&M, and Coca Cola. All of these companies use versions of SOSTAC® to accomplish their goals. Originally developed by PR Smith in the 1990s, this framework has gone through a series of iterations, most recently updated to capture the intricacies of digital marketing. 

Obviously these are large global companies. How does SOSTAC® help entrepreneurs just starting out? SOSTAC®, although simple in format, results in tremendous value if done right. This is helpful to companies of any size. Other benefits provided by SOSTAC® include ease of use, referenceability, application to current marketing practices, and comprehensive solutions. The RevRoad marketing department recently adopted the SOSTAC® model for these reasons.

As a brief introduction SOSTAC ® stands for:

  • Situation — where is the company now?
  • Objectives — where do you want the company to be?
  • Strategy — how do you get it there?
  • Tactics — how exactly do you get it there?
  • Action — what is the plan?
  • Control — did you get there?

The following is a graphical representation of how the system works. 

The structure of SOSTAC is a simple logic that builds on an in-depth Situation Analysis which helps inform strategy and tactics. This type of logic enables better decision-making and therefore better plans. Most importantly, it is a more simplified approach, retiring the notion that a lengthy traditional marketing plan is needed to reach objectives. As the entrepreneur, you should reference it often. 

Furthermore, SOSTAC ® contains a logical order for tackling plans and is used to assess processes critically. Including an in-depth SWOT analysis, the main differentiator of SOSTAC is the focus on implementation. Each module involves answering a series of detailed questions like: 

  • Who is your ideal customer? 
  • What is your stickiness or wow factor? 
  • How will you reach your customers?  

Once these types of questions (among many others) are answered, you are ready to execute and track progress. 

“The SOSTAC ® marketing model, created by PR Smith, is a popular and widely used model for marketing and business planning. Whether you’re creating an overall marketing or digital marketing strategy or improving individual channel tactics like SEO or email marketing, this is the tool to use.”

— Daniel Nilsson, Marketing Editor After becoming a RevRoad portfolio company and selecting the Marketing service package, the first step is to build a SOSTAC ® model for your company. RevRoad will help create a cohesive and workable plan, then use the Control element to follow up and ensure it is working. This is a collaborative effort, during which we are dedicated to answering any questions you may have. We look forward to working with you. Ready, Set, Rev!

5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Personal Finances Immediately

Being an Entrepreneur comes with many challenges and hurdles to overcome.

Unfortunately, one of those prevalent challenges deals with your financial health.

Most entrepreneurs either fall behind with personal finances or neglect them entirely. This can put you in a position where you are burdened by financial stress.

The last thing any entrepreneur like yourself needs is just that; more stress.  

While it can be unsettling, it’s the reality. This is what you signed up for.

But just because you’re making daily sacrifices, doesn’t mean that you are not able to make important financial decisions.

In fact, quite the opposite is true. Now is the time to practice and refine good financial habits, and look for ways where you can improve your personal finances so that you don’t feel the financial burden any more than necessary.

Financial fatigue is a real thing that impacts many entrepreneurs, but also something you can improve with some discipline. 

Here are 5 ways you can improve your personal finances immediately.

1. Take control of your spending habits

In the early stages of building your company, it’s critical that you exercise complete control over your spending habits. Not just for your business and company related expenses, but for your own personal finances as well.

One of the biggest pitfalls that keeps entrepreneurs and others alike from achieving their financial goals is the lack of a plan in place for their personal spending and savings habits. The absence of structure and discipline in these two areas can end up leaving you in a difficult financial situation.

The root of the problem for most entrepreneurs comes from not tracking where your money outflows. This can be extremely detrimental to your financial plan and can undermine your  goals.

Chances are that you track your spending when it comes to your company expenses. Don’t neglect this when it comes to your own personal finances.

If you’re not sure exactly how to get control of this one, start with taking a look at your previous expenses and spending habits. Take a look back and review the last  three months of bank statements on everything you’ve purchased (personally) and start writing them down. 

Once you have them written down, start categorizing them by expense types  so you can better understand the nature of your spending. 

Doing this will give you a good indicator and baseline for your first month of budgeting.  Again, it’s important to keep in mind that it won’t be perfect. Most likely your budget will require some adjustments along the way.

Just like any exercise, the more you practice this, the easier it becomes. Eventually, you’ll get to a point where this becomes second nature. 

There’s a good chance that almost immediately you will notice areas where you are spending way too much. Start cutbacks on those expenses first.. Ideally, you will want to find ways where you can eliminate most of your variable expenses (or the ‘wants’) so that you can focus on saving more and increasing your savings rate.

2. Create (and stick to) a financial plan

Would you navigate your current business without any sort of plan, assumptions, or direction in place? Probably not.

That would only increase your chance of risk and failure.

Yet, most entrepreneurs are managing their personal finances completely blind. In fact, it’s more than just entrepreneurs. Most people are navigating their personal finances without having a proper financial plan in place to guide them.

Having a financial plan is necessary to ensure a successful financial outcome. Your plan is there to help guide your financial decisions with confidence so that you are continually working towards your  goals. 

There are a lot of reasons why entrepreneurs don’t currently have a financial plan. Traditionally, financial planning has been reserved for wealthy individuals, which excludes many  entrepreneurs just getting started. Additionally, financial planning has been known to be a time-consuming process, taking hours, days, and even weeks. This incentivizes  entrepreneurs to  choose running their business  over taking the time to build their financial plan.

Savology has good news. Now you don’t have to spend hours building a personal finance plan. 

Savology, which also happens to be a RevRoad portfolio company, provides free financial planning in just five minutes.

As an entrepreneur, having access to free, accurate, and personal financial planning tools is priceless. That’s why you need Savology.  

3. Get an accountability partner 

This one can be a real game changer and the additional motivation you need to help keep you focused and stay the course with your financial planning journey.

An accountability partner is exactly what it sounds like. It’s someone who helps you stay accountable to your financial goals.

Typically, this person ends up being a spouse or significant other. However, it can be any individual that you trust. Which means an accountability partner could end up being a close friend, a relative, or even your co-founder. Remember, trust and reliability is the most important thing with an accountability partner. 

Trust and reliability are important because you need to be able to share information (and likely details) of what you are working and be comfortable asking for their help to get you there.

If this is something that you’re considering, which we highly recommend setting up regular “check-ins”. This will allow you to have regular conversations about money, so that you can help one another stay motivated, focused, and working toward your goals.

4. Create and consistently review financial goals

Just as you would with your business, creating and reviewing personal financial goals is critical to your success.

The reason is simple. Setting goals is one of the best ways to create clarity around your personal finances, so that you understand what you are working towards and how you will get there. 

Remember, when you’re setting goals, don’t just focus on long-term goals. It’s equally important to set both short-term and long-term goals that work together. This is  comparable to setting monthly, quarterly and annual goals for your business.

Your long-term financial goals are there to keep you on track holistically, while your short-term financial goals are there to keep you on track day-to-day.. Both should complement one another and play a vital role in the financial decisions you are making.

Lastly, before you move ahead with any type of goals, it’s in your best interest to make sure that you are setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym stands for:

  • Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
  • Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
  • Achievable (agreed, attainable).
  • Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
  • Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

5. Diversify your risk by generating new income streams

As an entrepreneur, protecting your income is a financial priority. There’s a good chance that you are not paying yourself market rates, at least not right away, which is why it’s critical that you protect what little income you might be earning.

While it’s important that you are devoting as much of your time and resources to building your company, it’s equally important to make sure that you are not jeopardizing your income and putting yourself in a position where going bankrupt is a possibility.

Because of this, you’ll want to focus on generating new income streams, whether that’s from a side hustle or passive income. This can provide you with earning opportunities that will help you pay your necessary bills, allow you to contribute to your monthly savings, and importantly extend your runway.

By establishing multiple income streams, you’ll be able to diversify and lower your personal financial risk. Ultimately, this gives  you more financial resources to build your business.

The concept of this is similar to creating additional revenue streams within your business. By selling through new channels or introducing new products, you create additional opportunities for sales growth. What you are doing is essentially protecting your business against financial risk. If one sales, or revenue, channel underperforms, your business still has a chance of surviving and thriving because of the established revenue and profitability derived from existing channels. 

Moving beyond financial fatigue 

Financial fatigue is real for the majority of entrepreneurs. But it doesn’t have to be, nor should it be the default option. By using the five tips above, you’ll be well on your way to making steady improvements to your personal finances. 
Importantly, it’s critical to focus on building a personal financial plan, before anything else. In just five minutes you can build a free, personal, and accurate financial plan with Savology. Your plan will show you your current financial trajectory and our strengths and weaknesses. That way you can focus on addressing the areas that need attention right away.  Build your free financial plan today!

How to Give the Winning Pitch

Written By: A.J. Rounds

As a member of the founding team at RevRoad, I’ve reviewed hundreds of pitches and learned a few things that may be helpful for you as an entrepreneur. 

Bring Your A Game

When you pitch your company to venture capitalists, investors, or other partners, bring your A game. I’m not just talking about the 10/20/30 rule coined by Guy Kawasaki (although, also extremely helpful). I’m referring to answering crucial questions in your presentation.

Pitching is an art, and there are few who do it well. Out of the entrepreneurs I’ve seen pitch, about 25% present extremely well, while 20% pitch on an average level and give the basics. The remaining 55% need to read this article. 

My goal in writing this is to help you secure the resources and partnerships (in some cases Venture Services) you need to succeed. 

What should you include in your pitch?

Let’s dive in. 

Know your customer

Before you begin building your pitch, answer the following questions.

  • Do you know your audience? 
  • Have you identified your target market by needs, demographics, geography, and ability to pay?

If not, that’s step 1. It is also helpful to understand what their experience level is when it comes to using your product or service. What do they currently say about your company?

Now you are ready to begin constructing your pitch.  

Problem/Solution

Can you explain what you do or offer in one sentence? If not, please practice.

Frame it in terms of the problem your target market has and how you solve it. 

Additionally, ask yourself if your market is big enough. Is your solution good enough? Putting your audience through a long, tedious exercise of trying to understand what your company does, the problem you solve, and how you are different from other options in the market will not help you.

Make it quick, easy, and obvious.

Revenue Model, Projections, Timeline, & Financial Outlook

Remember, often you are pitching to an audience that is financially minded. Be sure to spend time on your business model or revenue model. 

Questions you should answer include: 

  • What is your revenue model? Is the revenue recurring (preferred)? 
  • Do you have multiple streams of revenue? 
  • What is the price point of your product and corresponding profit margins?  
  • What is the lifespan of your product or service? 
  • How have you funded your business to this point? 
  • Who else is on your cap table? 
  • What does an exit look like for you and when?
  • What is your current valuation?
  • Are your financials and projections realistic? 
  • What is the timeline to revenue milestones? 

Traction 

One of the things I expect to hear about when listening to a scalable company pitch is traction achieved.

Maybe that’s a revenue number. Or, if you are pre-revenue, maybe that traction number equates to followers, an email list, or even submitted pre-orders. 

Market Size 

Closely related to traction is your market size. You should also be very familiar with this information.

Please don’t present an unrealistic TAM when pitching your business. I often hear the statement, “If I can just convert 1% of the population of China or the U.S. market, then we will have achieved our goals.” This is an instant turnoff for educated investors or partners.

Talk more about your Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) or what portion of the market you can realistically reach.

Defensibility & Competitors

In your pitch, include how your product or service is unique and defensible. Do you have intellectual property or patents filed?

Risks are mitigated when your closest competitor can’t easily copy your value proposition—which brings me to competition.

Who are your competitors? Are they well-funded? Do they have large market share? Where might your product overlap with theirs? There are many templates available that can help you create a competitor analysis report.  

Team

Discuss your team. Who are you? Who are your teammates? Why did you get into this vertical? 

Talk about your successful exit(s) or epic failure(s). Maybe even both. This shows you’re an experienced entrepreneur that understands the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. If done right, talking about these items will give you credibility and show your passion for your company. 

If you have an advisory board, which is highly recommended, discuss who those individuals are and the value they bring to the table.  

It’s also helpful to mention who’s working full time in the business and who is not. This is critical. At RevRoad specifically, we seldom work with companies that don’t have at least one founder working full time in the business.

Summary and CTA

Include a concise summary and clear call to action as the last slide of your presentation and boom, you are ready to pitch!

As someone who listens to entrepreneurs pitch for a living, I recommend that you follow these guidelines. Your chances of a successful pitch will skyrocket. 

Whatever the pitch event, be it the annual Entrepreneur Competition hosted by RevRoad, a pitch to become a RevRoad portfolio company, or a community pitch competition like the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit Competition, incorporate these tips and you’ll nail your presentation.

Good luck! 

Applications to join RevRoad close on April 30, 2020.
Apply to RevRoad here
Learn more about RevRoad here

The Power of Clear Company Values

Written By: A.J. Rounds

Grit. Growth. Gratitude.

These words make up the simple values at RevRoad’s core. 

In 2020 we modified our values to replace the third value, previously known as +1 (going above and beyond what is expected for our portfolio companies), with Gratitude.

Does that mean that + 1s have disappeared? No—quite the contrary. The +1 mentality will still be a part of RevRoad’s culture. We will always go above and beyond for the success of our portfolio companies, but we feel it is important to publicly acknowledge, by way of gratitude, the opportunity we have to work with passionate entrepreneurs striving to scale their businesses. 

Every day we are grateful for the insights and energy our portfolio companies bring to RevRoad. Since the switch in our values, not only does our team vocalize and demonstrate more gratitude, but our portfolio company founders have responded similarly. 

What we’ve found is that implementing gratitude into everyday company values and practices has improved the team synergy, overall productivity, and appreciation for all the incredible people that make up the RevRoad family. 

Share this with someone below who you think exemplifies one of RevRoad’s core values: Grit, Growth, and Gratitude!

Learn more about RevRoad here

Where Marketers are Spending Their Money in 2020

Written By: A.J. Rounds

2020 Marketing Landscape 

We are now entering the second quarter of 2020. At the time of this writing, you and I are currently under heavy restrictions of quarantines and physical distancing for COVID-19. However, that doesn’t mean that marketing budgets disappear. In many cases, companies are ramping up their marketing spend. The following paragraphs are the top marketing objectives, budgets, and results predicted for 2020. 

Top Marketing Strategies and Objectives 

Marketing channels most implemented in 2019 and carried through 2020 continue to be email, social media advertising, and blogging/content marketing tactics as reported by Sales and Marketing Management. SEO strategies follow as a close fourth place. 

Top marketing objectives for 2020 include converting leads to customers, increasing sales leads, increasing brand awareness, producing thought leadership content, and increasing website traffic. Interestingly enough, SMM also reports that most leads are still found through referrals, trade shows, and events. The percentages are as high as 63% (referrals) and 44% (trade shows) respectively. Print advertising and direct mail are the least utilized at 3% overall. 

Marketing Dollars Spent

In support of these marketing strategies, SMM also reports that 56% of budgets are being allocated to digital marketing, 52% of budgets to website development, 36% to trade shows/events, and 27% to content/email marketing.  

RevRoad Marketing Initiatives for 2020

This data coincides with current RevRoad and portfolio company marketing strategies.  RevRoad is also ramping up our marketing spend online, building home and landing pages to convert that marketing spend, generating more content on LinkedIn, social media, and blogs, while still building person to person relationships (at a socially safe distance). RevRoad continues to invest resources into new videos produced by our amazing video team to promote online. 

As mentioned, we will be revamping our website to be more focused on you and other entrepreneurs who’d like to apply. This includes restructuring and formatting content better. Our goal certainly falls in line with converting leads into sales and increasing brand awareness. As a start, we recently launched a services page complete with videos to ‘show’ not ‘tell’ about the services we offer to scalable companies like yours. 

Summary

Without question, the largest portion of marketing budgets for 2020 will be allocated to digital strategies. Based on what SMM reports and what we’ve seen at RevRoad, the marketing channels mentioned above produce the greatest ROI. 
Good luck with your marketing efforts. Whether it’s a pandemic or other changes to the economy, don’t be afraid to adjust your marketing strategies to accommodate changing business needs. Keep going. You’ve got this!

Savology Secures $750,000 Seed Round to Democratize Financial Planning

Savology, a Utah-based fintech startup providing free financial planning, oversubscribed a $750,000 seed round of funding to make financial planning more accessible and affordable than ever before.

Several strategic investors participated in the funding round, including:

“Savology has the potential to fundamentally change the direction of personal finances in America,” says lead investor Brady Murray. “I look forward to seeing the positive impact that Savology will have on both households and the broader industry as they improve access to financial planning and other financial services.”

After creating a free financial plan, Savology users get access to a financial report card showing them
their financial strengths and areas that need improving most.

Savology boasts a considerable lineup of financial service provider partners that include the likes of MassMutual, Acorns, Lively, M1 Finance, Self, Blooom, The Zebra, Credible and many others. Savology is on track to expand the network of partners to 50 providers this year.

“We are grateful to the early investors and partners who believe in our mission and make it possible for us to elevate Savology to new levels,” says Spencer Barclay, Founder and CEO of Savology. “We know that we have an incredible amount of work ahead of us, but we are up for the challenge to help millions of households achieve financial security.”

Savology’s Founder & CEO, Spencer Barclay, shares how Savology is helping American households improve their
financial well-being to a crowd of thousands.

To date, Savology has helped nearly 10,000 households improve their personal finances with its free financial planning platform. With the current economic uncertainty and recent stock market declines, there has never been a better time to help Americans with their personal finances. Savology plans to use this funding to help 100,000 users build free financial plans this year.

For more information about Savology visit savology.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Bri Ray, Communications Specialist, at (801) 472-2124 or press@savology.com

Your financial future starts today

Savology is a free planning platform where you can build a free, unbiased, personalized financial plan in about 5 minutes. Your Savology plan will give you action items to start working on as well as an overview of your current financial situation. After you have made some progress, Savology can connect you with some of the world’s top providers to help you accomplish your financial goals.

Build your free plan today

RevRoad Collaborates with Tangible to Provide E-Commerce Education for Entrepreneurs

In a time where marketing outlets are changing rapidly, it’s important for business owners to have a current educational foundation. Tangible School specializes in e-commerce education. They provide two 5-week education tracks with classes taught in-person by industry professionals. We are excited to announce that as of today, April 16 2020, RevRoad has joined forces with Tangible to provide up-to-date education for entrepreneurs.

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5 Steps To Planning A Successful Event

Written By: Paighton Moffitt

Product launch parties, conferences, lunch & learns, employee celebrations, company retreats, networking events…SLOW DOWN.

People don’t often talk about how many events come with running a business, and it can be overwhelming. Hosting an event takes a lot of time, planning, organization, and hard work.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Where do I even begin?” 

Well, you can start right here—with the 5 steps you need to plan your next successful event. 

1. Ask Questions & Establish Goals 

First things first, there are many questions you need to address before moving forward with your planning. Sit down with the person/people helping you host the event and address a couple questions listed below. 

  • What is the purpose of this event? 
  • Who will be attending? 
  • What kind of speakers or entertainment is needed? 
  • What’s the budget? 
  • What’s the overall goal for this event? 

Oh, and if you’re an event planning team of one, that’s okay too! Walk yourself through those same questions.

 Asking these questions will help you set expectations from the beginning.

2. Create A Timeline Plan 

Now that you have expectations and goals in place, you can move forward with planning.  Create a timeline with everything that needs to be done up until the event. 

This may include:

  •  Choosing the venue
  • Creating menus
  •  Booking catering
  •  Scheduling speakers/entertainment
  • Getting day-of volunteers
  • Organizing the agenda
  • Buying decor
  • Sending out invitations
  • Getting sponsors
  • Developing a landing page 
  • Marketing your event 
  • And so much more! 

Any task that needs to be done before the event should be included in this timeline plan. I suggest creating your timeline plan in a google spreadsheet so everything can all be in one place and can easily be shared with other team members. 

3. Establish A Team & Assign Roles 

Congratulations, your plan is in place! Now it’s time to recruit a team to help you execute the plan. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and assign responsibilities to your team members.

For example, any marketing tasks should be given to the marketing team, any development tasks should be given to the development team, and so forth . 

We’ve all heard the saying, “Many hands make light work.” This couldn’t be more true when it comes to planning an event. Don’t try to do everything yourself.

Assign it out, create a checklist or spreadsheet, and begin executing.

4. Follow-Up Until The Event

Your timeline & execution plan are now in place. *Hallelujah* now you’ve arrived at the easy part.

FOLLOW UP!

Your follow up efforts from now until the event are key! Make sure you follow up with every task that has not yet been completed on the timeline plan/execution checklist. 

For example, if “Alex” is  supposed to send out the 1st email campaign on Tuesday, you will want to follow up with “Alex” to make sure everything is ready to go on Monday. Ask “Alex” if it will be ready to be sent out tomorrow and if there is anything you can do to help him. 

Following up is crucial to ensure that every task will be completed on time and everything will go smoothly the day of your event. 

You should also follow up with caterers, your venue, any rentals, speakers, audio/visual equipment operators, and entertainment a week before the event to make sure all details are clear and finalized, and arrival time/location is confirmed.

5. Execute, Enjoy, & Review 

The event is here! All that hard work has finally paid off. The most important thing is to make sure you make yourself available to answer guest questions and take the time to enjoy the event you’ve successfully executed.. 

Some things might not go as planned and that is OKAY! You did everything right to prepare for the event and now you need to relax and let your hard work show. 

After the event is over, I highly recommend doing an AAR (After Action Review) with the team involved. This review is a process for analyzing what happened, why it happened, and how it can be done better next time. 

As you can see, throwing an event takes a lot of time, planning, organization, & hard work. Hopefully these 5 steps will help as you plan and execute your next successful event!

Learn more about our Events here
Watch this highlight video of one of our company product launch events here
Learn more about RevRoad here