Blacksmith and Entrepreneurship Program

From July 25-28 2012, 75 students from 35 different countries were selected to participate in the Blacksmith and Liberty Entrepreneurship Program held in Trakai, Lithuania. The name of the program is derived from the names of its founders, Mr. Simon Black and Mr. Smith, both successful American entrepreneurs who give amazing opportunities to young people that show strong entrepreneurship skills.
This year, Mr. Smith couldn't attend, but instead Mr. Brian Tannura Mr. Sam Wolanik, and Mr. Craig Ballantyne were invited. During the four days, we had the opportunity to ask questions to these mentors, hear their entrepreneurial lectures, and have our own concepts and ideas evaluated in terms of internal business competition.

Brian is a guy from New Jersey that took Spanish in high school and in college for a total of seven years of Spanish. After graduation he decided not to follow his friends to Mexico or Spain, so he took a plane to Japan. Brian has over 25 years of experience of living in Japan and owns more than 5000 gum ball selling machines and more than 2000 sticker selling machines. To our amusement he proudly admitted to being the one who introduced the cartoon Spongebob to Japan. Brian is a very down to earth and an approachable individual who really made himself available to students during the program.

Craig is a Canadian entrepreneur and owner of one of the most successful online health businesses in North America. Craig graduated in 2000 as a researcher and started as a personal trainer. On his website you can find diets, training programs to lose weight and other health tips. He appeared many times in Health Magazine and other TV shows related to being healthy. At the time of the camp, he had on one of his websites more than one hundred thousand followers, real people buying and commenting on his products.

Sam created a company (that he no longer owns) that improved the price of stock in the exchange market in NY. He created one of the first "financial quotes" websites. He shared the following impressive story at the Camp:  One day he visited an American Oil company that was doing very well in business but very bad in the stock market, no one wanted to buy the stock. On the Friday afternoon when the market was almost closing he sent a financial report with his own quotes providing real information "the one that everyone knows but not pay sometimes that much attention", at the end of the quote he talked about the oil company. By Monday the company grew 400%, and on Tuesday grew 500% on top of the Monday result. He did that over several years and is a trading expert- he knows the secret to not ending up as an insider trader. The exciting news is Sam is creating a new currency.

These four mentors and young entrepreneurs had the opportunity to relate and exchange stories and experiences. This was time well-spent and much valuable information was shared. I will cite some of the conclusions, discussions, quotes, relevant notes that I jotted down during the Camp.

•    It is not true that 90% of the work is a great idea
•    There are always opportunities, all around, step back and see the market
•    When starting a business you do everything you can to identify the key tasks
•    Who is your customer? How you reach him? What do you do to maintain a relationship with your costumer?
•    Find a way to differentiate what makes you unique from your competition
•    To find an investor, don't show it as a brainer investment
•    Always be really specific when answering questions: What business are you in? Who are your customers?
•    In online business, communicate with your customers, but that communication has to be perfect, make videos.
•    On websites, customers like sale deadlines
•    Do something you really love, something you are passionate about.
•    As most of you English is not your mother language so always write in simple sentences. Business is about simple and specific sentences.
•    I found a government distortion in the market place, if the stock is less than 5 Dollars nobody can talk about it. There were many companies that wanted to raise prices.
•    While raising investing capital, make sure you really need it and answer easily, tell me about your business. Always avoid family and friends. Be specific in numbers and not in future projections.
•    Never say "I need between half million and one million Dollars", be specific.
•    Everybody thinks that they need more capital than what he/she really needs.  Ask for the minimum amount.
•    What is your opportunity? What is your growth plan? Find credibility.
•    Create a board of advisers; their credibility is your credibility.
•    To raise money check: crowd founding, kick starter, micro landings, etc.
•    Yes it is possible to raise money from your competitor, they understand you.
•    DO YOUR HOMEWORK = study the market
•    The whole business exists because of you
•    For your investors, write them monthly reports and be transparent. If things are bad, tell him/her don't hide things, anything, from them.
•    "When you point someone with your finger, there are three fingers pointing towards you"
•    In order to do the marketing, go to online forums to hear the problems that your prospect costumers have. What kind of phrases do they use? Then, determine what product/service you will sell and how you will sell it.
•    95% of the businesses fail because they force a solution in a market place.
•    You guys know that you don't have to pass through the scan at the airport
•    Think about how to add value
•    The older you get, the more difficult life gets
•    Learn valuable skills, spend time learning: languages, check other places around the world, seek a mentor find someone you can help and make yourself absolutely indispensable for this person, socialize and network, "if you can sell shit, you’ll always be valuable", learn to program, introduce one friend to another.
•    Find an open door

Congratulations to the hydroponics on the roofs of Hong Kong team that won the first place in the competition. Also, congratulations to the umbrella vending machines at the exits of the underground in London team and the cafe with the parking concept at Moscow team for the mention.

I want to mention www.froam.com, the phone international services company that made possible my attendance at the entrepreneurship program. Special thanks to Mr. Hershberg and Mr. Warman, CEO's of Froam, thank you for being my mentors and for giving me this opportunity. The experience has had a positive influence on me and I hope to share it with the Froamtm community.
I'm proud to say that Froam has helped me to save funds by not having to pay for international roaming in my device. As a business prospect, Froamtm is also the perfect company from which to learn about any aspect of international connections.
I encourage you to check online how much it costs to call from Germany to Chile for example, then ask to yourselves how this amazing price is possible. Froam is also available to answer any questions; they are always there for their customers and wider community. Once again, thank you Froam!
I would also like to thank the organizers and sponsors of Blacksmith and Entrepreneurship program for accepting me. It has been my pleasure to get to know each of the participants of the program and I had the chance to meet some amazing and impressive individuals. I wish them all well in their projects.

Daniel Simkin

Info:
www.froam.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6d-A1Wu7lk&list=HL1346058822&feature=mh_lolz