Sharon McRill

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Sharon McRill, President of the Betty Brigade, recounts how she discovered potential investors during a conversation with a new client. While she might have been hesitant to describe her business so vividly in its infancy, she now believes the risk of openness is more than repaid in refining her ideas and discovering opportunities.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Betty Brigade | Financing Innovation | Sharon McRill

 A number of the entrepreneurs interviewed for our series on financing innovation have mentioned the value of networking to find equity investors in early stage start-ups. In this segment, Sharon McRill, President of The Betty Brigade, recounts in detail how a simple conversation with a new client led to several potential investors. Here are some key elements of that conversation:

• Sharon described her business as a franchise opportunity with high potential for growth. She had come to this view after reading Michael Gerber's E-Myth series of books.
• Sharon is essentially looking for a hands-off investor who will allow her to take her business to the next level. As her customer mentioned to her, that kind of investor is rare in Michigan.
• When queried about why she would be so open about her business plans, Sharon noted that there were many ideas but only a few who could implement. The risk was well paid in refining the idea.

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Having reached the five year mark, Sharon McRill, President of the Betty Brigade, is actively seeking financing for her business. She shares her strategy for approaching banks and other sources of funding.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Betty Brigade | Financing Innovation | Sharon McRill

Like many entrepreneurs, Sharon McRill, President of the Betty Brigade, did not want outside investment when she started her business. She did not want to owe people, in addition to the disappointment, if her business failed. Now, having achieved the five year mark, she is actively seeking to finance her business after reading Michael Gerber's E-Myth Revisited.

How is she packaging her business to speak with banks and other sources of funding:

• With some success, her business case is now more solid. Perhaps as important, she has a higher level of confidence than she did initially.
• She is looking for funding before it becomes a problem. That gives her some breathing room to evaluate options, and also allows her to present a better picture of ongoing operations.
• She has done a demographic study of her business and discovered that 60% of it is repeat, thereby helping strengthen the case for her receivables as collateral.
• She is willing to show her house as an asset, demonstrating that she has confidence in her case.

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We continue our series on financing your innovation in an interview with Sharon McRill. Sharon founded The Betty Brigade 5 years ago after getting laid off from a corporate job. Since, The Betty Brigade has grown at the rate of 40% per year. This segment recounts how Sharon financed the business in the start up phase.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Betty Brigade | Financing Innovation | Making Substitutes | Sharon McRill

We continue our series on financing your innovation in this interview with Sharon McRill, founder of The Betty Brigade. The Betty Brigade is a full service concierge service that will come to you to help you with everday chores and organizing tasks. It has been in existence for five years and is growing at a rate of 40%.

Many might wonder where people get the money to start a business. The financial barrier to entry in service businesses can be quite low. The Betty Brigade is one such business, and Sharon lays out the challenges she faced and how she overcame them:

• Sharon had not planned to start a business, but inspired by an episode of Oprah, she decided to invest a recent $10,000 severance package in her business.
• Needless to say, the Betty Brigade, like many services start ups, did not require much initial investment. Sharon bought a computer, a copier, and a phone.
• Working capital, the amount of money you need to keep your day to day operations running, can be a significant issue when a business first starts. Sharon received payment immediately upon rendering service, reducing the need for working capital. She now manages working capital by taking money up front for large jobs.
• Another issue is financing growth. In the early years, Sharon eschewed outside financing because she wanted to maintain control. One way she financed growth was to presell business for a year. Customers made a large up front payment that Sharon could use to finance necessary purchases for growth.

Sharon is no longer seeking to finance growth purely from internal cash flows and is currently pursuing external financing. In future segments, we will discuss her efforts and progress on this front.