From Idea to Investment: Journey in Fundraising for Business (with Karim Kerachni)

Guest Bio

With 13+ years experience in Sales and Management across North America, and France in my early career, I found my true calling in launching new ventures, creating systems & processes, and business development at large; I define myself as an entrepreneur more than a business owner: once the business is up and running, i feel the need to move on to the next project !

While I was managing a small crew selling home-automation across Canada, I’ve decided to start a residential/commercial cleaning company in 2018 in eastern Canada — because the demand was there — which then grew in a couple cities across Canada; Before selling my majority stacks last year, in order to focus on my newest venture: Franchise development in Massachusetts for the amazing company PropertyGuys.com, the largest private home sale network in North America. Through this partnership, I’m currently in charge of attracting and selecting the best talents for the 20+ Franchises available in eastern Massachusetts, and offering them my support to grow their franchise into a $1M+/year success.

I intend to expand this amazing model all across New England by 2030

ℹ️ Introduction

Welcome back to another exciting episode of Frugalpreneur! I'm your host, Sarah St. John, and today we have a special showcase episode featuring an incredible bootstrapped entrepreneur named Karim. Get ready to be inspired as Karim shares their journey, tips, and tactics for building a successful business without breaking the bank.

In this episode, Karim will take us through their experiences with a cleaning company, revealing how they utilized free platforms like Facebook and Craigslist, as well as their network, to attract major clients. They'll also share the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journey, including the importance of having a bookkeeper and the lessons they learned from overlooking this crucial aspect.

But that's not all! Karim's story takes an exciting turn as they delve into their involvement with Property Guys, a franchise business in the real estate industry. They'll break down why starting a franchise can be less risky than starting a business from scratch and offer valuable insights into the success rate of Property Guys. If you've ever dreamed of owning your own business, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Throughout our conversation, Karim will provide actionable advice on various aspects of bootstrapping, from sales and networking techniques to raising funds for your business. They emphasize the value of engaging in free lead generation activities, dispelling the myth that you need to spend big bucks on coaches or consultants.

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, Karim's story will provide priceless takeaways that you can implement in your own business journey. So grab your pen and paper, get ready to take notes, and join us as we dive into the world of frugal bootstrapping with Karim.

But before we get started, a quick reminder to visit frugal.showforward/guest if you have a story you'd like to share on the show. We'd love to hear from you! Now, without further ado, let's dive into this incredible episode of Frugalpreneur with Karim.

❇️ Key topics and bullets

- Introduction to the episode and the featured entrepreneur, Karim

- Karim's background as a bootstrapped entrepreneur

- Successes and failures of Karim's journey

- Valuing the trust and investment of supporters

- How Karim grew their cleaning company through frugal methods

- Utilizing free platforms like Facebook, Kijiji, and Craigslist

- Relying on referrals from their network

- Landing major clients through these channels

- The importance of being debt-free in business

- Karim's involvement with Property Guys franchise in the real estate industry

- Lower risk compared to starting a business from scratch

- Property Guys' high success rate statistically

- Karim's role in franchise development

- Contact information and resources for Property Guys

- Key advice from Karim for bootstrapping a business

- Hiring a professional bookkeeper early on for financial management

- Engaging in sales and networking activities for growth

- Using direct outreach, cold outreach, and networking for lead generation

- Avoiding unnecessary expenses on coaches or consultants

- Sharing Karim's personal experience with reaching out calls at Google advocacy

- How Karim raised funds for their businesses

- Approaching friends, family, and expanding network for potential investors

- Karim's journey from cleaning company to Property Guys

- Benefits of franchising for someone starting a business

- Support and guidance from an established brand

- Access to established systems and processes

- Expertise in marketing, legal, and coaching

- Karim's background in sales and management, and their international professional journey

- Karim's approach to starting a business with limited funds

- Learning the job and creating processes and systems

- Growing the business through networking, door-to-door sales, cold calling, and referrals

- Realization of the importance of hiring a bookkeeper and advice to listeners on the topic

- Karim's closing remarks and encouragement for listeners to share their stories

- Instructions on how to submit stories to the podcast.

🧞‍♂️ Discussion questions

1. How did Karim bootstrap his first business, the cleaning company, without much initial investment?

2. What were the key channels Karim used to grow his cleaning company in the first year?

3. How did Karim approach fundraising for his second business venture?

4. What motivated Karim to succeed in his second business, considering the pressure he felt from investors?

5. What were some of the successes Karim experienced with his cleaning company in terms of acquiring large clients?

6. How did having no debts benefit Karim when he sold his shares in the cleaning company?

7. What is Karim's biggest "failure" or lesson learned from his business journey?

8. How did Karim realize the importance of having a bookkeeper for his business and what recommendations does he give regarding this?

9. What is Karim's advice for new entrepreneurs in terms of sales and networking?

10. How has Karim's background in sales and management influenced his journey as an entrepreneur?

Relevant Links

https://Info.propertyguys.com/Mass

https://linkedin.com/in/karim-kerachni

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