From Youth to Greatness: Leveling the Playing Field with AI-Powered Highlight Reels on Athlete.ai

Market Daily Staff on September 30, 2024

In today’s competitive world of youth sports, the journey from local leagues to collegiate or professional levels requires more than just talent—it requires visibility. Athlete.ai is transforming this journey by democratizing access to professional-grade highlight reels, allowing young athletes to showcase their skills and stand out, regardless of their background or resources.

For many young athletes, gaining the attention of coaches, scouts, and recruiters is a daunting challenge. Traditional methods of creating highlight reels are often costly and time-consuming, making it difficult for all but the most privileged athletes to present themselves in the best light. This lack of visibility can prevent talented players from reaching their full potential, simply because they can’t afford the tools to showcase their abilities effectively.

Athlete.ai addresses this gap by leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to create highlight reels that are not only professional in quality but also accessible to everyone. The platform automatically analyzes game footage, identifies key moments, and compiles them into a cohesive reel that highlights the athlete’s strengths. This process, which once required expert editing skills, is now available to any athlete with just a few clicks.

The use of AI ensures that every crucial moment is captured, whether it’s a game-winning goal, a crucial defensive play, or a standout performance in the heat of competition. By focusing on the athlete’s performance rather than the production, Athlete.ai allows young athletes to shine based on their skills, not their access to expensive editing software.

One of the most significant impacts of Athlete.ai is its ability to level the playing field. No longer are high-quality highlight reels reserved for those with the financial means to hire professional editors or purchase advanced software. Athlete.ai’s platform is designed to be user-friendly and affordable, ensuring that any athlete, regardless of their background, can create and share a reel that truly represents their abilities.

This democratization of video production is crucial in youth sports, where opportunities are often determined by exposure. By making it easier for athletes to showcase their talents, Athlete.ai is opening doors for countless young players who might otherwise be overlooked.

The impact of Athlete.ai extends beyond the individual athlete. For coaches and scouts, the platform provides a more efficient way to assess talent, with reels that are not only high-quality but also focused on the moments that matter most. This makes it easier to identify potential recruits who may have previously flown under the radar.

For athletes, the ability to easily create and distribute their highlight reels means more opportunities to be seen by the right people. Whether they’re aiming for a spot on a college team or dreaming of a professional career, Athlete.ai gives them the tools they need to turn those dreams into reality.

Athlete.ai is more than just a tool for creating highlight reels—it’s a platform that empowers young athletes to take control of their futures. By leveling the playing field and making professional-grade video production accessible to all, Athlete.ai is helping to transform the landscape of youth sports, ensuring that every athlete has the opportunity to be seen, recognized, and celebrated for their talent. As the world of sports continues to evolve, Athlete.ai stands at the forefront, driving change and opening doors for the next generation of great athletes.

Visit Athlete.ai to learn more, or download it now from the App Store.

Published by: Josh Tatunay

How Entrepreneurs Can Prepare for a Successful Business Sale

Market Daily Staff on September 30, 2024

By: Matheau J. W. Stout

Selling a business is one of the most significant events in an entrepreneur’s journey. Whether it’s the culmination of years of hard work or part of a broader exit strategy, a successful business sale can bring substantial financial rewards. However, the process of selling a business is complex, and without proper preparation, entrepreneurs risk leaving money on the table or facing legal and financial challenges.

In this article, we’ll explore how entrepreneurs can prepare their businesses for a successful sale, from getting financials in order to understanding the importance of timing, valuation, and finding the right buyers.

Why Preparation is Key

Preparing for the sale of a business is not something that can be done overnight. To maximize the value of the company and ensure a smooth transaction, business owners must start the preparation process well in advance—often a year or more before they intend to sell.

Proper preparation allows entrepreneurs to position their businesses in the best possible light, address any potential issues, and present a compelling case to potential buyers. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for a business sale.

How Entrepreneurs Can Prepare for a Successful Business Sale

Photo: Unsplash.com

1. Get Financials in Order

One of the first things any potential buyer will look at is the company’s financial statements. Buyers want to see a clear and accurate picture of the company’s financial health, including revenue, profit margins, expenses, and cash flow.

Key Steps:

Audited Financial Statements: Ensure that your financial statements are accurate, up-to-date, and ideally audited by a reputable firm. Buyers are more likely to trust audited statements, which can also help support a higher valuation. Because audited publicly traded companies are often buyers of private businesses in roll up transactions, having your financials audited by a PCAOB auditor provides a way to stand out, and justify a higher sales price.

Clean Up the Books: Review your accounting practices and clean up any unnecessary expenses or irregularities. Buyers want to see a business with clean, transparent financials. Many entrepreneurs mix personal and business expenses. Remove personal expenses or one-time costs that could skew the financial picture.

Financial Projections: Provide realistic financial projections that demonstrate the company’s growth potential. Buyers are not just interested in historical performance—they want to know what the future holds. Highlighting potential revenue streams or growth opportunities can make your business more attractive.

2. Understand Business Valuation

Determining the right valuation for your business is crucial when preparing for a sale. A valuation that is too high may scare off potential buyers, while a valuation that is too low means leaving money on the table. There are various methods for valuing a business, including earnings multiples, revenue multiples, and discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis.

Key Steps:

Photo: Unsplash.com

Hire a Valuation Expert: Engage a professional appraiser or investment banker who specializes in business valuation. They will take a comprehensive look at your business and industry to provide a realistic estimate of what your company is worth.

Consider Comparable Sales: Look at recent sales of similar businesses in your industry to get a sense of market trends and valuation benchmarks. This will help you position your business competitively.

Focus on Drivers of Value: Understand the key drivers of value for your business. Is it recurring revenue, customer loyalty, proprietary technology, or intellectual property? Highlighting these value drivers can justify a higher valuation in the eyes of buyers.

Don’t Forget Intellectual Property: For many companies, especially those holding patents in the tech sector, IP can represent most of the perceived value in the buyer’s mind. When this is the case, hire an expert who understands patent monetization, including licensing, and sales. An experienced IP Asset Management and Advisory Firm can structure the deal so you can sell your operating business while retaining ownership of your patents, so you can license the IP to the buyer, creating a recurring revenue stream even after the sale.

3. Enhance Operational Efficiency

Buyers want to acquire businesses that are running smoothly and efficiently. Before putting your business on the market, take a close look at your operations to identify areas for improvement. Streamlining operations not only increases profitability but also makes your business more attractive to potential buyers.

Key Steps:

Document Processes: Create detailed documentation of your key business processes, from sales and marketing to customer service and supply chain management. Buyers are more likely to purchase a business that has well-established, replicable processes in place.

Reduce Dependency on Key Individuals: If your business relies heavily on you or a few key individuals, this could be a red flag for buyers. Work to reduce this dependency by delegating responsibilities and ensuring that your business can operate smoothly without your direct involvement. In other words, train someone to replace yourself. This is crucial if you want to cash out and exit upon closing the sale. Sellers who don’t plan for this receive lower offers, or must work as an employee of the buyer for a year or more, to collect much of the sales price through an earn out. A great book on this subject is Built to Sell, by John Warrillow.

Address Operational Inefficiencies: Review your cost structure and identify any inefficiencies that can be addressed. This could involve renegotiating supplier contracts, optimizing inventory management, or automating certain processes to cut costs and improve margins.

4. Prepare for Due Diligence

The due diligence process is one of the most critical phases of a business sale. During this time, the buyer will conduct a thorough examination of your company’s financials, contracts, and operations to ensure that there are no hidden risks or liabilities.

It is important for you to be represented by an experienced mergers and acquisitions lawyer. A highly skilled M&A attorney is essential to protect your interests as the seller at this stage, as identifying and correcting legal issues with your business before due diligence begins can lead to a streamlined sales process and a higher sales price.

Key Steps:

Organize Legal Documents: Ensure that all legal documents, including material contracts, leases, intellectual property agreements, and any pending litigation, are organized and easily accessible. Buyers will want to see proof that your business is legally compliant and that there are no outstanding legal issues.

Review Employee Benefits: Buyers will want to understand the structure of your workforce, including employee agreements, compensation, benefits, and any outstanding liabilities related to pensions or healthcare. Make sure these documents are up-to-date and that there are no unresolved disputes.

Customer and Supplier Agreements: Review your key customer and supplier agreements to ensure they are solid. Long-term contracts with customers or suppliers can be a valuable asset in the eyes of buyers, providing stability and predictable revenue streams. Short term contracts or business relationships that rely on the seller’s personal connections will be seen as risks by the buyer, who will discount the offer accordingly.

5. Find the Right Buyers

Finding the right buyer is crucial for a successful business sale. Different buyers will have different motivations and valuation approaches, so it’s essential to identify those who align with your goals and vision for the company’s future.

Key Steps:

Work with a Business Broker: Experienced business brokers can help identify and vet potential buyers. Brokers have access to a broad network of buyers and can help you find someone who is the right fit, whether they are strategic buyers looking to expand or private equity firms seeking a financial investment. Business brokers who are specialists in selling similar businesses in your niche are well positioned to provide excellent advice and introductions to buyers who already know your industry. Look for those who have demonstrated their commitment to the profession by earning advanced designations like the IBBA’s Certified Business Intermediary® (CBI).

Prepare a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM): A CIM is a detailed document that provides potential buyers with an overview of your business, including financials, operations, and growth opportunities. This is typically the first document a serious buyer will review, so make sure it is professionally prepared and presents your business in the best possible light.

Screen Buyers Carefully: Not all buyers are created equal. Screen potential buyers to ensure they have the financial resources and strategic vision to follow through on the purchase. This will save time and prevent deals from falling through at the last minute.

6. Plan for the Transition

A successful business sale doesn’t end when the ink on the contract dries. Planning for the transition period is critical to ensure that the new owners can smoothly take over operations and continue the business’s success.

Key Steps:

Negotiate Your Role in the Transition: Some buyers may want you to stay on for a specified period to help with the transition, while others may prefer a clean break. Be clear about your willingness to stay involved and negotiate the terms of your transition accordingly. If you want a cash sale rather than an earn out, make this clear at the beginning.

Communicate with Employees: Selling a business can be unsettling for employees. Be transparent with your team about the process and provide reassurances about job security and the future of the company. A smooth transition will depend heavily on keeping employees engaged and motivated.

Conclusion

Selling a business is a significant and often emotional decision for entrepreneurs, but with the right preparation, it can be a rewarding one. By getting financials in order, understanding the valuation process, optimizing assets and operations, and finding the right buyers, business owners can ensure that they achieve a successful sale.

Proper planning, professional advice, and careful attention to detail will not only help you maximize the value of your business but also set the stage for a smooth transition and continued success for the new owners.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice, nor does it replace professional financial advice, investment advice, or any other type of advice. You should seek the advice of a qualified financial advisor or other professional before making any financial decisions.

Published by: Holy Minoza

Scheduling with Unreal Efficiency

Market Daily Staff on September 30, 2024

There is a growing waitlist for QueueSlot, an upcoming solution to so many modern scheduling problems. How do we discern all of the modern scheduling problems? Well, the primary aspect of a calendar and scheduling software—if you want to conduct success in your business—is flexibility. How deeply can I describe an event? What options are available when someone cancels an appointment? How easy is it to book with my business from our website? Many calendar questions revolve around efficiently communicating event information and maintaining flexibility when changes come around or there needs to be a waitlist for an event. As the waitlist grows, Heine Nzumafo, the Chief Enabling Officer of QueueSlot, grinds away at perfecting the software.

After Heine’s first venture, Hiipe, did not achieve long-term success, he took a look at what he could improve upon. Hiipe was a chat app with a very successful crowdfunding campaign making up its foundation. The main lesson he grasped was that Hiipe was not set up as well as he could get it to maintain long-term success. Heine pivoted to a more practical software industry and plugged away at his other jobs to support his own growth. Instead of $400,000 crowdfunded to start Hiipe, QueueSlot was developed using Agile methodologies. He started with a three-page PowerPoint presentation, and within seven months, QueueSlot had its first version on the way with less than $40,000.

Heine immigrated to the United States from Cameroon in 1995, and he took advantage of the US military connection to educational programs in the Signal Corps. He completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. With military discipline and excellent, thorough education, he’s found success in several roles such as Scrum Master, Senior Scrum Master, Release Train Engineer, and Agile Coach. He currently works as an Agile Project Manager, and his growing experience in the tech field and digital communications industry is funneled into his vision. In every single one of these positions, he’s worked to keep his hustle alive by improving the software before launch. Heine’s work ethic allows him to merge all of his progress at different jobs to help QueueSlot sprout.

Around two years ago, Heine’s wife, a Financial Counselor working under very demanding expectations, expressed frustration with her active scheduling platform. When clients cancel appointments, they leave gaps that could not be repurposed without great effort. Business declined when scheduling saw blackouts. Heine saw tons of informative flaws when taking a look at her scheduling software, specifically the absence of a waitlist and the inability to book alternate appointments. He saw an opportunity to leverage automation and notification technologies to solve this problem and got to work on QueueSlot. To overcome early company partnerships that did not provide full access to project management tools, he resourcefully set up his own remote development team. This team built up QueueSlot and provided additional hands-on training in a program for Scrum Masters that he could employ in the future. He used the new program funds as a lever to lift up his project while in early development.

Unlike Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, or Schedulicity, QueueSlot users can book alternate time slots, eliminating the need for rescheduling. Waitlists are automated for every time slot, managing bookings in real-time. The scheduling turns out seamless and efficient, reducing the loss of time and the domino effect on profit and productivity from missed or canceled appointments. Each time you set up an event in QueueSlot, you can define the parameters of the event in depth with the Event Details section, helping clue in employees, coworkers, and customers to unique events. You can also place a link for bookers on your public website that sends them to your event scheduling interface. When creating availability schedules, you can tailor multiple availability for different jobs, gigs, and commitments while managing overlap between them on one platform. Temporal business problems are always in Heine’s mind when he works with the design team. He prefers Chief Enabling Officer to the typical CEO title because he works on the ground with his team as they come up with new ideas for the software together. Heine sees this business overcoming competitors as more businesses see the results and appeal of QueueSlot.

Heine confidently manages his company while also being a pastor and family man. He empowers his team continually and creates an environment of collective success through disciplined training. As his team grows, the platform will be able to offer even more outstanding services. Book a meeting on his website, and find out what his program can offer to your business scheduling needs. His patented multi-scheduling solution offers unlimited event setups, unlimited availability schedules, and new modern solutions to scheduling problems. QueueSlot can open up your professional potential.

Published By: Aize Perez