Startups Heading South, The Business of Death(?!), Marketing Staples

Why U.S. Entrepreneurs Are Looking South for Opportunities

 More and more international startups are heading south - to South America, that is. Thanks to the region’s commitment to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive, countries like Argentina and Chile, as well as other Latin American countries, are becoming “ideal launchpads” for business-savvy individuals from the United States.

 A variety of innovative accelerator programs, like Start-Up Chile, are breathing fresh life into a once overlooked ecosystem, allowing more and more businesses to look to Latin America as options, whether as headquarters or for fundraising. The governments of many of these nations are also getting involved, doing things to make their “legal environments more attractive and amenable to business development”.

In 2017 alone, Latin American startups raised over $1 billion, which is nearly twice what they did in the pervious year. And then, if that wasn’t enough, they doubled again, hitting $2.5 billion in fundraising in 2018 - and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down. Not only are these Latin American startups generating funding, but they’re attracting attention from some pretty huge global investors, including Berkshire Hathaway, Goldman Sachs, and Sequoia.

Now a legitimate investment target, more and more stateside entrepreneurs are looking at their southern neighbors through a new lens, hoping to discover lucrative opportunities for their business ventures.

A Dead Business that is Very Much Alive - And Growing

Not very many people want to invest money in a business that looks dead - and that’s something entrepreneur and inventor Chris Sakezles knows firsthand. A polymer science and engineering expert, Sakezles came across a unique problem: Cadavers. Not only were they expensive, but they were only good for so long. Not to mention, in order to make cadavers safe to be around and work on, serious chemicals, like formaldehyde, are required.

On a mission to innovate something that could mimic a cadaver without actually being a cadaver (and having to deal with all of the problems that come along with that), Sakezles created SynDaver, a company out of Tampa, Florida that creates incredibly realistic synthetic bodies. How realistic? Not only do they have arteries that actually pump blood, but they also come equipped with all organs and teeth, making them a must-have for state-of-the-art medical schools, as well as TV studios.

While at first difficult to find interested investors, SynDaver eventually attracted the right audience, enticing them with unique product features, including the benefit of never having to invest in another cadaver again. Crafted from plant-based fibers, salt, minerals, and water, SynDaver’s products are so “lifelike” that they can actually be used to test electrical devices. Having raised just over $1.5 million since its official launch in 2017, SynDaver has to-date sold over 1,000 synthetic human cadavers, as well as 200 synthetic canine bodies.

This Summer, Rethink the Way Your Business Does Marketing

If you’re a marketer (and if you own or run a small business, you are), then you’ll know that your job has gotten significantly tougher over the past few years. With all of the noise distracting your customers’ attention (and your own), it can be tricky to discern what your next move should be. In an effort to keep up, most marketers find themselves trying to do more and more, adding another channel or another strategy to their already congested systems. Instead of getting caught up in ever-revolving hamster wheel, smart marketers are changing the way they think, focusing on efficiency rather than always asking “what’s next?”

And, when you shift your goal to efficiency rather than trying to do it all, you realize that great marketing for any business really boils down to one thing: Nurturing the lead.

If you want to get great returns on your advertising efforts, then doing your job to nurture your potential and current customers should be at the top of your priority list.

What does that look like?

For example, it’s so much more important to think about moving customers through a funnel rather than just simply getting them to it. While it’s not hard to generate leads, it is often costly. And, unfortunately, most leads don’t ever (ever!) actually convert. According to a report by Forrester Research, a shocking 1% of leads convert to customers. That means, if you’re spending money generating leads, rather than nurturing customers, you’re basically just throwing money out the window.

This summer, your best marketing efforts might be simpler than you ever imagined: Emailing your list - and doing it regularly.