THE 3 STAGES OF INCUBATION
ExecutION
Development
Idea
Where are you?
Current outside
incubation projects:
Current in-house
incubation projects:
We are often approached by individuals and early to mid-stage companies to assist in their growth and business development. Because M4 has a rich history incubating ideas, test marketing concepts, partnering, providing investment capital of our own, securing outside growth capital, etc. we can utilize our experience to help others. And because we're entrepreneurs to the core, we possess creative skills and deep business experience - which is a powerful combination.
At M4, our credibility is our strongest currency. And because we value our professional affiliations with funding sources, strategic partners, providers and distribution channels, we take special care to ensure whatever opportunity we introduce to them meets the highest standards of preparation and readiness.
In response to the increased demand we've received in this space, we have generated a variety of tools and processes to assist entrepreneurs who seek M4's help incubating an idea, product, or business.
There are several ways we can get involved – click the options below to read and learn more about each.
From the entrepreneur’s perspective, the principal reason for writing the business plan is to convince potential investors that your business idea warrants organizational and financial support. Without the company’s backing, it would be impossible to develop the business opportunity in a thoughtful and timely fashion. But don’t let this reality blind you to other important purposes of a strong business plan. Specifically:
- Your business plan provides a SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF THE FEASBILITY OF YOUR BUSINESS IDEA that will enable you and your potential investor to decide whether or not to move forward with that idea.
- Your business plan helps you to STRUCTURE YOUR THINKING about the venture opportunity.
- Your business plan helps you to FOCUS YOUR EFFORT AND ATTENTION and to set SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES for developing the business.
- Your business plan is a tool for DETERMINING THE MAJOR RISKS INVOLVED in starting and growing your business…before it is too late to address them.
- Your business plan serves as your GAME PLAN for starting and operating the business successfully.
- Once the business is up and running, your plan PROVIDES THE MEANS FOR MEASURING PROGRESS, TAKING POSITIVE ACTIONS and MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS.
As you attempt to define your business and develop a plan, we can help by offering valuable advice, honest feedback, and challenging rebuttals to your business assumptions. Your business plan is more than a resume for an idea it is an architectural blueprint of your operations and competitive landscape that requires honest assessments of things as they really are. If we get involved, your success will be our success.
Our fees vary based on the nature, complexity and depth of our involvement. Entries are taken in the order in which they're received and must be accompanied by a non-refundable $500 evaluation fee.
More important than a well-typed business plan or a nifty product or service idea is the leadership behind it. It is our observation that leadership often fails long before a product or idea has an opportunity to. Because we've seen what poor leadership can do to a business, we have strong feelings about what is required to make things work.
If your organization needs the leadership required to achieve real growth, we can fill temporary or permanent roles in your organization to help you reach your potential. Whether you're looking for executive or upper management help, to leadership and management coaching, we can provide resources to help your idea have the right environment to succeed.
We are often asked to take a partnership position by organizations seeking our help for a variety of reasons. Some come looking for leadership, others seek investment capital, while others are looking for a hybrid of services we provide. Regardless of our level of involvement, as your business partner, we take special care to ensure your vision is understood and to become fiduciaries to your business and company vision.
We generally don't accept minority interests in businesses - but exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.
Some businesses that approach us are simply looking for sourcing options and introductions. If we decide to pass your business opportunity to trusted sources, we are essentially endorsing your idea, business plan, and organizational leadership. Your idea becomes an extension of us and what we believe in - upon which we place a high premium.
Our value to our customers isn't found only in our tool sets and knowledge base, but also in the trusted relationships we have spent years developing.
Recent Incubation Successes
While these are a few of our recent successes, M4 is also in the process of building a few additional companies and franchises that we'll announce shortly.
Framework Solutions
After a concentrated effort in the online and computer-based training market, M4 created Framework Solutions which serves as a full-service training company to organizations with typically 30,000 employees or more. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Framework Solutions provides coursework to the mining, law-enforcement, motivation & leadership, and health-care industries. Boasting a healthy international client base with industry leaders, Framework Solutions has translated its courseware into Spanish and Bahasa Indonesian - with several other languages in the works.
DSM
DSM is one of our more recent creations that focuses on social media. While DSM is still in its early stage of development and operates largely within the framework of M4 at the moment, we're proud to say we've been hired by several large companies and organizations to develop social media solutions to meet their unique business and audience needs. While DSM is a relative newborn, we're proud to say she's cute 
and cuddly and full of promise.
Family Impulse
We created Family Impulse as a means of concentrating on and capturing a strong presence in a niche market. Originally the genesis of M4, Family Impulse continues to create family and estate documentaries for high-net worth customers in addition to developing other technology-driven solutions. Their most recent product is the creation of a private family social network - which is nothing short of brilliant.
Additional Services
In addition to the incubation services outlined above, as a full-service creative boutique M4 also provides the following services:
- Market Analysis
- Product Development
- Marketing Assistance
- Presentation Development
- Advisory and Board Members
- Legal Compliance
- Intellectual Property Management
- Film
- Web
- eCommerce