The Entrepreneurial Mind

When I first got back into teaching at the University of St Thomas I met a young man named Dan, one of our students, who had mastered the art of balancing seasonal businesses. While still in college, he had set up two businesses that took advantage of Minnesota's two seasons -- winter and summer (spring and fall don't last long enough to really call them true seasons). Summer is short, but beautiful, and with its long summer days (remember it is really far north up there) people make the most of the outdoors. On the St. Croix River, the wealthy residents had beautiful boats and yachts that they would take out every weekend. Dan had a business providing cleaning, basic servicing, and general maintenance on these boats. The owners loved Dan's services because he took care of all of the hassles that go along with boat ownership. They could just show up and take off in their boats for a day of fun in the sun. Business was so successful that Dan had hired several part-time employees.

In the winter, which some years lasts about eight months, Dan took advantage of the inevitable snow and built a very successful commercial snow plowing business, using some of the same workers and working with some of the same people who owned the yachts he took care of in the summer.

There are countless examples of entrepreneurs who balance one seasonal business with another. For example, the summer camp owner who turns her facilities into a retreat center the rest of the year, or the home builder who becomes a home re-modeler in the winter months.

I heard a report on Wall Street Journal radio this morning about another example. It seems that many entrepreneurs with lawn service businesses are also getting into the professional Christmas decorating business. Those of you who live in America's suburbs have seen the proliferation of ever expanding outdoor Christmas lights and decorations displays. Many suburbanites want the decor, but do not have the time or inclination to climb up on the roof to install the annual extravaganza of lights. Thus is born a new industry: professional outdoor holiday decorators. There is even a franchise available for those who want help in setting up this type of business called Christmas Decor.

The best way to approach off-setting seasonal businesses is to set up a second business that takes advantage of the skills and/or resources you already have on hand. In some cases, you can even serve the same customer base with both businesses.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wrote a short post last week on a study that looks at entrepreneurship among women in the UK that reinforces the importance of culture in supporting an entrepreneurial economy. Arnold Kling has written a compelling essay that explores the role of entrepreneurship in American culture. He starts with a discussion of a thesis from Carl Schramm's new book, The Entrepreneurial Imperative (which I highly recommend):

Carl Schramm's thesis is that entrepreneurialism is as important to American culture as it is to our economic vibrancy. By the same token, in order to live in a congenial world, it is as important for the U.S. to export entrepreneurialism as it is to export democracy.

Compared to the United States, other developed countries, particularly in Continental Europe, put up more regulatory impediments to entrepreneurs, particularly the important subset of entrepreneurs that I will define below as change agents. In underdeveloped countries, regulatory impediments are compounded by crime and corruption, creating an environment even less conducive to entrepreneurship.

His concern is the socialized approach to entrepreneurship that so dominates much of Europe, and for that matter China. He concludes that we need to begin to look to new allies in the world such as India, Israel, and Singapore. His conclusion, with which I strongly agree, is that:

...if our goal is to have more countries that look like America, then having them adopt a democratic political system may not be necessary and will certainly not be sufficient. Instead, our primary focus should be on fostering an entrepreneurial economic system.

Read Arnold Kling's essay and Carl Schramm's book. This is a time of transition in the world economy, and we need to be vigilent if we hope to support free market, entrepreneurial economies around the globe.

(Thanks to our Entrepreneur in Residence, Dennis Disney, for passing this along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Don't count your chickens until they're hatched."

"There is many a slip between the cup and the lip."

The wisdom of these says came home to me last evening. My wife and I went to watch the Belmont men's basketball team play down the road at Middle Tennessee State University. After leading for most of the game, Belmont lost to MTSU as our team's offense went cold. When we got home our beloved Green Bay Packers were playing on Monday Night Football. They were up 21 - 12 in the third quarter. But then, Seattle scored a touchdown -- and then another. That victory that had already played out in our minds, was also taken away from us.

The lessons here should be taken to heart by any entrepreneur. I can remember so many times when I was active in business letting my mind run ahead of where we actually were. So many big contracts that I was sure we would secure, never came to pass. And countless business deals that were "sure things' didn't turn out the way we thought they would. And when we first began talking with folks about selling our business, how many times I began to imagine what I would do with all the money we assumed we would be getting, only to have the deal go bad.

As I've said many times before, entrepreneurship is so much like playing golf. You birdie the first hole and begin thinking you are going to play a great round, only to score a 8 on the next hole. Or you follow a 39 on the front nine with a 52 on the back. (Both of these examples come from my personal memories,,,), One great shot never seems to determine the match, but one bad one can.

"That's why we play 18 holes."

Just because you score a victory today against your competition does not mean that you will have continued success tomorrow. Keep yourself grounded. Talk about a deal does not guarantee a final contract. Encouraging words from a customer does not always mean a sale.

"Keep your mind in the present."

Why are there so many sayings that relate to this same message? Because for many of us, it is human nature to be optimistic. And although optimism is a good trait to have when you are an entrepreneur, that same optimism can lead you to "get ahead of yourself." Although these thoughts are impossible to avoid, we must be diligent to never act on them carelessly. I have seen too many business owners commit to expenses for a contract that never gets signed. Or they start spending money assuming their business is about to sell, only to have that final deal not come to pass.

Remember....

"It isn't over until the fat lady sings."

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Socialized entrepreneurship is high on the Democrat's agenda now that they have taken power, according to the latest edition of the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship. Socialized entrepreneurship is a public policy agenda that has increased government direction and control of the process of entrepreneurship and the actions of entrepreneurs in an economy.

In Congress, we'll likely see some interesting proposals, and new initiatives to support America's entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, House Democrats announced an Innovation Agenda that would double spending on R&D, expand broadband access, train more scientists and engineers, and provide more support for small businesses. While Senate Democrats have not produced a similar proposal of their own, Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid (D-NV) has supported similar proposals in the past. In fact, Reid is the chief sponsor, along with current Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), of the National Competitiveness Investment Act of 2006 (S. 3936). This bipartisan bill has a strong chance of being enacted this year, but, if it fails to pass, it should have strong momentum in 2007.

The most effective action in an entrepreneurial economy is, as the evidence clearly shows, no action. Governments have a dismal record of picking economic winners when compared to free markets. With more government programs, comes increases in regulatory requirements and a more complex tax system. Both of these have been shown to inhibit entrepreneurial activity in economies around the globe. And as the government uses the redistribution income and wealth to "help" entrepreneurs, they only encourage more political mischief. Just click here look at the myriad of definitions of small business to see what politicians doing favors can create.

Is this a change in direction for the US? Not really, but it may signal an acceleration of the expansive reach of government into more and more aspects of our entrepreneurial economy.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since we are about to enter a day of complete gluttony, followed by a day of consumerism gone mad, I thought it might be good to reflect again on the original intent behind the Thanksgiving holiday:

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

"Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789."

George Washington

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:17 AM | Permalink

In a study released by American Express last month, there was some interesting survey results related to technology that seemed to get overlooked (healthcare and taxes were the headline issues from this survey).

A majority of small business owners (51%) believe that "technology has transformed the way business is conducted" over the last 20 years, according to the OPEN from American Express Semi-annual Small Business
Monitor.

About 40% of small business owners plan on some form of technology investment over the next six months. What is interesting is that much of this investment is for what can be considered the standard workhorse technology for business (desktop computers, laptops, printers, phone systems, and software. This level of investment seems consistent with a growing optimism among small business owners.

Interestingly, a fairly small percentage (12%) were planning on buying the newer generations gadgets, such as PDAs and "smart phones." This is not surprising to me, as small business owners tend to lag in adopting new technology. Most seem to have a "show-me" mentality. Technology has to have a clear return on investment, as those are dollars that could be spent on creating more sales or simply put in the owners pockets as profits. (Thus, by stubborn resistance to the fax machine in the 1980s).

Only 13% of owners/managers read blogs relating to their business and less than one in ten maintain blogs for their business (7%). Again, unless they find clear value-added, they are slow to adopt.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I talk to colleagues who teach Entrepreneurship outside the US, or look at a text on Entrepreneurship written specifically for a foreign market, I am often struck by how differently they have to approach the topic. Much of their time is spent trying to create more entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is not endemic to their culture. They try to find ways to entice and cajole people into entrepreneurial endeavors.

A recently released study from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reinforces this observation. Unlike the US where we see a tremendous increase in young entrepreneurs including more and more young women, young women (18-24) in the UK are actually less likely to have entrepreneurial aspirations than other age groups. Given the trend toward a more entrepreneurially based world economy, this will prove to be a major barrier to future economic growth in cultures and societies that do not foster the entrepreneurial spirit.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Find it this week at Gongol.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:01 PM | Permalink

Small business owners need to start using the leverage they have with banks. And by leverage, I don't mean borrowing more money. Rather, small businesses have a growing market power that they need to use to their advantage when negotiating with their existing and with prospective new banks.

For the first time, JD Power has conducted a survey on small business banking satisfaction, which was measured across nine factors: relationship with primary contact; problem resolution; depository services; statements; fees; merchant services; cash management; credit services; and online services. PNC Bank, Wachovia, and SunTrust were the top three in their ranking. Interestingly, American Express, which has been advertising aggressively to small business, also ranked fairly well. The biggest banks tended to rate the lowest with small businesses. Impersonal service, high fees and frequent mergers and changes are the likely reasons.

Although they will not show up on all of these rankings, many communities are seeing growth in start-up niche banks that focus primarily on small business clients. These banks can offer a real alternative to the large regional and national banks for many business owners.

Small business is big business for banks these days, providing a growing source of revenues (for many banks more than their retail accounts). Small businesses need to use information to make better decisions on their banking relationships. They should no longer feel intimidated in their relationship with a bank, passively putting up with poor service and high fees. This new JD Power survey, the SBA's report on small business lending, and talking with other small business owners can provide insight into what you can and should expect from your bank.

If you are not satisfied with your bank, make sure to let them know. It also may be time to shop around. As we saw in the recent NFIB survey on small business banking, service and credit are the top reasons small businesses change banks. And while changing banks is not an easy process, your new bank can help make the process run smoothly with a little planning.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:17 AM | Permalink

I am in Arizona today with my colleague Becky Gann to make a presentation about our approach to experiential education in entrepreneurship. We will be highlighting our co-curricular programs. Our goal in these programs is to create an environment in which students can learn from successes and failures through hands-on experience with entrepreneurial businesses.

For those students who have their own businesses we offer our student business hatcheries. The three hatcheries on our campus offer student entrepreneurs access to basic business infrastructure (desks, computers, phones, faxes, copier, etc.) on a co-op basis and to a variety of educational opportunities tied directly to their personal entrepreneurial experiences. Faculty, entrepreneur mentors, our accounting faculty, and local attorneys provide support and advice for students participating in this program.

For those students who want experience, but do not yet have their own business, we have established five campus-based businesses that are "owned" by the university, but are fully student created and student run. This includes three retail businesses, a graphic design firm, and a PR firm. We plan to add one more campus-based business next year.

These programs were funded in part by a grant from the Coleman Foundation and several local foundations.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Milton Friedman died today at age 94. What a gift it was to have such a great thinker with us for so many years. I wrote a post recently on self-interest based on an interview he gave to Hillsdale College.

May God grant him eternal peace.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 01:10 PM | Permalink

My father passed along a news clip about a study called the Bank of America Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy that compares the giving patterns of entrepreneurs versus those who inherited their wealth. High net-worth is defined in this study as someone having at least $200,000 in income or $1,000,000 in net assets. The conclusion: high net-worth entrepreneurs give on average $232,206 compared with heirs and heiresses who give an average of $109,745. For those of you not ready for mental math this morning, that is over twice as much! The study is long on facts and statistics, and short on any analysis, so I'll take a stab at it.

Most entrepreneurs I know who have had financial success still pinch themselves once in a while to make sure their successes really happened to them. They often use words like "blessed", "lucky", and "fortunate" to describe their success. The days of sweating payroll are still fresh in their minds. They remember how many times they came within days of failure. They remember all of those sleepless nights.

Most entrepreneurs I know understand that they did not make their business a success in a vacuum. It took the hard work of employees who also took a risk by joining their fledgling business. It took investors who took a risk in their idea. It took bankers who believed in their cash flow and their character. And many see God's hand at work in their fortune, understanding that they are but stewards of what they have been given.

Most entrepreneurs I know viewed success, from the very beginning of their business, to mean much more than profit, a paycheck and "the big payday." Many talk about the ability to give back if they able to be successful. I do an exercise with aspiring entrepreneurs in which I ask them what they would do if they won the lottery tomorrow. For many, philanthropy is at the top of their list.

I will not even try to judge what is in the hearts of those who inherit their wealth. I will say for many of them, it is a fixed and limited sum. What they get from their inheritance is all they have. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, build their wealth from a process that they can repeat over and over again.

In this age when out economy is being transformed by entrepreneurs, what a wonderful opportunity to look more and more to them to take on the burdens of our society. What a wonderful opportunity to rethink our broken system of governmental redistribution of wealth that is doomed to entropy, rather than the boundless potential of entrepreneurial wealth created and freely shared.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

In case you don't follow college football, there is an amazing story building this season. Rutgers University, a team that for years and years was lucky to win a few games, is undefeated and knocking at the door of a national championship. OK, the odds of the championship are a long-shot at best, but from someone teaching at a small Division I school, this kind of story warms my heart.

It seems that Rutger's success is also warming the bank account of at least one small business owner in New Brunswick, New Jersey. From the Philedelphia Inquirer:

Yesterday afternoon, fans hungry for Scarlet Knights merchandise packed into Scarlet Fever, a popular shop on Somerset Street, where owner Steve Ostergren juggled two ringing phones. The store, teeming with jerseys and sweatshirts and flags, had bare patches where customers had grabbed up gear as fast as workers could unpack it.

"This is the busiest we've been in 18 years," Ostergren said. "It's unbelievable."

Ostergren, a Rutgers alumnus, was thrilled.

So is Ostergren trying to profiteer from the sudden surge in demand for all things that are red and have a big "R" on them? Not in the least. In fact, in an interview with Wall Street Journal Radio this morning he said that he had not only kept his prices in line, but had actually added large quantities of a couple of tee shirts for students that are priced at only $5.

He knows that it is these same customers who will keep him in business in the years to come -- even if the football team falls back into its losing ways. If he treats his customers fairly now, they will remember him later.

By the way -- don't even bother to try and buy anything from Ostergren's web site. His store is so busy that he has temporarily suspended sales via the web.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This week's edition can be viewed at Casey Software.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:18 AM | Permalink

Small business owners have improved expectations for economic growth and a need to add to inventories according to the latest National Federation of Independent Business Optimism Index. Five of the 10 components of the index improved, led by a nine-point hike among those who said they expect a better economy in the coming months.

Seasonally adjusted, small firms produced solid growth in October, with 14 percent increasing average employment by 3.1 workers per firm, while 9 percent trimmed workforces by an average 3.5 employees. Fifty-five percent hired, or tried to hire, one or more workers. Twenty-seven percent reported unfilled job openings, another sign of tight labor markets. More than eight in 10 could find few or no qualified applicants for unfilled positions.

The top business problem for 15 percent of those responding was the availability of qualified labor, up another point and the highest reading since 2001. Normally, tight labor markets could renew concerns over wage driven inflation in the months to come if continues. However, the net-percent of firms raising average selling prices fell four points to 16 percent, seasonally adjusted. Since April, the net-percent raising average selling prices has declined 10 points. So far, small businesses have had to absorb their labor challenges and not pass them along in higher prices.

"Price pressures are fading, and it's not just the construction sector that is bringing the pressures down," said NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg, "retail inflation is easing as well."

The net-percent reporting earnings improvements lost six points from September, falling to the average for the year, no surprise in view of weaker reports of sales gains and a decline in the frequency of price hikes. A net 23 percent increased worker compensation, down five points from September.

Inventories, sales forecasts, and capital spending all remain strong. One-fifth of the owners surveyed said they believe the current period is a good time to expand facilities, up seven points from August. A net 11 percent expect business conditions to improve over the next six months, a 19-point gain over August. Owners are confident that the economy will continue to perform well in 2007.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:53 AM | Permalink

Ben Cunningham passed along an interesting site, PE Hub, that focuses on private equity financing. It is intended to be for investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, attorneys and other professionals. It is an interesting site with a rich array of information.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:27 AM | Permalink

Since we got ourselves solidly back on the road to socialism on Tuesday, I thought it somehow appropriate to take a little peak at how entrepreneurship is doing in the People's Republic of China. From yesterday's ChinaDaily:

Successful entrepreneurs have surpassed pop stars as college students' idols, a recent Fudan University survey has found.

In the survey, which sampled 150 students from different grades and departments in September and October, 96 chose successful entrepreneurs as their idols, 91 added scientists and scholars to the list, while only some 75 opted for stars of stage and screen.

The results toppled the old perception that young college students are most impressed by the stars of shows such as Supergirl Competition.

Considering the extraordinary lengths many student fans go to to generate support for TV talent show stars, such as parading in the street with placards promoting their favourites, the results come as a surprise.

Maybe there is still hope......

(thanks to Ben Cunningham for passing this along)

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:47 AM | Permalink

Some of you may have noticed that I have been rather silent about the election this time around. Now that it is over I will explain why. It really does not seem to matter.

What are the public policy issues that matter most to small business owners and the entrepreneurial economy they are sustaining? If we look at the research on entrepreneurial development and the opinion polls of small business owners it all boils down to three things: regulation, taxes, and property rights.

In the twelve years of Republican control, we have seen little progress.

While they cut taxes, which does support new business development, they never really tackled the underlying problem of the tax code itself. With its 60,000 pages and over 600 forms it is a system that is beyond repair. It is also based on a system of taxation, the income tax, that encourages politicians and bureaucrats from both sides of the aisle to use it as a tool to shape narrow agendas and to curry favor to special interests.

There has been some progress on regulation with the fight to pass legislation at the federal and state level to create regulatory flexibility for small business. Sadly, there is little evidence so far to show that these efforts have had a significant impact on the economic cost of regulation on small business.

On the property rights front we had arguably the biggest single blow to small business owners: the Kelo decision from the Supreme Court that greatly expanded the government's power of eminent domain. While there was a strong initial backlash due to pubic outrage, the public has moved on to more pressing issues such as Sara Evans' sudden departure from Dancing with the Stars. We are already seeing the quiet back-tracking on many of the initial efforts that had been made to stem the impact of this ruling. While the party in power was not responsible for the Kelo decision, they did not do enough to counteract its potentially devastating consequences for small business owners and home owners across the county.

Neither party seems to understand where we are in our economic history. We are now in a period of economic transformation: unlike any we have seen in over a century. As Carl Schramm of the Kauffman Foundation writes in his new book, The Entrepreneurial Imperative (which, ironically, I was reading while standing in line to vote last evening):

For the United States to survive and continue its economic and political leadership in the world, we must see entrepreneurship as our central competitive advantage. Nothing else can give us the necessary leverage to remain an economic superpower. Nothing else will allow us to continue to enjoy our standard of living. We either support and nurture increasingly entrepreneurial activities in all aspects of our society and around the globe, or run the very real risk that we will become progressively irrelevant on the world stage and suffer economically at home.

We must keep our attention on the issues that matter for entrepreneurs, as argued by Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, in his comments after the results were in last evening:

While the composition of the Congress has changed, the obstacles that threaten small-business owners, employees and their families have not. Small businesses still face the lack of affordable health care, the threat of frivolous lawsuits, the burdens of over-regulation and a complex tax code. These issues don't have partisan labels, and NFIB looks forward to continuing the fight on behalf of its members on Capitol Hill.

Neither party seems to be willing to embrace the new economy -- the entrepreneurial economy. This puts our economic future in real danger.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

There is good news and bad news about this week's unemployment report.

The good news: Unemployment is down.

October's unemployment rate of 4.4% is the lowest in five years. 92,000 new payroll jobs were created. This is actually an under-count, as self-employed and new entrepreneurs are not counted in these figures. They are now 50% of the economy.

The bad news: Unemployment is down.

There are two concerns with this report. One is that the inflation worry is still out there, and tight labor markets could cause a sustained and difficult to manage pressure on prices. The second concern is that small businesses, which employ half of America's workforce, are having a difficult time hiring.

The National Federation of Independent Business' Chief Economist William Dunkelberg responded to the unemployment report with this statement:

An historically high 63.3 percent of the adult population has a job (higher only in the dot.com-Y2K years) and the unemployment rate is 4.4 percent in October. This does not sound like a labor market with deficient labor demand, but it's showing clear signs of a mismatch between supply and demand, with clear shortages of qualified workers.

Job creation plans were also exceptionally strong, even though owners see the economy slowing down. Apparently there is a real hiring deficit in the small-business sector. Even with lower expected sales growth, more workers are desired, if they are qualified.

Labor markets continue to tighten. More and more small-business owners have been paying higher compensation, and the labor force participation rate indicates that labor supply has responded, though not sufficiently to keep the unemployment rate from falling.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are initiatives on the ballot in twelve states to strengthen property rights, including eight states with specific proposals to limit the governments' eminent domain powers (Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon and South Carolina). Although many of us are frustrated by the candidates we have to choose from these days, I hope voters in the states where property rights are on the ballot get out and vote on this critical issue.

Here in Tennessee the issue of eminent domain is not on the ballot, but it is an issue that may become rather contentious as the city of Nashville moves to redevelop the land along the Cumberland River near downtown.
The Nashville Business Journal ran an article last week in which they examine the possibility of large tracks of land being taken away through the powers of eminent domain in the name of redevelopment.

As I told the reporter in this story, I hope that this will not be the case. Seizing land for developers to use to build condominiums is not the proper use of eminent domain. Let the developers use the free market to purchase the land that they need for their projects.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 08:00 AM | Permalink

This week's edition can be seen at Gill Blog.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:40 AM | Permalink

Do you wish you were the guys who came up with the idea for the Crocs shoe phenomenon? They weren't the only ones to hit big with the ugly, but comfy footwear. Sheri Schmelzer, a stay at home mom from Colorado, had an idea to decorate her kid's Crocs using the holes to her advantage. Soon her creative idea became a business.

From Fortune Small Business:

There are 26 million pairs of Crocs in the world, more than 80 percent of them speckled by holes, and many of those shoes are on the feet of accessory-friendly youth. Jibbitz, as the charms (and the company) came to be known, can be anything -- peace signs, flowers, you name it -- to please a demographic eager for variety.

Within weeks, the Schmelzers set up a website for sales. By the end of the summer, they were funded by home equity, with their parents working the assembly line in the basement.

A little over a year later they sold their business to Crocs for $10 million and an additional $10 million earn-out if they hit their earnings targets as a subsidiary of Crocs.

Why didn't I think of that!!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The USASBE (United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Annual Conference has become one of the premiere events for educators to gather around the topic of entrepreneurship. Any of you who teach and do research in any topic related to entrepreneurship, small business, and innovation should consider attending this event. I attended back in the 1980s when it was first getting started. When I got back into teaching in the late 1990s USASBE was the first group that I made sure to link back up with as I re-entered the academy.

It attracts attendees from schools of all sizes, with missions ranging from teaching colleges to research universities. The conference will be in Orlando, Florida from January 11-14, 2007.

I hope to see some of you at USASBE this year!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

To label the current financing market for high growth firms dynamic might be an understatement. VCs and angel investors seem to be constantly shifting their criteria for investments. Sarbanes-Oxley has forever changed the IPOs as a strategy. As a result, many entrepreneurs with high potential ventures are getting creative in finding alternative sources of funds.

eVenturing has put together an excellent collection of materials on the latest trends in alternative financing:

Entrepreneurs go public on NASDAQ and other exchanges to raise money and provide investor liquidity. A variety of restraints, including Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and NASDAQ's desire to serve large companies, have greatly reduced IPO's on NASDAQ. But some enterprising entrepreneurs are pursuing alternatives for raising money using reverse mergers, direct public offerings, and by going public on foreign exchanges. These options, as summarized in the Going Public Comparison Chart in this Collection, facilitate raising money but do little to provide liquidity to investors.

This collection of articles includes how to's, entrepreneur's stories, and tools/templates on this emerging area of entrepreneurial financing.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fortune Small Business released rankings from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council). SBE Council advocates reduced government taxes and regulations on small business. The rankings are derived from the SBE Council's Small Business Survival Index.

This year's list from the SBE Council measures states on 29 criteria, including tax rates on income, property and capital gains; health-care regulations; crime rates; government spending; bureaucracy; and labor costs.

The top 10:

1-South Dakota
2-Nevada
3-Wyoming
4-Alabama
5-Washington
6-Florida
7-Mississippi
8-Colorado
9-Texas
10-Michigan

The bottom 10 includes the usual suspects:

51- Washington, D.C. (does anybody else share my concern on this one??)
50-New Jersey
49-California
48-Rhode Island
47-Maine
46-Minnesota
45-New York
44-Hawaii
43-Massachusetts
42-Vermont
41-Iowa

For my local readers, Tennessee came in 13th.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)