The Entrepreneurial Mind

Having grown up in Wisconsin, one of the things I miss is Friday night fish fries (although my waistline does not miss the fried part).

One of my former students from the University of St. Thomas, Jesse Ness, has an Internet business that sells freshwater fish such as walleye (my personal favorite), perch, blue gill, etc.

Now we former northerners can satisfy our hunger for these freshwater delicacies without having to brave the long cold winters and summer mosquitoes the size of small sparrows.

Walleye Direct is the name of his website. You can get freshwater fish "shipped overnight to your doorstep" and cook it up with one of the many recipes available at the website.

This is a great example of a business that leverages the Internet to create a "virtual" niche in the market.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:35 AM | Permalink

We teach our students about the art of the pitch. Most entrepreneurs will have only moments to grab the attention of an investor or a customer, so they need to learn how to explain what they do and how it creates value in a very short few moments.

TechCrunch has an on-line site for elevator pitches. Visitors can vote "up" or "down" on the product ideas and offer their comments.

If a pitch is in your future go to this site and watch some of the pitches. It helps to see which pitches work and why. It really helps you to see what makes a pitch effective. I found my mind wandering during several of the pitches at the site within the first thirty seconds. Others grabbed my attention and explained the concept and the revenue model in a clear and engaging way.

Develop a clear and concise pitch. Then practice it over and over. Video your pitch to see how well you actually come across. Pitch to your friends. Pitch to strangers. Pitch to anyone who will listen. Watch their reactions. Listen to their concerns. Pay attention to subtle clues they offer into what is working in your pitch through their expressions and body language.

You need to develop a thick skin as an entrepreneur. You will face a lot of rejection. Get used to it. Rejection and criticism are powerful teachers if we pay attention to their lessons.

Even if you don't pitch for money, you will pitch to gain customers, attract employees, talk your spouse into your crazy idea, etc., etc. Learn how to pitch!

(Thanks to Andy Tabar for passing this along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:13 AM | Permalink

The idea I picked to give advice to for ideablob.com Week at the Entrepreneurial Mind is one that offers an innovative product tied to wellness.

Individuals begin fitness programs each year, but set unrealistic goals or improperly structure their fitness programs and eventually lose interest. I'm developing a portable touch-screen device equipped with a heart rate monitor, acting as a personal trainer. The device uploads workouts from our website, where based off an individual’s fitness goals, they can build their own workout or use one of ours. The device displays progress charts, advice for future workouts, and can incorporate daily nutrition information. The website also functions as a social networking website centered around device results for exercise gurus, athletes, and anyone who enjoys living a healthy lifestyle.

While I think this is a cool idea, the entrepreneurs need to keep their eye on the big picture -- that is the future of healthcare policy in the US -- and not just their customers and competitors.

My advice:

Wellness might well become the "next big thing" in healthcare. The reason I say "might" is due to the uncertainty of the elective and what healthcare plan ends up being passed in the next president's term.

This is a great example of a good idea that may blossom or fade due to macro trends outside of the entrepreneur's control.

If healthcare stays a primarily private sector industry, products like yours has a bright future. Health plans will be trying to implement more programs and initiatives to help their population of covered lives get healthier. As a society we have become too sedentary and are eating too many calories. It is taking its toll on health care costs. Insurance plans are trying to find ways to incentivize people to get healthier and use fewer resources for healthcare. Your product would be a great tool for this.

If healthcare goes with a more public payment model in the next few years, we will likely have all attention focused on lobbying to keep coverage for certain illnesses. We will also see resources going to create healthcare entities that will be able to maximize their market share of federalized healthcare dollars (think economic rent seeking). Not as much money will be going to wellness.

When I was and entrepreneur in the healthcare industry we paid attention to the macro changes in the 1980s and 1990s. We saw a shift from insurance to managed care and positioned our business accordingly. We saw Medicaid being pushed down from the federal level to individual states -- again we shaped our strategy to meet this macro trend. We still paid attention to our customers and competition, but those really involved more short-term tactical decisions. Our strategy was shaped by the direction of those broader trends.

Don't just look at your competitive environment -- keep your eye on the macro trends that may shape your future. See which way the election takes our country as it will have a huge impact on healthcare and on the wellness sector you are operating in with your new product.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:06 AM | Permalink

As a professor, I could not let this idea at ideablob.com go by without offering some advice:

People would become members of the site, and sell the copy write of a term paper they have written. Not as to be copied as plagiarism but as a foundation for their own paper. The seller would provide a brief description of their paper including length, synopsis and assignment. Students would build a reputation depending on how good of an idea they had, as according to the purchasing student.

What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?

To establish the website, and promote it. I would make sure everyone knows it wouldn't be just a way for student to cheat out on writing a paper. Sometimes the hardest part of writing a paper is getting the ball rolling, by buying someones paper and using it as a foundation it would get the ball rolling and help students write more complete essays.

My advice:

As a college professor -- and one who has written on business ethics from time to time -- I could not let this opportunity pass me by.

One of the entrepreneurial virtues that my co-author Prof. Michael Naughton from the U of St. Thomas and I write about in our soon to be released book is prudence. To be a prudent entrepreneur one pursues good ends while being careful stewards of the limited resources that are available for the venture.

The entrepreneur who pursues morally good ends, but does not employ effective and efficient means given the resources they have is "well intentioned."

The entrepreneur who pursues "bad" ends, and does not employ effective and efficient means is "incompetent."

The entrepreneur who pursues "bad" ends, but is effective and efficient is "cunning."

Finally, the entrepreneur who pursues good ends with effective and efficient means is "prudent." That is the desirable state for those who strive to be morally good entrepreneurs.

Let's look at this idea using this framework.

It sounds like the people behind the idea have thought through many of the logistics. They are on their way to effective and efficient means.

However, I worry about the ends. While they do not encourage cheating or plagiarism, they sure will facilitate it. Rather than selling papers, could they not find a business model that creates a writing tool that helps students to "get the ball rolling" on writing without giving them an actual term paper?

If their ends are really to help students become better at writing papers, perhaps they should go back to the drawing board to find a new method that does not tempt their customers to be unethical and break all academic codes known to man.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tune Your World = Music + Microfinance is the next idea I am offering advice as part of ideablob.com Week at the Entrepreneurial Mind. This one caught my attention as it addresses an issue that I hear about every day here in Nashville -- the radical changes happening in the music industry.

Here is their idea:

Every artist has the same problem of obtaining capital for their next recording. Tune Your World provides the solution of applying the principles of micro-financing to the music industry. Our groundbreaking approach is the creation of peer-to-peer micro-financing of new music projects - enabling fans to deliver start-up capital to aspiring musicians from developing countries around the world. Tune Your World operates on a people-to-people model. Musicians obtain funding for new recordings directly from their fans without giving up ownership or control. Our mission is to revitalize the music industry in places where the music industry has never worked very well. www.tuneyourworld.com

My advice:

I like this idea. It addresses a real need for struggling musicians in the digital age -- seed funding for recording.

The biggest challenge is going to be getting the musicians to repay their micro-investors. One of the things that makes the micro finance program Kiva.org so compelling is the high rate of repayment of the micro loans -- I believe it is about 97%. If you cannot achieve that kind of repayment, you are not likely to have repeat "investors." Without people coming back time and time again to reinvest in artists your Tune Your World will not be as likely to become a sustainable program. You need to help the musicians develop business models that will enable them to repay their micro investments.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In my third installment for ideablob.com Week at the Entrepreneurial Mind I chose to offer advice to the idea titled Helping Teachers PayOff Student Loans. Here is their idea:

I am currently working on starting a non-for-profit to help third-year teachers pay off student loans. Do you know that most teacher's loans are three times what they will make in one year as a first-year teacher? Do you know that teacher's annual increases do not even cover cost-of-living expenses? Do you know that most new teachers have to work a part-time job at night or on the weekends (and during the summer when they should be able to refresh and plan for the next year's class) just to make ends meet? That means many of them can't make the full commitment to the kids which is the reason they opted to get certified to and take a lower paying job to begin with.

Here is my advice:

You need to find start-up money from a foundation that supports education. Do some searches to see which foundations give money in that space. Foundations always have detailed information of specifically what they will and won't give to, and often include a list of previous grants that they have awarded. You can find all of this on their websites. I would suggest you use the $10,000 as seed money to develop a strong grant proposal that meets their criteria. Hire a grant writing specialist as a consultant to help attract the big money you will need for this program.

Also, think about setting up an endowment with the gifts you receive. Donors like a gift that keeps on giving. By setting up the donations in an endowment you only use the earnings from the gifts each year to pay out to teachers.

I would make a giving the awards to teachers a competitive process. Develop criteria, such as community service or their engagement with students beyond the classroom, as how you evaluate each teacher's application.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:45 AM | Permalink

The second idea that I am commenting on from ideablob.com is College Connection Website - One stop location for all college students to find entertainment, events, and employment in their region:

The proposed website would effectively connect college students in a particular region, in this first case the greater Harrisburg metro area, alerting them to the best entertainment, events, discounts, internships, job openings, things to do, and places to see in the region. Part of the initiative also includes a student comprised team in charge of facilitating monthly events that will allow students from all participating schools to interact, network, and get connected to the Harrisburg area. The initiative is specifically targeting the brain drain in the region, facilitating student engagement and personal connection to the area so that they'll be more inclined to stay after graduation.

My advice:

My question to you is this a simple one. Where is the revenue stream?

An opportunity needs not only a market need, which you have addressed, but the ability to generate cash flow to support the costs and earn a profit (or if it is a social venture, build a reserve fund).

I am not saying that there is no possible revenue stream. I just don't see that you have thought about that part of the idea.

The registration fees and money from student government suggested by the previous comment is possible, but I doubt that this would amount to much. Who would pay to support this site? Advertisers? Maybe, but they to see the likelihood of volume and the right people coming to the site.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 11:19 AM | Permalink

You might have thought this was Small Business Week -- however, it is really ideablob.com Week here at the Entrepreneurial Mind. They have asked me to be the guest advisor for the week. I will be posting some of the ideas from ideablob.com along with my advice.

Here is my first installment.

The idea:

My fiancee and I were in a national student organization event in Atlanta when we joined the Entrepreneurial Challenge. We came up with The Hummus House. Our slogan was 'Hummus where the heart is'. Essentially it would be a restaurant that produced and sold a large variety of hummus flavor, bread/pita, chips, and for non-hummus enthusiasts we could sell salsa, chips, sandwiches, and salads. We would also provide a list of wines or drinks that would compliment the flavors of the hummus. The restaurant would have graffiti on the walls, local artists paintings mounted on the walls, warm lighting and a welcoming atmosphere with local bands/musicians performing.

My Advice:

There is a reason that bankers run screaming from restaurants -- they have high failure rates.

That being said, it always amazes me how well certain niche restaurants can do in the market. Before launching this concept, make sure that the market is big enough and passionate enough to support this very specific niche.

You need to find a location that has enough people passionate enough about hummus -- sorry that ain't me -- so that you can sustain enough traffic to make this concept work.

Know that any niche restaurant may end up being a fad. Keep your debt low and your lease short-term so if the passion for hummus passes, you can ease out of the business with little residual financial burden.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Entrepreneur.com predicts ten businesses that will go the way of buggy whip manufacturers:

- Record stores: My students would agree, They have already transitioned our campus-based business that was a record store into a "dorm store"

- Camera film manufacturing: there goes my Instamatic

- Crop dusters

- Gay bars

- Newspapers:Can blogs be next??

- Pay phones: When was the last time you actually saw one?

- Used bookstores: Does that mean that students will also stop reselling my textbooks?

- Piggy banks

- Telemarketing: Yeah, right....

- Coin-operated arcades

Can you think of any you want to add?

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Well I found her in a pawnshop
somewhere up in Ohio
where I guess some rounder came up short
and he had to let her go
It cost me ninety dollars
but it's worth much more by far
cause I never had a better friend
than that old beat up guitar
Jerry Jeff Walker

This old Jerry Jeff Walker song has always had a soft spot in my heart as it reminds me of my guitar. I have a 1961 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar. Although I did not find her in a pawn shop, I did buy her used in the early 1970s from a used musical instrument store. (And it was not actually in Ohio, but Fond du Lac, Wisconsin). But, I digress...

It looks like this:

It is the only guitar I have ever owned. I have never wanted to replace her in large part because her sound has gotten richer and richer over the years. The older it gets, the better it sounds. A new product has been developed by a couple of entrepreneurs out of Florida that might change my thinking. I first heard about it when a colleague of mine attended a business plan competition in California with one of our students. The company is called ToneRite, and it rapidly speeds up the "aging" process of musical instruments to create an old sound out of relatively new instruments. Cool idea!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My son sent me a link to a golfing blog site that talks about new bio-degradable golf balls for use on cruises:

The original balls were made of rawhide, but the material's hardness was caving in people's expensive drivers. Now, the balls are made mostly of polyvinyl alcohol, or PVA (think Elmer's Glue), which has some elasticity. [Company founder Todd] Baker says the balls are pretty lifelike when hit with wedges and other lofted irons, but admits they only travel a little more than half the distance of a person's typical driver shot. Hey, you can't have everything.

More importantly, when submerged in water, the balls break down in three to five days into non-toxic elements, carbon dioxide and water.

The company is Eco Golf Balls, located in Indianapolis.

The company website has a page dedicated to their golf balls being used in the Antarctic.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:14 AM | Permalink

Yet another Belmont student has put his idea in the mix for ideablob. This month's entrant is Lee Turley and his new business called TheSilverStreets.com:

TheSilverStreets.com is a social networking site that is aimed at providing a central, national location for automotive enthusiasts to host a personal page, meet other enthusiasts, and network at no cost. It aims to solve the huge communication and organizational barriers in the automotive community. All the while using its position to make changes in communities through local involvement and high ethical standards. It's more than a website!

Please go to ideablob.com and vote for Lee!!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 01:40 PM | Permalink

The cover article for Entrepreneur magazine this month looks at the "people, trends and events that matter most for your business." They call them "the influencers."

In the hustle and bustle of starting a growing a business we can lose sight of the big picture. The trends and changes that created the opportunity for the business in the first place can just as quickly take away our economic advantage.

While I am not sure I agree with all of their choices for the top 25, it is worth a read and some careful reflection. Opportunities in the dynamic world in which we live can be quite fleeting.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 12:49 PM | Permalink

Three of the eight finalists in this month's ideablob competition for the best idea are Belmont students offering up social ventures. The winner will receive $10,000 from Avanta to help develop their venture.

Here are Belmont's three finalists (in alphabetical order of the student's name):

Noah Curran's Turning Actions into Good (winner of "Sprint 1") is a web-based non-profit charity which revolves around the kindness of strangers. The concept allows anyone to participate in a charity, regardless of financial status. Here is how the process works: Become a free member. Print off pre-made TAG-cards. Commit an act of kindness. Give the person a TAG-card which asks the stranger to do another act of kindness and go to the website to report about the deed that was done to them. After submitted, viewers can vote for the most touching act of the month. The leading vote getter would receive a cash prize.

Janice Dotti (winner of "Sprint 1") wants to create a completely fair trade, completely organic coffeehouse that sponsors social justice causes while taking care with the environment. In addition to serving fair trade coffee, she will also only use fair trade sugar, tea, and cocoa as we educate our consumers on how their buying habits affect the working poor in developing countries. Every month, this coffeehouse would sponsor a social justice cause--promoting awareness to customers about worldwide issues of injustice. This coffeehouse will also have free wifi, live music, local art--all with a community emphasis.

Finally, Megan Lopez (winner of "Sprint 3") presents an idea to create an informational website about how to raise your child naturally. From recipes to exercise programs to do with your children. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in our country today. We need to instill habits in our children starting at birth, so they can maintain and carry them through for the rest of their lives. Organic Baby will be a tool for parents to use as a community blog, buy organic clothing and bedding merchandise, research the benefits of healthy organic foods, etc. She would later like to own her own baby organic clothing line.

Please go to ideablob and vote for our three finalists in this month's best idea contest! You can vote for more than one idea, but you can only vote for each idea one time.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:09 AM | Permalink

Bill Hobbs sent along a great story that illustrates one of the most important lessons an aspiring entrepreneur can learn. It is the importance of finding a business that satisfies both the entrepreneur's needs with a true market need that is backed up by hard data.

From Latina Lista:

Carrie Ferguson Weir spent all of her professional life asking the hard questions. As a daily newspaper journalist, this Cuban-American Latina was accustomed to asking the kinds of questions that force honest responses.

However, it wasn't until she had her own daughter and found herself wrestling with the age-old "working mother dilemma" of either returning to work after maternity leave or being a stay-at-home mom that Carrie found herself on the receiving end of her own interrogation.

What could she do that would give her the freedom to be a stay-at-home mom and a successful businesswoman?

..."The idea came as a lightening bolt out of nowhere," Carrie said. "I believe in those messages. The research that followed backed up the hunch."

What Carrie had noticed was a gap in the baby t-shirt business when it came to exhibiting proud Latino roots.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:36 AM | Permalink

Megan Lopez is the latest Belmont Social Entrepreneur to throw her hat in the ideablob ring.

An informational website about how to raise your child naturally. From recipes to exercise programs to do with your children. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in our country today. We need to instill habits in our children starting at birth, so they can maintain and carry them through for the rest of their lives. Organic Baby will be a tool for parents to use as a community blog, buy organic clothing and bedding merchandise, research the benefits of healthy organic foods, etc. I would later like to own my own baby organic clothing line.

Please go to ideablob and vote for Megan's idea! Even if you voted earlier this month this is a new heat and you can vote again! We hope to have three social entrepreneurs from Belmont in the finals this month!!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 10:29 AM | Permalink

Everyday Edisons, a PBS reality series chronicling modern inventors and the development of their inventions, announces its 2008 casting call schedule to be held in major cities throughout the nation in search of Season Three participants. The show considers all categories of invention, ranging from sketched ideas and simple concepts to detailed, patented designs and factory prototypes.

The Everyday Edisons panel of judges, including product development and patent law experts, will provide a forum for participants to present and demonstrate original ideas. The judges will select 10 to 12 inventors to be featured in the third season of Everyday Edisons, which chronicles the inventors as their concept is refined, produced, marketed and sold.

The remaining Everyday Edisons 2008 casting call schedule includes:
- SAN JOSE – February 16
- DALLAS – March 15
- CHICAGO – April 19
- NORTHEAST LOCATION TBA – May 17

Participants with factory prototypes or finished products will be reviewed by the judging panel, as well as representatives from major retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, QVC, PetSmart, Staples, The Sharper Image and buybuyBABY. Previous inventions featured on Everyday Edisons range from a convertible baby bag and kitchenware product to a family board game and construction tool.

Interested? Go to their web site here for more details.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 10:05 AM | Permalink

ideablob.com has narrowed the January contestants down to the final eight. If you have not heard of it before, think of ideablob.com as American Idol for entrepreneurs via the Internet. People post their ideas on the ideablob.com web site, and visitors vote for their favorite idea. The winner each month with the most votes gets $10,000 for their business.

As some of you know, one of our students here at Belmont, Andy Tabar, is a finalist this month. Andy is a junior, majoring in Entrepreneurship. He has been working on his web development company from his first day here at Belmont. Here is a link to his business web page.

There is now a new round of voting for the finals. Even iff you voted before, you cn now vote again in the finals. If you did not, please take a few minutes to go to their site, register, and VOTE FOR ANDY!!!! It is quick and easy.

Here is where you go to register and vote. If you have voted before, use your same user name and password. Andy’s business idea is titled “Expand my global tech company”.

If Andy wins the final round of voting, he will get $10,000 to help him grow his business!!

PLEASE help out Andy on this. Pass this along to friends and family. The more votes we can get, the better his chances to win. Every vote counts!!

Thanks!!!!!!!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 04:28 PM | Permalink

Each year Entrepreneur magazine lists its top 500 Franchises. Click here to see their listing for 2008.

Before you decide to get serious about starting a franchise, take a look at a post I wrote in 2004 about the pros and cons of buying a franchise.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:26 AM | Permalink

A social enterprise is the latest monthly $10,000 Ideablob winner.

Marci Bossow Schankweiler of North Wales, PA is President and founder of Crossing the Finish Line (CFL), a Blue Bell, PA-based non-profit organization that provides excursions for young adult cancer patients and their families. Schankweiler founded CFL after her first husband passed away from cancer at the age of 30. She plans to use the prize money to help fund a home for cancer patients near Orlando, FL.

Ideablob.com is an on-line community where small business owners and entrepreneurs are sharing business ideas in exchange for feedback, advice and votes from the community. The monthly prizes are sponsored by Advanta, one of the nation’s largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market.

"We are thrilled that the ideablob community picked a non-profit as this month’s winner," said Ami Kassar, Advanta's Chief Innovation Officer. "There are more than 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States, most of which are small and face the same daily struggles for survival as millions of small businesses."

"We've been talking about securing a home near Orlando for a while and when I heard about ideablob.com I thought I'd put the idea out there," explains Schankweiler. "There's such a demand to provide young patients a respite from the traumas associated with cancer. Thanks to the support of the ideablob community, we now have the money to provide additional assistance."

Go to ideablob.com to put your idea into the mix and to vote on this month's ideas.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:45 AM | Permalink

Whenever I talk with journalists about my blogging I feel uncomfortable. I do not at all consider what I do as being "journalism" as I have known it all of my life. But, many of them tell me that by blogging for as long and consistently as I have been I have become part of an entrepreneurial movement that is transforming the industry of journalism.

I have written about this type of phenomenon before as it relates to the music industry and retailing. I also experienced it being an entrepreneur in the health care industry during the early days of its transformation in the 1980s and 1990s. Entrepreneurial activity in an established industry that is dominated by giant corporations is often referred to as being like "little mammals dancing under the feet of dinosaurs."

Saulo Hansell at the New York Times blog (imagine that -- the New York Times now has a blog!!) reflects on the entrepreneurial undercurrents in journalism today at this post.

Every now and then, I meet someone idealistic and perhaps foolish enough to want to embark on a career in journalism. Until recently, my advice was largely the same as anyone had given for many decades: Find a gig where you can write -- a small town paper, freelancing for an alternative weekly, a business trade publication (my route). If you're good, the story went, you would find you way to bigger publications and forge a career.

Today, it's hard to give that advice, when the economic underpinnings of all those places you were supposed to be trying to work for are so shaky. Is there any good advice other than to learn how to trade mortgage-backed securities? I'm not sure that that opening an account on Blogger and hoping for the best will pay the rent.

Maybe not, but I don't think that taking an entry level job at a newspaper owned by a national holding company has a much brighter future....

(Thanks to Ben Cunningham for passing this idea along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

There are eight ideas vying for this month's $10K prize at ideablob. Today is the last day to vote!

Kemper Barkhurst, Albuquerque, NM
Kemper is a 26-year-old multimedia designer and developer. His idea, Urban Harvesting, is to collect and distribute local foods to local markets, thereby eliminating wasted fruit that local homeowners cannot collect, store or distribute.

Nicole Brooks, Riverview, FL
21-year-old, Nicole is a single mom and student. Her idea is PeekYourBoo.com, a secure system that allows parents to log in and watch their children while they are at daycare.

Susan di Rende, Los Angeles, CA
Susan is an independent filmmaker. Her idea is to expand and grow the Broad Humor Film Festival, which celebrates comedies written and directed by women.

Sherrie Gossett, Fairfax Station, VA
Sherrie is the managing editor of a new politics and culture magazine. Her idea is to develop news webcasts that allow the audience to become active participants.

Collin LaHay, St. Louis Park, MN
Collin is an 18-year-old student, internet marketer and entrepreneur. His idea is to develop rssHugger.com, which helps bloggers promote their blogs and helps visitors discover new blogs about subjects they are interested in.

Geoffrey Ravenhill, Islesford, ME and Palos Verdes, CA
Geoffrey is a 30-year-old marine biologist and co-founder of a non-profit organization for kids. His idea is to develop an online community where people can post their dreams, develop a game plan for accomplishing them, and receive feedback from other dreamers.

Marci Schankweiler, North Wales, PA
Marci, 39, is the founder of a non-profit organization that provides excursions for young adult cancer patients. Her idea is to purchase a home near Orlando, FL that can be used by cancer patients and bring joy to families in turmoil.

Vaughan Woodruff, Bozeman, MT
Vaughan is a 32-year-old educator. His idea is to develop PLACE, a non-profit organization that will assist American Indians in gaining power over their lands.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 08:51 AM | Permalink

Entrepreneurs often miss market disruptions once they're in business, and today, disruptions are everywhere. "There is no safe industry," says Jeff Cornwall, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University. "We can't assume we're going to find a safe little niche to operate in."

This is from an article that Chris Penttila wrote for this month's Entrepreneur magazine about industry disruption.

Change creates most of the opportunities that drive the 50% of our economy in the hands of entrepreneurs. And that process of change doesn't stop once we open the doors to our new business. Change and industry disruption are a given in almost every corner of our economy. We live in an age that Peter Vaill once described as "permanent white water."

While change and disruption are the fuels that drive entrepreneurial opportunity, they can also sew the seeds of failure for entrepreneurs who do not recognize that they have to keep moving.

Entrepreneurs should think of themselves as sharks -- if they stop swimming forward, they will drown.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:27 AM | Permalink

I came across a site that if you have not visited, you need to. It is called Ideablob. One recent visitor called it a place for idea junkies. Each month people submit their ideas for new businesses. Visitors to the site then get to vote on the best idea for that month. Think of it as Survivor meets the elevator pitch. Each monthly winner gets a $10,000 check to help with their business idea.

The site is funded and sponsored by Avanta. They are being very low key about their connection, however. Marketing of the site has been solely through viral means to this point, such as Facebook, blogs, etc.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 02:01 PM | Permalink

There are millions of Americans running businesses from home. A recent SBA report estimated that 52% of all registered American businesses are home-based. Are you ready to end your commute and work from home? Need an idea or some inspiration on what kind of home-based business you might be able to start? StartupNation has posted their Home-based 100 ranking, which shows the creativity and innovation that is going on in kitchens, garages, basements, and bedrooms all across the US.

The list is broken into several categories, including the best financial performers, the most innovative, the yummiest, and "boomers back in business." One of my favorites is from the Wackiest category. OK, maybe it is because it is from right here in Nashville and it involves dogs, but it is certainly fun and creative. The business is called Nashville Lappy Hour:

The venue, more often than not, is a local Nashville watering hole. Clough provides a way for dog lovers to meet other dog lovers in an environment that’s more fun than a dog park or a training class. The variety of sizes and breeds that attend provide plenty of entertainment, along with plenty of comedy, kisses and drool. Call it Barktoberfest.

Thanks to fellow Nashville blogger Ben Cunningham for passing this one along!

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Want to find your next opportunity? Look to the future and spot the next big change. After all, change creates disruptions and gaps in markets, and it is these gaps and disruptions that create some of the best opportunity. After that it is all a matter of timing and execution.

I love the fact that my father and his partners (octogenarians all) still keep their eyes off into the horizon. Dad sent along a copy of Futurists "Top 10 Forecasts for 2008 and Beyond." (You can order their full report as a pdf download here).

Here is a summary of their top ten:

1. The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025.

2. Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry.

3. The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States.

4. Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society.

5. The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event.

6. Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century.

7. World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people.

8. The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080.

9. Rising prices for natural resources could lead to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic.

10. More decisions will be made by nonhuman entities.

More wealth, more people, less water to drink, no cash, and a scarier world. All of these will be creating opportunities for traditional entrepreneurs. But, they will also call upon a greater role of social entrepreneurs as governments are increasingly showing their inability and even incompetence in dealing with many of our problems.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 08:05 AM | Permalink

For years the music industry made its money primarily through the creation of a physical product -- first the record and then the CD. But with the evolution of the digital age, the physical nature of music is fast becoming obsolete. Just at vinyl records hold nostalgic value, soon CDs will be a novel relic of a bygone era.

So is this the death of the music industry? Of course not. Music has been written, performed, and enjoyed for centuries. Music is part of culture. In many ways music as a business is thriving more than ever before. It is a period of fundamental change for this industry.

Those who have a vested interest in the current system of packaging and distribution (that is, the CD) are hurting in a big way. Like many large businesses in a rapidly changing environment, they are stuck. They are the proverbial super tanker that can't change course quickly enough to avert disaster. They are stuck due to their capital and intellectual investments.

So these big companies react to change like we often see in other industries under going fundamental change. Rather than adapt, they attack the change. They try to hold back the forces of change like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dam trying to hold back the impending flood. How do they respond to the digital age of music? Do they shift their corporate strategy and change their business model to maintain their relevance and competitiveness? No. They sue 14 year old girls for downloading music.

So how will money be made in the new digital era of music? From a post at TechCrunch:

First, other revenue sources can and will be exploited, particularly live music, merchandise and limited edition physical copies of music. The signs are already there - the live music industry is booming this year, and Radiohead is releasing a special edition box set of their new album...simultaneous to the release of their "free" digital album.

Second, artists and labels will stop thinking of digital music as a source of revenue and start thinking about it as a way to market their real products. Users will be encouraged (even paid, as radio stations are today) to download, listen to and share music. Passionate users who download music from the Internet and share it with others will become the most important customers, not targets for ridiculous lawsuits.

Just as in an industry that is undergoing fundamental change, there are opportunities. It just takes open minds, creative thinking, and entrepreneurial nimbleness to find them.

(Thanks to Andy Tabar for passing this link along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

In this week's column at the Tennessean, I write about finding the right business to start.

The best business opportunities come from things people already know something about. They come from work experiences, hobbies and everyday lives. Find something from your experiences that is also a need for others. If you are lucky, it may be a niche that nobody has discovered. Or there may be competition, but existing businesses are not meeting the need of customers in that market. Either way, solving problems that you understand is the best path for a first business venture.

Don't overthink ideas. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz discovering how to get back to Kansas; the answer was right in front of her all along. And so are the best business ideas.

I also highlight the importance of passion, income and lifestyle in choosing the right business to start.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:48 AM | Permalink

Oregon politicians seem to have an ambitious agenda to expand socialized entrepreneurship (this is what I call government funded and government directed entrepreneurship initiatives for any new readers). From the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship:

The new Oregon Innovation Plan focuses on supporting place-based innovation capacity. It proposes to spend roughly $38 million to support initiatives in three areas: enhancing the competitiveness of existing industry, improving technology commercialization, and increasing the state’s overall capacity for innovation. Among the Plan’s specific recommendations are the creation of new angel networks across Oregon; the opening of new research centers for wave energy technology, nanotechnology, and drug discovery; and extensive new efforts to support existing firms in the manufacturing, food production, and seafood industries.

This is bad policy. The best thing the state of Oregon could do to increase innovation and entrepreneurship is to simplify and reduce taxes, and cut any regulations that are getting in the way of small business formation and growth. Use the $38 million to cut taxes. Also, angel investment networks don't need the government's help in getting started. Freeing up the market will spur business creation, which in turn attracts investment money. Finally, the worst part of this new policy initiative is to have politicians and bureaucrats pick winning industries. That is what free markets do best.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I wrote a post in 2005 about the boom in the pet industry and the opportunities it was creating for entrepreneurs. It seems that our obsession with our furry companions has not slowed down a bit. Last week's cover story in Business Week offered this example:

If there's still any doubt whether the pampering of pets is getting out of hand, the debate should be settled once and for all by Neuticles, a patented testicular implant that sells for up to $919 a pair. The idea, says inventor Gregg A. Miller, is to "let people restore their pets to anatomical preciseness" after neutering, thereby allowing them to retain their natural look and self-esteem. "People thought I was crazy when I started 13 years ago," says the Oak Grove (Mo.) entrepreneur. But he has since sold more than 240,000 pairs (a few of which went on prairie dogs, water buffalo, and monkeys).

Sorry boys, but not for you....

Keb and Delbert

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:00 PM | Permalink

As I have written many times, not every great idea is good business opportunity. That is why I believe that the single most important skill I can teach aspiring entrepreneurs is how to evaluate an idea and assess its promise as a viable business (most recently in a column I wrote for the Tennessean).

There is an article at Forbes by Wil Schroter that reinforces this point:

A while ago, you had an idea for a new company that would change the world. You stayed up all night feverishly sketching your plans for global domination.

Yet there you are, months later, still sitting in your cubicle, that brilliant flash a distant memory.

Wake up: Not every idea -- even a great one -- turns into a money machine. In fact, it's often just as useful to know when to dump a good idea as it is to pursue one -- if only so you can get to work on that next "great" idea.

He goes on to give advice that is consistent with my mantra on this: market, margin and me. All three have to work for an idea to really have a chance to make it as a business.

(Thanks to Matthew Nicholson for passing this along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:50 AM | Permalink

My column this past Sunday in the Tennessean was on the best approach to evaluating ideas to see if they are true business opportunities.

A key skill that successful entrepreneurs learn is to assess possible opportunities more efficiently and quickly before they make an extensive commitment of time and money to launch the business or even to develop a full business plan.

This process allows entrepreneurs to weed out ideas that are doomed to fail before they even begin.

You can read the column here.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:56 AM | Permalink