The government wants to get its fingers into the new economy in a bad way — it is what I call socialized entrepreneurship. And, if some of the Presidential candidates get their way we could see this trend taken to a whole new level. James Pethokoukis at US News has a good summary of Sen. Clinton’s ideas on how the government can “help” innovation. All of her ideas involve more government programs and agencies that try to pick the winners and losers.
I guarantee you that any approach like the one outlined by Clinton will become a political circus, with special interests stepping up to get their pork. Entrepreneurship works best in a free market. Let’s keep Washington’s backroom deal making and politicking out of our entrepreneurial economy.
Author: Jeff Cornwall
Dr. Jeff Cornwall is the inaugural Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Cornwall's current research and teaching interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics.
Bootstrapping the Guy Kawasaki Way
I wrote a post last month about how Web 2.0 is a new ballgame that allows for low cost, high potential start-ups. Guy Kawasaki has a great post at his blog on how he started his new Web 2.0 business Truemors for a total investment of $12,107.09.
And here are the four lessons he learned from this start-up:
1. There’s really no such thing as bad PR.
2. $12,000 goes a very long way these days.
3. You can work with a team that is thousands of miles away.
4. Life is good for entrepreneurs these days.
Indeed. And it is good to be an entrepreneurship professor these days, as well.
(Thanks to Bruce Schierstedt for passing this along).
Entrepreneurs Need Rest and Vacation, Too
My column this week at the Tennessean is on rest and vacation:
Rest. Entrepreneurs can never seem to get enough of it. Vacations. Not a word that is in many entrepreneurs’ vocabularies.
According to a study just released by American Express Small Business Monitor, about two-thirds of small business owners find it stressful balancing their personal and business lives. Yet true rest and real vacations are essential not only for the entrepreneur’s personal health but for the health of the business.
So how do you build a business that allows you to create balance in your life?
You can find the entire column here at the Tennessean.
45 Months and Counting
The entrepreneurial economy just keeps on chugging along. We just had our 45th straight month of real job growth.
“You Tube” for Deal Making
I keep telling you that venture funds have raised too much money…..From MediaWeek.com:
John Byrne, BusinessWeek’s executive editor and the acting editor-in-chief for Businessweek.com, said that company is looking to create a “business YouTube” essentially an online video hub for wannabe moguls to post short pitch videos for a new ventures or companies.
The site is also buy topamax for weight loss exploring the launch of an online-video-based contest that would invite anyone with a idea for a new business to submit a plan on the site with the chance to land $500,000 in venture capital funding.
(Thanks to Natalie Wozniak up in Minne-so-cold for passing this along).
Women Entrepreneurs and Equity Investments
Many argue, and many whom I’ve heard argue this are women, that in the world of entrepreneurship we should not segment men and women. Entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs. A new study on venture funding suggests that this may not always be the case in high growth, high potential ventures.
Jeffrey Sohl addressed the recent NC Council for Entrepreneurial Development on angel investing trends about the results of a study he co-authored with and John Becker-Blease to be published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of Business Venturing titled, “Do women-owned businesses have equal access to angel capital?”
From TechJournal South:
The results suggest that women seek angel financing at rates substantially lower than that of men, but have an equal probability of receiving investment. The authors also found that women are more likely to seek, and to a lesser extent receive, financing from women angels.
Why does this difference exist? The authors speculate, but there is no compelling evidence as to why these differences were observed. It may be inherent bias in the private equity markets, it may be social behaviors, or it may just be the nature of the choices women entrepreneurs make in terms of deals to pursue. Most likely, evidence for all of these explanations can be observed, depending on the specific situation. I have noticed that any angel investment or venture capital gathering I have been to tends to be made up mostly of male entrepreneurs and male investors. While this study confirms my observation it begs the more interesting question: Why?
(Thanks to Jim Stefansic for passing this along).
The Nuts and Bolts of Outsourcing
In this, the global age of small business, sometimes it is the little things that cause the biggest headaches. Start-up Journal looks at the challenges of that going global can have on one of the most basic aspects of commerce — exchanging cash for goods or services.
Question: We are a small manufacturer and want to purchase some component parts overseas. The overseas entity doesn’t want to ship without payment. Yet we don’t want to pay before we are sure that the goods will come and they will be of the quality represented. What are our options?
Answer: You’re asking one of the age-old questions of international trade: How do a buyer and seller handle payment so neither phentermine topiramate buy online gets burned?
Banks generally offer several ways to reduce the financial risks of trade, but the payment procedure ultimately depends on how much trust the parties have developed, which company has more leverage and the types of goods ordered.
In other words, while banks can help (often for a sizable fee) there is still some relative degree of risk taken by both sides of the transaction. Understand the risks that you are taking while trying to bring down your costs. There is almost always a trade-off in these things. And when thinking about the savings from outsourcing, make sure to be clear on all of the costs, including bank fees for the transaction.
Live Chat on Growth Today
I will be leading an on-line chat today on growth with Charles Hagood, co-founder of The Access Group and Healthcare Performance Partners. It is being hosted by the Tennessean, but is open to anyone across the country and around the globe! Charles, an alum of our MBA program, has a fascinating story and can provide some useful insight into managing a growing business.
To join in the chat, just go to the Tennessean’s website. There will be a link in the left column of the front page. The chat will start today at 1:00 p.m. CDT. Please join in the discussion!!
The Virtual Team
eVenturing has another great collection of materials for entrepreneurs. This one has a similar theme to their recent collection on Bootstrapping. This one deals specifically with Virtual Teams.
The phrase “work smarter and not harder” rings clear in the mind of every entrepreneur leading a growth company. But how can you really get there? Will streamlining operations and outsourcing niche functions help? Entrepreneurs in this Collection affirm that technology helps. Whether it’s finding a vendor to manage an e-newsletter, using Web-based collaboration tools, securing online backup services, training associates through free online computer tutorials, or creating a logo via a do-it-yourself Web site, entrepreneurs can increase their manpower–virtually.
Screening Your Ideas
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.