Time and time again, I run into entrepreneurs who are petrified to share any aspect of their business for fear that someone will steal their idea and beat them to the punch. Just how real is this fear? In reality, the actually cases where an idea for a business gets stolen are quite rare. However, just to be safe and sleep well at night, here are my suggestions:
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.
Cash Flow’s Impact, Part II
Here is a good article from Entrepreneur.com that offers more insight into my recent posting on cash flow management.
Entrepreneurship and Rural Economic Development
Entrepreneurship is the most sustainable and dignified form of economic development. North Carolina has embraced this fact and is aggressively pursuing entrepreneurship as an engine of rural economic development as seen on this web site. In the late 1980’s, we developed a business that created over 100 jobs in one rural county in NC. We found it to be a great place to do business and found the county officials to be incredibly helpful in finding a site, getting over regulatory hurdles, and identifying local vendors to supply our venture. Initiatives like this a springing up all over the country.
Our New Program at Belmont
The Tennessean wrote a nice piece on our new entrepreneurship major here at Belmont. Check it out.
SBA Hoping to Prime the Pump
SBA is expanding its lending under the 504 program. See this article in the Startup Journal.
The Experience Myth, Part II
There is an article in the Minneapolis Star Trib that speaks to the issue of young entrepreneurs and experience. It features several alumni of my old program at St. Thomas.
Carnival of the Capitalists #3 Is Up!!
The host this week is The Noble Pundit . Carnival of the Capitalists main page is located here for those who are interested.
Send all entries for next week’s installment to capitalists -at- elhide.com if you want them included. The subjects can range from economics to management to political economy and so on. Next week’s host is Insults Unpublished.
Beware of the Nose of the Camel
Sorry, but I get a little nervous when I see corporations like Disney sticking their noses into the Entrepreneurship tent. Seems that Disney is setting up an Entrepreneurship Center with the SBA. Does this make anyone else a little nervous, or I am just getting too paranoid??
Cash Flow’s Impact Cannot be Overemphasized
Cash flow, as they say, is king. We tell entrepreneurs this truism all the time. So why is it so true? Here are my top Six reasons for focusing on strong cash flow:
Continue reading Cash Flow’s Impact Cannot be Overemphasized
Business Plan Tips
One of the biggest challenges I see with techies who have a good, well researched opportunity is to effectively communicate their idea in a business plan format. Marcie Milletary captures the key advice that I usually share with entrepreneurs-in-waiting in her recent article in the TechyVent Pittsburg on line newsletter. Her advice echoes my top six words of wisdom (I know I should have 10 or 7, but these are my biggies, and 6 is an underused number anyway) that I share with the entrepreneurs I work with time and time again: