American Youth Still Show Entrepreneurial Aspirations

From the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship:

Coupled with the announcement of Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA, the Kauffman Foundation released the findings from a survey that shows America’s young people want to be their own boss. The Foundation commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct an online survey of 2,438 youth ages 8 to 21 about entrepreneurship. It shows that four in 10 young people would like to start their own business in the future, while another 37 percent believe starting their own business is a possibility. Those who want to have their own business say their top reasons are to use their skills and abilities (92 percent), build something for their future (89 percent), be their own boss (87 percent), see their ideas realized (81 percent) and earn lots of money (85 percent). In the United States, 63 percent of respondents in the Harris survey already believe that, if they work hard, they can be entrepreneurs.

Advisory Boards Provide Important Perspectives

My column in this week’s Tennessean examines the importance of advisory boards.

There was a time when outside members serving on the board of directors of small businesses was fairly common. The entrepreneur would invite people such as his banker, consultants, their attorney, their CPA, and other business owners from the community to serve on the board.
But with the advent of the limited-liability corporation and its more flexible structure, and with the general increase in litigation involving members of corporate boards, adding outside members on boards of directors has become less common.
However, outside advisers can bring important benefits to a small, growing company.

Industry Disruptions

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.
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Ideablob

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.

Home-based Business Ideas

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!

Best of the Entrepreneurial Generation for 2007

Business Week released their list of the top entrepreneurs 25 and under. The entrepreneurial generation is alive and well! These kids are not a fluke. Our entrepreneurship program here at Belmont continues to grow, just as so many other programs are around the country.
With each new class arriving on campus we see a stronger commitment to entrepreneurship and self-employment. Not only is this an economic phenomenon — it is part of a social revolution that this generation is quietly leading through their actions.

Near Future Not Looking Good from the Perspective of Small Business Owners

The NFIB released its October survey of small business owners and the mood is… well, shall we say less that upbeat.
“Things were looking good until September 18 when the Fed warned that the economy was sinking,” said NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. “The logical response of small-business owners was to cut hiring, capital spending and other growth-related activities.”
Owners did try to hire and fill needed positions in October, but with little success. Fourteen percent reported increasing employment an average of 2.9 workers per firm compared to 11 percent who reported workforce reductions averaging 4.2 workers, an average decrease of about 0.1 employees per firm.
Things seem a little worse for jobs in the construction industry, with 11 percent reporting that they increased the size of their workforce, while 16 percent cut employment. Although it was not all bad news in construction, where there are signs of some firming of demand. In July of 2006, a net 40 percent of the construction firms were raising prices, compared to a net 1 percent reporting higher prices in September 2007. Now, more firms are raising prices, indicating stronger support from non-residential construction and home additions and repairs.
With entrepreneurs being the job engine in this economy, this is not good news for the near future.
Twenty-two percent reported unfilled job openings, down three points from September. Over the next three months, 15 percent plan to create new jobs (down three points), and 10 percent plan workforce reductions (up one point), yielding a seasonally adjusted net 11 percent of owners planning to create new jobs — down three points.
“Jobs disappear when owners don’t expect sales to grow,” Dunkelberg said. Fourteen percent of the owners reported that the availability of qualified labor was their top business problem, down three points from September.
And now for the news that put a chill down my spine. The net percent of owners reporting higher average selling prices rose six points to 15 percent of all firms. Plans to raise prices also gained a point to 22 percent of all owners.
“The Fed may be preoccupied with recession but small-business owners’ reports of price hikes suggest that inflation can’t be dismissed,” said Dunkelberg. “The historic relationship between inflation and the percent of owners reporting higher prices suggests that inflation will be showing some new, unwanted, vitality.”
Indeed! And in case you missed my caution about inflation, read this…..

Disaster Planning

As I have said many times at this site, disasters happen. It is not if, but when. Business TN Magazine posted an article about how to prepare for the worst.

For a growing business, one major setback can spell life or death. Preventing a natural disaster is outside the scope of even the largest firms, so what can a small business owner do to protect against catastrophic events? Every industry has unique vulnerabilities, and each company particular needs.

Having the right insurance and working with the right law firm are two important means of insulating a small business from the brunt of the impact of a catastrophic event.
(Just for the record — the author calls me an economist. I may be a lot of things, but I am NOT and economist!!)