Dr Jeff Cornwall

The Bizzmobile is a new initiative to teach kids about business and entrepreneurship being developed by “Dr. Cindy.” They paid a visit to the ICSB conference this week.

The Bizzmobile is a great new idea with a lot of potential.

Dr. Robert Lai, Director General of Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, MOEA, Taiwan, presented his country’s plan to develop a truly entrepreneurial society. It is a fascinating and comprehensive plan that has much broader implications for many other economies.
To see Dr. Lai’s PowerPoint presentation click here. If your computer doesn’t have PowerPoint, you can download the free PowerPoint Viewer here.

Dr. Michael Naughton has spoken around the world about the integration of faith and work. I have had the honor and pleasure to write and teach with him about this topic as it relates to entrepreneurship.

Michael Naughton
Dr. Naughton presented this morning at our conference, talking with us about the different approaches we take to work and leisure and our lives.
For some our work is simply a job. We do it only for the economic rewards. In the world of entrepreneurship I talk about this as “entrepreneurs on steroids.” These are the entrepreneurs who pursue a business venture solely as a financial transaction to be maximized. For many of them their leisure takes to form of amusements meant to serve as a means of escape from the pressures of pursuing the maximum wealth from the deals they pursue. This becomes a state of having over being.
For others, our work is a career. We seek the psychological rewards that work can give us. Entrepreneurs view work as a means to an end — to be their own boss. Leisure is viewed as instrumental for the career. It is a time to rest “to sharpen the saw.” We measure success in terms of achievements. This becomes a state of doing over being.
Finally, for some our work is a calling — a vocation. It is a calling to be human, a calling to a state of life, and a calling to a particular kind of work. Leisure takes the form of contemplation. Life becomes integrated and whole. It is not a state of balance between work and leisure; work and our faith. Rather, they become one as we become what Mike calls a contemplative practitioner.
These three states of work are not mutually exclusive. But, viewing work as a job or a career are just not enough to contain us as a whole person.
(For an outline of Dr. Naughton’s talk click here).
(For a PowerPoint presentation on Dr. Naughton’s talk click here. If your computer doesn’t have PowerPoint, you can download the free PowerPoint Viewer here.
For more information on Michael Naughton’s writing, click here.

Ian Levitt left a career in international corporate business to start his automotive parts distribution business named Qualcast in Nashville, TN in 1997. He is still a small business, but has had great success importing and exporting around the world.

Ian highlighted three of the more difficult challenges he has faced as a small business owner dealing with the international market:
– Credit risk. As he began to do business in China, he faced the need to finance large purchases by Chinese customers. He would have to carry their debt until the parts arrived and were weighed and checked. This could mean several weeks to months. Unfortunately, banks view lines of credit on such accounts receivable as too risky to finance even if only for a few weeks. He was able to speed the process along, but had to tie up all of his cash on a single order.
– Currency issues. More of his European customers now do business in Euros rather than dollars. This opened him up to significant currency exchange risks. Even as a small business person, he was able to buy a large stake in Euros for twelve months to stabilize his exchange rate.
– Credit card fraud. Sadly, credit card fraud is a major issue for international trade, and many clients insist on using credit cards for purchases. Ian said that he can no longer accept credit card orders from his international clients due to the high rate of fraud.
In the middle of our discussions about teaching entrepreneurship and shaping public policy to meet their needs, it was refreshing to hear about the real issues faced by a small business in the international arena from someone in the trenches.
Ian Levitt is active in the Nashville business community helping to support other entrepreneurs interested in the international arena.

John Hatch, Founder of FINCA, says that we are now in the middle of the largest economic expansion in history, and that within the next few years small businesses will become “micro-internationals.”

Micro lending programs, such as those supported by FINCA, are creating a base new small businesses that will transform the world through a process that Hatch called “globalization from the bottom up.” Micro lending benefits communities by improving education, food and housing.

ICSB 2005 had its opening reception at the World Bank last evening.

Michael Kline, Vice President for Small and Medium Enterprise Development of the World Bank, addressed the reception. He stated that they are working aggressively toward their goal of cutting poverty in half world wide by 2015.

Michael Kline, World Bank

The NFIB and SBA Office of Advocacy sponsored a pre-conference event for ICSB entitled “Global Perspectives on Entrepreneurship Policy.”

Chad Moutray, Office of Advocacy SBA
The first set of presenters examined the costs and problems of business entry. One of the presenters was Simeon Djankov of the World Bank, who discussed his findings on “Regulation as an Impediment to Entry in Developing Countries.” One of the main barriers to business entry and growth around the world is government regulation of small and medium enterprises. This study and the other presenters provided strong evidence of the impact of regulation on entrepreneurial economic activity. This position was reinforced by a comprehensive report from the Danish Commerce and Companies Agency entitled “Efforts to Reduce Administrative Burdens and Improve Business Regulation.”
The World Bank has issued a full report on the impact of regulations on economic growth: Doing Business in 2005.
A variety of other papers on the importance of education, banking deregulation and freer labor markets to support entrepreneurial development were also presented.
Throughout this pre-conference the themes of get government out of the way and educate entrepreneurs was reinforced through a variety of studies and reports.

Denny Dennis, NFIB

Our VIP reception Tuesday night was at the Australian Embassy. The Australian officials spoke about the entrepreneurial spirit of their country and the tradition of small business within their economy. The US and Australians have just signed a free trade agreement (AUSTFA) that is quite favorable to small business.
We heard the story of a creative small business idea that has come to the US from Australia, flavored dog water, which has been able to move quickly into the US market in large part as a result of AUSFTA.
“In just twelve months since its flavoured dog water was developed, Dog Plus has scored a lucrative deal with Nutri-Vet who will distribute Dog Plus products to pet store chain PETCO’s 670 stores across the US and Canada,” Mr. Billson said.
“The deal is currently worth $50,000 to the small husband and wife business team and is expected to reach an annual $2 million over the next twelve months, providing not only a tremendous boost for the company but also the local economy by generating additional employment.”

I will be posting this week from Washington, DC, where I am chairing the 50th Annual Meeting of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB). There will be over 600 attendees exchanging ideas about both educating entrepreneurs and public policy isssues related to entrepreneurship. I will be sharing some of the highlights of what is presented and discussed at this exciting conference throughout this week.
The International Council for Small Business founded in 1955 is the oldest and largest global membership organization dedicated to examining and discussing issues affecting the teaching, research and delivery of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise world-wide. Collectively, the over 2,000 members of the ICSB through their eleven national affiliates work and assist tens of thousands of individual currently in business or desiring to start a business relatively soon.
The leading teachers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners interested in entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise are attending this conference. It will have attendees from around the world including Europe, Brazil, Japan, Republic of China, Singapore, Korea, Southern Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Puerto Rico/Caribbean, and the United States.