Dr Jeff Cornwall

Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Beyond the Brands.

For the second straight year our Entrepreneurship Program here at Belmont University was ranked a Top 10 Entrepreneurship Emphasis Program by Entrepreneur magazine. Thanks to the faculty, staff, students, alumni, community partners, and our administration for helping us to continue our efforts to build our Entrepreneurship Program.
Some of the other schools in the Top Ten Entrepreneurship Emphasis category this year include Purdue University, Drexel University, and Loyola Marymount University. Some of the schools in the second tier of this category include University of Alabama at Birmingham, Arizona State University, Fordham University, George Washington University, James Madison University, Oregon State University, and Pepperdine University.

Bergen Cathedral Interiors, founded by Stephen Bergen and David McCracken (both Belmont alumni), is a Nashville-based Christian company serving churches and architects with the highest quality pews and custom furniture, pew refinishing and restoration, stained glass, auditorium seating, and carpeting available.

Like many start-up ventures, the genesis of Bergen Cathedral Interiors came from a set of unanticipated events that created an opportunity. Stephen Bergen had been working with a small, out of state business that had decided to withdraw most of their operation from Tennessee. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The vendors Stephen had been working with wanted him to continue representing their products and services in Tennessee. So it made perfect sense for Stephen to start a company based on the relationships and experience he had been developing over the previous eight years.
But the opportunity proved to be even larger than Stephen first thought, as his suppliers were willing to consider an expanded territory beyond Tennessee. So Stephen decided to bring on a partner, David McCraken. Because they had been friends for over fifteen years, David already knew what was going on with Stephen’s work. The two discussed their situations and realized they had a great opportunity to build a Christian company together, working with top suppliers to serve architects and churches.
During their start-up, Bergen Cathedral Interiors faced the challenge that came from the transformation of Stephen’s existing relationships through his old employer into the new business they were creating. His former employer left him with clients whose projects Stephen had to see through. At the same time, he and David had to develop their common vision for their new company, draft and redraft their business plan, get David up to speed on their market, products and services, learn new software tools and assure their plans would be compatible with the vendors whose products and services they would represent.
Drafting the business plan proved to be very important in determining the nature and quality of the company Stephen and David wanted to build. It has also proven to be way to get feedback from their suppliers. “After we presented it to our main supplier, they asked us to make our presentation a second time so their project managers could learn the perspective of their sales reps. They immediately told all their other sales reps that they wanted to see a business plan from them, too. That was very gratifying, because we immediately knew we were on the right track.”
David said that they have found strong support, from business advice to leads for new projects, from many of the people who have learned about their new venture. “Almost anyone who is successful can look back on their own professional development and identify people who were glad to help them early on. And folks who have experienced the entrepreneurial process are normally very glad to help others when they get the opportunity.”
They also turned to trusted friends and family and asked them to serve on an advisory board. “This is a great way to have the benefit of wise counsel from others who have business experience, and it builds a certain level of accountability as we know we must report the results of our progress to this group.”
Stephen wanted to build Bergen Cathedral Interiors based on their shared values. “My values as a Christian have made it extremely easy to define the structure and goals of what I want this business to be. I just put myself in potential clients’ shoes and ask, ‘How would I expect to be treated?'”
From his previous experience in the worship market, one of Stephen’s biggest surprises has been how foreign the concept of “do unto others” actually can be, even among companies serving churches.
David said that he and Stephen realized how important it is to get to know their suppliers on a level that goes beyond products and services to assure that they genuinely share their values. “If we partner with a company that relies on using the language of faith only to close a sale, the churches and committee members and other Christians with whom we are working will pick up on this as being inauthentic. It could cause not only a lost sale, but also a negative impact on our reputation.”
Stephen and David have recognized the importance of working on their partnership as well as their new business. Stephen said that they did not rush into their start-up. They carefully and thoroughly discussed expectations. They then worked with their attorney (and a long-time mutual friend) to help walk them through the legal issues of their business start-up. Because all three are friends, their operating agreement will not only be strong from a legal standpoint, but also will be drafted to reflect the great value that Stephen and David place on their friendship.

Please get any postings for next week’s Carnival of the Capitalists submitted by no later than 3:00 p.m. Sunday!

I have written several posts about the challenges of being in business with family. Another situation with its own set of issues is going into business with a friend. I see this happen time and time again with young entrepreneurs. Three buddies sitting in their dorm, at a coffee shop, or in a bar decide it would be a cool idea to go into business together. While it is important to know and trust your partner, many friendships have other baggage that can create real problems, particularly in times of trouble in the business or as the business grows.
Startup Journal has an article on friends as partners in which the author asserts that it is the “easiest way to start a business enterprise….(and) also one of the easiest ways to end a friendship.”
When I see friends in my office who want to start a business together, one of the first things I say to them is that they have to be prepared for the fact that the odds are pretty good that they will no longer be such good friends in a couple of years. There is also a chance that they can become better friends, but it is at best a coin toss as to which way it will go. Of course, that speech usually falls on deaf ears since that would never happen to them.
It even gets more complicated when three or four friends go into business. Alliances begin to form from the beginning that undermine the foundation of trust in the overall partnership.
So who do you go into business with if not friends. Well, the friendship may not be the problem in and of itself. In fact, I think it is necessary to be friends with your partners to have any chance in the long run. But there needs to be more to it than that. It is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one. It is like a marriage; love is never enough by itself to insure long term success.
Friendship should be the foundation, but here are other issues to explore before “tying the knot”:
– Do your share the same vision for the business?
– Do you share the same aspirations for the business? Does one want to build an empire while the other create a simple lifestyle kind of business?
– What are your work habits and work ethic? Are they compatible enough to keep the partnership feeling fair to all the partners?
– How much time off to you plan to take each day, each week, each year?
– How much money will you put into the business?
– How much do you expect to get out of it?
– Who will be the President of the company? What roles will the other friends play?
– How will decisions be made?
– What is everyone’s credit rating? Can all help to guarantee a loan, if necessary?
– What if one of you gets married and the new spouse gets a job offer in another city? Would you move away?
– What are your core values and how do you want to see them play out day-to-day in the business?
– How will employees, customers, suppliers, etc. all be treated?
– What will you consider to be real success in this business?
There are probably countless other questions to talk about, but this is a start. Talk. Talk some more. Listen to your gut if you don’t like the answers you hear from potential partners. Go in with your eyes wide open rather than with stars in your eyes.
Partners should be friends, but friends to not always make good partners.

Small Business Trends has a guest post by John Wyckoff on the growing economic power of China.
“Here’s what I suggest you consider. There’s no way any industrial nation can complete with a country whose workers average 61- cents per hour and whose engineers (who were educated in this country), work for the equivalent of $100 a week. With so many American manufacturers partnering with Chinese makers in order to control costs, the Chinese makers are gaining the advantage of technology given to them by their partners.”
This trend may prove to be the real test of our changing economic paradigm in America as some fear. But, as long as we lead in entrepreneurship and innovation, and let our free markets work, there will be new markets for us to pioneer.