Bill Hobbs has reported on more evidence of record levels of LLC formation (read about it here and here), an indicator of entrepreneurial activity. But, his report has raised some significant debate. The debate centers around two points. First, is the household survey an important piece of the puzzle in understanding true employment and the entrepreneurial economic recovery (it is and it is). Second, do LLC formations serve as a leading indicator of economic prosperity (it does).
Best small towns for entrepreneurs
Site Selection magazine has reported its top small towns for entrepreneurial start-ups or business relocation. They are:
Traverse City, MI
Plattsburgh, NY
Bowling Green, KY
Mooresville, NC
Danville, IL
Effingham, IL
Morristown, TX
?In Boomtown USA: The Seven-and-a-Half Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, author Jack Schultz cites the fundamental factors that separate Traverse City from the pack:
? Civic leaders adopt a can-do attitude that promotes change.
? Political leaders adopt and clearly articulate a vision for growth.
Infrastructure resources of the community are leveraged to encourage new and expanding industries.
? Strong leaders are grown from within.
? Leadership encourages an entrepreneurial approach to growth and development.
? Planners retain local control over industrial growth policies.
? Marketers build and leverage the community’s brand identity.?
These towns have all embraced change and not tried in vain to hang on to failing industries. When government enters into duplicitous relationships with businesses and industries and tries to prop them up when they begin to falter, not only will the companies fail anyway, but the town will suffer. Free markets and entrepreneurial wellsprings are what keep these towns vital and alive.
This report was sited in this week’s National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship.
advice to young aspiring entrepreneurs
Ross Mayfileds’ Weblog offers some excellent advice for young entrepreneurs. It is directed at collegiate entrepreneurs, but has good words of wisdom for any young aspiring entepreneur.
Tan and rested
Back from vacation and ready to go. This week’s Carnival of Capitalists is located at the always informative and interesting TJ’s Weblog. This week is packed with interesting posts, so take a visit.
Entrepreneurs on vacation: it doesn’t have to be an oxymoron
Rest. Entrepreneurs can never seem to get enough of it. Vacations. Not a word that is in many entrepreneurs? vocabularies. Yet true rest and real vacations are essential for the entrepreneur?s health, and quite often the business?s health.
Continue reading Entrepreneurs on vacation: it doesn’t have to be an oxymoron
government stifles home-based business development
A study by Henry Beale published and funded by the SBA Department of Advocacy reports that the IRS and local zoning laws create major headaches and hurdles for home-based businesses (thanks to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship for featuring this study).
Continue reading government stifles home-based business development
reverb is in the news
Another Belmont Student business makes the news!
In addition to the reverb story, which is being featured at this site, we have a group of students who just launched an art gallery and graphic design business as part of their studies on campus. Here is a recent article about this business.
reverb “off the wall”: the delivery
Here is the next installment from our students starting up their business. After successfully bidding on E-Bay, they now are waiting for the truck to arrive with their equipment being shipped from Colorado. Catch the entire reverb story at this link.
reverb off the wall: bootstrapping with e-bay
Here is the second installment from our student entrepreneurs:
After deciding on a name and color scheme for reverbmedia, we turned our attention to one of the most important aspects of any business?the equipment to run it. The kinds of equipment we would require could easily eat up our startup budget, so we began brainstorming ways to acquire it cheaper. We thought of contacting various warehouses and CD stores that had recently gone out of business, but pinpointing those proved to be harder than we expected. Several members suggested scouring the internet for equipment. One that was mentioned was E-bay.
Continue reading reverb off the wall: bootstrapping with e-bay