Entrepreneurship U

Move, or shake your head?

Carol Tice, of Entrepreneur.com has an article on MSNBC today about how the economic downturn has affected entrepreneurship in the United States. The downturn has created two classes of business owners. Those with the drive to keep their business growing despite the difficult economic scene, and those who are struggling. Research firm Anchor Advisors dubbed them "movers" and "head-shakers." In a newly released study, Anchor talked to more than 130 mostly founder-led small businesses, the majority with under $10 million in revenue. The goal was to identify the common traits of thriving small ...

Three Cheers for Cong. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)

The economic condition of the U.S. economy is affected by poor job creation. A necessary requirement for creation of employment opportunity is financing. Yorktown University's John Hilston reports today that American banks have reduced lending to small businesses by $15 billion. That affects the ability of existing, profitable, businesses to grow. Most small businesses have "receivables" that they can borrow against and that gives them adequate cash on hand to pay their employees and vendors until their own customers make payment on services and goods. Small business owners also have personal lines of credit that they can use in a ...

Why are Banks Making Fewer Loans?

By John Hilston According to a report by the federal government's Small Business Administration, bank lending to small businesses fell $15 billion nationally in the first quarter of this year. I am reminded of Tom Hanks' character Josh Baskin in the movie "Big". He exposed a lot of business problems by simply asking "Why?" So, I repeat the question at hand: Why are banks making fewer loans? First, one must examine the point of the banking business. Banks are profitable when they make loans that are repaid with interest. If the bank cannot reasonably expect to be repaid, it won’t make the ...

University Actually Invests in its Own Research

Kevin Kiley of Inside Higher Ed reports this morning that the University of Michigan is giving its research department more than just a building and moral support. On Wednesday, President Mary Sue Coleman announced that Michigan is launching an initiative to invest some of the university's endowment money directly in start-up companies developed through university research when they seek venture capital funding. While other institutions have sought on a limited basis to invest in (and reap rewards from) promising companies created as a result of faculty members' or students' ideas, and many higher education leaders have argued that taking a greater stake ...

Thank you, Steve Jobs!

America values sport because the records set by athletes are standards of excellence that cannot be duplicated in most other pursuits. Babe Ruth's home run record. Roger Bannister's four minute mile and other records inspire us. As do the examples of human spirit reflected in the careers of Johnny Unitas, Roger Maris, and Joe Namath that are what political philosophers call "experiences of transcendence." We see a glimpse of "end time" and for a moment transcend this life and live in the realm where things eternal preside. Then someone like Steve Jobs comes along and sets a ...

The hard times at Forbes suggests that It’s harder to sustain an existing company that to start or grow one.

Katie Benner wrote an article last month, The Forbes Family's Big Deal Causes Big Trouble. The Forbes family has poked itself in the eye with its "capitalist tool." Like many publishers, Forbes Media has struggled during the financial crisis. But according to nonpublic documents made available to Fortune, the company has been under more financial strain than previously believed. Forbes Media violated covenants on a revolving credit line that it took out in 2006, according to a letter sent to the company by J.P. Morgan. The loan, which was part of a series of transactions that allowed the Forbes family to ...

When The Dream of Entrepreneurship Turns into a Nightmare

Alex Williams has an article on The New York Times this weekend about how even successful entrepreneurship is often much more time-consuming and grueling than expected, and how some entrepreneurs are returning to their cubicles. ...Plan B, it turns out, is a lot harder than it seems. But that hasn’t stopped cubicle captives from fantasizing. In recent years, a wave of white-collar professionals has seized on a moribund job market, a swelling enthusiasm for all things artisanal and the growing sense that work should have meaning to cut ties with the corporate grind and chase second careers as chocolatiers, bed-and-breakfast proprietors ...

Your Business TV

Check out the "Your Business" video archive on MSNBC's Open Forum.

Drucker’s 4 Approaches to Entrepreneurial Success by William Cohen, Ph.D.

Dr. William Cohen has a post on Human Resources IQ explaining Dr. Peter Rucker's approaches to entrepreneurial success, namely: Achieving Dominance Supply the "missing ingredient" Finding and occupying a specialized "ecological niche" Changing economic characteristics Read the full story on Human Resources IQ.

Social Entrepreneurship

Susan Moran has a great article on The New York Times this week, explaining how to get started as a "social entrepreneur." With the economy still struggling, it may seem like an impossible time to start a do-good social venture. It can be hard enough to operate any business profitably — let alone one that also tries to improve the world. But some observers believe that the tough times may be increasing interest in social ventures. [...] To those looking to start such ventures, social entrepreneurs and investors offer the following pointers. IT’S O.K. TO MAKE MONEY If you choose the profit-making ...