Tenrehte brings home top honors in entrepreneur contest
April 30, 2010
The 2010 Rochester Regional Business Plan competition had their award announcements today at a luncheon event in Downtown Rochester. I’m proud to say that two excellent entrepreneurs - both of whom I know well took home first and second place in the competition. Tenrehte - producers of a smartgrid energy monitor and saver for the home that runs off a home wifi system took the top prize of $25,000. Tenrehte has been featured numerous times in this blog for their excellent work and is an example of a successful entrepreneurial company here in Rochester.
Proving yet again that devices tend to draw more attention than software products these days the runner up winner was OS-Cubed supported entrepreneur Floodwatch USA. Floodwatch has a device that allows remote monitoring for moisture in a “smoke alarm” format device. The device does not need to touch the floor, or have moisture directly touch the monitoring to determine if flooding has occurred. It uses a custom designed infrared chip to determine if water is where it should not be.
I would like to personally congratulate both winners - you are among the top entrepreneurs in the area and it’s about time you both were recognized for your efforts.
Abby gets it wrong….
December 5, 2009
In her December 5th, 2009 column famous columnist Dear Abby (aka Jeanne Phillips) gets a letter from a reader who has come into some money which would give her a “cushion” to use while she tries to build her own business (basically it would cover a year’s worth of her income). The letter writer goes on to say that she’s dreamed of being an entrepreneur all her life but in the past has not had the opportunity that this inheritance has given her. Her friends and family are telling her she’s “crazy” and will end up “blowing her inheritance” on this dream because small businesses are destined to fail. To any of you who are entrepreneurs you are already laughing. She’s just going through what every single entrepreneur on the planet has been through. But the real problem comes with Dear Abby’s reply.
Abby’s (aka Jeanne Phillips) sage recommendation (which she obviously didn’t ask any REAL entrepreneur’s about) is to write up a business plan (ok so far) and present it to a bank and ask for a loan. Supposedly if the bank says “yes” to the loan then the idea is a sound one. Does anyone else see the silly irrationality of this “test” to see if the business idea is valid? No? Well let me spell it out. The bank will either say yes or no - based on it’s own interests - not the validity of the business plan:
- YES - ok, rule number one - bank’s will only loan you money when you don’t need it. So if they say “YES” to loaning money on this plan it will be for one reason only - that this young lady already has enough money and assets to act as collateral against the loan they are giving. They know that any bet on an entrepreneurial venture is a long shot - so they won’t loan her any money she can’t already cover. They’ll ask her to put her home equity, personal assets and everything else up against the loan and then will only loan her a portion of that total. As a test for whether this is a “good idea” this fails miserably.
- NO - this is the most likely answer. Banks don’t take “angel capital” style risks. You could walk in with the full business plan for Facebook(before Facebook was created) and they would say “that’s a nice idea. Where’s your income stream or other collateral that we can hold in case your silly idea fails? Your booked A/R? Your history of past performance? Oh you don’t have any? Sorry no luck.” This poor woman would walk away thinking she can’t be an entrepreneur because the most fiscally conservative organization you can find won’t invest in her.
So if Abby’s foolish advice is NOT the route to take - what should this woman do? Well the first thing she needs to do is that business plan - she needs to fully flesh out her business idea and examine it critically. She needs to bounce it off other entrepreneurs, and preferably get an experienced entrepreneur mentor (Try SCORE, or social media to connect to one) or gather a board of directors made up of other business owners she knows together to review the plan before she spends her effort and cash on it. Just because she has a dream does not mean she has a marketable idea. If there are startup resources (say a Springstage Blog) in her area she should go to them to help connect her with others who have been down the road she wants to take.
In addition she needs to approach this venture with some reality checks in mind:
- The likelihood of successfully starting a business and maintaining your marriage without your spouse’s full buy-in is vanishingly small. Starting a business will affect everyone in her immediate family. She needs to have their support, help and understanding to succeed. It may actually come down to “which is more important - your dream or your marriage”. Better to decide that before she starts the business.
- Does she want to build a business as a consultant, a lifestyle business, or an asset that she will eventually resell, or retire from and will provide her with long term wealth. Those are different routes, with different risks and rewards. She should choose which she’s going for on purpose.
- She should read a couple of excellent books*. I’ll make some specific suggestions here, but I’m sure my readers can recommend others.
- She should start with E-Myth Revisted (Michael Gerber) to wrap her brain around the concept of exactly what kind of business she wants to start, and what the differences are between business types.
- Purple Cow (Seth Godin) - What about her business idea makes it unique and special. Why would people buy from her? How will she convince her potential customers of the uniqueness of her idea or proposed service?
- How to win friends and influence people (Dale Carnegie) - this book, written over 60 years ago - still applies today. She must live this concept to succeed in business. Does she already? or is there still work to do?
- Think and grow rich(Napolean Hill) - does she already adopt the positive mental attitude she will need to succeed? Building a business is very hard work, and you must be willing to commit to it inside your head before you even start working on it. She need self confidence that borders on egomania or the world will beat her down.
- Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki) - does she understand the difference between a “good” and “bad” investment?
- Executive EQ(Robert Cooper/Ayman Sawaf) and Now Discover your Strengths (Marcus Buckingham/Donald Clifton)- she should take a personality profile check and fully understand her strengths and weaknesses as a person. No two people are the same, and there is no “magic formula” for being a good entrepreneur - but if you understand where your weaknesses are you can hire to compensate, and if you know where your strengths are you can create a business role for yourself that takes advantage of those strengths.
- She should examine her own motivations for starting a business and do a reality check with real business owners about whether they are realistic. Think you’re going to do it so you can “set your own hours”? Think again - most small business owners work more hours than their employees during the startup phase. There are many other myths about entrepreneurship that she should examine and debunk before proceeding on.
- She should be prepared to fail. Boundaries need to be set for how much to invest, what the final endplan might look like if the business does not succeed, and how she will protect her personal assets as much as possible. The reality is that most successful entrepreneurs have a few failed business ventures under their belt before they hit one out of the ballpark. If you fail - fail in a recoverable way.
Finally though - she should not be dissuaded by nay-sayers. Whether it’s friends and relatives or the bank - if entrepreneurship is in her blood, she’ll never be satisfied until she tries it to see if it’s really for her. Success will depend on preparation, having the right business advisors around you, having a great idea, hiring the right people to implement it for you, and supporting those people with the proper investment in marketing and sales.
* Full disclosure - if you purchase books through these links Amazon pays me some miniscule commission on them. Don’t feel obligated - it’s just easier for me to organize them all in one place this way.
The Entrepreneur’s Network accepting applications for Class VIII
July 20, 2009
As a TEN graduate myself, I can highly recommend TEN’s excellent program. As the press release below points out you get a $7500 value for only $350, thanks to the use of Monroe County and WIRED grant economic development funds. This is YOUR TAX DOLLARS at work, and an excellent example of how stimulus dollars are being applied at a local level. If you’re an entrepreneur, and need help getting started this is the best $350 you could possibly invest in your new business.
The Entrepreneur’s Network is now accepting applications for its next class, which begins September 23, 2009. Based on best practices of leading entrepreneurial training, education and networking programs, TEN’s mission is to grow life sciences, technology-based, and/or scalable, high-revenue potential firms across the upstate region. TEN is an intense six-month program, focused on helping entrepreneurs - new or old - avoid the pitfalls that can limit growth or decrease the likelihood of securing investment. Even if you’re a proven entrepreneur, business is an ever-changing environment and we cover the latest strategies for improving sales, securing financing, building or enhancing business plans, and presenting your firm to key stakeholders - be it venture capitalists, banks, insurance companies, or potential customers. We constantly hear from our alums the message, “If only I knew these things before I got started. I could have saved so much time and done a better job!”
Class size is limited to 20 participants to allow for maximum interaction. The cost of this program is $7500 per participant, but thanks to the support of the County of Monroe, Finger Lakes WIRED, and COMIDA, the cost to you is only $350 per person - payable only if you’re accepted into the program. The deadline to submit is September 7, 2009.
Here’s the Class VIII schedule:
- September 23: Class VII Graduation AND Class VIII Kick-Off Celebration
- September 24-25: Derby Management Entrepreneurship Boot Camp
- October 15-16: Building Financial Models / Sources of Funding & Term Sheets
- November 12-13: Derby Management Sales Effectiveness Boot Camp
- December 1 and 15: Investor Presentation Boot Camp
The sessions lead by Jack Derby and George Simmons from Derby Management are invaluable, and bringing them to Upstate New York only raises the level of awareness of the business opportunities that exist here. Some of you may have heard Jack present the keynote address at the last Rochester Regional Business Planning Competition. If you’re interested in participating in this year’s program, click on the TEN Membership Application to register.
If you’re interested, or have any questions, feel free to drop Jean Kase a note at jkase@monroecounty.govor call at 585.753.2031. For more information you can check out TEN’s website: www.ten-ny.org
Rochester Open Coffee Club announces July meeting
July 7, 2009
The Rochester Open Coffee Club will hold it’s July open meeting for high tech entrepreneurs at the Bagel Bin in Pittsford at 8:30am on Friday July 10th. The meeting is held in the back meeting room, off the main dining room. Deb Labudde describes the next meeting as follows:
“For July’s ROCC meeting, we will be joined by Dennis Kessler, an active local angel investor, executive professor of business administration at the William E. Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester, and co-owner of Kessler Restaurants, LLC, the largest Friendly’s franchisee in the country. Dennis earned a Law Degree from Yale University, a Master’s Degree from the City University of New York and a Bachelor’s from John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. ”
For more information or to sign up for updates or to attend the meeting please visit the website at: http://www.rochestercoffeeclub.com/blog/
