What do you want entrepreneurs?

Well, it's officially been an incredibly long time since I've posted anything on Wyospace. Much apologies.

Today, I was thinking about what we and our partners at the University of Wyoming offer as far as programs that directly benefit entrepreneurs, which lead me to a question: What types of programs would be the most helpful to you as an entrepreneur?

Being Wyoming and all, we can't really offer any meaningful grant programs (which probably is ok) though we do have some pretty good loan programs for equipment and buildings.

Nonetheless, will you do me a favor and comment on this story with some ideas on things we could do to assist you better as an entrepreneur?

Appreciate it!

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

What makes an entrepreneur?

Occasionally, because the ridiculously long word is in my title, I get asked what the definition of "entrepreneur" is.

Most people probably think its anyone who has started a business, but I'm basically uncomfortable with that because it just doesn't seem right. Alas, today I was looking through an old book in my office and I found a pretty interesting perspective on what exactly makes up an entrepreneur.

Basically they share the Seven Perspectives on the Nature of Entrepreneurship. The title of the book is "Corporate Entrepreneurship" and is written by Michael H. Morris and Donald F. Kuratko.

Here are the seven perspectives. Good food for thought...

1. Creation of Wealth - Entrepreneurship involves assuming the risks associated with the facilitation of production in exchange for profit.

2. Creation of Enterprise - Entrepreneurship entails the founding of a new business venture where none existed before.

3. Creation of Innovation - Entrepreneurship is concerned with the unique combinations of resources that make existing methods or products obsolete.

4. Creation of Change - Entrepreneurship involves creating change by adjusting, adapting, and modifying one's personal repertoire, approaches and skills to meet different opportunities available in the environment.

5. Creation of Employment - Entrepreneurship is concerned with employing, managing, and developing the factors of production, including the labor force.

6. Creation of Value - Entrepreneurship is a process of creating value for customers by exploiting untapped opportunities.

7. Creation of Growth - Entrepreneurship is defined as a strong and positive orientation towards growth in sales, income, assets, and employment.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Stimulating - well, at the very least, helpful

First off, go Pokes!

Now, on to business...

The federal stimulus package contains loan fee reductions, higher guarantees, new Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, secondary market incentives, and enhancements to current SBA programs to help unlock credit markets for the nation's small business sector.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $730 million to SBA and makes changes to the agency's lending and investment programs so they can reach more small businesses that need help.

More inforamtion is available here.

The original SBA press release is on top with tons of other information on the page too.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Who wouldn't want to sell to someone who can print money?

I thought it was important to get the word out today about a conference coming up in a couple of weeks in Cody, Wyo.

It's called the Gro-Biz Conference and it's focused on how your business can sell to the deepest pockets in the world, the U.S. federal government.

This conference is the definition of legitimate (not some Mathew Lesko, buy my book balogna), featuring a speech from U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and procurement officers from multiple federal agencies looking to buy your goods and services.

You can find more information online at www.gro-biz.com. The conference will be held Feb. 18-19 at the Cody Holiday Inn.

We'll be there, and if you know what's good for your business, so will you!

See ya then!

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Idea Blob (kersphlat!)

So, this is going to be the definition of a short posting...

A couple of weeks ago I attended a conference in California that focused on entrepreneurial education.

One of the vendors at the tradeshow was called "ideablob.com". The site runs on an awesome concept where people throw out business ideas to the entire group of people online at ideablob, then users vote on which idea they think is the best for the week. Ideablob then awards $10,000 to the most popular idea.

They're able to do this because of sponsorship by Advanta. Nonetheless, give them a look and post some ideas. Maybe you could be the next $10,000 winner.

www.ideablob.com

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt Program Manager, WBC)