Xtreme Examples

I previously blogged about finding something that you are passionate about and then making a business out of it. Here are a few more examples found on entrepreneur.com of some Xtreme entrepreneurs -- that have found ways to follow their passion and make a buck or two!

Carey Hart, Professional freestyle motocrossrider and reality TV star
Business ventures - Owner and founder of Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company, a tattoo shop and clothing line with locations in Honolulu; Las Vegas; Orlando, Florida; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; owner and founder of Wasted Space, a new rock-inspired nightclub set to open this spring at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas

Eric Robinson, Off-road dirt bike rider, motocross rider, mountain biker, snowboarder and triathlete
Business ventures - College Park Industries, manufacturer of prosthetic feet, and founder of the Extremity Games, a sports event for athletes with limb loss and limb difference

Marc Frank Montoya and Liko S. Smith, Snowboarders; Montoya boards professionally
Business ventures - Co-founders of THE BLOCK Hotels, a chain of hotels designed for snowboarders with locations in Lake Tahoe and Big Bear Lake, California; Montoya is also co-owner of Sound Outerwear, maker of snowboarding gear and founder of DumbFounded PerduKshinz, a DJ company; Smith is also founder of Rogue Hospitality

Izzy and Coco Tihanyi, Surfers; Izzy formerly surfedcompetitively
Business venture - Surf Diva, a surf school and surf apparel company for women

For the full article, follow this link.

So many ways to communicate, So little time

With the rise of the Internet, the way business is conducted has changed. There are many web resources (and a lot of them are free) that can help you as an entrepreneur to communicate, network and ultimately, increase your chances of being successful.  Of course, due to the high number of web applications, you do need to spend your time wisely or you can easily become swept up. Thus, you need to determine which applications are most important to you. That question can be answered by determining which applications are most important and/or being used by your key stakeholders. Where will your existing and future customers be looking? What about your suppliers, investors, lenders, potential employees, etc.? When choosing among the many different web applications, you may also want to consider the cost, time required (upfront and going forward), usage, reputation and functionality.

Online telephone - In addition to being able to put your entire phone system on the Internet through a company such as Vonage (and thus bypassing the local, old-fashioned system all together - while saving a few bucks), you can also talk through many of the instant messaging systems and/or the rising favorite Skype.

Email - Free services are offered through many sites, although some of the more popular include Hotmail, Google or Yahoo. Or, for a small fee, you can have a customized email created such as one that goes with your website domain. This is an essential base for communication is today's world.

Internet Fax Services - You can easily send a fax from your computer. For a small fee, you can also have your faxes emailed to you (instead of printing off on your fax machine) -- which can be very beneficial for keeping an electronic copy of your faxes as well as being able to retrieve your faxes while traveling. Many different companies exist - check out MyFax.com!

Website - This is becoming an essential way of broadly communicating to the public what you do and who you are - while showing that you are a legitimate business. There are several build-it-yourself website hosts (i.e. godaddy, msn) or this is something that you can sub out to one of the many firms that exist.

Blogging (such as Blogger) - Like the blog you are reading, blogs can be used to offer information. Other uses include product updates, press releases, or simply to keep others updated on your day to day activities.

Social Networking - More and more social networking sites are popping up. Some of the most popular include MySpace or FaceBook. However, there are also many social networking sites that are specific to a specific industry or objective. For instance, PartnerUp.com is a networking site for entrepreneurs. 

File Sharing - If you have created helpful documents, or if you are looking for something in particular, you might also go to one of the many file sharing websites. One that is relevant to entrepreneurs and business owners is Docstoc.

Instant Messaging (such as Windows Live Messenger) - This is a great way to communicate in a way that I consider to be a cross between telephone and email. You can chat with others online in a real time environment. Who might these 'others' be? Well, some companies use instant messaging for usage between fellow employees while others offer 'chat' customer service.

Tweeting - Formed in 2006, Twitter.com allows users to 'stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?' It can become a bit addictive...but can also be used to get to know others better (or allow others to get to know you). Depending on your industry, this could be important.

Online Meetings - Need to schedule a meeting or training session across the country or in that matter, the world? Check out some of the online meeting websites (webex, GoToMeeting, etc.) where in addition to conferencing the voice aspect, you can also conduct a group chat and give a presentation!

Online Profiles - Similar to the bulky telephone book that you may have sitting on your desk, there are many, many different 'yellow page' sites on the web that show your profile. There are many other 'yellow page' type sites that await to hear from you to add and/or customize your profile. Such profiling sites can be general (i.e. yellowpages.com), industry specific (find your trade association online and get into their directory), geographic (such as your local city/county directory) or cater to some miscellaneous purpose.  

If you know of other web applications that you have come across, but that are not listed here, please leave a post!

Web Resources: Godaddy.com

Having a website is a great resource for any new or existing business. It offers a bit of legitimacy to your business, and can also serve as a way to spur customer traffic. Likewise, when you are able to use an email address associated with your domain, it moves you a step up in credibility from the free email services such as hotmail or google. But, where do you start?

About a year ago, I was watching TV and saw an ad for GoDaddy.com. Although I didn't necessarily care for their name, I was impressed when I heard that they were the world's largest domain registar. (It is true - according to their website, they manage over 27.1 million domain names!) As my husband and I had been contemplating hiring out the building of a webpage for the real estate business he had started, I decided to give it a try myself and save us a few bucks. For less than $60, I was able to purchase our domain name, have email addresses related to the domain and use their program to build and host our website for the next 12 months. (what a deal, huh?) Since then, I have built two other websites for family related businesses. In addition to their affordability, another benefit of GoDaddy.com is their customer service. Their support is available 24/7 and whenever I have used it (which has been a few times), they have been great. One of the negatives is that although their web software is easy to use, there is a learning curve associated with it and you do need to work within their templates (although they have quite a variety). If anyone out there has used GoDaddy.com or a different web hosting/building site, I welcome your comments.

Small World Phenomenon

Back in 1994, three college students in Pennsylvania came up with the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game. To give you a little background, there was a play out at the time called "Six Degrees of Separation" where it is presumed that you are at most only six steps (or people) away from meeting anyone in the world. So, for example, if you wanted to meet the President, it is likely that your mother works with someone who has a cousin that has a friend that works at the White House and knows the president. These particular students (after a bottle of Southern Comfort it is rumored) decided that Kevin Bacon rhymed nicely with 'separation' and decided to try this small world phenomenon out with applying it to the Hollywood scene. Thus, they examined all the Hollywood players to see if they were all connected to Kevin Bacon in 6 links or less. The game is now kept up by the University of Virginia and I encourage you if you haven't yet, to check it out: The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia. Or, if you are a baseball fan, you can check out how the small world phenomenon has been similarly applied at the Oracle of Baseball.

What relevance does this small world phenomenon have for entrepreneurs? Well, if you think about the concept that we are all connected to everyone else in the world by six people or less -- just think about the resources that are surrounding us - it just requires networking! So, if you have a great business idea, but just need some financing, start networking. If you need to find a good accountant, a business partner, an insider at the company you want to sell at, a technology expert or WHATEVER your need, start networking.

Best Practices

Subway is one of the top growing franchises in the world. If you were to invest in a Subway franchise, I imagine that your first question would be: What can I expect in terms of sales? Interestingly, if you take a closer look at their franchising brochures, Subway has a policy that 'no employee or agent of ours can provide you with projections as to your potential sales, earnings and profitability.' Instead, they encourage you to talk to other Subway owners. While this is largely due to legal reasons to be sure that they do not misguide you as an investor, their recommendation to talk to other Subway owners makes a lot of sense. In fact, it is the same thing I recommend all of the students and/or entrepreneurs that I work with - find some best practices and talk to them! You can learn a lot not only about what kind of sales projections you can expect, but also learn some great tips about what to do and what not to do. When you are looking for a best practice, look for another business that has a lot of similarities with you, but that are not necessarily a competitor. For instance, if you are going to open a mini golf course in a mid-sized college town, find a different mid-sized college town and talk to them! You may be surprised, as many business owners are more than happy to share their knowledge. And, who knows, you might just find someone to serve on your board of advisers and help you out indefinitely.

Getting help with business planning...

"I need to write a business plan. Can you help?" Given my prior consulting experience coupled with my degree in entrepreneurship, this is a question that I am frequently asked from friends, family, students and others that are interested in starting their own business. As I really like to write business plans (strange as that sounds), I am usually more than happy to help out. However, what I would like to discuss today are some pointers in what kind of help one should look for in putting together their business plan.

• You need to be involved in the business plan process. This is NOT something that you can completely outsource. Why? Because this is YOUR business and although I greatly suggest getting advice from others, you ultimately need to decide what business strategies you will take.
• Find a business plan outline, and then customize it to your specific business. If you are having difficulties finding a business plan outline, do a quick google search. There are MANY web resources. A simple place to start is the SBA. You could alternatively use one of the many books out there -- one that I frequently recommend is Business Plan in a Day by Rhonda Abrams.
• Write the first business plan draft yourself. This may be difficult, but the business plan is essentially a tool for you to determine if you have thought out all the little details that go into starting a business.
• Then, take your business plan to other "experts" in order to get some feedback. Think strategically here. If you are having a hard time with the financials, find a friend or acquaintance in your network that might be able to help here. Other "experts" can include consultants, friends, family members, other business owners, bankers, etc. This is a good time to start putting together your board of advisors whom you can develop a relationship with and come back for advice on a regular basis.
• Revise the business plan, and get more advice. Beware, as different "experts" might have differing opinions on what you should do. This is good -- as it will help you think out the many different paths your business can take. The ultimate decision is up to you
• Last, remember that your business plan is your road map for your business. You want to continuously update it and rely upon it as you plan out the direction you want to go.

Business planning is a lot of work. So is starting a business. Be prepared. Seek help. Be persistent.

"Social" Entrepreneurship

The concept of social entrepreneurship is becoming more common and accepted both in the media and academic worlds. Just what is social entrepreneurship? As summarized by Wikepedia, a social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.

There are many different examples of social entrepreneurs, but perhaps the best known social entrepreneur currently is Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Graneen Bank who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Another one of my favorite examples of a social entrepreneur is Pura Vida Coffee. Pura Vida (which translates to Pure Life - a common phrase in Costa Rica) was started by two Harvard grads who had the "radical idea of putting the power of capitalism to work for the direct benefit of people in the developing countries where coffee is grown."

There are many different forms of social entrepreneurship. On one end, you have a nonprofit that needs to act entrepreneurial to simply survive. In the past 20 years, the number of nonprofit organizations has multiplied, making it more difficult to obtain donors and requiring more justification and quantification of the social benefits being provided. By integrating entrepreneurial principles, nonprofits can become more competitive and more efficient in providing their social benefits. Some nonprofits are even creating for-profit entities to help financially sustain them and reduce their reliance solely upon donations.

On the other end, there are for-profit firms that want to provide both financial and social returns. Perhaps Ben & Jerry's ice cream is a good example, where they have a product, economic and social mission. The extent to which financial and social returns are emphasized varies on a continuum.

What does social entrepreneurship have to do with you? Well, if you are trying to brainstorm a business idea, think about the social needs that exist. If you already have a for-profit business, you can still find creative ways to incorporate the social issues that are important to you.