February Quarterly Connections: Insights from Successful Entrepreneurs
February 15, 2012
7:15 – 9 am
Flexware Innovation
9128 Technology Lane
Fishers, IN 46038
What does it take to get a business started?
How can you fund a new company?
How do you build a desirable culture?
How do you know when and how to grow your business?
Learn insights into these questions and many more from two highly successful local entrepreneurs!
The February Quarterly Connections will feature two of the mature business finalists in the EAC’s 2011 Entrepreneurship Celebration. Through an open discussion and question format, these highly successful entrepreneurs will share their insights in all aspects of starting and growing a successful business especially through tough economic times.
Gregg Gallant, Owner/President/Ceo of Allegient
Company website: www.allegient.com
Gregg has combined his passion for technology and management into an organization that has quickly become one of Indiana’s premier technology consulting firms.
David Decker, Owner/President/CEO of The Affordable Companies
Company website: www.The-AffordableCompanies.com
David Decker took his hobby and turned it into a successful company with a mission of becoming a legacy enterprise consisting of the most desired kitchen, bath and flooring franchisees in the nation.
Register by clicking here.
Registration fee is $15. Register by February 8 and receive a $5 discount! Enter “Early Bird” in the discount code box when registering.
Join us at starting at 7:15 for networking and coffee/pastries. The program will begin at approximately 7:45 a.m.
Technology Association of Hamilton County to Launch
The Hamilton County Alliance, the local economic development organization, is launching the Technology Association of Hamilton County. Information meetings have been held throughout the fall and the ideas/input from those meetings have been incorporated in the direction and plans for the Technology Association.
Mark you calendars for January 19 from 7:30-9 am for the launch event. Watch for more details.
The Alliance is ecstatic about the interest and enthusiasm of the technology community in this effort and is looking forward to making the Technology Association a member-focused association.
There are 7 peer groups identified within the Technology Association and several leaders have already stepped forward. Terri Eakins, Technology Partnership Group, Pat Chittenden, Ambrose Property Management, and Ron Brumbarger, BitWise Solutions have all agreed to lead peer groups. Members may select the peer group(s) their organization participates in.
As the Alliance prepares to launch the Technology Association in 2012, technology businesses are encouraged to join the Technology Association by the end of this year. This will position those organizations to be founding members of the Technology Association and leaders in the Association. Members will benefit from Collaboration, Strategic Intelligence, Visibility, and Talent. See the membership form for more details on each benefit area.
Click here to access the membership form. Technology Assoc Membership Form
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Cathy Langlois at 813-5413 or email her at cathy@goentrepreneurs.org
LifeAction Coaching, Inc.
by Jenn Kampmeier
Lynn Zettler always felt that she had more to offer the world than what she was offering in her corporate job. “Having gravitated to personal and professional development programs throughout my career, it became crystal clear to me when I read an article about professional coaching that I could contribute more by helping others through coaching.” She launched LifeAction Coaching in 2006 while she was still employed and provided coaching for her clients in the evenings. In 2010 she decided to take the leap into business ownership and has never looked back.
“LifeAction Coaching, Inc. is a full service coaching firm which offers team building workshops, professional and personal development workshops, assessments and coaching for business teams and individuals, and one to one coaching for executives, small business owners and professionals. LifeAction Coaching also offers a specialized coaching curriculum for patent professionals and managers which includes IP portfolio strategy development for their business.”
When asked about her involvement in the community, Zettler certainly keeps herself very busy, and very involved. “I am currently the President of a coaching non-profit called A Hand Up Coaching, which provides coaching to women who are enhancing their lives and increasing their standards but don’t have the resources to pay for coaching. We have an army of volunteer coaches and we match them with deserving women who come to us from our affiliates, such as Dress for Success or PreVail. I am also currently working with a group of Eritrean refugees (Eritrea is a small country located just south of Ethiopia, www.freeeritrea.org) who live in Nora and are acclimating to our American culture. I am coaching one of them as he initiates a professional cleaning business, which will provide jobs for refugees as they enter the Indianapolis area. I am also the new chair of the membership committee for the National Association of Women Business Owners here in Indianapolis and President of Infoconnection2, a mastermind networking group. I also volunteer in the Carmel school system to present a module on inventions and 
patents for 5th graders.”
This is the first business that Zettler has ever owned; I asked her what she thought about leaving corporate America, and being on the other side. “It has been an eye opening experience after leaving the perceived security and constancy of a corporate job. It has been invigorating and challenging all at once. It’s amazing to me how many business owners there are who are out there ‘making it’ on a day to day basis. They have an energy and spunk like no other and I learn so much from them in my networking and coaching encounters.”
What has been the greatest challenge for Zettler? “My biggest challenge came very quickly in learning what activities were worthwhile and which activities were not. When you are first starting out you feel like you need to do everything or you will miss an opportunity. However, very quickly you see that you could fill your whole day with networking meetings and not have any time left to actually do any paid work! One way to do that is to get very clear about defining your perfect client and mission critical activities. You have to make some choices and you need to learn to say no to a lot of things. It’s a real learning process.”
As a coach, any advice for someone wanting to start their own business? “First, get very clear on your customers and mission critical activities. If you are a new business owner who is still wearing all of the hats, don’t be afraid to get creative with your delegation or outsourcing. Would it really cost you that much to have a virtual assistant, bookkeeper or publicist who will free up time for you to focus more on sales? Many times we focus more on the cost than on the benefit, and in reality, the benefit brings exponentially more value.”
Celebrating Entrepreneurship
We believe Hamilton County is a great place to start a business. As a matter of fact, many entrepreneurs have. We hope you will join us as we celebreate the accomplishments of several of these companies at our first Entrepreneurship Celebration on October 27th from 7:30-9:00 am at the Monon Center East in Carmel.
At this community event we will recognize the achievements of innovative business owners and the positive impacts they have in our communities We will also announce the winner of the 2nd Annual Community Business Plan Competition at the event.
John Wechsler is the featured speaker for the Entrepreneurship Celebration breakfast. John is a Partner at DeveloperTown, an Indianapolis-baed venture development firm. He works with high-potential ventures on business strategy issues, early customer development, sales, marketing, business development and fundraising.
You are invited to show your support by becoming an awards breakfast sponsor. This is an excellent opportunity to not only show your support of the finalist but also to gain recognition for your role in the success of the finalist.
We hope you will support your friends and associates at our awards breakfast.
Click here to learn more and to register.
The New EAC Logo: Onward and Upward
The EAC has undergone some big changes in its short lifespan. We’ve changed from being a part of a larger organization to standing on our own two feet as an independent not-for-profit. We’re different and new. And it’s about time our logo and website reflected that.
The corporate browns and blacks of our old logo fit us at one time, but we wanted a logo that conveyed a greater sense of motion, with the arrow swooping upwards as we spur entrepreneurs on to ever greater heights. The bright green and blue help convey energy and a willingness to look towards the future for the latest and greatest idea.
We’ll be unveiling our new look soon, so make sure to check back frequently!
Entrepreneur of The Month
Beth Johnson, Owner, Fish Face Photo Booths and winner of the first annual EAC Community Business Plan Competition:
Tell us about Fish Face Photo Booths.
FF manufactures and sells Photo Booths to clients across the country.
How did you come up with the name for your business?
I was at a bridal show and a girl talked about the funny fish face she made in the booth. I thought the name was catchy and a great name.
How has your business changed since winning the EAC business plan competition?
I have received great advice from advisors and I was able to make quick changes to our business plan that led us in the right direction.
What do you like most about owning your own business?
I like the freedom to create products and make my own decisions.
As a business owner, what keeps you up at night?
Loose ends and technical issues with products.
What one characteristic do you think successful entrepreneurs must have?
DRIVE
What do you most like to do with your free time?
Relaxing and not doing anything!
Define your Market and Your Competitive Advantage
By John Marske, M&I Bank
EAC Board Member
The most challenging aspect of any business plan consists of convincing investors of your company’s competitive advantage. The first step is defining your target market. Are you targeting the mass market or are you targeting a specific niche market with unique, specialized needs? Once you define the market (in terms of total dollars), you must state a percentage of that market that you reasonably believe you can capture. Is the market growing, or is it a stagnate market?
The second step is defining your competitive advantage to capture that market.
If you are a start-up, it will be extremely difficult to convince investors that you can compete on price, unless you have some innovative, patented technology that makes you more efficient. After all, what will prevent larger firms, with a lower cost of funding, from duplicating your strategy? Few investors will believe that price-conscious customers will be loyal customers.
If you’re not competing on price, how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
Do you have an existing customer base that will follow you in your new business? You need to communicate the size of that customer base, and communicate why they will remain loyal to your business.
Do you have an in-house knowledge base superior to your competition? Prove it. If you can’t prove superior knowledge to investors, how will you be able to prove superior knowledge to potential customers?
Do you have a specific branding strategy that will promote customer loyalty? Outline a financial plan for promoting that brand.
Do you have a unique product or service that is creating a whole new market that doesn’t currently exist? How do you define that market? Is your product a compelling substitute product for an existing market?
If you can answer the above questions with factual research, you are well on your way to completing a solid business plan. All that remains is inputting the numbers to convince yourself, as well as potential investors, that you have a sustainable business.
Focus on Entrepreneurship
By Frank Howard, L5 Solutions
EAC Board Member
For those of you who have not taken the opportunity to visit the home page of the EAC, it lists the following beliefs that are core to the organization:
- Entrepreneurship is the economic engine of our economy.
- Entrepreneurial education is a lifelong learning process, starting at elementary school and progressing through adulthood.
- The right support, provided at the right time, will empower individuals to choose an entrepreneurial path that will culminate in innovative, sustainable businesses that create jobs and build a healthy economy.
- Supporting entrepreneurial businesses will create an economically vibrant community.
Fortunately, we are not alone in these beliefs. Effective July 1st, the state of Indiana now has a “Young Entrepreneurs Program” that was recently signed into law. It establishes a program that focuses on community economic growth while providing entrepreneurs from state educational institutions an opportunity to start a business in Indiana. Details can be found in House Bill 1251. In summary, it provides a program through the IEDC where at least once a year there is an auction where communities can bid on businesses/startups that have gone through the application process and met certain requirements. The selected bid is legally binding between the two parties.
What do you think about this program, its goals, and possible success? Does it conjure images for you as it did me… a version of the TV program “Shark Tank” with Indianapolis Mayor Ballard sitting next to Carmel Mayor Brainard talking trash about why their deal is a better one for the home grown Indiana entrepreneur.
Like all ideas, the difficulty is in the execution. Regardless of the program’s success, I am excited that we are not alone. We are fortunate enough to live in a state that sees the value of entrepreneurship and makes it a focus of our state’s economic development.
To learn more about this bill see the following state website links:
The Expert Economy
Adam Hoeksema, Client Services Manager at the Flagship Enterprise, will be leading an EAC workshop on June 2 from 7:30-9: a.m. Hear from Adam about the Expert Economy. For more information and to register click here.
Why Write a Business Plan?
By Kevin Jones, Small Business Development Center
Young entrepreneurs, and even some older, experienced ones, sometimes balk when asked to write a business plan. They may argue that taking time to write a business plan diverts them from actually working on the business itself – developing product details, lining up vendors, making customer contacts, etc. Or they may be in a dynamic industry in which a written business plan would be out of date as soon as the ink is dry on the page. The impetus for writing a business plan usually comes from an outside stimulus, such as the need for financing or the prize package that’s awarded to the winner of a business plan competition. The financial incentive is certainly a viable motive for preparing a written business plan. But there are several other very good reasons why an entrepreneur should take the time and put forth the effort to develop a solid, written plan. Writing a plan forces you to consider important issues and to answer fundamental questions about your business before you actually start the business. As such, it helps you to organize your thoughts, as well as your resources, on paper before you start spending money – whether it’s your own or an investor’s. A business plan enables you to communicate the specifics of your business idea to others, including business advisors, potential suppliers and major customers, and family and friends. Your plan will provide a “yardstick” against which you can measure your progress during the initial years of your business. And research has shown that businesses that start with a formal business plan are considerably more likely to succeed than those that go without a written plan. Perhaps the most important reason an entrepreneur should take time to research, organize and write a business plan is that he/she will get a tremendous boost in confidence with a business plan in hand. The confidence–building effect stems from all of the reasons cited above. Entrepreneurs are often described as risk-takers. That doesn’t mean they thrive on taking unnecessary risks. Successful entrepreneurs are those who take calculated risks. A good business plan reduces risk.
What are your thoughts on writing a business plan?
