SOUTHEAST

     ENTERPRISE

     FACILITATION

     PROJECT

 

 

     Nancy Larsen, Facilitator

      501 South Broadway/ PO Box 106

      Marion, South Dakota 57043

      (605) 648-2909 or (888) 233-1239

      Fax (605) 648-3778

      email: sefp@southeasternelectric.com

      Website: www.sefp.com

 

 

 

      Jan-July 2005 calendar year:

          43 Inquiries

          20 Clients enrolled

     

              5  New Business Established

             Rich’s Welding & Machine, Freeman

               Riverside Heating & Cooling, Olivet

               LPL LLC, Marion

               3D Aviation, Monroe

               K and J Photography, Parker                 

              2  Expanded Businesses

             Dollar Daze, Centerville    

               Eich Law Office LLC, Parker

         

              1  Retained Businesses

             Irene Standard Service & Repair

     

                     11 New Jobs

               6 Retained Jobs

          16 Business Plans

 

 

“Creating opportunities, increasing economic vitality 

and enhancing quality of life”

  My Grandpa & Grandma Olson had a farm, a gas station and a restaurant over the years and each Saturday night they went to town and sold or bartered the eggs and cream, they ate ice cream at the local soda shop and socialized with the neighbors.  Watching this stimulated the following generations to entrepreneurial ventures from retail establishments selling paint, carpet, household cleaners, clothing & porcelain imports, baseball cards & collectibles, website store to a day care, General Contractor business and our dairy farm.   Many have a story similar to mine.  Farming is now “big business” but the agriculture industry represents the minority.  Today, farmers and ranchers have to add value to their raw commodities in order to make a modest living.

  Most entrepreneurs start from modest beginnings—69% of the Inc Magazine’s 500 fastest growing firms in the USA started with less than $50,000 in capital; 50% had businesses that were non-technical-related and 56% started their business at home.  It is a powerful idea to create a diverse pool of entrepreneurs with different motivations, whether for survival, lifestyle or wealth, who develop fast-growth enterprises.  It represents part of the American Dream that anyone can make it with a little bit of support and encouragement.1

  The entrepreneurial process revolves around four key factors: talent, opportunity, capital and know-how.  By understanding the forces behind these factors and by seeing how they relate to one another, it is possible to identify ways to support and accelerate the entrepreneurial process and thus provide not only economic but also social value to communities.   

1.         Talent—refers to individuals who recognize market opportunities and then create organizations to take advantage of those opportunities.  Two characteristics are significant in entrepreneurial activity and that is passion and pro-activity.

2.         Opportunity—an idea is always at the center of an opportunity but not all ideas are opportunities.  An opportunity is customer-driven.  It is rooted in meeting a real need in the marketplace, solving a real problem or filling a real niche within a reasonable time.

3.         Capital—the most elusive factor in the entrepreneurial process but a critical element for every venture.  The three sources of capital include: personal, social/public and private growth.  There is a direct correlation between the stages of growth of the company and the appropriate sources of capital to tap for that growth.

4.         Know-How—the most critical factor in ensuring the continued success of a venture.  Every entrepreneur must develop and/or acquire the skill and expertise to run an enterprise.  This involves the practical but essential ability to manage change both personally and organizationally.  Through education and training, entrepreneurs have access to expanding their know-how.2

  Over the past half century, we have witnessed industrial recruiting (smokestack chasing) from 1950—1980, doing whatever it took to lure a factory to town.  Deregulation in the early 1980’s ushered in cost competition.  The goal then was to cut costs for firms in a region, especially for large industrial firms.  In the 1990’s, as globalization of markets accelerated, regions were forced to shift out of old industries and seize new market opportunities.  Thus, the current era focuses on regional competitiveness, where innovation and entrepreneurship are the main drivers of growth.3 

  Entrepreneurs are the engines that propel fresh ideas and new technologies in each region and always have, in my opinion.  Human capital is now the chief asset, with infrastructure playing a secondary role but this is a message yet to become Federal or State policy.  Here in the Southeast Enterprise Facilitation Project area the Board and I see the need to assist passionate entrepreneurs, supply the technical assistance and enjoy the rewards when entrepreneurs celebrate their business start-up and expansion.                   

1  ”Mapping Rural Entrepreneurship”, Deborah Markley, co-director of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.  Study conducted by a grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Aug. 2003

2. “Entrepreneurship and Community Development”, Presented to a conference on Entrepreneurship as a Community Development Strategy:  Opportunities for Community Foundations by Raymond W. Smilor, KAUFFMAN CENTER for Entrepreneurial Leadership.  April 1997

3   “A Review of the Federal Role in Regional Economic Development” by Mark Drabenstott, VP & Director of the Center for the Study of Rural America and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  May 2005