Congratulations to JG Management Systems on their recognition as one of 2009's “Colorado’s Companies to Watch".
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
JGMS is a Colorado Company to Watch
Congratulations to JG Management Systems on their recognition as one of 2009's “Colorado’s Companies to Watch".
Friday, November 6, 2009
When everyone means nothing.
From Seth Godin's Blog: Everyone is clueless
The problem with "everyone" is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you've got you end up with almost nothing.
Everyone doesn't go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn't give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.
You don't want everyone. You want the right someone.
Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who will spread the word.
As soon as you start focusing on finding the right someone, things get better, fast. That's because you can ignore everyone and settle in and focus on the people you actually want.
Here's a video that David sent over. I am thrilled at how much this guy loves his job, and I'm inspired by his story of how he turned down Pepsi as a vendor. He turned them down. But everyone wants Pepsi! Exactly. Once he decided he wanted someone, not everyone, his life got a lot better.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/11/everyone-is-clueless.html
The problem with "everyone" is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you've got you end up with almost nothing.
Everyone doesn't go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn't give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.
You don't want everyone. You want the right someone.
Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who will spread the word.
As soon as you start focusing on finding the right someone, things get better, fast. That's because you can ignore everyone and settle in and focus on the people you actually want.
Here's a video that David sent over. I am thrilled at how much this guy loves his job, and I'm inspired by his story of how he turned down Pepsi as a vendor. He turned them down. But everyone wants Pepsi! Exactly. Once he decided he wanted someone, not everyone, his life got a lot better.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/11/everyone-is-clueless.html
Friday, October 16, 2009
Business Incubator Center NEWS
Entrepreneurship & the Incubator Center in the local press
Have you see it? Recently a number of articles / new stories have run on entrepreneurship, growing businesses and the Incubator Center. Check out this list of recent articles: http://www.gjincubator.org/about/campusnews.php It is really exciting to see so many interesting ideas and growing companies blooming in Grand Valley.
Co-working Spaces – it’s a trend!
Many entrepreneurs discover that after a few weeks of working in bunny slippers, their home offices leave them feeling isolated and enervated. Recently, co-working spaces have begun to spring up, offering home-based entrepreneurs a part-time desk where they can find structure, camaraderie and advice. Entrepreneur
Building a factory on your desktop
Ponoko, a New Zealand company, developed a laser cutter that can follow patterns downloaded from the Internet, allowing would-be designers anywhere in the world to create complex shapes in wood and plastic. Artists and entrepreneurs use Ponoko's cutters to make small batches of toys, lampshades and other products. CEO David ten Have says he believes the devices have the potential to turn everyone into a manufacturer. Inc.
Have you see it? Recently a number of articles / new stories have run on entrepreneurship, growing businesses and the Incubator Center. Check out this list of recent articles: http://www.gjincubator.org/about/campusnews.php It is really exciting to see so many interesting ideas and growing companies blooming in Grand Valley.
Co-working Spaces – it’s a trend!
Many entrepreneurs discover that after a few weeks of working in bunny slippers, their home offices leave them feeling isolated and enervated. Recently, co-working spaces have begun to spring up, offering home-based entrepreneurs a part-time desk where they can find structure, camaraderie and advice. Entrepreneur
Building a factory on your desktop
Ponoko, a New Zealand company, developed a laser cutter that can follow patterns downloaded from the Internet, allowing would-be designers anywhere in the world to create complex shapes in wood and plastic. Artists and entrepreneurs use Ponoko's cutters to make small batches of toys, lampshades and other products. CEO David ten Have says he believes the devices have the potential to turn everyone into a manufacturer. Inc.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Colorado Business Incubation Association Fall Conference
The Colorado Business Incubation Association (CBIA) promotes entrepreneurship throughout Colorado. One of CBIA’s objectives is to provide training and education to its members in the form of one-day conferences twice a year. The programs for these conferences include “lessons learned” from seasoned business incubator managers, legislative updates, identification of resources and many other topics that provide valuable information to planned, emerging and established business incubators.Fall Conference 2009 is being held at the award winning Grand Junction Business Incubator Center on Thursday, October 8th. The theme of this one-day conference is “Business Incubation During These Changing Economic Times”. You will hear from seasoned incubator managers and representatives from organizations that fund incubator start-up costs and ongoing operations and also tour the Business Incubator Center. At the end of the day, we will enjoy some great networking time as we tour two wineries and finish with dinner at the Wine Country Inn!
Click to view the full-day Conference Program and download the Registration Form. Please contact Michelle Alcott (malcott21@comcast.net) or Vicki Jenings (vjenings@colobio.com) if you have questions.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Second Annual COLORADO ENTREPRENEURSHIP MARKETPLACE...business starts here.
Do you want to start your own small business?Do you want to take your small business to the next level?
October 9, 2009
8:00am to 7:00pm - a full-day, but feel free to come and go as you like.Two Rivers Convention CenterGrand Junction, CO
Event Schedule
Six Session TracksAgri-Businness . Financing . Retail & Business Development . Marketing . Community Development . Technology
Click HERE for a detailed outline of the day's events: Event Schedule.
Feel free to come for the whole day or just the session you are most interested in. The $30 registration cost covers as many sessions as you would like to attend. Don't miss the keynote address from Curt Richardson of OtterBox at 3:45pm.
For more information go to http://www.ruralcolorado.org/events-calendar-1/coloentrmrktplace, or call: Michelle Alcott, CRDC Business Manager 303-934-9117 303-934-9117 . malcott@ruralcolorado.org
A success for ALL of Rural Colorado!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Summer Open Market
This FRIDAY the Business Incubator Center will hold a Summer Open Market Place and Treasure Hunt. The event will feature dozens of vendor booths showcasing a variety of our clients from throughout the Valley, live music (Pineapple Crackers!), a business treasure hunt with HUGE prizes, and for the kids, a bump-n-jump, face painting and balloon tying.See you at the Summer Market Place, on Friday July 17, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the BIC campus parking lot.
Now hear thisThe key to problem solving is active listening, yet human beings internalize just 25% to 50% of what they hear, writes psychiatrist Steven Berglas. To be a better listener, Berglas argues that entrepreneurs need to slow down, stop worrying about their image and stop being defensive. Most of all, he suggests, drop the "been there, done that" attitude that gets in the way of taking good advice. Forbes
When customers become consultants
When customers become consultants
From company names to product design, entrepreneurs are using the Web to give customers input into every aspect of a business, as this article notes. Customers are much cheaper than consultants, and they may also become passionate supporters of companies that engage them. But one Babson College professor warns that too much crowdsourcing can strangle innovation. The Wall Street Journal
Indicators of Entrepreneurial Tendencies
Indicators of Entrepreneurial Tendencies
A newly released report by the Kauffman Foundation, Anatomy of an Entrepreneur, reveals that the majority of entrepreneurs had early propensity toward starting companies, judging by their academic performance and socio-economic backgrounds. Kauffman: Anatomy of an Entrepreneur / WSJ: Anatomy Of An Entrepreneur May Not Be What You Think
CAMPUS NEWS
CAMPUS NEWS
The Price is Right, Right? Establishing Fair Market Value to Buy or Sell a Business.
What would be a fair listing price for a business and how is it determined? Will a lender finance the acquisition? Does selling a business within the industry provide opportunity to command a premium price? Join Mike Schaack, President of The Redstone Group, Ltd., Matt Mayer, President of Mayer Medical Technologies, Inc., and Chris Reddin, Executive Director of the Business Incubator Center in learning about the roles of market analysis and business evaluation in developing a realistic business worth assessment. Cost is $50.Date: Wednesday, August 12 from 8 am - noon
LEADING EDGE – Business Plan Development Program
The Leading Edge Program is an intensive training course that provides business owners and entrepreneurs with expert guidance in the areas of cash flow management, marketing, finance, personnel, legal issues, and more. Each participant will receive hands-on assistance in preparing a complete business plan. Tuition is $275, and includes the NXLEVEL Guide for Entrepreneurs and the NXLEVEL Business Plan Workbook and Resource Guide. When: August 18 - November 10, 200912 Sessions Tuesdays from 6:00 – 9:00 pm Call to register as soon as possible as the class does have a cap on the number of participants and it normally sells out.
Tax Plan Workout: Dealing with the Business Tax Maze
This informative presentation will help you simplify some otherwise confusing tax issues such as tracking and paying all business taxes, computing & filing payroll taxes, depreciation of home or auto use in business, subcontracting vs. employment, sales tax as well as unemployment and use taxes. Cost is $45. Instructor, Pamela J. Belcher, CPA, has many years experience working with entrepreneurs in Mesa County. Other speakers include representatives from the Colorado Dept. of Revenue, Dept. of Labor and Employment and the Mesa County Assessor's Office. When: Thursday, August 20, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (lunch on your own from noon to 1 pm)
Get the word out! Incubator Clients, let us help promote your success! I am sure that many of you have seen the weekly articles in the Free Press featuring client companies. Well, that support is just one of many ways we can help get the word out about your business. We have a close working relationship with the Daily Sentinel and the local TV news stations as well. We have recently updated our website (www.gjincubator.org) and would love post videos, stories, pictures, snippets, or blurbs about your business. Please send any news you have to creddin@gjincubator.org.
Join us on LinkedIn
This informative presentation will help you simplify some otherwise confusing tax issues such as tracking and paying all business taxes, computing & filing payroll taxes, depreciation of home or auto use in business, subcontracting vs. employment, sales tax as well as unemployment and use taxes. Cost is $45. Instructor, Pamela J. Belcher, CPA, has many years experience working with entrepreneurs in Mesa County. Other speakers include representatives from the Colorado Dept. of Revenue, Dept. of Labor and Employment and the Mesa County Assessor's Office. When: Thursday, August 20, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (lunch on your own from noon to 1 pm)
Get the word out! Incubator Clients, let us help promote your success! I am sure that many of you have seen the weekly articles in the Free Press featuring client companies. Well, that support is just one of many ways we can help get the word out about your business. We have a close working relationship with the Daily Sentinel and the local TV news stations as well. We have recently updated our website (www.gjincubator.org) and would love post videos, stories, pictures, snippets, or blurbs about your business. Please send any news you have to creddin@gjincubator.org.
Join us on LinkedIn
Collaboration amongst peers is one of the most important benefits to being part of the Business Incubator Center community. To help enrich this aspect of the program, we would like to suggest that if you are not already a user of the social networking site LinkedIn, please consider joining! The Business Incubator Center now has a group on LinkedIn, and we would like to invite all of you to join us. The more people who are in the group, the more valuable a resource it will become to the Business Incubator Center community. As the community grows, you will be able to find colleagues who may be in similar industries or facing similar growth issues, and it will serve as just one more way that the community can help businesses grow and prosper.
The Business Incubator Center
To learn more about how to use LinkedIn to help grow your business go to: http://learn.linkedin.com/entrepreneurs/
The Business Incubator Center is now on Facebook. Click here and login to become a fan and have Business Incubator Center news, events, and videos posted to your personal Facebook page.
TOASTMASTERS: Become the Speaker & Leader You Want to Be
Join us as the downtown Toastmasters meeting moves to the Incubator Campus! Toastmasters participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian. There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.
Good communicators tend to be good leaders. Incubator Clients are welcome! Attend a meeting or two to observe and participate as much as you like, but membership is required for additional participation.
When: Every Thursday at noon
Where: in the Training Room
The GYM is open! The Business Incubator Center is excited to open a gym on campus that will provide all Incubator Client Companies and their Staff the opportunity to meet their fitness goals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more details or to get a guided tour of our 540 sf facility, contact Kjersti (khudson@gjincubator.org ) or Katie at the front desk. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2009!
Video Lab Training Session
Topic: Learn to use the new video lab…and make better use of your website.
When: Call Chris to schedule a time
Where: in the video lab on the second floor of the technology building
Good communicators tend to be good leaders. Incubator Clients are welcome! Attend a meeting or two to observe and participate as much as you like, but membership is required for additional participation.
When: Every Thursday at noon
Where: in the Training Room
The GYM is open! The Business Incubator Center is excited to open a gym on campus that will provide all Incubator Client Companies and their Staff the opportunity to meet their fitness goals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more details or to get a guided tour of our 540 sf facility, contact Kjersti (khudson@gjincubator.org ) or Katie at the front desk. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2009!
Video Lab Training Session
Topic: Learn to use the new video lab…and make better use of your website.
When: Call Chris to schedule a time
Where: in the video lab on the second floor of the technology building
Monday, June 22, 2009
NEWS June 22, 2009
The Coming Entrepreneurial Boom
Economists know that entrepreneurship will drive the economy back to health, but many people may be surprised to learn that the baby boom generation is behind the wheel, according to a new study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The study, "The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom," found that several facts have emerged in the course of Kauffman Foundation research that indicate the United States might be on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom -- not in spite of an aging population but because of it. Kauffman Foundation
Ugly shoes, beautiful story
Economists know that entrepreneurship will drive the economy back to health, but many people may be surprised to learn that the baby boom generation is behind the wheel, according to a new study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The study, "The Coming Entrepreneurship Boom," found that several facts have emerged in the course of Kauffman Foundation research that indicate the United States might be on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom -- not in spite of an aging population but because of it. Kauffman Foundation
Ugly shoes, beautiful story
Margot Fraser tried on her first pair of Birkenstocks during a tour of German health spas in 1966. She liked them so much she talked the manufacturer into a U.S. distributorship, only to find that no shoe retailers would touch the clunky, cork-soled sandals. Undeterred, Fraser exhibited at a health-food store convention and quickly signed up 20 or 30 customers. In the '70s, "the new generation adopted them as an emblem," helping Birkenstock USA become a $50 million company. Inc.
CALLING FOR VENDORS!
This July the Business Incubator Center will hold a Summer Open Market Place and Treasure Hunt. The event will feature vendor booths showcasing a variety of our clients from throughout the Valley, live music, a business treasure hunt with prizes, and for the kids, a bump-n-jump, face painting and balloon tying. The Summer Market Place will take place July 17, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and will be located at the BIC campus parking lot. We expect approximately 300 to 400 attendees and guarantee an afternoon and evening of fun while celebrating local business and entrepreneurship.
How do you get involved?
CALLING FOR VENDORS!
This July the Business Incubator Center will hold a Summer Open Market Place and Treasure Hunt. The event will feature vendor booths showcasing a variety of our clients from throughout the Valley, live music, a business treasure hunt with prizes, and for the kids, a bump-n-jump, face painting and balloon tying. The Summer Market Place will take place July 17, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and will be located at the BIC campus parking lot. We expect approximately 300 to 400 attendees and guarantee an afternoon and evening of fun while celebrating local business and entrepreneurship.
How do you get involved?
- Mark your calendars – Friday, July 17 from 2:00pm to 8:00pm
- Want to have a booth to showcase your products or service? Vendor applications are available. Contact Annalisa Pearson for details: apearson@gjincubator.org or 243-5242 or register your booth here.
- Be a sponsor! Contact Chris Reddin to talk about of potential event sponsorship opportunities: creddin@gjincubator.org or 243-5242.
- Tell a friend... no tell all your friends and co-workers!
As you know, here in the Grand Valley we are a community that prides itself on its independence and ability to create our own prosperity. In these times of economic uncertainty, it is critical that our community seizes upon the opportunities at hand and that we do all we can to grow our own businesses. This work is exactly what we do at the Business Incubator Center. Today we are supporting hundreds of clients as they start and grow the businesses that will lead our community to forward. We are very excited to put on this event to highlight these businesses and show the community the opportunities, innovation and positive growth we see every day in our clients.
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