Fostering the Genius of Entrepreneurialism
Helping Build-Up the Builders of our Economy
I recently spent a few days with the good people at the Edward Lowe Foundation. The foundation encourages entrepreneurship as the source and strategy for economic growth, community development and economically independent individuals. The founder, Edward Lowe, was an entrepreneur himself.
In 1947, Ed was approached by a neighbor who was tired of cleaning up sooty paw prints from using ashes in her cat’s litter box. She was asking for sand, but Ed recommended clay instead, because it was much more absorbent than sand and didn’t track all over the house. Ed figured that others would also appreciate the product, so he filled 10 brown bags with clay, wrote the name “Kitty Litter” on them and called on the local pet store. Although dubious, the pet store agreed to see what happened, and soon cat owners were regularly requesting Ed’s product.
After creating a billion-dollar industry that established the cat as one of the nation’s most popular pets, Edward Lowe set his creative sights on another goal — fostering and nurturing the American entrepreneur. As a result, Ed committed a good part of his fortune to create “… a whole campus for entrepreneurs” at a private 2,500-acre complex outside his boyhood hometown of Cassopolis, Michigan. In 1991, he donated this estate for the headquarters of the Edward Lowe Foundation.
The program I attended was focused specifically on Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) and tools they can use to support entrepreneurial development in their communities. As we see downsizing occurring across the country and in Brevard County, fostering the entrepreneurial spirit becomes even more important for the health and well-being of our community.
As an entrepreneur, you literally give birth to your company or idea. You are the creator, technician, and employee. You are making all of the decisions and are intimately involved in all aspects of your company. At that point, a first-stage entrepreneur (with usually 1-9 employees) is looking for all kinds of assistance and education, because they are literally doing “everything” in their company. They may not excel at financial management or employee management, but they are learning quickly and handling the decisions of the company.
As an entrepreneur moves into second-stage, however, the challenges change. At that point, the entrepreneur has to stop working in the company, and start working on the company. That means learning to let go and learning to trust others with decisions. Second-stage entrepreneurs need to build a trusted team to allow them to begin delegating responsibilities. To do that, however, they have to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and build a team that complements their talents. They have to develop systems in their organization to give direction to the team, so that they are not forced to be involved in every decision. When you are the creator of the company it sometimes becomes difficult to let go, but it has to occur in order for the entrepreneur to focus forward.
Second-stage entrepreneurs create lots of opportunity for organizations like Chambers of Commerce, but they are looking for organizations that have cultures similar to their own: fast-paced, willing to take risk, audience-focused, and relevant! They have less tolerance for cookie-cutter programs that are designed for everyone. They are interested in segmented, focused programs that provide solutions for their problems. They look to our organizations to be a trusted source of information, and will contribute to those entities that provide the resources they need.
In addition, second-stage entrepreneurs create incredible opportunity for their community. According to youreconomy.org, an Edward Lowe Foundation resource, between 1993 and 2007, second-stage entrepreneurs accounted for only 13% of the total business community in the United States, but they accounted for 42% of the job growth.
So, as entrepreneurs, I ask you: where are you in the development of your company? Are you engaged in decisions about survival or are you dealing with issues surrounding growth? Do you have the intent to grow, and more importantly, do you have the capacity to grow? Do you have a group of trusted advisors that you look to when you are making tough decisions about your company? Are you working ON your business instead of IN your business? And how are we, as Entrepreneur Support Organizations, helping you to succeed? We stand ready to assist businesses in all stages of development and welcome the challenge and opportunity to serve your needs and provide relevance to your business.
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Marcia Gaedcke is the president and CEO of the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce and can be contacted at gaedcke@titusville.org
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