In the next few posts I will try to provide a series of practical hints to move from thinking to action – but smart action.

First – let’s look at some common myths!

1. Myth: It takes $100,000 to start a business in the US.
   .
   Fact: I am not sure why, but this $100,000 I keep hearing over an over. Fact is, most US companies start for a LOT less. In fact, according to a CNN article the average cost is about $10,000. And I would agree! But, this means some have started for a lot less.
   .
   .
2. Myth: Startup investment = growth potential.
   .
   Fact: It seems everyone I know is looking for the right investment deal to get things started. They know they need tons of money – often over $1 million just to get going. Yet, a lot of companies have started for less than $1000 and done very well. Think about Zappos, which started for $1000 and sold to Amazon for over $500 million! Not bad. And I have been in companies that have had major investment and no investment. Oddly, the ones which have cost less to start have made more money! The reasons are many – but the key is that starting small does not mean you will always be small.
   .
   .
3. Myth: It takes a certain kind of guts to start a company.
   .
   Fact: Maybe – but it takes a lot more guts to have your whole livelihood controlled by other people doing what we call a “job”. Most people tell me they have a secure job and would not trade it for the lack of security of being in their own business. Security – really? Who are they fooling?
   .
   .
4. Myth: I cannot start a company on the side. My current employer will not allow it.
   .
   Fact: This is another one I hear often. Usually it is followed by a story of “this guy” who started a company on the side was sued and had to give it up or quit the day job. Usually the one telling me the story does not know who “this guy” is. The story has circled the company and the details are left to the imagination. Are there such stories? Sure. If you start a company on the side which competes with your day job – your employer should stop you. But before you go with assumptions, check out the details and see what you can do. Ask the right people the right questions. Your employer does not own you – so they cannot be in control of what you do on your off time. Think about it … would your employer care if you had a yard sale? Would they care if you mowed lawns? Probably not. So get the real facts of what they are OK with and what they would frown upon. Then – if you can – find synergy.
   .
   .
5. Myth: I do not have an MBA or a business degree.
   .
   Fact: Good. Then you might actually succeed! MBAs and Business degrees are not about startups – they are about being middle management in large companies.

Others? What have I missed? Any other myths or truths you would like to add?

Dr. Dale Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB.

Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/13/sunday/main6577542.shtml?tag=exclsv

Looks like Ben and I were on the same wavelength today.

I couldn’t agree more.

Don Appleby has served since 2004 as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he teaches in the Information Engineering and Management Program. He has over three decades of professional experience in the information technology industry. Prof. Appleby is retired from IBM.Thanks to ProfAppleby.com for this article.

What are your thoughts on being an entrepreneur within a large organization? I have been thinking a lot about that recently and I think there is a need for that type of person too.

As I read this question, I felt they were 100% on target with this idea. In fact, my upcoming book Company of One is centered on this very topic. You see, in my view EVERYONE is an entrepreneur! We all have just forgotten this due to the way our culture thinks about JOBS. But we all make money in return for services provided. The only difference between us and the entrepreneur we typically think of is that we have decided we will take only one job with one customer. (Note – the fact that we have decided is critical!)

Intrapreneur

But I think the point this client was expressing was what we often hear as an INTRAPRENEUR – someone who does a new venture startup within a larger organization.

Lots of companies have entrepreneurs within them. Any time you see companies spinning off new products in a test market you are likely seeing a company within the company – especially if there is a large effort. For example, AT&T wireless spun out of BellSouth as BellSouth Mobility. Mobility originally had less than 100 people who went it “alone”. However, they had paying jobs and big bankrolls to start with – but everything was an entrepreneurial effort. This situation represents the least personal risk – but the upside is not nearly as good. Believe me – those who founded BellSouth Mobility are not feeling the bank account impact like those who founded Yahoo

I want it all

If you have the “entrepreneurial bug” but prefer not to do it all alone, the best thing would be to attach to a company that really loves such efforts. But the problem is that being an entrepreneur in a larger company is hard to do since it can take you years to get in the right position where it is accepted – or you are accepted. But then of course, you could always hire into the right position for entrepreneurship.

Join a startup

Perhaps a more practical approach might be to attach to a company that is a start-up. This approach brings more risk to you if they fail – but in a start-up company, every person is part of the team and part of all the decisions. The experience is exciting and fun – but can be a lot of work!

If you can make it into a company that is well funded and still not too big with someone who is a winner leading the charge– That is the ideal situation for most people who want to be in the environment of the entrepreneur – but are not the ones who start things.

In fact, many people who start companies actually got their start by being around new start-ups ;:)

Dr. Dale Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB.

Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

In the article Sierra Black writes a lot of good thoughts, but based on the feedback the article gets, the article leaves many people asking the question “what if I don’t have a plan B?” It is a fun thing to head off into the sunset and think you might actually reach your dream. Yet, when reality hits home you find the fear thinking you may be living without an income! This is the fear Pamela Slim calls the fear of ”living in a van down by the river” in her book Escape from Cubicle Nation. Pamela’s book is the ONLY on I know that deals head on with the fear in a realistic way.

Plan B

Well, to try and answer the questions about plan B, I think I need to say first: based on my clients, I have noticed that it is best to GROW INTO A BUSINESS instead of GO INTO A BUSINESS. I think this agrees with the spirit of Sierra’s post. I know many people who are making a ton of money on the side jobs – but they still have the “security” of a day job. One friend of mine quit his day job 6 months ago after seeing his part time business pull in over 4 times his “job” income for years. Not many of us want to risk it all like the high flying adventurer we hear about who put it all on the line – including family. In fact, I would suggest that while a few of those who risk it all actually win – and many win in a hollow victory having lost what is really most important.

What if it does NOT work?

Second, the question of “what if it does not work” is one with a lot of assumptions. You assume that after giving it a go you will be the same person. You assume that you will not have uncovered other opportunities. One client of mine went for it in a VC funded business. It did not work, but the connections he made have given him a great deal of work in other areas. He is not the same person as he was when he decided to go for it. He has never gone back to his plan B (which was to return to his old job) since he keeps finding new paths. And by the way – he often gets offers to take his old job back.

Many years ago I took a corporate buyout and did the same. It was a leap of faith – well – almost. I was financially stable in the move – so the risk to family was minimal. But, it was a leap of faith since I did not really know what was out there. But, I have never looked back – and I am where I am now because of the journey I took!

Dr. Dale Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB.

Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

If you are starting a new business and you really believe in what you’re doing, just go for it. Don’t sit on a great idea and never try it just because you don’t know how you’d be able to swing it.

I know this one guy. He is one of the smartest, most like-able guys I know. He is in his 50′s now, but right after high school he started at veterinary school. Being a vet was his dream job. About halfway through school, he got married, had a baby, and chose to pursue those things instead of his vet career. Now a granddad, he works 50+ hours a week (sometimes arriving and getting off at 3, 4, 5 in the morning) at a job he hates, so he can “pay the bills”. He and his family live on an income that barely gets them by. They are constantly counting pennies, getting into debt, and scraping by financially. He is a happy person, but it is safe to say he is not very fulfilled.

Then there is this other guy I know, who bounces around from job to job. And when I say job, he is in his thirties, holds 3/4 of a college degree (he, too, ran out of money to finish), and works pizza delivery type jobs to support his wife and kids.

For both these men the goal was paying the bills. Not happiness, not personal fulfillment, not working at a job you love instead of just one that just gets you by. They have no ambition and no drive for life.

A friend of mine commented on this situation really well when he said “The difference is the mindset. For you, it is about making a job but for them, it is about finding a job”. Both men want to change careers, but instead of making for themselves a career they love–by staying focused on what they WANT instead of what they can live with—they are choosing to put in applications at Papa Johns and Publix because those are the places who “are hiring”.

I don’t know about you but when I look out at my life and my future and I think about what my children are going to remember me as being, I don’t want pizza delivery guy to be how they think of me. Don’t get me wrong, I love pizza and I’m glad people deliver them, but to me those are the kind of jobs that “pay the bills”. If I could advise these two guys I’ve been talking about I would ask them why they aren’t using their extra time to carve out a career they WANT.

I get that babies have to eat and the lights have to be paid for, so sometimes you have to hold down the job that best supports your family and that is a noble, responsible thing to do. But while you’re doing that, be planning, be saving, be thinking, of how you can get from where you are to where you want to be. If your dream job is a pizza guy then go for it! But if you want something more from your life, then MAKE IT HAPPEN. Stay focused on what you want and don’t wait on life to hand it to you.
Dr. Dale Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB.

Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

“Something small on reverse interview: I talked to my boss and asked him how he got to where he is today. I used the reverse interview technique. This worked well, he opened up and this has helped improve our relationship. I now find him making more eye contact with me during meetings and I feel more comfortable in speaking up.”

This is one of the powerful things you get from this reverse interview – you get to know people on a more personal level. You open up the doors of communication and find common ground by getting past the corporate sterile conversations.

Dr. Dale Callahan is the IEM Program Director for the Information Engineering and Management Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a contributing writer for the IEM Blog. His thoughts here represent the types of topics covered in the Entrepreneurial courses he teaches the clients of the IEM Program at UAB.

Thanks to DaleCallahan.com for this article.

But, even though we know these things, it is always nice when we get to see other people hold this same opinion.
Like when we received this email. He starts off by telling us about his current career and what an MBA was like:

I recently graduated from [College that shall remain nameless]‘s MBA program and have not really found it to be providing any of the opportunities that  I had hoped for, even given the current economic and employment conditions. I have a desire to change careers… I have no technical training or experience. I have been doing [my current career] for 10 years, and I have hit the wall. I have to do something else, but I am having a very hard time finding what that something else is exactly as well as how to get there. I just know there is more out there, and I know I am capable of so much more than what I do or have done up until now, I just have no experience in anything else. Constantly surfing employment boards and firing out resumes is not getting me anywhere...I have looked at the [IEM] curriculum and videos. IEM sounds like a great program and I actually wish I would have known about [IEM] before I started the MBA program. It also sounds like there will be much more employment opportunities and opportunities in general through this program. I thought that a MBA would provide these for me, but it really provides someone who already is in a career of their choice a means to move ahead with that career.”

Sound like You? Yeh, it sounds like a lot of people. IEM can give you the headstart you need in your career. (OR help you start a new one) How many MBA programs can do that? NONE. For a real career boost, you need the IEM Master’s Degree. Check us Out. You won’t be disappointed.

According to their website, “Our goal is to build a stronger, more innovative Prince Edward Island by helping businesses create sustainable employment and economic opportunities. In order to achieve our corporate objectives, a series of programs and services – ranging from business counselling to financing — are available to help Island based businesses grow and prosper.”

Their website lists several different programs (view them here) that the company sponsors for PEI. The one I clicked on says that it will give $400,000 over 2 years to eligible small businesses. The idea is to help businesses get started so that the island becomes self sustaining economically.

But the cool thing is that there is this whole company that got started (and all the jobs that they provided because they needed people to help run the new company) by being a business for businesses.

Pretty, well, innovative.

After you ask “where is that?” you might ask “why is that?” Well, you can see where by clicking here. But the “why” might surprise you.

The exact quote from CNNMoney.com is that they searched for cities that were “best for families.” There is not a single “big” city on there. Nothing in New York, LA, Atlanta, Chicago, or any of the “it” towns. I was surprised.

In this world of go business, go business, big business, high rises, sky scrapers, money, money, money!!!! It is tempting to think that family oriented, calm, safe, clean, way of living is out of date. But apparently not. The number one most talked about topic in today’s google searches, is all about the best place to live if you want to raise a family.

So apparently, family values are not only hugely popular, but they are also good for business. Just thought you might want to know.

His site, Tracked.com, keeps a huge data list (that means information compiled in one place for all of you non-techy types reading this) of not only big companies, but their employees, their board members, what recent stock activity each person has done, as well as links to any news stories currently out about whichever individual you choose to click on.

Mr. Yavonditte plans to completely re-vamp the way business does business by providing the world with a new level of transparency through social networking.

Read More on this story here.