Free help. When it's offered by anyone, it's an enticing
offer, but it's not always the best strategy a business can
take, especially if the offer comes from a friend or relative
who's well meaning but doesn't have much to present in the
way of experience. But there's one place that every
entrepreneur--from the newbie with a retail store to the
established manufacturing veteran--should consider going for free
assistance: your local university or community college.
Almost every reputable business school has an entrepreneurship
program these days, and one of the most practical ways for a
student to get some useful training is to make contact with the
real world. That would be you. The reason this partnership works so
well is that entrepreneurs, running around like madmen trying to
keep everything together, often have something of a brain drain in
their company. Universities, of course, are filled to the brim with
ideas and innovative thinkers.
Of course, you may be leery at first to entrust any part of your
startup or established company to young people not yet out of
college, but these are energetic, not-yet-jaded young adults with
the guidance of the best academic minds in the country, who only
want to learn something, further their own career ambitions--and
help you in the process. It's also likely that the areas in
which you need help, such as market research, web design or
customer surveys, have changed since your own college days. And if
you never studied business or entrepreneurship to begin with, what
do you have to lose? It's all the more reason to align yourself
with a university and soak in what you can.
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With all of this in mind, we compiled a list of several
universities around the country who offer assistance to business
owners. Odds are, these schools won't be near you, but it
should give you an idea of what kind of help is out there and
whether you'd make a likely match for some lucky
entrepreneurship student or class.
The College: Saint Louis University, in St. Louis,
Missouri
The Business School: Jefferson-Smurfit Center for
Entrepreneurial Studies
The "What's in It for Me" factor: University
students taking a business planning class will help local startup
businesses draw up their business plans. Kevin Schulte, director of
the center, says, "Entrepreneurs or inventors do a one- to
two-page write-up of their business idea or venture for
consideration. A faculty member reviews the various candidates for
appropriateness and distributes the ideas and ventures to the
students for their review. Then, with the guidance of faculty, the
student or students select which business idea or venture to work
on."
FYI 101: The students actually write the business plans just
once a year, in December and early January. One to two students are
assigned to work with each company in two different classes, the
"Business Plan Course" in the undergraduate level and the
"Advanced Business Planning Course" for the graduate
level.
The College: Maharishi University of Management in
Fairfield, Iowa
The "What's in It for Me" factor: There's
a business incubator here that's unlike most incubators found
on college campuses. College-based incubators generally offer cheap
rent to companies that have a new but fledgling business. As
business administration professor Scott Herriott explains,
"Our [incubator] at M.U.M. is for 'idea stage'
entrepreneurs." You don't have to have a business
yet--just an idea for one--and the rent is deferred for six months,
at the university's risk. If the entrepreneur creates a
successful business, the rent is paid back over time. If the
business flops, the entrepreneur owes nothing and can walk away
without paying a cent. Herriott observes, "That puts the
pressure on the university to help the entrepreneurs
succeed."
FYI 101: During the six months in which rent's deferred,
entrepreneurs are given an office cubicle in the university's
library building with high-speed internet access and library
privileges, as well as opportunities to present their business
ideas to business students at the undergraduate and graduate levels
and either get advice from them or have students research a concept
for them.
The College: University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma,
Washington
The Business School: The School of Business and
Leadership
The "What's in It for Me" factor: As part of
their coursework, business students have to analyze and provide
counsel to local businesses. They cover everything from market
research to customer service surveys. If you need ideas for an
advertising campaign, are struggling to find a manufacturer for a
prototype--or to develop the prototype itself--or need to come up
with a way to drive more traffic to your website, these students
can likely do it. Some students even have extensive knowledge of
strategic issues that face small businesses working in the
international community. "It's really individualized. I
don't think there's anything they wouldn't do,"
says Melissa Rohlfs, manager of media relations at the
university.
FYI 101: The business school has developed quite a local
reputation, with students helping out such local businesses as
Lakewood's House of Donuts, the Mandolin Café and Lincoln
Hardware and businesses have been flocking to get help from its
students in greater numbers every year. In fact, the
university's reputation has grown so much in the past 11 years
that recently, entire business districts started asking for
their help in devising ways to bring in more customer traffic.
The College: University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Business School: The University of Alabama School of
Business
The "What's in It for Me" factor: Every
Friday, the school of business, which houses an SBA-sponsored Small
Business Development Center, offers startup classes for would-be
entrepreneurs. They also offer free, one-on-one business counseling
for all businesses, no matter how big or small. And one of the
professors, Joe Primm, teaches a class, "Small Business
Research and Consulting," in which one of the main focuses is
having students try to solve the problems of a small business.
"We offer the class usually three times per year-[in the]
fall, spring and summer terms--to seniors in the business school
who've completed their marketing, finance and accounting
prerequisites," says Primm. "Business owners are normally
selected either through personal contacts I make at Chamber of
Commerce luncheons or referrals from professionals." The
program's so popular, there's a waiting list of
entrepreneurs who want in on the action.
FYI 101: The entrepreneur selected for Primm's class is
required to commit to working with the students. Generally, aside
from occasional phone calls and e-mails, there are just four
in-person meetings: one to identify the project, two more to follow
up on progress and a final meeting at which the entrepreneur
receives the finished report.
The College: University of Louisville in Kentucky
The Business School: University of Louisville's College
of Business and Public Administration
The "What's in It for Me" factor: There's
a Small Business Institute in the business school that's run by
Professor Bruce Kemelgor. Every year, Kemelgor links approximately
30 local businesses with teams of seniors or MBA students to help
the companies solve their most pressing problems. The teams have
tackled everything from market analysis and business plan writing
to production flow and human resources issues.
FYI 101: The companies helped are almost always small, the
service is free, and this isn't a case of getting what you paid
for--the program has won numerous business awards.
The College: Baylor University, in Waco, Texas
The Business School: John F. Baugh Center for
Entrepreneurship
The "What's in It for Me" factor: The school
is home to the FastTrac program, which is actually a national
program that's currently in universities and small-business
centers in 31 states. In the Baylor program, regional entrepreneurs
are paired with entrepreneurship majors who act as consultants to
the companies for a nine- to 12-week period. During this time, the
students will work on a specific project you've been clamoring
to get done, such as creating and implementing marketing surveys,
developing web designs or analyzing software.
FYI 101: For your protection, students--and you may get a
small team of them working for you--are required to sign
confidentiality agreements and letters of intent to protect your
products and intellectual properties. The program frequently has
more interested students than prospective businesses, so if
you're in the area and intrigued by the idea of free help,
don't be shy--call them up.
The College: Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, New
York
The Business School: School of Management
The "What's in It for Me" factor: The school
has a program called GET: Gateway to Entrepreneurial Tomorrows.
It's funded by a grant and is aimed at small, minority
businesses in inner cities of New York's Mid-Hudson Valley. GET
has helped delis, furniture retailers, small cell phone stores, and
mortgage origination businesses get started and get growing. The
service--which is bilingual--is free and offers entrepreneurs the
resources they need to start or maintain a business.
FYI 101: What you're getting is everything from
one-on-one consultations to referrals, seminars and a mentorship
program that'll hook you up with business veterans. If your
business shows a lot of promise, they may even hook you up with a
microloan.
More Ways to Become Head of the Class
If you do some digging and learn that you don't have a
university or college in your area that offers an entrepreneurship
program, there are still innumerable ways to take advantage of your
local college's resources. Here are a few strategies you might
want to employ:
- Take a business course, either through the college's
regular schedule of classes or through their extension
program.
- Inspire your local business college to begin an
entrepreneurship program: Offer your business up as a proverbial
guinea pig to any professor or class that might want to use you or
your business as a case study for a project.
- Hire a college intern. If you go through the right channels at
the college, they may be able to work for free, provided you're
able to offer the type of work that the university feels is
educational and qualifies for class credit.
- Use the college's extensive library of resources for
research. Universities generally have larger collections than most,
smaller public libraries--you may be able to find information on
anything from how to license your new product to the results of the
latest market research in your industry.
- Use a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) on campus. With
more than 1,000 locations throughout the United States and its
territories--most of which are located on college campuses, the
SBDCs offer a wide variety of information and guidance to
individuals and small businesses. If you need help developing any
aspect of your business, the SBDC counselors can offer assistance
with market research, cash-flow projections and more. And in most
cases, the help is free.
- Consult with professors. If you have some spare income, you
might want to consider hiring a business professor to help you with
a knotty problem or project.
- Enter a college-based business plan contest for area
entrepreneurs.
- Get help from members of an on-campus entrepreneurial
organization or business club. If you're enrolled in a class,
you can actually join the organization yourself.
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist in Loveland, Ohio,
and a proud alumnus of Indiana University.