Entrepreneurship Resources  --- Fall 2011 Hilton CSD Community Education offers free Micro Business Classes

Should I take the plunge into small or micro-business entrepreneurship?  What is a Micro Business?

Seven-evening series begins Sept. 13 through Hilton CSD Community Education FREE HCSD residents; $30 for series or $10/class for non-residents. ONLINE COURSE RESERVATION

         Micro Business Entrepreneurship Series Brochure

Does owning your own business sound like an exciting proposition?  FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents.  Speak to a leader in small business enterprise who can point you in the right direction, help you assess risk, and gain the assistance you may need. INSTRUCTOR: Dana Brunett, President, PathStone Enterprise Center, Rochester. Tuesday, Sept. 13 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton Presentation

Do I need a business coach? FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents. How do you maintain momentum and keep your business venture on track? Talk to an expert business coach about this important aspect in a supportive environment. INSTRUCTOR: Lynette Loomis, business coach, Your Best Life Coaching, Rochester. Tuesday, Sept 20 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton  Presentation

What about bookkeeping and taxes? FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents. Does tax preparation and keeping the books make you nervous? Speak to a friendly bookkeeper about the business and tax assistance that makes bookkeeping and tax planning manageable tasks. INSTRUCTOR: Todd Niedopytalski, owner of Principle Bookkeeping of Greece. Tuesday, Sept. 27 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton

What about insurances? FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents. Bonding, insurance, disability and other requirements in the insurance field help make a strong foundation and protect you and your employees. Find out more. INSTRUCTOR: Peter Feltner, The Feltner Group, Spencerport. Tuesday, Oct. 4 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton

Do I need a website? FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents. How important is a professional website? Learn the way websites work and how to quickly and easily launch an online presence free. INSTRUCTORS: Barbara Carder, web design/management and Ann Pearlman, web application instructor, small business owners. Tuesday Oct. 11- 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton  Presentation 1 and Presentation 2

What is kitchen-table marketing? FREE HCSD residents $10 non-residents. What does it take to build the relationships needed for effective public relations? Discuss creative ways to connect people and products with the customers who need them. INSTRUCTOR: Robin Taney, Studio 4 PR, Hilton. Tuesday, Oct. 18 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton  Presentation

Should I join a chamber of commerce? FREE for all Chambers of Commerce are community resources. Learn from the experts the many services and benefits from chamber membership. INSTRUCTORS: Jodie Perry Greece Chamber and Mike Petitti, Hilton-Parma Chamber. Tuesday, Oct. 25 - 6:30 pm–8 pm Rm. 23, District Offices, 225 West Ave. Hilton

What does it take to be a successful startup? from Mashable

Most people understand that a high percentage of startups never make it. So what if you could give yourself a leg up on the competition? Below is a list of tips that may help your startup get to the next level. These ideas are not revolutionary, and many successful startups already have these qualities. Why not ensure yours does too?

1. Hire Great Coders - If you don’t have the skills to code, make sure you find someone with a solid programming background who can implement your idea. You want to make sure that person has built successful websites with features similar to your own vision. That way, you know they have the right skills for your startup. An inefficient coder will take a long time to launch the site, wasting time by making minor changes and fixing bugs. You will lose valuable time and potentially miss the opportunity to capitalize on first-to-market advantages. 2. Launch Your Product Site Quickly Sometimes you’ll encounter a last-minute opportunity to add features to your product. However, this can delay the launch. You might consider it worth the wait, especially if the added features will further engage customers. However, make sure to launch as soon as possible with the critical functionality. You can always make later changes to improve your site and product. Furthermore, you’ll be able to start gathering valuable feedback from your customers. If you’re insecure about a hasty launch, let customers know they’re viewing the beta version of the site, and they can expect improvements soon.

3. Identify Your Users - If you’re developing a product, make sure you truly understand the needs of your end users. You might assume that potential customers are seeking your particular solution, only to discover after launch that your product might be too expensive or doesn’t precisely repair the problem. Make sure that you take some time to understand exactly what your users need, and what they are willing to pay for.

4. Don’t Target a Small Niche - Solving a problem for a targeted niche is not a bad idea — the smaller the niche, the less competition you may face. The downside is that you might not gain enough users to render a profit. Make sure to perform market research to understand the scale of consumers interested in your product. Also, plan to expand the niche once you service its need. When you evolve your original idea into adjacent markets, you will increase the probability of exponential growth.

5. Raise Enough Money the First Time - As most startups know, determining how much money to raise is difficult. Raising enough money in your seed round will carry your business through inevitable growing pains and redesigns, but it’s important to retain enough money to develop the final product your users will love. You don’t want to spend all your time convincing investors to sign that next check that will keep the company afloat. Investors would rather you spend it further developing the business and getting them a timely return on investment. You want to raise enough money initially so that you can hit a major milestone and have something to show investors.

6. Don’t Waste Money - As obvious as this one sounds, startups waste money every day. They often overspend on things that can wait until later, or on a tool that doesn’t get them the expected results. By outsourcing a variety of activities, however, startups are now becoming less expensive to launch. One area in which startups waste money is hiring too many employees too fast. You need to make sure you can fill up the entire day of each (indispensable) employee. Early on, only hire people who add required functionality that cannot be fulfilled by current staff. You should also determine whether a person can be hired as a short-term, temporary resource (i.e. outsourcing), or whether hiring a full-time employee is the right, long-term solution. Employee salaries contribute to high overhead expenses, and should be carefully controlled at the beginning of a successful startup.

7. Have Multiple Co-Founders - A startup can be very time-consuming. Although you envisioned its concept, you may lack the required skills to launch your idea into reality. Therefore, divide the work among trusted partners with necessary skills sets, and be able to bounce ideas off each other freely. Dave McClure states that the ideal startup has a hacker, a hustler and a designer. The hacker can code, the hustler brings in the business, and the designer architects the concept to make it appealing to a consumer or investor. You may have one or all of these skills, but often not enough time in the day to wear all of the hats. If you can’t convince a co-founder to come on board and fill a role, it may be a red flag that your idea needs tweaking.

8. All Or Nothing  - We’ve all heard the saying “don’t quit your day job, kid,” but in the world of startups, any time spent focused on outside tasks is an opportunity for competitors to beat you to market. You need to focus all your time on your startup if you want it to succeed. And this may mean quitting your day job. If you’re building a product, targeting customers, and trying to attract investors all in your spare time, you don’t have your priorities lined up. If you dedicate all your time to your startup, you will have more drive to successfully get it to market, because now your livelihood depends on it. This list doesn’t guarantee that you will succeed, but it will give you some benchmarks to compare yourself against.

Online source: http://mashable.com/2011/07/17/startup-success/?WT.mc_id=obinsite

Entrepreneurship resources may be accessed online:

NYS Small Business Development Center: Office of Entrepreneurial Education  

US Small Business Administration:  Online Business Training  

NYS Office of Entrepreneurial Education: Entre Skills Online  

SBA of Rochester NY: Small Business Services 

Pathstone of Rochester:  Small Business Loan  

SUNY Brockport: Small Business Development Center