Tag Archives: entrepreneur

WESST’s online courses help women entrepreneurs build dreams

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WESST’s DreamBuilder online business course; Article by Sandy Nelson

Not everyone has the resources to go to college for an MBA, but anyone with an internet connection and some self-discipline can learn business basics through the DreamBuilder program offered by the nonprofit small-business development and training organization WESST.

DreamBuilder targets women who want to start their own businesses or need additional support to increase profitability. It’s one of a growing number of massive open online courses (MOOCs) that offer busy people a way to explore subjects that interest them — and often to earn credit for their efforts. Continue reading →

Entrepreneurial journey often misses financial mark

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Guy Gaffney, Vice President of Credit at Los Alamos National Bank; Article by Damon Scott

Business owners and entrepreneurs get excited about their product and the market they serve. But to achieve long-term success, sooner or later they have to focus on a different critical area: their business finances.

Even when grants, initial sales or investments from family and friends have funded an idea from product development to market, most businesses will need financing in order to grow. If cash has been exhausted, the company’s financial position will be strained and its funding opportunities limited.

Guy Gaffney, vice president of credit at Los Alamos National Bank, has seen this situation many times during a decade with the bank. He encourages business owners to start the loan application process while they still have enough working capital to qualify for a loan. But just as important as cash, he said, is that the owner become financially literate. Continue reading →

Survival tactics help business owners stay on track

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Entrepreneurship is exhilarating and dynamic, especially in the beginning, as the business plan is set in motion and a product or service begins its path to market. The unpredictability of this journey is part of the reason it’s so stimulating to start and build a business, but maintaining that level of excitement and drive can be challenging when the business’s evolution doesn’t unfold according to plan.

When initial funding from family or an investor runs out before benchmarks are met, a startup owner can worry about his ability to repay investors and stay on track. Even businesses that reach the second stage of maturity can stumble — for example, when a large account goes to a competitor or a product doesn’t find traction. Continue reading →

Identity Theft Victim Gets Accion Loan to Start Educational Nonprofit

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Edwin Rios

Edwin Rios, Loan Assistant, Accion New Mexico – Arizona – Colorado

Mark Medley was working with a business consultant to recover from identity theft when he heard about Accion New Mexico–Arizona–Colorado. What Medley learned while trying to repair his credit prompted him to start a nonprofit — ID Theft Resolutions — to help others protect themselves from identity thieves and to rebound as quickly and completely as possible if their efforts fail.

Medley got a loan from Accion to help him get the nonprofit going after obtaining his designation as a 501c(3) nonprofit. Accion offers loans as small as $200 and as large as $300,000 to people who might otherwise be turned down by lenders because they are a startup or have credit problems.

Medley qualified in both cases: His credit score was destroyed by identity theft and his nonprofit was the equivalent of a startup.

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Knowing When to Hold and Fold Works in Business and Poker

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Barbara Kline

Barbara Kline, Founder and President, Breakthru Communications

In some ways, starting a business is a lot like playing poker: An entrepreneur always has to weigh the odds, give herself room to maneuver and know when to hold or fold.

According to recent data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, 31 percent of businesses fail within the first two years and half within five years. On the other hand, more than 25 percent of all business startups survive for at least 15 years.

A few — but not many — companies succeeded despite a firm hand on the till that kept them from taking a few risks by investing in growth and innovation. For every company that succeeded wildly right after the founder had mortgaged the house and maxed out the credit cards, hundreds went bankrupt or were saddled with debt for many years.

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2020 Campaign Supports, Celebrates Entrepreneurs

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By Kathy Keith, Executive Director (center); pictured with RDC team members Monica Abeita and Gail Gordon

By Kathy Keith, Executive Director (center); pictured with RDC team members Monica Abeita and Gail Gordon

The Regional Development Corporation and its partners are launching the 20/20 Campaign to celebrate the entrepreneurs who have started small businesses in Northern New Mexico, creating jobs, driving innovative industries and providing a solid economic base for our communities.

The 20/20 Campaign aims to recognize and support 20 high-growth companies that could potentially grow to double or triple in size within eight years — by 2020 — to become major employers in Northern New Mexico. A handful of businesses every year will be selected by the collaborating partners, which are service providers, economic development organizations, city and county governments and entrepreneurial support organizations from Española, Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Taos. The first crop of 20/20 companies will be announced on October 4th, 2012 during a “Spirit of Innovation” event.

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Lunches Give Businesswomen a Chance to Find Clients, Make Contacts

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Jennifer Craig

Jennifer Craig, Regional Manager, WESST Las Cruces

Networking is a form of marketing that exponentially increases the influence that a professional or business owner can have when searching for new markets or clients. WESST, a nonprofit that helps build small businesses in New Mexico, used the occasion of Women’s History Month in March to teach women entrepreneurs how to use this powerful tool: The organization’s Las Cruces enterprise center started an Empowering Women in Business Networking lunch meeting so clients and other women could mingle, share ideas, get acquainted and help one another.

The gatherings started small — about three dozen women — but that number nearly doubled by June, suggesting that WESST had tapped into an unmet need.

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National Lab Assists Dental Implant Developer with Technical Problems

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Information Sessions Coincide with Next Funding Deadline

Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

Three New Mexico men – metallurgist Terry Lowe from Metallicum, a subsidiary of Manhattan Scientifics; designer and manufacturer Dan Blacklock from Danlin Products; and dentist and educator Walt Schuman from BASIC Dental Implants — recently collaborated to develop, manufacture, and market dental implants that use an enhanced variant of titanium made by Manhattan Scientifics. Titanium improves the way dental implants are anchored into the jawbone.

But the team needed special equipment and expertise to evaluate and describe the distinctive characteristics of their breakthrough material, which goes by the trademarked name of Biotanium. The partners applied for help from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program – a joint project of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and the state of New Mexico. Continue reading →

Telling a Story that Drives Investment

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Trevor Loy

Trevor Loy, Partner, Flywheel Ventures

When presenting an opportunity to investors, entrepreneurs usually begin by describing their invention and explaining why people need it. Next they present the financial team’s projections about what customers would probably pay for the product or service and what the entrepreneurs want to charge. They end by introducing the entrepreneurial team and detailing members’ credentials.

This approach is the inverse of what venture capitalists like me care about and consider when evaluating an investment. I want to hear about a venture the way I want to read a book or watch a movie: I want a story. Who are the protagonists and the other main characters? What goals do the characters hope to achieve, and how valuable would the goal be if it’s reached? What challenges do the characters anticipate and how will they respond to them? Finally I want to know my role so I can decide if I want the part.

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Video Studio to Connect Businesses to Resources

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Doug Lee

Doug Lee, Managing Director, WESST Enterprise Center

A digital media studio that opens soon at the 3-year-old WESST Enterprise Center business incubator in downtown Albuquerque will provide more resources to entrepreneurs and small businesses in New Mexico.

When the Comcast Digital Media Studio opens in July, WESST will have a studio to film workshops we can then stream live to all our offices in New Mexico.  This means our workshops will have a uniform message for our resident and non-resident clients, regardless of whether they’re based in Albuquerque or at our satellite offices in Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell and Farmington.  Of the estimated 1250 business incubators in the U.S., fewer than six have video studios.

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