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Come Up With GreatBut that doesn’t mean there’s no formula at all.For instance, “Research that my team completed in 2009 determined that the average age of a successful entrepreneur in high-growth industries such as computers, health care and aerospace is 40. Twice as many successful entrepreneurs are aged over 50 as under 25, and twice as many over 60 as under 20.”Vivek WadhwaVice president of academics and innovation, Singularity University3. Ideas Are Abundant; Drive Isn’tPerhaps the greatest factor that determines whether or not an entrepreneur will be successful isn’t the business idea itself, but rather the entrepreneur’s willingness to try (and keep trying) to turn the ideainto reality. Great ideas are abundant, but it’s what we decide to do with them that counts.4. Be Prepared to Shift GearsEntrepreneurs need to understand two things. For one thing, their first (or second or third) idea is often not the real opportunity. In fact, it might stink. They have to be on the lookout for why it stinks and be willing to shift course.But they also need to understand` that even if their idea has problems, there’s often a good opportunity buried within it. They need to talk to people and continue tweaking and transforming it. In the process, they encounter setbacks, rethink their approach, try again and redefine what they’re doing.For all that, the idea may fail—it’s happened to many successful entrepreneurs. But they weren’t deterred by failure. They kept at it and were better positioned to recognize and shape the next idea into something truly great.11
12 AmAzing SucceSS StorieS of unlikely entrepreneurSJudi Sheppard MissettThe founder of this wildly suc- cessful fitness company started teaching dance classes after hang- ing up her professional dancing shoes. When turnout dropped, she had an epiphany. The women weren’t coming to class to learn the precise steps to a dance, but to lose weight and tone up. Sheppard Missett picked up the pace, turned up the music, and created a fun class that was soon packed. She trained additional in- structors to teach the routines she choreographed, which eventually lead to a franchise deal. The com- pany now has over 7,500 locations worldwide, a clothing line, and an extremely loyal fan base–all from a dance class.1.12
Brian Scudamore2.Scudamore started his company, which he describes as “the FedEx of junk re- moval,” with $700 in start-up capital and his own beat-up truck. He dropped out of college with only a year left to run the business full time. 1-800-GOT- JUNK now has nearly 100 franchised locations across North America.A.J. ScribanteA.J. Scribante started off selling bleach to supermarkets and other stores around the Midwest. But Scribante had bigger things in mind. He wanted to find a better way to compare regional differences in retail pric- es, so that he could make more sales.He started collecting newspaper grocery store ads from various cities to show to gro- cery stores in different markets. He put all those ads into a single booklet. He realized how valuable the information was when companies started requesting price data for competitors. Thus, the idea for MAJERS, what would become a multi-million dollar marketing information company, was born.3.13
Jill Blashack StrahanBlashack Strahan started her gourmet food company with $6,000 in savings, a backyard shed for storage, and a pool table as a pack- ing station.In her own words: “I remember sitting out- side one day, thinking we were three months behind on our house payment, I had two em- ployees I couldn’t pay, and I ought to get a real job. But then I thought, No, this is your dream. Recommit and get to work.”She had the idea to sell at taste-testing par- ties, and sales began slowly picking up. In 12 years, Tastefully Simple has grown into a $120 million dollar business.5.Ben Cohen and Jerry GreenfieldThe now-legendary duo decided to open a business after taking a correspondence course on the art of ice cream making. They discovered that just about the only college town without an ice cream shop was Burlington, Vermont. With $8,000 in savings and a $4,000 loan, they leased an old gas station in Burlington, purchased equipment, and began com- ing up with ideas for “unique” flavors. Twenty years later, the company was taking in $237 million in annual revenue.4.14
David Hauser and Siamak TaghaddosHauser and Taghaddos came up with a great idea for an inex- pensive VoIP phone system for small businesses. They got their startup money the hard way, by asking friends and family to help fund their business.The idea for GotVMail was to give smaller companies a way to sound as professional as larger, established firms, allowing small businesses to set up voice-mail boxes that can route calls to cell phones and get messages via e-mailed MP3 files. GotVMail, now Grasshopper, generates about $5 million in revenue per year.7.Seth GoldmanGoldman started out brewing the tea in his kitchen and storing it in thermoses. After only five weeks spent perfecting the brewing process, he brought samples of and a mock- up label to a meeting with the company that is now Whole Foods Market, hoping that they would place a small order. They asked for 15,000 bottles. Honest Tea is now the top-selling bottled organic tea in the U.S.6.15
Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-TaylorSkiast-Levy and Nash-Taylor didn’t want to start a business in debt. Instead, they start- ed their clothing empire with $200 of their own money, and applied for a revolving line of credit. Neither took a salary for two years while they designed and produced the now-ubiquitous terry and velour tracksuits that would make them famous. Juicy Cou- ture Clothing is now sold at Saks Fifth Av- enue, Neiman-Marcus, and Bloomingdales.8.9.Jake Neuberg and Ramit VarmaNeuberg and Varma, who both had expe- rience as tutors, met in business school and launched their test prep company in 2002, financing themselves with per- sonal credit cards. After nearly going broke the first year, the company started becoming profitable. By 2004, Revolu- tion Prep had more than $1 million in revenues, and by 2007, their first-quarter sales topped $3 million.16
10.Ryan Hoak, Michael Benbow, and Todd EssmanHoak and Benbow “met” on an internet message board and came up with the idea for a site that lets fans an- alyze hypothetical NBA trades. Based in Illinois and Australia, respectively, the two collaborated on Trade Checker, later enlisting the help of Essman.Not only was the idea a hit among NBA fans, it also attracted the attention of real NBA general managers. In addition to licensing RealGM software to teams for approximately $30,000 a year, RealGM.com has be- come one of the world’s most popular sports websites, attracting over 20 million page views per month.11.Mena and Ben TrottHusband-and-wife team Mena and Ben Trott developed Movable Type as a tool for Mena’s personal blog posts. When they offered it online, there were over 200 down- loads within the first hour. From their apartment, the Trotts (who were also high school sweethearts) launched software company SixApart, now a multi-national provider of blogging tools with more than 10 million estimated users.17
The snappy email newsletter that highlights everything from restaurant openings to eye- brow waxing was first sent in March 2000 to a 700-name email address list, authored by Levy herself. In a few short years, the subscriber base approached 3 million, e-mails were targeted locally, and spin-offs (Daily Candy Kids) became profitable in their own right. Comcast purchased Daily Candy in 2008 for $125 million.So there you have it, a few inspiring success stories we all can relate to. At CEL, we look forward to encourage students toward new venture development, and one thing is ap- parent: There’s no “sure thing” business or industry. Whether you’re starting a software company from your garage or an exercise class at your local community center, dream big. These entrepreneurs are proof that those dreams really do come true. Are you one of them too?12.Dana Levy18
Women Entrepreneurship EducationDr. Srinivasa Rao Associate Professor (Management)Fatiha Fathima MBA Student 2012-13 BatchEntrepreneurship is recognised as a principal driver of economic growth, employment, new and faster innovations and a key factor in development of a country. Yet despite their centrality, little is known about entrepreneurs.And For those who still new to the term, let us start it by defining in simple words and why it matters:Entrepreneurs are the people running their own business rather than employed in any organization.Today we live in an era where millions of the well qualified people are unemployed and in some countries more than 50% of their young people are without work and entrepre- neurship plays a major part in helping reduce the unemployment levels of a country, thus providing better standards of living for its individuals and communities. Women are one particularly understudied group of entrepreneurs.19
Some of the findings show that the successful women entrepreneurs are no less than their male counterparts in almost every respect. They have equivalent levels of educa- tion and having higher education degrees is one of significant characteristics that many successful female entrepreneurs have in common.For the prosperity of the nation it is important for the women to be educated, self-sup- porting and have a positive self-image. Economic independence will bring confidence among women, which will further bring about an awareness of their rights and privileg- es.A good education is important for a woman entrepreneur to be successful in her career, as it help her to develop a better strategic plan for her business which is essential in the present world business scenario. .Not only the large enterprises but the small enterprises also must have a strategic plan right from the beginning. Failure to devise a good plan may result in a company inca- pable of facing challenges. A well-defined strategy helps in creating and maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace.A US based women business leader Melinda Emerson provided insight advice, inspira- tion and lessons on becoming successful women business owners. She emphasized that education helps a woman to boost her confidence level and makes her a better visionary for personal as well as professional life. It is important for a women to display confi- dence in her idea, vision and how one convey themselves to the business community.Whether they are involved in small or medium scale production activities, or in the formal or informal sectors, women in developing countries are opting for international business trainings to take their businesses to the next level as it helps them to network with the experienced people and in venturing their business.20
Women’s entrepreneurial activities are not only a means for economic survival but also have positive social repercussions for the women themselves. An educated women is more capable to identify and exploit opportunities from time to time and this makes them to take risks and face challenges to move their business to the higher levels.The unexplored talents of young women should be further identified, trained and used for various types of industries to increase the productivity in every sector.“I got my start by giving myself a start.”– Madam C.J. Walker21
Aishwarya Jain Arshi Farid Nabanita De Anirban Musib Siddhant Gupta Haroon SultanLeader and Chief Editor, CEL Senior EditorSenior EditorEditorSenior Designer DesignerThe e-Ink Editorial