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How to Find the Resources to Support Your Small Business An Interview with Dr. Emad Rahim, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at OSU and Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University By Melinda Emerson Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. This is excerpted from my recent interview. Dr. Emad Rahim is an award winning author, educator and entrepreneur. He currently serves as the appointed Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Oklahoma State University and Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University. He was recently recognized by the United Nations in NYC for his entrepreneurship work. How important is entrepreneurship education to a start-up business?
Melinda Emerson Follow him @SmallBizLady
Emad Rahim: Education is critical to the success of a new startup. The entrepreneur can save a lot of time, headache and money by following best practices and using proven resources for developing and operating a brand new startup or small business. Understanding some basic principles and concepts of business management will go a long way to securing and growing a successful venture. How critical is mentorship to a successful small business?
Dr. Emad Rahim Follow him @DrEmadRahim
Emad Rahim: There is a lot of research out there supporting the direct relationship between start-up success and the mentors that support the founders. It is important that a new entrepreneur identify a person that they respect to be their mentor. The mentor will not only help guide them through the process, but also be a resource linker for solutions to problems that they will encounter. I also highly recommend developing an advisory board made up of people with a strong background in business law, accounting, finance and strategy to also support the new venture. Surrounding yourself with supportive SMEs is a great way to keep you motivated during times of instability.
What are the biggest growth industries for start-ups other than technology businesses? Emad Rahim: Surprisingly, it’s social ventures or “ecopreneurist” types of startups. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Daniel Epstein, founder of the Unreasonable Institute, where he shared with me the growing demand for social ventures from around the world. Ecopreneurists look to produce startups to help clean our environment, deal with social problems, solutions for issues relating to health and education, and creating green and sustainable products and methodologies. Where some are nonprofits, Mr. Epstein shared with me examples of for-profit ventures with social missions that have a strong possibility of revolutionizing certain industries. What are the funding options these days to start a small business? Emad Rahim: There are a lot more options today than there were a few years ago. Accelerators, crowd funding, crowd sourcing, community benefits agreements, social entrepreneurship, employee stock ownership options (ESOP), grants and startup-labs are several new options. This goes beyond the traditional bootstrapping, bank loans and VC or angel investment support that entrepreneurs typically pursue for their startup.
Read the full interview by visiting: http://succeedasyourownboss.com/tag/emad-rahim/ December 13, 2012 | Cash Flow & Finance | Q & A Interview | SmallBizChat OFFICIAL ENTREPRENEUR