2016 Small Business & Entrepreneurship Guide

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2016 Issue South Carolina Chamber of Commerce 1301 Gervais St, Suite 1100 Columbia, SC 29201 803.799.4601 www. scchamber.net @scchamber facebook.com/scchamber

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Guide is a publication of

TABLE OF CONTENTS 02 INTRODUCTION 04 THE STATE OF SMALL BUSINESS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

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SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS

08 THE MAKING OF CHARLESTON’S SILICON HARBOR President & CEO Ted Pitts Vice President of Membership & Marketing Sunny Philips

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As told by Clemson University’s Spiro Institute & The University of South Carolina’s Faber

Entrepreneurship Center

Associate Vice President of Communications Genevieve McGroarty Magazine Editor Kate Bondurant • Small Business & Entrepreneurship Guide Published by Business Black Box For information on advertising, please call us at (803) 799-4601.

Copyright @2016 by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and Business Black Box. A ll foreign and U.S. rights reser ved. Contents of this publication, including images, may not be reproduced without writ ten consent from the publisher. Published for South Carolina Chamber of Commerce by Business Black Box and ShowCase Publishing. 864/281-1323

PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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THE 2016 HOW TO GUIDE

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RESOURCES YOU CAN USE

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WELCOME TO CO-WORKING

Introduction

FROM THE PRESIDENT The inaugural Small Business & Entrepreneurship guide represents the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce’s commitment to ensuring our state’s small businesses and entrepreneurs are represented and heard. From our 2016 Competitiveness Agenda to the work of the Small Business Council, we serve as a unified voice for all of our members—from startups, to Main Street businesses, to major corporations.

Over 15 years ago, I sat across the desk from then-Chamber President Hunter Howard as he asked me to join the South Carolina Chamber.

When the small business community speaks through the State Chamber, our legislators and our state’s leaders listen.

In addition to advocating for improved infrastructure and workforce development, the Chamber has listed business licensing reform as a top priority in our 2016 Competitiveness Agenda. In order to help small businesses succeed, we must fight to remove unnecessary regulatory burdens imposed at the state and federal levels.

After joining the South Carolina Chamber I quickly learned that, in reality, a majority of its members are small businesses.

More than 50 percent of Chamber members employ less than 50 employees, and the issues the Chamber focuses on are issues affecting businesses of all sizes throughout the state.

Reforming the business licensing fee structure is one way that we can remove government overreach and allow businesses to focus on expanding and creating jobs instead of government-issued paperwork. This legislative session the South Carolina Chamber is calling on the General Assembly to standardize the business licensing process statewide with a uniform application, renewal dates and standard classifications.

More than half of the State Chamber’s members are small businesses and we understand the importance of ensuring their continued success. In 1994, the Small Business Council was established to communicate the importance of small business to South Carolina. Today, the Small Business Council continues to fulfill this purpose by meeting bi-monthly to discuss and take action on issues affecting small business and by serving as a resource for small businesses across the state.

Under the leadership of Hal Stevenson, the Small Business Council continues to represent the voice of small business as a part of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

Small businesses in South Carolina truly represent the backbone of our state. As president and CEO, I remain committed to working on behalf of businesses of all sizes, and to continue efforts to make South Carolina the best state in the country to build and grow a business.

Ted Pitts, President & CEO South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

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FROM THE SMALL BUSINESS COUNCIL CHAIR

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“Why would I want to join the Chamber of Commerce?” I asked myself. “They represent big businesses.” But deep down, I knew that when business in South Carolina does well, it impacts the entire community. So I joined, and I am so glad I did.

This year, the Chamber is focused on developing our workforce, fixing our roads, and reforming business licensing fees.

Employers of all sizes are struggling to find skilled workers. The Chamber’s support of policies that will close the skills gap, and for programs like Business Week, is impacting the development of the state’s workforce in a truly positive way.

And while bad roads affect businesses large and small, the Chamber’s impact in moving legislation at the Statehouse to fund our roads and reform the DOT has been profound. Fewer potholes and less congestion will add to businesses’ bottom lines and bolster economic development in our state.

And finally, business licensing reform is a small business specific issue that our Small Business Council has worked on extensively. Currently, small businesses in South Carolina have to pay a fee to be licensed in each county and municipality in which they operate. Some businesses in the state pay more than 70 separate fees each year just to stay up and running. This is the type of regulation that causes businesses to close, not to open, and the Chamber has taken the lead on this issue.

I am proud to serve as Chair of the Small Business Council, and I am proud of the work we are doing to improve the climate for small businesses in South Carolina. It is clear that helping small businesses succeed is a top priority for the South Carolina Chamber and I am glad to be part of it.

Hal Stevenson, Partner, Grace Outdoor Chairman, Small Business Council, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce

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State of Small Biz

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SMALL BUSINESS IS BIG IN SOUTH CAROLINA

By Ashely Teasdel, Senior Program Director, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Division South Carolina Department of Commerce

In South Carolina, business is booming. And, as a result, more South Carolinians are working than ever before. In fact, the number of employees on non-farm payrolls in the Palmetto State increased by 64,500 in 2015. Furthermore, individual income increased by five percent from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2015.

So, not only are South Carolinians seeing an uptick in available job opportunities, they are also seeing an increase in wages—both of which play a major role in enhancing the quality of life in our state.

So, why is South Carolina’s economy thriving? Part of our success can certainly be attributed to Team South Carolina’s industry recruitment efforts, which, since 2011, have attracted major investments from world-class firms such as BMW, Boeing, Bridgestone, Continental, Giti, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Volvo.

However, to discover the true backbone of our economy, one must look deeper. While it’s the big economic development announcements that often make headlines in the paper, it’s the small businesses that operate within local communities throughout our state that employ nearly half of South Carolina’s workforce. The entrepreneurial spirit of those small business owners represents the true foundation of the state’s economy.

Accounting for nearly 97 percent of all private employers in South Carolina, there are approximately 75,000 small businesses with employees operating in the Palmetto State. In an effort to support the continued growth of these firms, the S.C. Department of Commerce’s Small Business Development team works with partners from around the state to provide resources, helping small businesses grow and succeed in South Carolina. In total, Commerce’s team provided direct, one-on-one assistance to more than 650 businesses, located in 38 of the state’s 46 counties, last year.

Included among these efforts are lender matchmaker events, which introduce businesses to local and statewide

financing options, and supplier outreach events, which connect new industry to in-state and regional suppliers.

Last year, two supplier outreach events were held for Giti Tire’s $560 million Chester County facility.

To further promote our in-state suppliers, the Department of Commerce also administers the Buy South Carolina program. A purchaser-oriented material and service locater resource, Buy South Carolina connects companies with in-state suppliers and vendors. In 2015, participation in the program increased by 12 percent and now boasts a registration of more than 430 businesses.

In an effort to build on the success of Buy South Carolina, the state is looking to strengthen the program with a revamped look later this year. Additionally, a greater emphasis will be placed on the individual company’s more specific sourcing needs. As a true two-way program, Buy South Carolina not only makes businesses visible to requests coming in but can also be used proactively for their own sourcing and connection needs.

Because of initiatives like these, the Palmetto State continues to build on its reputation for possessing a strong, pro-business environment. This was reinforced several months ago as Thumbtack.com released the results of its annual survey on small business friendliness. As one of only 11 states to receive an ‘A’ grade or better, South Carolina was given high marks for its regulatory environment and workforce.

Looking ahead, the recruitment of large companies to South Carolina will certainly remain a critical component of our economic development efforts. However, it takes a diverse economy, featuring businesses of all sizes, for our state to truly prosper. In the Palmetto State, small business is big business, and as we seek to ensure economic prosperity for all South Carolinians, we will continue working to guarantee that our state remains ‘Just right’ for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

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Awards

2016

Small Business

AWARDS Each year, the U.S. Small Business Administration accepts nominations for Small Business Week Awards. Since 1963, National Small Business Week has recognized the outstanding achievements of America’s small businesses for their contributions to their local communities, and to our nation’s economy. This year, we are recognizing six of these winners for their efforts and successes within the South Carolina community.

Female Business Person of the Year Denise Thigpen

Wholesale Boutique, LLC

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Veteran Business Person of the Year Joseph Walker III

JH Development, LLL (DBA-Marco’s Pizza)

Minority Business Person of the Year James Jordon

Jordon Construction Company, LLC (JCC General Contractors)

Small Business Awards

Small Business Person of the Year

Small Business Exporter of the Year

National SBDC Center of Excellence and Innovation

JoAnne Laurea LaBounty,

Jerry Smith, Founder/President and John Wilkinson, COO

Charleston Area Small Business Development Center

President/CEO, Spartanburg Meat Processing Co., Inc.

USA eShop

Spartanburg, SC

Columbia, SC

As a founding partner of Spartanburg Meat Processing Co., JoAnne LaBounty has proven herself a force within her industry and the larger global business market. As President and CEO, she has grown the company, which provides high-quality meat selections across the globe to countries like Canada, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Japan and the Caribbean, the company has grown exponentially, now processing an estimated 10 million pounds in 2016.

Jerry Smith, founder and CEO of USA eShop and John Wilkinson, COO of USA eShop have opened the door for American made goods to reach European consumers through the site www.wishboxusa.co.uk. Heavily invested in cutting edge technology that facilitates their export operation, they are able to connect over 100 U.S. manufacturers from 30 states with other companies across the pond.

Her commitment to the community does not end with her company.

LaBounty has proven a passionate community leader, holding numerous board positions ranging from Junior Achievement to the National Crime Prevention Council, and on the advisory board of TD Bank. Over the years, her awards include 2005 Minority Person of the Year, 2007 Business Person of the Year, 2012 Enterprising Woman of the Year and 2012 American Express 50 Fastest Growing Companies.

LaBounty, on receiving this award: “I am so honored and humbled to receive this recognition. We are passionate about the quality of products we produce...

Our products are in over 30,000 grocery stores globally and we have achieved this success while staying aligned with our core values: Honesty, Integrity and Pride.”

By operating the only e-commerce site in Europe that is dedicated to American-made products, USA eShop has been able to reach into the 400 million-strong consumer market in Europe. They have seen incredible increases in sales since August of 2015, with an almost 100 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Smith, on receiving this award: “Our company is extremely pleased to be the recipient of the South Carolina SBA Exporter of the Year award. This recognition is not only a tribute to our contribution to exporting, but reflects the international acceptance of the products produced by the U.S. manufacturers we represent. Exports of U.S.-made products not only create jobs for South Carolinians, but undergird our country’s economic security.”

Charleston, SC

The South Carolina Small Business Administration named the Charleston Area Small Business Development Center as its 2016 National SBDC Center of Excellence and Innovation.

The Charleston SBDC recently was also named as South Carolina’s state winner in addition to winning SBA Region IV, where it was competing with other SBDCs from South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.

In 2015 alone, the Charleston SBDC counselors helped create 32 new businesses, acquired $5.3 million in capital, retained 255 jobs and met with 521 clients. They also have specialists available to help businesses seeking government contracts—a resource that added up to $1.4 billion in contracts in 2015.

Darrell Jones, area manager for the Charleston Area SBDC, on receiving this award: “It’s fair to say we are still trying to grasp the magnitude of it. To put it modestly, we must be doing something right.”

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Entrepreneur

THE MAKING OF CHARLESTON’S SILICON HARBOR

By Casey Welch, COO and Co-Founder, STEMPremier

Technology is involved in every facet of our lives. Thanks to globalization and technology, the new world is, as Thomas Friedman told us, flat. Agile, adaptable, 21st Century entrepreneurs can prevail wherever they are, and futurefocused, growing economies concentrate on encouraging and nurturing startups.

Boasting a mix of the right policies and right culture, Charleston has surprised the country as it has emerged as a major player in the tech field, aligned with giants like Silicon Valley and New York City.

South-Carolina based tech company STEM Premier is playing a role in tech success nationally, as it transforms the way the STEM talent pipeline is developed and connected, providing one of the greatest needs for any company or startup—talent.

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Deepening the Bench Thriving communities poised for success in the 21st century economy are prospering, based on new alliances bound by a grounded vision of more prosperous regions. The best plans for future growth are still those clearly turning their attention to attracting—and developing—talent.

CEOs and startups across the country continue to seek talent with the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to operate in the 21st century global business environment, especially in areas like Charleston that feature a growing tech sector. These crucial skills are highlyidentified in candidates with an educational background in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Students who possess the necessary STEM knowledge, talent, and skills to excel at the college and university levels, and throughout their careers, continue to face challenges in being discovered by universities and corporations seeking talent, especially in underserved and underrepresented areas. Programs such as STEM Premier, an online-platform solution that assists students in designing a career pathway, educators in recruiting top talent to their schools, and employers in connecting with the talent they need, serves to level the playing field.

As Charleston’s rankings continue to be highlighted in lists—from Inc.’s Fastest Growing Technology Companies in America to Milken’s Best Performing Cities to Vanity Fair’s distinction as “America’s Paris”—the atmosphere grows more electric with the buzz of a “can-do” culture and a cluster of enterprise-focused firms. Success breeds success, and that energy is contagious.

“Remaining competitive in today’s business environment requires utilizing unique and disruptive external sourcing strategies that include connecting with underserved and underrepresented segments of the population in the development of the talent pipeline,” said STEM Premier President, Dr. Don Tylinkski, PhD.

The biggest barrier to entrepreneurial success is often capital. Charleston’s flagship companies—from Boeing, which is expanding its technology arm, to hundreds of other companies that include one-person or two-person startups looking for that angel round­—continue to garner national attention leading to investment potential. Recent studies from the Kauffman Foundation have uncovered a growing desire for venture capitalists to seek investments outside Silicon Valley. These investors are seeking more palatable deals based on technology solving more substantial problems, with a greater potential for growth.

This technology solution serves as the great equalizer.

Visionary leaders at companies across the country are utilizing the program to revolutionize the way recruiting gets done.

Companies like Boeing and STIMULUS Engineering are seeking uncommon strategies to attract and develop toptier, phenomenal talent. Tim Wagler, CEO at STIMULUS Engineering, sought out unique solutions tied to STEM. “As the global economy shifted, we recognized a need to develop long-term strategies to talent acquisition that are just as innovative,” Wagler said. “Utilizing an online platform such as STEM Premier gives us the advantage of creating a stable, continuous talent pipeline by developing relationships with existing and future talent with the skills needed to create a high-velocity organization designed to compete in today’s global business environment.”

As STEM Premier contributes to the development of an ecosystem for success nationwide, the company itself has found the 3 C’s needed for a startup’s success at it’s home base in Charleston: culture, capital and connection.

Creative Culture One universally recognized element every prospective startup needs is a pool of smart people with smart ideas. But a talent pool of that caliber isn’t just attracted by a technology-focused culture alone. They thrive in places that offer a place to live and grow, with a way of life that’s interesting.

A secret to Silicon Valley’s sustainable success is that it not only provides the resources necessary to start a tech business, but also the impetus to keep it there once it succeeds. Businesses stay local for one reason — because the owners and talent really want to live there. Charleston’s notoriously unique flavor and flair provide a high quality of life that breeds a culture of open-mindedness, youthfulness, creativity and entrepreneurial zeal.

Capital Accumulation

Collaborative Connections Cross-industry collaboration and true partnerships throughout a wide-ranging web of connections are the most significant assets a newly-forged business can acquire and leverage. Entrepreneurs don’t find success in a vacuum.

It’s not startups alone that make a city, and the companies within them, successful. It takes more than young people with talent and an entrepreneurial spirit. It also takes an administration with that same spirit committed to bringing hurdles down so good ideas are not blocked.

Visionary local and state governments, and bigger, more established companies partner with small companies to create collaborative environments that produce new technologies.

The close-knit network within Charleston leads to a broader reach. While STEM Premier continues to thrive within the local startup scene, those connections have led to national partnerships with ACT and Project Lead the Way to investors willing to provide funding for growth.

Those partnerships have drawn national attention back to Charleston.

South Carolina hasn’t grown this ecosystem for entrepreneurial success overnight, but we are a step ahead, providing talent solutions, culture, capital and connections that allow companies to become a magnet for future innovation and growth.

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PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Spiro Institute

By Matt Klein, Director, Arthur M. Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Clemson University Does entrepreneurship education increase undergraduate and MBA students’ intentions to be entrepreneurs? Do those intentions actually lead to the founding of new ventures?

And if so, do those ventures outperform ones started by entrepreneurs without formal entrepreneurship education?

For a topic as important as this one, there are comparatively few prior articles on the effect of entrepreneurship education.

Clemson University (namely the Arthur M. Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership) can provide new insights about the value of entrepreneurship education for undergraduate and MBA students. Our findings are important not only for students and educators, but also for researchers and those who support entrepreneurship education, including policy makers, foundations, and benefactors.

When the teaching of entrepreneurship in higher education was beginning to gain traction in the mid-1980s, Peter Drucker, one of the legendary management philosophers of all time wrote, “The entrepreneurial mystique? It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes. It’s a discipline.

And like any discipline, it can be learned.” And if it can be learned, it can, presumably, be taught.

But surely the important question is not whether entrepreneurship can be taught; rather it is whether such teaching produces entrepreneurs, and if so, are they better

entrepreneurs? After all, business schools are professional schools just as law schools, medical schools, and engineering schools are, and should be measured by the success of the careers of their graduates.

The evidence that entrepreneurship education influences entrepreneurial intentions and leads to entrepreneurial careers of Clemson University graduates is convincing. Our findings indicate that entrepreneurial education: • • • • • •

Produces self-sufficient enterprising individuals.

Produces successful business and industry leaders.

Enhances a graduate’s ability to create wealth.

Produces champions of innovation.

Leads to greater opportunities with advancing technologies.

Attracts substantial private sector financial contributions.

In recent years, entrepreneurship education has grown dramatically as reflected in the increased student enrollment of both the undergraduate and MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation programs at Clemson University. In addition, the proliferation of university-wide activities and events sponsored by the Arthur M. Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the interaction at intercollegiate business plan competitions (ACC InVenture Prize) only reinforces the growth trend—not only at Clemson, but at universities across the country.

Clemson University has become popular for entrepreneurship education for many reasons. First, the study of opportunity creation and the development of business models allows students to integrate accounting, economics, finance, marketing and other business disciplines. As such, it offers an enriching, integrative educational experience. Second, it promotes the founding of new businesses by graduates and builds critical decision-making skills that enhance the success of graduates in the job market. Third, it increases technology transfer from Clemson University to the market through the development of technology-based business plans and student involvement with technology licensing. Fourth, entrepreneurship education forges a link between business and academic communities. It is viewed by business leaders as a useful, applied approach to the study of business and the economy. As a result, successful entrepreneurial alumni from Clemson are more willing to fund entrepreneurship programs and to endow professorships. Finally, because there is not a set approach to entrepreneurship education and because entrepreneurship falls generally outside traditional discipline boundaries, it has been possible to experiment with pedagogy and curricula.

Bottom line: A degree program in entrepreneurship from Clemson University can teach important skills—and perhaps help graduates achieve their goals more quickly. But the essential passion, drive, and creativity of an entrepreneur cannot be measured or taught.

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Faber Entrepreneurship

By Dirk Brown, Ph.D., MBA, Director, Faber Entrepreneurship Center, University of South Carolina There is no question that entrepreneurship is a dominant force in the world economy today. Entrepreneurial, highimpact firms make enormous, positive contributions locally and nationally. In South Carolina, for example, the top three percent of our entrepreneurial private-sector firms account for over 66 percent of all net job growth in the state.

So should we be promoting entrepreneurship in higher education? If so, how?

The traditional approach to most higher education is to focus on teaching very specific skills like accounting, engineering, marketing, biology or nursing. The idea is that this best prepares the student for their first, entry-level job where they can then start to learn softer “real-world” skills like effective communication, teamwork and team management, interdisciplinary problem-solving, innovation management and entrepreneurship.

However, when we survey employers today, they consistently highlight these “real-world” skills as being critical for entrylevel employees to succeed. Critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, effective teamwork, and clear communication are cited among the main skills that employers look for in new hires. At the same time, it’s become increasingly easy to look up information online, and employees are expected to continuously update their domain knowledge throughout their career. In other words, it is essential that students today graduate with well established “real-world” skills so they can hit the ground running, with the understanding that they will continue to update their more specific academic skills.

With that background, we should promote entrepreneurship in higher education. Entrepreneurship is about transforming innovation into sustainable value, something almost all enterprises strive to do every day. Employees who are good at this bring a lot of value to the enterprise.

Entrepreneurship is a broad subject that covers a range of tools, systems, and processes from quantitative analysis to team building, strategy, planning and communication.

Students of entrepreneurship develop fundamental skills that enable them to address a broad range of challenges in any industry. Whether they are hired by a Fortune 500 company or decide to start their own venture, they can hit the ground running.

How do we best promote and teach entrepreneurship?

There are well-established systems, processes, tools, and best practices for transforming innovation into sustainable value, just as there are for any other subject. However, as in almost any field, practice is the best teacher. The theoretical frameworks of entrepreneurship are best learned through transforming real innovations into sustainable value for real enterprises. These don’t need to be start-ups. In fact, GE used entrepreneurial processes to develop one of its most recent refrigerators in its “FastWorks” program.

Businesses in South Carolina can have a dramatic impact on our state and on our future leaders by supporting practical entrepreneurial training in a variety of ways. Give students, entrepreneurs, and employees the opportunity to exercise entrepreneurship skills whenever possible. Challenge student interns to leverage innovation within your enterprise (in addition to making the coffee). Act as an anchor customer for new, innovative ventures in the state. Be aware that the best entrepreneurial education will come from combining college theory with the real-world practice that only realworld enterprises can provide.

To provide the best education for South Carolina students, we must promote entrepreneurship in higher education. The best way to do this is by partnering with the businesses of South Carolina that can provide real-world, applied learning. We might just get some disruptive, innovative solutions in return.

In discussing the value of an entrepreneurial education, Rachel Reinitz, CTO of IBM’s Bluemix Garage, puts it nicely: “New hires that understand how to work in innovative, dynamic, entrepreneurial environments greatly outperform those that do not. It’s as simple as that.”

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How To

GET AN IDEA OFF THE GROUND

By Michele Abraham, State Director, SC Small Business Development Centers

5. Conduct due diligence and negotiate Sometimes your marketing activities result in a request for more in-depth examination of technology. This is good, but you’ll want to execute non-disclosure agreements that protect your invention. If you aren’t experienced with doing this, you should also seek help to prepare for discussions with potential investors or partners. This includes writing a business plan with pro-forma financial statements and objectively defining your company’s valuation. An advisor can also help you understand and practice your approach to investor meetings.

6. Determine and execute commercialization strategy

Have you ever wondered if you have a viable new product?

Are you unsure of how to take it to market? This endeavor is best accomplished with help from experts. Here are some key steps: 1. Develop a concept or idea

First, you need to determine if your concept or idea has merit and will work. This means in-depth research to assess if your idea solves a significant problem and requires further development in order to refine your concept.

When you are ready to move forward from prototype development to product commercialization, determine best options, such as manufacturing in-house or licensing.

Terms and conditions of license agreements are critical. If you decide to manufacture, market, sell, distribute and service your product, the SBDC has experts who can help when you are ready to proceed and scale-up.

Take advantage of resources like the SC SBDC to help you succeed: www.scsbdc.com

SECURE ANGEL FUNDING Charlie Banks, Managing Director, South Carolina Angel Network

2. Assess your market

Again, research is essential. Get input from advisors with knowledge of the subject and contact potential customers to vet the concept and test market acceptance. With that data, you can begin to develop a preliminary commercialization strategy and a market feasibility assessment.

3. Establish legal protection and patents

Obtain advice on the best form of legal entity to establish. Conduct a preliminary patent search to unearth any competing or blocking patents and file a provisional patent application or consider trade secrets to protect inventions. Get assistance with obtaining copyrights and trademarks.

4. Acquire funding if needed

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Identify and prepare to apply for capital with early stage funding sources, such as grants or contracts from the SBA Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, SCRA’s SC Launch, EPSCOR, and/or SCBIO, in addition to equity funding from the South Carolina Angel Network (SCAN). Organizations such as the SC Small Business Development Centers (SC SBDC) provide both training sessions and one-on-one counseling on how to apply for grants, contracts, loans, and/or equity capital.

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South Carolina has long wrestled with access to early stage capital. However, there is a surprising amount of capital already here – but accessing it has been challenging. This is precisely the issue we set out to solve when we developed the thesis for the South Carolina Angel Network (SCAN). We believed that if we educated angel investors on the intricacies associated with early-stage investing and provided them with a disciplined deal flow process, we would help draw some of South Carolina’s latent capital off the sidelines. So far, our thesis appears to be correct.

SCAN has experienced outstanding growth in just two short years. We now have nine community-based affiliates of SCAN with a combined membership of over 200 investors, and growing. This is exciting for South Carolina, but we believe we are only scratching the surface when it comes to the potential this state has to develop and support entrepreneurs.

Investor education, robust processes, and quality deals are important to facilitate more private capital in South Carolina, but perhaps more important to the continued success of our entrepreneurship ecosystem is educating entrepreneurs on how to position their company to raise private capital.

How To There are a myriad of programs available to help entrepreneurs conceptualize, develop, start, and grow a company, all of which have played a role in the growth of our state’s startup environment. However, any entrepreneur will tell you that the hardest part of that process is accessing the capital needed to successfully advance through those stages.

To help address that issue, SCAN periodically conducts a comprehensive workshop for entrepreneurs called “How to Pitch Investors.” During this event, we outline four important items to consider when raising money from angel investors.

1. The Audience

Investors are not one-size-fits-all. An entrepreneur must do homework on the characteristics of an angel group to ensure interests are aligned.

2. The Process

ATTRACT CUSTOMERS VIA THE INTERNET

By Josh Overstreet, Editor, Business Black Box magazine

For some, digital marketing is a new frontier, but it really isn’t as intimidating as it’s been made out to be. If you are looking to start attracting customers through digital channels here are some easy, straightforward tips to get you on the right track.

1. Website

Step one: have a website. This is the basis for everything you can do online and gives potential customers a place to land. As the most vital part of your digital marketing strategy, don’t skimp when it comes to paying for design and writing. Content is still king, so you should make sure your site and blog is updated as often as possible with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rich content that will give your site a higher rating on Google and other search engine results.

Contrary to what one may see on the hit ABC show, Shark Tank, obtaining angel capital is a multi-step process that can take several months. Entrepreneurs need to understand what to expect—especially the importance of due diligence.

3. The Executive Summary & the Deck

These are documents investors review to gauge whether a company fits their investment criteria.

The Executive Summary is a one-page document that summarizes the business. The deck, oftentimes a PowerPoint presentation, takes a deeper dive into the mechanics, economics and value propositions associated with a business.

2. Email

Still a tried and true method of reaching out to customers and potential customers alike, it’s easy to do a weekly newsletter through services like MailChimp or Constant Contact and send out emails about special events and promotions. Be sure to have an email subscription tool prominently located on your website and consistently update your subscriber list.

4. The Delivery

The way a Founder verbally conveys the opportunity to an investor is perhaps the most important factor for an entrepreneur seeking outside capital. Albeit cliché, angel investors are often betting on the jockey more than the horse.

3. Social Media

These four considerations are just a snapshot of a complicated process that can be daunting if an entrepreneur approaches it without taking the time to get educated. On the other hand, for those who do their homework and successfully raise angel capital, it can be incredibly exciting and a key to entrepreneurial success.

As a potential angel investor, seek out a SCAN affiliate and get involved. As an entrepreneur, read. There are countless sources of quality education available these days that will help you navigate this process. You can begin with www. scangelnetwork.com. Finally, as a state, let’s continue to push the envelope to equip our entrepreneurs and private capital providers with the tools necessary to make our ecosystem a vibrant one that creates jobs, wealth and pride for South Carolina.

Chances are, your potential and existing customers are engaged in some form of social media. Don’t overwhelm yourself and try to hit every social media platform from the get-go. Instead, identify which ones your potential customers are utilizing frequently and interact with them there. Posting pictures through Instagram, asking questions on Twitter or announcing discounts and giveaways via Facebook are all easy ways to interact with current—and potential—clientele and drive traffic back to your website.

4. PayPerClick

PayPerClick (PPC) is, essentially, paying for ad space on a search engine, where you pay a small fee to the provider (Google AdWords being the most prominent) for every click you get to your site. Usually the fee is small, so if one of those clicks turns into a customer—and hopefully a loyal customer—that small paid fee has an incredible return on investment.

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Resource Guide Chamber Statement on Small Business

Upcoming Networking Opportunities

Small businesses in South Carolina truly represent the backbone of our state. More than half of the State Chamber’s members are small businesses and we understand the importance of ensuring their success. As advocates for small business in South Carolina, we support modernizing the state’s tax code in order to remove unnecessary government burdens from our small businesses.

This legislative session, we have been heavily focused on reforming the business licensing fee structure in order to make it easier for small businesses to do business in multiple localities.

Business licensing reform is a top agenda item and was listed as a Top Three priority in our Competitiveness Agenda for 2016.

The Chamber remains committed to working on behalf of our small businesses to ensure their voices are heard in Columbia.

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce offers several programs and events throughout the year, from lunch and learns to award ceremonies. Visit our website to find out more about these events and how you can register to attend or sponsor them.

04

AUGUST

Best Places to Work is a crowd pleasing, cheer inducing celebration of all things great about innovation in workforce policies and programs. Does your company have what it takes to make the list?

24

AUGUST

HR Simple The South Carolina Human Resources Library, hosted by hrsimple. com, provides members with an easy way to manage employees, create policies and forms, stay compliant with labor laws, and stay updated with HR changes. Recent publications include:

WASHINGTON NIGHT IN SOUTH CAROLINA August 24, 2016 | Columbia Held during Congress’s August recess, Washington Night is part two of our federal event series. Utilizing a town hall format, our members and guests are able to interact and listen to the Congressional delegation talk about issues in Washington that affect business in SC.

Chamber Buzz Be the first to know what’s going on at the Statehouse. Chamber Buzz is a weekly e-newsletter that keeps South Carolina Chamber of Commerce members up-to-date on the latest business news, legislative developments and events information.

Does your company have news or an event that you’d like featured in Chamber Buzz? Send info to membernews@scchamber.net.

BEST PLACES TO WORK IN SOUTH CAROLINA August 04, 2016 | Columbia

21 SEPT

LEADSC YOUNG PROFESSIONALS SUMMIT September 21-22, 2016 | Columbia Today’s Young Professionals are tomorrow’s leaders.

Join some of the best and brightest YPs (loosely defined as under 40s) for two days of professional development and networking. Covering topics from how to get involved in your local non-profits to running for office to how to manage your money, YPs can take home some critical life skills.

SOUTH CAROLINA EMPLOYMENT

BY SIZE OF FIRM

South Carolina Employment Law Reference Guide • The complete guide to employment law, in laymen’s terms.

• See state and federal laws, side-by-side.

• Enjoy quick, reliable labor law answers at your fingertips.

Model Employee Policies for South Carolina Employers • Download and customize hundreds of ready-to-go policies.

Essential Forms and Documents for South Carolina Employers • Find checklists and HR forms for the application process, hiring, termination, benefits and more.

South Carolina Chamber members save 20 percent. To order and receive your member pricing, visit hrsimple.com/SC for more info.

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SB&E Guide

*from the 2015 S.C. Small Business Profile, published by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Data used in this study is representative of 2013 numbers.

Resource Guide Event Partners SMALL BUSINESS IN S.C.

379,565

Small Businesses

75, 238

Small Businesses with Employees

304, 327

Non Employer Small Businesses

728,770

Workers employed by Small Businesses *from the S.C. Small Business Profile, published by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2015.

Small Business Council The South Carolina Chamber’s Small Business Council is the top resource in the state for small business networking and legislative initiatives. Established in 1994, the council is comprised of 32 representatives from small businesses around the state. The group has its finger on the pulse of legislation impacting small businesses at the state and federal level and works to ensure that small businesses are being represented at the Statehouse.

Goals: • Educate small businesses on issues that impact their bottom line • Motivate businesses to make a difference through advocacy • Encourage small businesses to contact legislators, congressional representatives and other businesses so that the unified voice of small business can change the system The Small Business Council achieves its goals by: • Meeting bi-monthly to discuss and take action on issues affecting small business • Achieving legislative priorities to enhance small business • Serving as a resource for small businesses across the state The following subcouncils are also part of the council at large: • Insurance • Finance • Taxation • Communications • Regulation • Legislative issues To join our Small Business Council, please call (803) 799-4601 to request an application.

For additional resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs, please consider the following organizations.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

www.sccommerce.com

The Small Business Development team operates with one guiding purpose in mind: “More business for small business.”

This mission is being achieved through hosting one-on-one business consulting sessions; providing small businesses with access to potential contracts through outreach events; and managing the Buy South Carolina program that connects small companies with new business opportunities. In order to help meet the financial needs of small businesses, the team coordinates Lender Matchmaker events that introduce businesses with local and statewide financing options.

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

www.sba.gov

The U.S. Small Business Administration has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses.

SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS

www.scsbdc.com

Advancing South Carolina’s economic development by helping entrepreneurs grow successful businesses.

SCORE

www.score.org SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship.

SOUTH CAROLINA MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP

www.scmep.org

SCMEP is a private, non-profit group that serves as a proven resource to South Carolina businesses, providing them with a range of innovative strategies and solutions to strengthen leadership, develop competencies, drive growth, and eliminate waste.

96.6%

of the employers in the state of South Carolina are considered small businesses. *from the S.C. Small Business Profile, published by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2015.

SB&E Guide

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Resource Guide Small Business Bills to Watch

H.4457

H.4967

H.5109

Civil Jurisdiction of Magistrate Courts

Business License Compliance Reform Act

S.C. Business License Tax Standardization Act

Sponsors: Representative Huggins (RLexington) and Representative McLeod (D-Newberry)

Sponsor: Representative Atwater (R - Lexington)

Sponsor: Representative Bingham (R - Lexington)

Summary: Aims to streamline the business license fee process. The bill clarifies that an individual is subject to a business license tax only in the county or municipality where their state income tax return is addressed, due on February 1st of each year. Under this plan, business license fees are collected by the Department of Revenue, are payable online, and appeals of business license taxes can be taken to the Administrative Law Court. Further, the bill protects contractors from liability for subcontractors’ business license fees.

Summary: This legislation aims to standardize the business licensing process.

The bill provides for a uniform statewide due date, application, calculation of gross income, and class schedule across cities and towns.

Summary: Increases the civil jurisdiction of magistrate courts from $7,500 to $15,000.

Background: South Carolina most recently raised the civil jurisdiction of its magistrate courts in 2000 from $5,000 to $7,500.

Pros: Supporters of this bill believe that raising the civil jurisdiction level will make it easier for citizens to bring actions to magistrate courts without obtaining an attorney, thus providing greater access to the judicial system. This could reduce the caseload on superior courts, expedite the judicial process, and save on court costs.

Cons: Opponents say that this bill would raise the caliber of claims brought to magistrate courts without increasing the qualifications for magistrates themselves. In addition to raising the level of claims brought forth, this bill may also result in a significantly heavier workload for local magistrates.

CHAMBER STATEMENT: The SC Chamber supports small business access to summary courts to allow an expedited process to recoup, while maintaining that increased jurisdictional limits should be commensurate with increased qualifications.

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Background: H.4967 is one of two bills introduced to address licensing reform this session. Business licensing fees are one government roadblock to small business expansion. Currently, small businesses have to pay a fee to be licensed in every applicable county or municipality where a business operates. In South Carolina, some 230 municipalities and 10 counties impose a business license fee.

Pros: Proponents of this bill believe that this action will standardize the process, provide for a central collection agency, and protect contractors.

Cons: Opponents express concern that this legislation will remove collection authority from municipalities.

CHAMBER STATEMENT: The South Carolina Chamber supports the standardization of the business licensing process statewide with uniform renewal dates and standard classifications.

Background: H.5109 is one of two bills introduced to address licensing reform this session. Business licensing fees are one government roadblock to small business expansion. Currently in South Carolina, small businesses have to pay a fee to be licensed in every applicable county or municipality where a business operates.

In South Carolina, some 230 municipalities and eight counties impose a business license fee. For example, to operate in the Charleston area alone, a service provider would be required to pay a minimum of 28 municipal business licenses and fill out 28 different sets of paperwork.

Pros: Proponents of this bill believe that this action will standardize the business licensing fee process while protecting the autonomy of municipalities.

Cons: Opponents express concern over non-governmental entities having unfettered access to businesses’ revenue and other employment data.

CHAMBER STATEMENT: The South Carolina Chamber supports the standardization of the business licensing process statewide with uniform renewal dates and standard classifications.

WELCOME TO COWORKING

By Greg Hilton, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, SOCO

There’s a fundamental shift occurring in your workplaces and in your workforce. Open floor plans, white board hovering, meetings in coffee shops or bars—the social and professional are melting together like never before.

Welcome to the collaborative economy! So, what is it, why is it happening and why does it matter for you? We’ll endeavor to answer some of these questions below.

But first—an origin story. Like every good startup story, this one began with two things: coffee and a big problem. Back in 2013, a group of creative entrepreneurs in Columbia, S.C., were hanging out over coffee and chatting about some of the things that frustrated us about the place we called “home.” We were tired of seeing really talented, creative people make their way to our city, but eventually leave because they didn’t feel it was a place they could do “compelling work.” Because we had pride in “Soda City,” we were frustrated. Thus, SOCO was born in 2013.

SOCO is a community of creators who have come together around a powerful mission: to fundamentally change the way people work, connect and realize their full potential through community. We’ve built a platform for people to do incredible things that includes compelling spaces where our “customers” can work and work together, incredible events and activities to help people connect with the fabric of this community, and a range of opportunities to help them hone their skills, grow their craft and build things the world needs. Our customers are freelancers, creative professionals, techies, entrepreneurs and people who have a passion (and curiosity) for what they do.

Coworking (Collaborative Working) is generally used to describe any situation in which two or more people are working in the same place together, but not for the same company. Its roots date back hundreds of years to co-ops, artists collaboratives, writers’ guilds and other “communities of practice” where “creatives” would come together to connect, share knowledge, and better their work. It’s not new, but it is now mainstream and here to stay. Here’s the evidence: 1.

2.

3.

Inc.com, in a 2014 article, cited more than 700 coworking spaces in the U.S. in 2014. There was only one in 2005.

WeWork, a coworking venture, just raised $1 billion+ in capital, has a $15 billion valuation and plans to expand from 52 to 1,000 spaces in the next 5 years. It did not exist 6 years ago.

In 2013, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh announced an ambitious $350 million plan to reinvent Las Vegas through coworking called the Las Vegas Downtown Project.

Examples of coworking can be found all over greater South Carolina as well, from The Harbor Entrepreneur Center in the Holy City, to CoWork Greenville (one of the first in the country) and OpenWorks, to Augusta-based the Clubhou.se in Georgia, to SOCO right here in Colatown. They target a range of clientele, but the evidence is clear: South Carolina’s innovation community is embracing the movement.

Key Drivers So, what’s driving it and why is co-working gaining in popularity?

Well, there are a few core reasons: 1.

The Rise of the Freelancer - We’re a nation of entrepreneurs and risk takers. More than 54 million Americans indicate they “freelance” and they are turning to coworking spaces to get things done.

2. The Internet is Everywhere - Most humans use “the web” to get their jobs done and it is (almost) everywhere now. So, if you could work wherever you wanted, how does that drab old cubicle sound?

3. Les Millennials Sont arrivés - Millennials are here and, no, you can’t hide from them. The events, user groups, shared desks, free internet and endless coffee typically offered at coworks speak directly to their core values of belonging and shared experiences.

Why It Matters If you are into innovation, staying competitive and going where the market is, then you need to pay attention. Here are three reasons: 1. Talent - If finding great talent matters to you, cowork communities can be a wellspring of tech and creative talent.

2. Culture - Coworking values are making their way into mainstream business culture, which means if you’re not listening, you’re probably out of sync with your people.

And as we know, culture trumps strategy every time.

3. Innovation - Communal interactions create collisions and (good) friction. Those “collisions,” as our good friend John Osborne with The Harbor says, are where innovations are born.

SB&E Guide

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