“Innovation Champions represent the gold standard of small business advocacy, epitomize resource excellence and are certified dot-connectors facilitating the accelerated growth of businesses.  Innovation Champions are Wisconsin’s example of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and similar innovators,” said Ronald Gayhart, director of WISC.

2012 Innovation Champions:

Pat Dillon, Northwest Regional Director, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (WEN)
Through her work as northwest regional director for WEN, Dillon guides many companies through the process of applying for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) government grants. She provides business development, technology transfer and technology-based economic development expertise to businesses in the region, furthering Wisconsin’s competitive presence in the global economic environment.

Gayle R. Kugler, Associate Director, UW-Extension Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (DEED)
As associate director of UW-Extension DEED, Kugler directs two core programs: the Small Business Development Center Network and the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network. She leads statewide initiatives for the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Companies to Watch and the Wisconsin Youth Entrepreneurship Network are two programs Kugler initiated in Wisconsin. She was instrumental in bringing the national SBIR spring conference to the state in 2011. Her continued efforts contribute to programs that served over 10,000 clients in 2011 and helped entrepreneurs start 230 new businesses last year.

David G. Linz, Southeast Regional Director, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (WEN)
In his role as WEN regional director, Linz helps clients evaluate market opportunities, assess technical and commercial viability of new technologies and products and secure investor funding and federal research grants. An accomplished professional in the fields of technical project management, business development and product management, Linz has extensive experience in oil and gas, chemical, nuclear, combustion, water and environmental engineering. He has served Wisconsin businesses as WEN regional director since the program’s inception in 2005 and continues to further startup and growth of businesses.

Kurt R. Waldhuetter, Northeast Regional Director, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (WEN)
Waldhuetter serves as catalyst, coach and adviser helping entrepreneurs and business owners turn new technologies and product ideas into scalable, high-growth-potential business opportunities. He guides select companies in areas of access to capital, business model development, intellectual property protection/licensing, customer definition, go-to-market strategy, management/team structure, marketing and business planning. Waldhuetter is also founder and director of AeroInnovate™, which builds an innovation ecosystem that draws aviation entrepreneurs, investors and equipment manufacturers to Wisconsin to connect, share ideas, invest, start businesses and collaborate. His commitment to furthering technology commercialization and business growth in the region is reflected in repeated client success.

WISC announces award winners each year at the Ideas to Profits conference. Ideas to Profits is an annual business innovation and invention development conference sponsored by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center (WISC). Conference attendees learn from experts in new product development and strategic business growth and make connections that help them accelerate commercialization and increase revenues. This is the 12th year that Ideas to Profits has been hosted by WISC, a specialty market research center that is part of the Small Business Development Center Network.

WISC is a specialty center of the Small Business Development Center Network funded in part through UW-Extension and a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. WISC forms one facet of outreach services at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Business and Economics.  The center conducts market research for inventors and manufacturers to help them make profitable decisions on product development and market expansion. WISC market research is utilized by inventors and businesses across the United States and internationally.

For information about WISC and the Ideas to Profits Conference, visit <http://www.uww.edu/wisc> online, call 262-472-1365 or email innovate@uww.edu.

Contact:

Kristina “Kaia” Fowler
Wisconsin Innovation Service Center
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
1200 Hyland Hall
Whitewater Wisconsin, 53190
Web: http://www.uww.edu/wisc
Phone: 262-472-3217
Fax: 262-472-1600
E-mail: fowlerk@uww.edu

This is one of my favorites from the article: “‘If we build it, they will come.’ The hot term these days is ‘viral marketing’, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. In most cases, viral marketing only begins to work after you prime the pump with several million in real marketing over a couple of years.”

While smaller businesses won’t need to spend “several million” in marketing, heeding the advice about priming the pump of viral marketing by giving people something to get excited about is critical.

Take a look at all ten traps to avoid at this link: http://www.innovationamerica.us/index.php/innovation-daily/19683-ten-common-arrogance-traps-for-startups-to-avoid.

A federal grant for $79,557 was awarded to Ronald “Bud” Gayhart and his colleagues at the Small Business Development Center and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center, which are business outreach centers at UW-Whitewater.

In collaboration with the Small Business Development Center at UW-Madison, they will help manufacturing businesses in the three counties increase sales revenue, find new customers and add or retain jobs by expanding their markets.

“We can find ways to diversify companies into new market sectors,” Gayhart said.

The business centers will use market research by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center, which identifies areas in which businesses can expand their operations and diversify their customer base.

It’s an important strategy even for businesses that are successful, Gayhart said.

“The time to look for a lifeboat is not when you’re in the water,” he said. “The time to look for diversification is when things are going well.”

The one-year grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration allows the centers to provide the research to businesses for $750 instead of the usual $3,000.

Market studies begin with a detailed look at each client’s products and markets before a customized report is produced. “Each of the studies is uniquely focused on that client and that client only,” Gayhart said. “It’s not a cookie-cutter approach.”

Businesses in the three-county area are diverse, he said, including manufacturers of  medical devices, agricultural equipment, defense items, automotive supplies and mining materials. The centers focus on businesses that sell to other companies rather than to individual consumers.

The grant was awarded to Gayhart; Kristina Fowler, program manager at the Small Business Development Center; and Sandra Beccue, research manager at the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center.

Jefferson County businesses will work with the Small Business Development Center at UW-Whitewater, 262-472-3217.

Columbia and Sauk county businesses will be served through the Small Business Development Center at UW-Madison, 608-263-7680.

For business owners, keeping up with the latest technology often reflects a desire for increased efficiency as well a wish to project a professional, successful image. These days, nothing says “latest technology” like the Apple iPad tablet.

Apple’s April 2010 release of the iPad tablet made even the sleekest of laptops look cumbersome. Since then, the iPad has dominated the tablet industry, soaking up 97 percent of all U.S. tablet traffic, according to figures taken from comScore.com. The iPad’s no-strings-attached portability, iCloud syncing technology and high-speed Internet connection have caught the eyes of many, including those looking to incorporate the iPad into the workplace.

If you read the quotes on the iPad website, you see that some businesses utilize the iPad in sales and customer service as well as for mobile document access. However, many business users I encounter have found themselves unsure of how to convert their investment in an iPad into cost savings and/or increased revenue.

Apple clearly wants the business market, targeting those consumers with webpages like iPad in Business and iPad at Work that promote professional uses for the device. Still, Apple has yet to offer a “killer app” to make the iPad the new standard in business use.

Currently, there are 42 applications profiled under the business tab of the iPad App Store. These apps are organized into seven categories, each containing six different apps. The categories include word processing, recording and tracking business information, charting and graphing, sketching and brainstorming, organizational office programs, medical reference tools, charts and trackers, and server and network managing resources.

The question is, how are iPads being utilized in the office? Are the aforementioned business applications being integrated into everyday use, or are glossy-eyed employees still marveling over the latest innovation in portable personal computing? According to a Changewave survey, the top two iPad uses in the corporate work place are accessing the internet and checking email. This may change as new applications come about and old applications make updates, providing businesses with easy, effective ways of conducting day to day business.

Although Macs have made a forceful entrance into a once PC-dominated business world, the iPad is missing one fundamental program that dominates all other word and data processing systems: Microsoft Office.  Instead, the iPad features cut down versions of iWork programs, including Pages and Keynote.

A MacBook Pro owner myself, I have become accustom to the iWork programs, but dislike the limitations of each program compared to Microsoft. Pages, which is the equivalent of Microsoft Word, does not contain half as many controls, options and features as Word. Keynote, the Microsoft PowerPoint equivalent, has a long way to go before matching the capabilities of PowerPoint. I also find it a hassle having to convert my Pages documents and Keynote presentations to .doc or .ppt format, since Microsoft is the standard word processing program at UW-Whitewater, as well as the majority of other professional institutions.

As with every product that is put on the market, it’s only a matter of time before inventors and/or competitors come out with a “new and improved” product. Exhibit A: The iPad has only been on the market for 20 months and has already become a predecessor to the iPad 2. But putting all business short-comings aside, the iPad, in concept, has the potential to revolutionize the way people do business with inevitable improvement and progression.

One participant stated, “The program allowed us to think about things that may have been overlooked.  The class also gave us access to many resources to learn from.”

First Step Online is a must-take class for people thinking about starting a business and those who are new to business ownership. Through slide presentations, video segments and discussions, participants learn how to evaluate their business ideas and examine their preparedness for becoming entrepreneurs.

Topics include “Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs,” “What it costs to start and run a business,” “How to identify and locate customers,” and more.

A UW-Whitewater MBA graduate who completed First Step Online described it as “a wonderful resource for individuals who are considering becoming entrepreneurs.” She said, “It’s fairly basic, but covers all of the areas that must be thought about and addressed before diving into a business.”

For a detailed class description and registration information, see http://www.uww.edu/sbdc/training/first_step.html or call the SBDC at 262-472-3217.

Most of the time, those callers do not have business plans. Sometimes they resent my suggestion that they write one. ”I don’t need a bank loan, so I don’t need a business plan,” they say.

What those callers don’t understand is that solutions to their problems of low sales, inadequate marketing and business start-up woes can be found through the process of developing a business plan.

Business planning entails thought, discussion, problem solving, research and more thought before the writing even begins. The process involves laying out in detail how you will transform your ideas into accomplishments.

As Paul Morin writes in his blog post, What Is a Business Plan For?, “You always hear that you need a business plan, but is it true?  If you talk to ten experts, it’s likely that five will tell you ‘yes,’ and five will tell you ‘no’.  At the end of the day though, even if you don’t ‘need’ a business plan, that is, a written document titled ‘Business Plan,’ the exercise of putting one together will benefit you and your company in a wide variety of ways.” To read the full post from the Company Founder blog, click here.

If I asked you to observe your business some of you would sit/stand in a particular area and watch what is happening.  Others may observe the financial reports of their enterprise to determine its condition; still others would make a closer inspection of the company and its employees.  None of these approaches is wrong but none of them is complete.

If you hired a consultant to “observe” your business, that consultant (or consultants—they often work in teams) would employ all aspects of the definition of “observe” to best determine where the business is now, what changes need to be made to move it to the desired position, and how to implement those changes to insure success. It will usually take a good consultant six weeks to learn their client’s business, and at that point the consultant will know more about the business than the owner.

That may seem like a brash statement, but it has been proven time and again.  The consultant approaches the business with eyes wide open and no biases present.  The owner typically has developed prejudices, predispositions, or foregone conclusions over time and these perspectives influence their business decisions.  Some of these preconceptions may be influenced by emotion, and emotion can cloud logic when making business decisions.  It can be very difficult for an owner to be objective when making a critical decision regarding their company.  Yet, that is exactly what the prudent business owner needs to do.
Some of you may be asking, “How can I afford a consultant to assess my business operations?”  That is a valid question; my response would be, “What is it costing you NOT to have an outsider observe your business?”  The cost of “non-action” may exceed action by several times.

A client of mine recently hired a consulting firm to evaluate their operations.  The proposed contract called for extensive time on site observing their operations, their people, and their processes.  The consultant stated they would assimilate information, analyze the data, develop a final report, and make solid recommendations to move the business forward.  For all of this work the consultant indicated it would cost the client $100,000. Did I just hear a gasp from the audience?
I agree that a six figure cost is a big deal, but if the client’s $7.5 million business were propelled above the $10 million level it would be money well invested.  Notice I said “money well invested” and not money well spent.  This truly is an investment in the business that is intended to enable a breakthrough to the next level of operations.

My client signed the contract with the consultants, and they launched their activity.  Early into the process, my client found it difficult to work with the lead person from the consulting firm.  A brief phone call with the head of the consulting firm brought about a change to the lead person for the project and from there on everything moved smoothly.  The final report provided the client with a roadmap for success over the next three years. Some of the recommendations have already resulted in significant profits.  The cost of the contract was also reduced and the benefits gleaned from the report have paid for the total project cost.

Observers can be paid consultants or advisors offering their expertise for free.  In some cases those consultants could be students from the college of business at a local university where there would be no cost to the business.

At UW-Whitewater we offer assistance to businesses each semester by utilizing the talents, skills and abilities of college seniors to observe the business and make solid recommendations for change that can bring about success.

Your solution to some of your business challenges may be just a phone call away.  Make that call and bring in some observers to implement positive change for your enterprise.  You will be happy you did.

In its 30th year of service, the SBDC and its sister organization, the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center have served thousands of clients by providing valuable counseling and market research at affordable prices. The SBDC also serves as a resource for local banks by completing feasibility studies for lenders.

To assist in the process of helping small businesses and entrepreneurs, the SBDC has recently received two grants totaling more than $350,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration. One grant is designed to support the SBDC and the five counties it serves. The other grant is aimed at stabilizing regional businesses to help survive economic down turns.

For more about the award, the SBDC, and the grants please click here to read the full article.

This fall, starting September 10, the UW-Whitewater SBDC is offering FastTrac NewVenture to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and new business owners. Participants learn more about starting and operating a small business while creating a business plan with the help of an advisor.

This course meets the training needs of entrepreneurs planning to start a new business and those in the first year of running a business. Course topics include Entrepreneurship, Developing Your Business Concept, Writing a Business Plan, Business Structure Options, Market Research, Business Fundamentals, Testing the Idea: Market Analysis, Getting to the Market: Marketing Strategies, Understanding Budgets & Financials, Raising the Money, and Managing the Future.

The ten-week Training Program will be Saturday mornings from 8 to 11 a.m. September 10 through November 12. Classes will meet at the UW-Whitewater Kachel Center for Innovation and Business Development. The FastTrac NewVenture program is open to the public. Registration has begun and will continue through September 2 or until the class is full.

A limited number of training grants are available from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to cover $750 of this $1,000 course for qualifying participants. The remaining $250 is the course attendee’s responsibility. For more information about this training opportunity and to apply for the grant, contact the UW-Whitewater Small Business Development Center at 262-472-3217 or visit the Center’s website at http://sbdc.uww.edu.

If you attended “New Berlin Is Open For Business” on June 7th at New Berlin West High School, you witnessed genuine enthusiasm for our improved ranking in the CEO survey and for Governor Scott Walker’s “Wisconsin Is Open For Business” mantra.

Here are some key takeaways from the event that are applicable not only to New Berlin, but to Waukesha County and the entire state.

3 Key Takeaways…

1. Wisconsin is positioned to attract CEOs and business Owners from other states, particularly Illinois
 
Our State Lieutenant Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch, astutely pointed out that business owners in the state of IL aren’t too happy right now.  In order to avoid borrowing money and making government budgetary cuts, Illinois legislators have decided to tax businesses and individuals from many angles. Whether its prescription drugs or property replacement, there’s a tax for that.

In the meantime, Wisconsin is strategic in its approach to economic growth by NOT raising taxes on employers and individuals, reducing government spending, and providing incentives to companies that relocate to Wisconsin.  The word is definitely out…Wisconsin is open for Business.

2. Wisconsin Manufacturing must improve it’s exporting position if we are to compete globally

In contrast to our jump in the CEO survey ranking, Lee Swindall, Director at the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP), highlighted Wisconsin’s consistent ranking in the middle of the pack (ranked 23rd) amongst other states’ exporting positions. 

Swindall described three, global economic reasons its important for our state’s manufacturers to collectively become top-ranking exporters: (1) retirement spending is down as a result of plummeting 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts, and lack of pension funds in our economic climate; (2) population growth continues to rise, creating a more competitive manufacturing market here and abroad; and (3) the rise in purchasing power in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) requires US manufacturers to be even more competitive and efficient to help maintain a dominant economy.

In response to this need, the WMEP provides area manufacturers with export strategy education and programs that are affordable and fast http://www.wmep.org/next-generation-manufacturing/global-engagement. 

3. Wisconsin’s schools need to do more to provide the skilled workers required for today’s job openings

Employers in WI are having a hard time filling positions with qualified talent from our current talent pool, and often have to resort to pulling talent from outside of our state.  Dave Maxie, New Berlin School Board President, asked business owners in the audience to contact the New Berlin School System with their thoughts and suggestions around what they need in skill sets from new graduates, so they can continue to build effective programs that promote the required business skills for Wisconsin.

How you can help…

If you are a small business owner/manufacturer, you can help these state initiatives by doing the following:

• Tell fellow business owners outside of Wisconsin about Wisconsin’s incentives for businesses (we are passing legislation that will exempt companies relocating to WI from paying corporate taxes for two years, for example).  You should be able to find an up-to-date list of incentives here: http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/wisconsin_business_incentives.html
• Be sure to tap into the valuable resources available to help your business at the SBDC-Whitewater, the WMEP, and your local economic development corporations.
• Contact your local school district and tell them what you WANT from our graduates

Author, Roxanne Allaire, is the Strategic Advisor for the SBDC-Waukesha Initiative.  In addition to empowering small business owners to make important business decisions, she specializes in online lead generation and thought leadership development.