Page 272 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

Getting Started in Community-Based Entrepreneurship 261

ties are alike in capacities. In what follows, key questions identified in this
book are grouped into three broad categories. First, questions about Com-
munity and Networks help develop an understanding of important baseline
conditions to organize a community’s ability to help entrepreneurs help
each other. Second, Finance and Regulations questions relate to providing en-
trepreneurs with adequate capital and reducing the red tape associated with
doing business. Third, Training and Mentoring questions help community
leaders understand how to position local resources most effectively to help
entrepreneurs improve their businesses. Each of these dimensions is im-
portant in creating a total system of entrepreneurial development.

Community and Networks
1. Is there a network of entrepreneurs for peer-to-peer support and idea genera-
tion (Korsching and Allen 2004; Lichtenstein, Lyons, and Kutzhanova 2004;
Muske and Woods 2004)? A network of entrepreneurs is increasingly
viewed as crucial to community-supported entrepreneurship for several rea-
sons. Peers are “living” the same problems, so their solutions to problems
are viewed by entrepreneurs as more credible than other types of advisors.
Through sharing, entrepreneurs learn that seemingly insurmountable ob-
stacles can be overcome. Finally, peers can support each other with contacts
and business in ways that other organizations cannot.
2. Is there a locally based and locally controlled single-mission organization fo-
cused on improving the community’s entrepreneurial climate (Korsching and
Allen 2004)? A danger here is that an existing organization, such as the
Chamber of Commerce or the local economic development agency will say,
“That’s us,” but on further exploration, one finds that the agency has many
missions, among them general business support. Korshing and Allen
(2004) suggest a stand-alone organization to develop many of the items
listed in this chapter, separate from recruitment and promotional activities.
Such an organization can function without having to worry about filling up
the industrial park or planning the downtown’s “Sidewalk Days.”
3. Are activities to support entrepreneurs well-coordinated across service providers
(Lichtenstein, Lyons, and Kutzhanova 2004; Muske and Woods 2004;
Woods and Muske, chapter 11)? The asset-mapping exercise suggested ear-
lier in this chapter helps to identify gaps in service provision. Based on
observation, the needs for service outstrip any one organization’s capac-
ity to deliver, so service providers should not, in principle, be threatened
by this question; in practice, it may cause some of them anxiety. Better ar-
ticulation among service providers means that businesses come to each
“helping agency” ready to use the information available. Such articulation
can help save time per customer and yield greater overall impacts as more
are served.