Page 279 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

268 Scott Loveridge

processes and difficulties of the other, mutually beneficial solutions can
arise. Finally, cross-training can help relieve boredom that may set in after
one has done a job for too long. This can improve overall attitudes in the
workplace, reducing turnover.
30. Do local business owners actively encourage the rest of the family to be part
of their business (Nylander and Brown 2004)? As with job rotation within
the company, involving family members in the business can help the busi-
ness survive life cycle changes. Also, as family members gain entrepreneur-
ial skills, they can apply them in other businesses. Trust levels can be higher
among family members, so critical business strategy information can be
shared more easily. If a family member starts a complementary business,
the connections can result in contracts or bridge financing that can help sta-
bilize a business in its early years.
31. Do managers actively mentor youth who are not employees (Emery, Wall,
and Macke 2004; Kayne, chapter 8)? The benefits of this activity are very
similar to the case of internship programs mentioned above. Also, as Kayne
points out in this volume, the opportunity to explain principles increases
the learner’s retention, so a mentoring program fits well with entrepreneur-
ial short courses.
32. Are entrepreneurial support activities driven by funding agencies or the
clients (Lichtenstein, Lyons, and Kutzhanova 2004)? First, is the support of-
fered on the business owner’s time frame? If the support is a business plan
development class offered every six months with limited follow-up, then
the answer is “no.” Owners need answers to their questions as they arise,
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Second, do the agencies coor-
dinate or duplicate services? It can be confusing and frustrating for business
owners to have to navigate three or four systems to identify which one is
best positioned to provide assistance. There is plenty of work for all agen-
cies to do. There is no need to duplicate in one area while other areas go
unserved.
33. Are assistance programs tailored to a business owner’s technical, manage-
rial, entrepreneurial, and personal skill sets (Lyons, Lichtenstein, and
Kutzhanova, chapter 5; Muske and Woods 2004)? A one-size-fits-all ap-
proach to technical assistance is simply not workable in an environment
where one person is starting a business because the output from a craft ac-
tivity is starting to fill up the basement (focus on getting money back from
a craft activity/new to owning a business), while another entrepreneur
wants to build and sell a second or third 50-employee business (job cre-
ation focus/seasoned entrepreneur).
34. Do programs for entrepreneurs focus on training or implementation (Licht-
enstein, Lyons, and Kutzhanova 2004; Warner and Weiss Daugherty 2004)?
Many existing entrepreneurial programs focus on providing training
around a set of tried-and-true business practices. While this might be valu-