entrepreneur

Mentoring business: Entrepreneurs start incubators to mentor others

If all goes according to plan, Greg Gilmore hopes to have a new entertainment destination open within three years that would also provide prospective restaurateurs a place to learn and get a foothold in the business.

A $5 million expansion of The B.O.B. in downtown Grand Rapids that Gilmore is planning includes incubator space where entrepreneurs would literally start at the ground level and have an opportunity to work their way up.

“I’ve always wanted to help managers and chefs if they wanted to do something,” Gilmore said as he showed off plans for the creation of what for now is called “BOB-ville” adjacent to The B.O.B. Read more...

Pursue Your Entrepreneurial Dream

The economy has moved a dark cloud over the world, leaving some people without hope of sunshine. But others see a light between the clouds. These optimistic individuals have an opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams like never before. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that the percentage of job seekers starting their own businesses has doubled, from 4.3% last year to 8.7% this year. It's no surprise that unemployed workers choose entrepreneurship over months of job-search misery. If there are no jobs, why not create your own? Read more...

Shopping-center kiosks are a way to try retail ownership

Silvia Spross took a baby step into small-business ownership when she opened a jewelry kiosk on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

It took just $11,000 to set up Lapzos Beads, including $3,500 for the first month's rent. So far the Swiss immigrant has hit her goal to average at least $200 a day in sales of the necklaces, rings and bracelets she makes from rough-cut semiprecious stones, polished rocks and beads from around the world. Read more...

Small firms face credit squeeze as crisis drags

San Diego, CA - Small companies create more than half of America's jobs, but the entrepreneurs who drive this part of the economy continue to complain that access to credit two years into the recession remains scarce.

Small business owners say banks remain extremely wary of risk and a world away from the carefree lending that inflated an epic boom in housing values that went bust and pushed America into its worst economic downturn in decades. Read more...

Women find business niche in Williamston

Williamston - If you're an aspiring female entrepreneur unsure about starting your own business, an afternoon in Williamston might prove inspiring.

Several downtown businesses in Williamston are owned by women. There are 97 female-owned businesses in Williamston and the surrounding area, and 48 of those are in the downtown, said Barbara Burke, executive director of the Williamston Area Chamber of Commerce. Read more...

Local Entrepreneurs Launch face2face relationship status bracelets

Brockton, MA – Two local entrepreneurs have just launched face2face relationship status bracelets. The line has nine different relationship status bracelets, each with their own meaning and a different color cord that rocks your status. The bracelets give people the ability to ask someone out with confidence. One look at their wrist tells you what you need to know. Read more...

Couple marketing Porsche-like computer mouse that looks like it belongs on a racetrack

Marco Island — For most people a computer mouse is a computer mouse, so long as it works.

But for Roger Shaw and his wife, Susan, who run the online gift shop Avant Garde Gifts LLC from their Marco Island home, it’s an extension of your personality.

At least that’s what Roger Shaw said he’s finding as he builds his business around the Motormouse, a wireless mouse that trades in the traditional oval-shaped plastic casing for the scaled-down body of a Porsche 911. Read more...

Angel Investors Become a Little Less So

Entrepreneurship is as vibrant as ever in the American economy, but the capital that finances new companies is still in retreat. Venture capital is running at the lowest levels in more than a decade, and angel investors, who invest in far smaller companies than venture capital funds do, are holding back, too. Read more...

Where lefties are always right

New York -- President Obama and his fellow southpaws have cause for celebration this week: Thursday marks the 18th annual International Left-Handers Day. But for entrepreneur Margaret Majua, founder of Lefty's San Francisco, every day is an occasion to give thanks for lefties.

Majua spotted an ad two years ago for a strange-looking writing instrument called the Yoropen. Shaped like a grasshopper, the pen was touted as a writing boon for left-handed people because its design allowed lefties to see what they'd just written without smearing it. Read more...

Famous athletes' entrepreneurial spirit continues in their daughters

Ann Kohlmeyer of Jupiter, the former owner of Writes & Invites in North Palm Beach, said she and her best friend, Nan Nicklaus O’Leary of North Palm Beach were talking about opening a fine gift and accessories shop when all their kids were in college.

But when Ashley Frederickson of Jupiter began talking to the two friends, they decided to forge ahead and open The Back Porch last December on U. S. 1 in North Palm Beach. Read more...