Colleges recognizing the benefit of small businesses and the number of people interested in starting out on their own, begin offering college classes in entrepreneurship. That’s just how 23 year old Nick Massari, director of operations for Nanina’s Gourmet Sauce got his position.

In 2005 a group of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J started the company that now sells its product in 400 grocery and gourmet shops in New Jersey and New York. Their professor worked as a chef previously and brought them a recipe for a successful sauce he’d never had time to market. The team of students divided into smaller teams, covering sales and marketing, finance, information technology, research and development, and production.

The Monmouth students researched their market, created a business and then followed through their blueprint, getting the sauce on supermarket shelves. The following semester the students followed through with a course in small business management where they learned through on-the-job training to run their company day to day. Massari predicts $1 million in sales this year. Not bad for a company 3 years old.

More than 2,000 of our nations’ colleges and universities jumped on the creating entrepreneurs band wagon with offerings from one class to an entire curriculum for entrepreneurship. In return 200,000 students enrolled in these classes. Small businesses generate 75% of all new jobs created in the USA.

Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation is spending $50 million of money left by the great Kansas City entrepreneur and owner of the Royals Baseball team, Ewing Kauffman. The Foundation’s vice president, Marjorie Smelstor, insists that entrepreneurship can be taught, but the method of teaching must go beyond teaching theory. Former class learning coupled with a hands-on approach successfully teaches entrepreneurial skills. Smelstor also extols the importance of a well rounded, strong liberal arts education.

Active or retired business owners make the best teachers. These teachers teach students to get on the bicycle and ride rather than discussing the theoretical points on how bicycles can be ridden by humans.

Franchises offer entrepreneurs the ability of stepping into a business with national or regional recognition. In some cases, the franchisor does national or regional advertisement. Individual franchises usually still need local advertising campaigns for marketing their specific location.

The following list provides important considerations when choosing the franchise right for you and your location:

Franchise Market Appeal

•  Choose a franchise you like; the product must appeal to you. Pride in your business makes a better salesperson.
•  Study your location and what appeals to the specific market. A successful franchise in one location provides no guarantee as to its successfulness in another market.
• At the same time, ensure that the competition for the product or service hasn’t over saturated the market in your location.

Research Franchise Offerings

• Not all franchises are clones. Each franchise sets their rules, prices and procedures. Make sure the requirements of the franchise meet your business concept and the way you like working.
• Match your skills and interests to available franchises. Don’t try to put a square peg in a round hole. Databases exist where you plug in your criteria for a business and you receive a list of franchises meeting your criteria.
• Some franchises offer only seasonal concepts – if you want or need to work full time year around, steer clear of these.

Comparative Research

• Compare various franchises with each other. Compare what you get versus the price you pay and what’s included with the offering. Some franchises offer training and ongoing support, others offer less.
• Compare earnings, costs of maintaining the franchise. Have your accountant review this information.
• Do your own income and cost projections with your accountant for your location.
• Compare contractual provisions such as terminations. Turn these over to your attorney for review.
• Talk to existing owners of the franchises on your short list and ask about the good, the bad and the ugly. Find out if the franchisor meets their obligations.

The SBA introduced the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative in June 2007, modeling the program after its Express Program started in 2002. This federal program turns military veterans into entrepreneurs, recognizing their entrepreneurial instincts.

Soldiers and sailors show discipline and a true grit when times are tough. Long hours, hard work and meager facilities equip military men with necessary skills for starting and surviving in business. The “can do” attitude drilled into soliders is just the right skill for starting and building a sucessful business.

The Patriot Express program expedites many of the document processing procedures by reducing the paperwork required and allowing participating financial institutions the approval authority. The SBA program offers guarentees to participating financial institutions, making the financial institutions much more willing to grant business loans.

New small businesses jump start lagging economies for states involved in the program. States also recognize the potential of small businesses become much larger businesses over time. It’s a win-win situation for both veterans and the states in which they live. Military members get the opportunity to apply their skills; states gain revenues.

The Patriot Express program guarantees up to $500,000 in business loans for a new or expanding business. The program offers benefits to National Guard, active duty military ready for retirement, reservists, veterans and spouses and children of deceased military veterans. For more information go to the SBA Patriot Express Program

A successful business requires at least one leader. Leadership comes with commitment, consistency and the ability to persuade others to follow. A leader makes decisions and doesn’t give up when the going gets tough. Employees expect their leaders to be resilient and resolved.

However, leaders who refuse to admit when they are wrong, who delude themselves with self-justification and expect employees follow in blind faith, appear only arrogant and self-absorbed. These leaders soon find no one following, having lost all credibility with their previous followers by their refusal to admit when they are wrong.

Leaders can be so blinded by their need to be right that they see any evidence in a biased fashion, thereby confirming a wrong decision as being right. This is called cognitive dissonance and is something hard wired within us. In this case, followers see the wrong decision before their delusional leader. Depending on the time between followers recognizing the wrong decision and the leader finally admitting, the leader may lose a lot of loyalty and confidence of his followers.

While we can’t change the phenomena of cognitive dissonance – the wish to be right and therefore viewing evidence in a biased manner – we can recognize this malady in decision making and thereby more carefully review evidence. Leaders also need to listen to and encourage contrary opinions, evaluating the message rather than seeing it as an attack or lack of loyalty.

Resolve and commitment sometimes blind leaders. They resist a change in direction and guard against alternative ideas and evaluations. Good leaders admit when they are wrong, change direction and take responsibility. They earn far more loyalty and respect by simple admissions of being wrong without excuses or cover-up.

Authors Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson explain cognitive dissonance in their book Mistakes Were Made but Not by Me, discussing how corporate America rewards positive results; mistakes demonstrate failure of results. This conditions leaders to avoid admitting mistakes and continue a failed course. Great leaders avoid this fallacy, knowing that trial and error makes better decision makers and accepting candid feedback often brings mistakes to the forefront before the business faces disastrous consequences.

Discussions on the mortgage crisis, grime economic news and the continuous mention of the “r” word (recession) by the media may leave entrepreneurs believing financing for businesses has dried up.

Not so says the New York Times Business Section. A recent investment conference in Southern California attended by 1,000 investors demonstrates that investment money is readily available, especially for clean energy, environmental, communications, water treatment and biomedical companies. Of the 330 companies represented, 50 came from China.

Plenty of Venture Capital

Less competition encourages investors who seek small, dynamically growing companies hidden from the broader investment market. James W. Montgomery, Chairman of Montgomery & Company, saw the same enthusiasm at a technology conference held by his firm in Santa Monica, CA. Montgomery said “There is plenty of capital around because venture capital hasn’t been in the bubble mode in recent years like real estate and debt markets.” Montgomery also mentions that companies providing entertainment and services for cell phones do well right now because the communications industry is hot.

Venture Capitalists are not throwing money around by any means. Many still remember the years of the Dot Com Boom and the resulting bust that left venture capitalists holding the bag. But companies with reasonable valuations with the potential for a nice return in two to three years find small amounts of capital for investment. Internet start-ups usually fall within this category because they don’t require expensive plants and equipment.

Green is the “In” Color

“Green” companies such as those that convert contaminated water into drinkable water, solar energy companies also attract investment funding. Investors aren’t just oriented on California, even Chinese companies in the technology field find US capital. Those getting the nod from investors include everything from steel finishing products for appliances to lithium-ion batteries.

Investors also look to acquire operating companies with great earning potential. Large companies expend millions researching companies to acquire and operate. With the down turn in private equity funds who often bid prices up on their reign of buying everything in sight, other investors believe prices have become more reasonable.