By jason on 12/28/2015
Just completed a survey from an entrepreneurial organization, asking about how much I'd pay for office space and access to business advisors and resources. (Thanks @entrep_thinking)
At first, I moved through it quickly, answering the "Do you have an idea?", "...A business plan?", "Would you use...office space, copier, internet, consultants [marketing, technical,etc]."
Then I got to, "How much would you pay?"
I thought...How much would I pay? Well, the truth is, I've spent 3 years struggling, paying as little as possible. Along the way hearing presentations, reading articles, participating in functions, etc. All emphasis was put toward encouraging entrepreneurship.
How can we get more people to start companies, take risks, help advance the fields that they are in and those around them?
Then the survey became much more meaningful.
It was written by someone who cared enough about advancing entrepreneurship, that they took the time to develop the questions, send them out, collect responses, and learn from the feedback. This, is an important part of enhancing community. We should all take the time to ask, listen, and understand. No perspective covers all angles, and no opinion is absolutely correct. We need each other.
That is what entrepreneurship is about. To me, that is what links us together, to engage in pursuits, align our goals, and do what we would not otherwise do alone. It might be one conversation on a slow afternoon, completely unrelated to the tasks of the moment, that catapults an early stage company into the realm of a community-supporting business.
I am committed to helping build the environments conducive to those conversations, and I believe that the best thing that we can do is not only provide the material space and items, but also deliver the absolute minimum barriers to entry for participation in them. Give entrepreneurs a place. Coffee shops are good. Business incubators, as well. The more we can bring people together...the better.
If we care about entrepreneurship and encouraging each other to become entrepreneurs, then we can begin to give back to the communities that supported us and continue to support us.
Thanks for the survey, Kickstand.org. And thanks to our clients, Nebula Shift, the Watercooler, the ITC, and others in Idaho, that have been pivotal in our growth as a company.
We appreciate the Treasure Valley, and look forward to the bright future ahead.
Our position is: memberships for entrepreneurial organizations and access to entrepreneurial resources, should be free for early stage companies, to encourage fuller participation.
-Jason
