Do you have an idea for a business, but have no idea how to get started?
Or maybe you have an invention sitting in your garage but don’t know the first steps of turning your invention into a business?
For many would-be entrepreneurs, taking the first step is sometimes the hardest; the hill to climb seems too steep and the risks too great.
I recently discovered a local nonprofit called the NW Innovation Resource Center (NWIRC). It helps future entrepreneurs who may have nothing more than a business idea floating around in their heads. Based in Bellingham, NWIRC serves Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties.
I chatted with NWIRC’s executive director, Diane Kamionka, about her organization and a business competition event it is sponsoring this spring. Here at the highlights of our conversation:
Q. How does NWIRC help fledgling entrepreneurs bring business ideas to life?
A. The NWIRC works with each innovator to develop a customized road map for success. A high percentage of entrepreneurs get a bit overwhelmed by the wide range of tasks required to succeed. By organizing the activities and dealing with them one at a time, they can begin to make progress.
Our programs heavily rely on the generosity of accomplished business persons to provide advice to the entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs seek advice from a wide range of sources, but it often becomes noise and is not strategic for their situation. We invite an individual with the appropriate knowledge and experience to meet with the entrepreneur regarding a specific topic and at a point in the process that is timely. This provides an effective use of the business person’s time and quality information for the entrepreneur. When we started the NWIRC, one CEO said that he would be happy to spend an hour with an entrepreneur if he could be sure the problem was one he could help with and the entrepreneur was serious.
Q. This spring, NWIRC is sponsoring the NW Washington Sustainability Challenge, a business competition involving student teams from several local colleges. What are the goals for this event?
A. So many individuals have shared with us that they have an idea, but are not sure how to begin acting on it. The Challenge is an offer to individuals to take action on their ideas. It provides an opportunity to get assistance for moving forward, to determine the potential value of their ideas and find others with whom they can work to proceed.
The Challenge also brings entrepreneurial activity to light within the community. At last year’s Challenge event luncheon, business leaders, politicians and educators came to see what ideas were being presented. They provided encouragement to the participants.
Without innovation, a community can become stagnant — its economy, its education, its social life. The Challenge celebrates entrepreneurial efforts with opportunity, encouragement and rewards.
Q. What advice would you give to a person thinking about creating an enterprise focused on sustainability?
A. Businesses must first and foremost be sustainable themselves — that is, they must break even at a minimum. If there is not a good business model, all else is for naught.
Many people think of a sustainable business as being about creating alternative energy or electric cars. But what about creating a new way of preserving our food, streamlining the packaging we use for products, simplifying a manufacturing process, minimizing waste or reusing products? All of these will help sustain our natural resources and add to the quality of our lives. So the advice is to think of sustainability in a very broad sense.
Pat Sisneros is the Vice President of College Services at Everett Community College. Please send your comments to psisneros@everettcc.edu
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