Fresno State student Larry Rupcich (far right) mentors Selma
High School students as they search for a business plan on the
Internet during the Craig School's Entrepreneurial High School
Training Program.
by April Schulthies
Ever wanted to start your own business? Timothy Stearns not only thinks you can, he's trying to make it possible.
The Reighard Chairholder in Entrepreneurship at the Sid Craig School of Business is an entrepreneur himself: he has been key in the launching of Bulldog Root Beer and Bulldog Ice Cream in the last couple of years. And Stearns is tireless in sharing his entrepreneurial energy. For two years he has served as director of the Institute for Developing Entrepreneurial Action (I.D.E.A.), which he founded to help Valley entrepreneurs get a start.
"I see I.D.E.A. as a vehicle for connecting people with resources," Stearns said.
I.D.E.A. provides answers for entrepreneurs who face daunting questions about patents, how to write a business plan, where to get venture capital, and more. The institute is set up to help people overcome new business barriers, said Stearns. He added that the institute provides many services free of charge to help businesses get that extra boost they need to get up and running.
"There's a myth that most new businesses fail," Stearns said. "In fact, more than half the businesses that actually start will survive over their first five years. Most of the failure rate is in trying to get launched. The odds [in starting up] are about one in 10."
Sometimes, Stearns said, entrepreneurs need to know that they're not alone. That's why he serves as president of the Central Valley Business Incubator, a university-sponsored facility in Clovis with at least 15,000 square feet of space that helps new businesses share resources. The incubator will also share facilities with the new Center for Applied Research and Technology (CART), a joint venture between Fresno and Clovis Unified School Districts that trains high school students in technology laboratories.
As president of the incubator, Stearns invites Valley entrepreneurs like John Shegerian (owner of Bulldog Brewery) and Margaret Hudson (a local artist specializing in earthen sculptures) to talk about their entrepreneurial success at a monthly "brown bag" lunch.
Describing I.D.E.A as "university-based but community-oriented," Stearns noted that the institute also assists with the University Business Center's Entrepreneurial Training Program, in partnership with the Fresno Work Force Development Board.
Recently I.D.E.A. produced The Business Plan Startup Guide. The textbook was written by Fresno State business faculty - Amir Jassim, Dewey Johnson, Garo Kalfayan, Mark Keppler, Richard Lacy, and William Rice.
"There are a lot of entrepreneurial training books out there, but most of them are designed for people with M.B.A.s.," Stearns said. "We're targeting a different market - people without any training at all - so they can understand the basics and come up with a business plan that makes sense."
Royalties on the sale of the textbook will help fund I.D.E.A. projects, like Kids Invent Toys and the Entrepreneurial High School Training Program. These programs are designed to plant the seeds of entrepreneurship at an early age.
Kids Invent Toys, a summer program for 9 to 14 year olds, channels young creativity toward making a product. I.D.E.A. has sold site licenses for the program in the West Indies, Maryland, Oregon, Colorado, and Nebraska. Recently the Children's Museum in Indianapolis also purchased a site license.
I.D.E.A. also sponsors the Collegiate Entrepreneurial Club (affiliated nationally with the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization) and the Entrepreneurial High School Training Program (a full-day workshop held several times a year that is funded largely by the Coleman Foundation).
Recently Stearns traveled to Sweden, where he hopes to start an entrepreneurial exchange program. Next Stearns would like his students to have a crack at Fresno State patents that are not in use. He sees potential revenue in developing business plans that will put these patents to work. For Stearns and his students, pursuing the entrepreneurial dream means seizing opportunities that others might pass by.
I.D.E.A. hosts, sponsors, and participates in key programs that benefit Valley communities:
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