By Tom Still
MADISON, Wis. – The latest edition of the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest underscored that entrepreneurs can be found in all business sectors, from agriculture to artificial intelligence, and from recharging tired batteries to repurposing old clothing.
It also served as a reminder that success for young companies is less likely to hinge on the specific nature of the business and more on commonalities in how it is managed for growth.
Starting with more than 150 entries in late January and concluding with seven-minute pitches by 13 finalists at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, the 22nd annual contest was won by a Fox Valley firm that has developed a nano-composite dressing for chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers. Phoenix-Aid, led by Ashwinraj Karthikeyan, emerged in the Life Sciences category of the contest to win the grand prize.
Other category winners emerged in Advanced Manufacturing, won by Galasys of Janesville with a process to convert dairy waste to a low-calorie sweetener; in Business Services with Equability of Madison and its clothing conversion service keyed to people with disabilities; and in Information Technology with Strudel of Madison, which devised an AI path to streamlining customer support in business-to-business software companies.
A few hours before those four winners and nine runners-up were announced, everyone who attended the June 4-5 conference in downtown Madison heard from a serial entrepreneur on best practices that can help many if not most young companies – regardless of technology or business sector – flourish over time.
Chicago-based Scott Becker wrote “The Entrepreneur’s Edge” after founding and leading successful enterprises in health care, law, finance and media. One of his podcasts, “Becker Private Equity and Business,” is routinely ranked among the nation’s most popular business audio-blogs.
In an age in which the virtual world sometimes takes precedence over the personal, Becker delivered a message that boiled down to this: market niche, teams, clients and customers matter most. Everything else can be a distraction on the road to success.
“For those who want to be an entrepreneur, the bottom line is it is very hard and most new businesses fail,” Becker said, adding he has come to believe there are certain “edges” that improve those entrepreneurial odds. Some examples:
- Most entrepreneurs should work a regular job first. That may sound basic, but many people romanticize the examples of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, who didn’t finish college and still built great companies. They are the exception, Becker said. “Real jobs” still teach how to get along with people, get things done and develop strong work habits.
- It’s not about what the entrepreneur wants, but what the customer needs. Attaining the right product-market fit is the goal, not building things that make the founder feel good. “If you do that, it’s a hobby, not a business,” Becker said.
- The best entrepreneurs are commonly those who build excellent teams with multiple leaders within the company. “Without great teams, business success is very limited,” Becker noted.
- Entrepreneurs often have a mix of skills, from product vision to financial skills, and from sales ability to technical knowledge. The mistake some make is not realizing they are a leader who should be surrounded by others who are often more skilled in one or more ways. “Hire people who are better than you,” he said, and give them time to grow. “Don’t judge your hires too early.”
- Focus on core competencies and outsource everything else – and don’t take outsourcing for granted. It’s hard work to find the right partners for your business.
- Focus, focus, focus. Companies usually succeed by finding the right niche in a market versus trying to serve the entire, usually much broader, market.
- Some failures are fine … within reason … because an entrepreneurial leader should encourage teams to try new areas and business lines consistent with the core mission. A related rule is that young companies don’t often have the time or money to over-plan. “It shouldn’t be ready, aim, aim, aim, fire,” Becker said.
If much of this sounds like common sense, that’s so, but it’s applied to challenges faced by emerging businesses. Even in an era when AI can make people seem irrelevant in some settings, people still matter when success is on the line.
Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. He can be reached at tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.