Update/Context: Joanne Smith and I made two of these trips to Washington in 2018 and 2019. Many politicians and policymakers continue to believe that entrepreneurship is predominantly about large, venture capital-funded startups. In reality, most new businesses begin on a smaller scale, often with less than $10,000 in startup funding. It is crucial to continue emphasizing how small businesses truly start.

For the second time in just over a year, local entrepreneur Joanne Smith (Fab Creative Services) and I recently returned from an entrepreneurial policy advocacy trip to Washington, DC sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (EMKF) in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Our relationship with EMKF goes back to October 2013 when I met Kauffman’s then head of entrepreneurship, Thom Ruhe, by chance in a hotel restaurant in Orlando, Florida. The conversations with him that night led to Kauffman supporting the initial creation of Fab Lab ICC with a $50,000 matching grant that we matched with private donations. 

EMKF is no small concern. With assets of around $2 billion, it is one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to furthering entrepreneurship around the globe. Ewing Marion Kauffman came back from the Navy in World War II and got a sales job with a pharmaceutical company. He was really good with people and at building relationships. So good that within a couple of years, he made more money from his sales commissions than did the president of the company. So, the president didn’t like that and instead of congratulating him on helping make the company successful, the president cut his territory in half. Mr. Kauffman still made more than the president and he tried to cut his territory again. With $5,000, Ewing Marion Kauffman started Marion Laboratories and most of his customers followed him to the new venture. He used his middle name in an attempt to make it appear to be more than just a one-man show. When the company merged in 1989 with Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals to form Marion Merrell Dow the deal made more than 300 millionaires.  

Kauffman established the EMKF in the mid-1960s. He wanted his foundation to be innovative – to fundamentally change people's lives, making entrepreneurship and training available to people all over the globe. 

Even though Ruhe left the Foundation in 2014, our relationship with EMKF continues to grow. Two years ago, we applied for a grant in what was called the Kauffman Inclusion initiative. Our purpose was to lower barriers to women and making entrepreneurship and small business ownership more readily available. We’re in the middle of our 2-year “Women 4 Women” (W4W) program with Independence entrepreneur Joanne Smith as the manager of the initiative. 

In a highly competitive process, our W4W application was selected as one of 21grantees out of more than 700 applications from around the United States. We later found out that we were also from one of the smallest communities. Chattanooga, Tennessee was the next smallest and they others ranged all the way up to Baltimore, Los Angles and New York. 

In addition to working directly to help entrepreneurs and small business owners, EMKF is interested in educating and advocating for entrepreneurship among the legislators and policy makers in the US government and around the country. For the second year they have sponsored entrepreneurship advocates (that would be me) and their representative entrepreneurs (Joanne Smith) to go to Washington DC to meet with legislators and policy makers to demonstrate the importance of entrepreneurship and small business ownership to these elected officials who determine our policies. 

It’s an important message. Erroneously, our society and media lead us to believe that businesses are created by flamboyant entrepreneurs with a lot of money and big venture capital to invest in their start-ups. Also, that in order to be a successful entrepreneur you have to know venture capitalists and have business and MBA degrees from the big universities, if Harvard, so much so the better. The fact is that ninety-eight percent of businesses are started by ordinary people with less than $10,000 to spent on start-up. 

Through W4W and Growth Accelerator, we are working to support this kind of start-up and growth activity with the entrepreneurial mindset training and business coaching we offer at Fab Lab ICC. We act like our future depends on it because it does. The key to economic growth in the future not only in the United States, but all over the world, is entrepreneurial activity by ordinary individuals learning to do extraordinary things. 

Update/Context: When this article was first published, the question of whether to pursue a patent was already complex. Today, as the pace of innovation accelerates and patent costs continue to rise, it's even more important to carefully consider if a patent is truly the best course of action. While patents can protect ideas, they are not always necessary, wise, or cost-effective, especially for small businesses or individual inventors. It depends on the individual situation and there are other strategies that may be more suitable than the patent

The quote, "everything that can be invented has been invented", is generally attributed to Charles H. Duell, commissioner of US patent office in 1899 although the quote’s origin is unclear.  One researcher found the quote in an 1899 issue of a comedy magazine, “Punch” in an article about the oncoming new century.  According to a publication called “Government Technology” in August of 2011, the 8-millionth patent was issue; indeed, everything has not been invented. 

Being awarded a patent after coming up with a new idea or invention and navigating through a long and expensive process is often viewed at the “gold standard” of the legitimacy of the idea or invention.  For many new inventors, the goal of patenting the idea or invention has been at the top of the list.  The thinking is that the patent will both validate the idea and protect the inventor from the theft or copying of the idea.  While there are no clear-cut guidelines pertaining to when or even if to patent a new idea or invention, the patent should almost never be at the top of the list.  

Contrary to many beliefs, from a practical standpoint, the patent does not offer the iron-clad protection against theft and copying for several reasons.  First, while the cost of getting the patent--$15,000 to $60,000—is very high, the cost of litigation to stop a patent infringement could be ten times that amount.  Second, many times clever copiers can create a product that performs the same function, with just enough design changes to avoid infringement.  

At the same time, government employees at the patent office deeming the new idea worthy of a patent, does not always translate to market validation; that anyone wants to buy the new product.  A local banker tells a story of an out-of-state inventor that spent his life savings and mortgaged his house to develop and patent a more accurate rain gage—it leaned into the wind to catch more of the drops.  He had paid for scientific data proving his device was more accurate.  The only problem was that no one cared enough to be willing to buy it. 

I know of at least one and maybe two inventors that have put their projects on the shelf because they don’t have the money to apply for a patent.  It’s too bad that they may never know whether their product would add value for anyone in the marketplace or not.  Maybe it would be better to develop what we call a minimum viable product that would be functional enough to test market to see if anyone wants it even at a small risk of someone “stealing” the idea. 

A good patent attorney is more of a patent counselor, not just taking money to mechanically apply for the patent on your behalf, but helping  you  decide when and if to patent at all.  We have a relationship with just such an attorney.  We also know a patent counselor who helps people apply for their own patents at a fraction of the cost of using an attorney.

Update/Context: The idea of an interdependent entrepreneurial ecosystem cam be compared to a biological ecosystem as I did back in June of 2022. Today, some of us prefer to use the term entrepreneurial community to represent an interdependent community of entrepreneurial thinkers.

A few years ago, I saw something new coming onto the market. A sealed glass-globe ecosystem of small plants and organisms. The cost was about $2,000. The idea was that if you have the right mix of animals, plants and organisms, life is sustained inside the sealed globe. The only outside ingredient necessary is indirect light to provide for photosynthesis in the plants. The Internet defines ecosystem as “a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.” Generally, a popular definition today is “a complex network or interconnected system.”

I don’t see this particular ecosystem on the market today, however, I do see several varieties of aquatic ecosystems. Typically, they seem to consist of a sealed glass dome containing miniature shrimp, algae, and micro-organisms. The waste that is produced by each organism is used by the others. It’s balanced so there’s no excess waste and the life cycle can go on without intervention.

Early efforts at aiding entrepreneurs and small business start-ups were somewhat “controlled.” I can remember meetings where there was talk about some committee determining what kinds of businesses this community or that community needed. I’ve come to realize that it’s small business owners with the Entrepreneurial Mindset and the marketplace that should determine what’s needed, not some economic development committee. We’ve learned again and again that markets need to be free. A controlled market whether the controller is a government, or a local committee doesn’t work. It’s the entrepreneur, always empathetically looking for problems and the related solutions that make for a strong economy.

We saw the development and growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in our area before the pandemic. Now that the pandemic is behind us, we’re seeing the growth return. Some would argue that the ecosystem is what helped us through the challenges of the pandemic. We are talking about an ecosystem of entrepreneurs independently working with each other in a complex interconnected network. The ecosystem builds on itself. Other than a supportive environment, the ecosystem needs less and less help from outside forces. We do what we can to help entrepreneurs enter the ecosystem. Once in the ecosystem, they start to grow. They consult with each other and start doing business with each other. We try to be there to continue to help by seeing that they get what they need. Some stay in touch. Some disappear from our radar screens and grow on their own. Sometimes when we see them in social settings, we find out they’ve expanded and maybe even started something else on their own without our help.

On several occasions, we’ve worked with these entrepreneurs daily In the Fab Lab as they’ve used our equipment to develop their products and promotional materials. At a certain point, their business grows enough to buy their own equipment. While these are certainly success stories, we have to get used to them not coming around as often. They have to spend their time satisfying customers, and don’t visit the Lab as often as any of us would like.

We work to instill an Entrepreneurial Mindset, that is a certain independence and self-sufficiency in searching for problems to solve, in everyone we work with at the Lab. This makes our entrepreneurs somewhat “cat” like, as in herding cats. They come around for a while on a regular basis and we get used to networking with them as we help them get what they need. Then, when that’s done, they disappear, sometimes for several months before coming back again for the next help we can provide. We miss them when they’re gone, but welcome them back when we see them. All in all, that’s the way an ecosystem should be, requiring limited help and attention. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing these independent and self-confident people thrive in the ecosystem while providing for the needs of the marketplace.

Update/Context: This article has been repeated a couple of times, most recently in July, 2020. The concepts in the discussed book remain timeless, making it essential reading for every aspiring entrepreneur and existing small business owner. If you've read it before but it's been a while, it's time to revisit its valuable insights.

On December 17, 2017 my headline was "E Myth Revisited" Oldie But Goody. As you’ll see below this book has been around a while, yet the concepts are timeless, and many small businesses today struggle with the same challenges presented in this classic. Here’s what I said in 2017 but I could have easily said it for the first time today. 

I’ve learned that most entrepreneurial concepts are timeless, mostly, I think because they have to do with human behavior and human thinking. So, many books about essential entrepreneurial mindset skills are current, even if they’ve been around for a while. Such is the 1995 book called “E Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber.  

I went to work for Independence Community College back in 2006 after then president Terry Hetrick had a vision for a nuts and bolts entrepreneurship program to help community members develop and grow their businesses. Dr. Hetrick wanted a program that was “nuts and bolts” as opposed to academic so he sought not an academic professor or MBA to run the program but, apparently, someone like me. I had owned a couple of small businesses and then worked in manufacturing about a decade in two different Boeing supplier companies. I had only one semester of accounting but learned the rest along with other management skills through ten years in the photography business in Garden City from 1976 through 1986. In the two manufacturing companies, I worked in accounting, production and inventory control, scheduling and even manufacturing planning. Nearly all the learning was on-the-job and much of it came the hard way, through experience and making mistakes. I often joke that I got this job because of all the different work experience and the fact that I couldn’t stick to one career. Now, I believe all that experience, plus the knowledge of nearly twelve years at ICC have set me up for what I’m doing today. We have Fab Lab ICC now, but the original vision of Dr. Hetrick to help community members develop and grow their businesses is still at the core of everything we do. 

I have no major regrets about the way my career stacked up; indeed, the opportunity to be involved in the creation and development of Fab Lab ICC and its potential to help people from all walks of life is an extreme privilege and honor. I have one minor regret. Until a few years ago, I always thought I was too busy to read regularly.  

I did not discover “E Myth Revisited” until a few years ago, some 15 years after it was published in 1995. Even that version was an update of the original “E Myth” in 1986. The subtitle is “Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.” Gerber, an author and business coach does a great job explaining why so many small businesses fail, often when the owners become burned out after several years of working so hard. 

He makes a point that every business needs an entrepreneur, a manager and a technician. The entrepreneur watches out for new business opportunities and is concerned about making the business so good that customers prefer it over competitors. The manager takes care of the day to day administrative details of running the business; cash flow, accounts receivable and payable, inventory and other activities not directly related to providing products and services to customers. The technician in a business is the one that is directly responsible for taking care of customers.  

The key to a business being sustainable today and, in the future, depends on the entrepreneur always looking for new business opportunities and the manager working to “systematize” the day to day operation. In very small businesses, the owner has to be all three. Many get caught up in wearing only the technician’s hat, working long hours just to satisfy customers. This can go on year after year while the entrepreneur and manager hats sit on the shelf. When this happens, sales diminish and eventually burnout takes over and the business closes. 

There are ways the small business owner can learn to wear all three hats, building a sustainable business with processes that run smoothly. I’ve recommended this book on several occasions to small business owners struggling to make more than a “wage-rate” living from their businesses. We are working hard to run Fab Lab ICC like a business and implement the “E Myth” principles even though they are approaching 25 years old. Even businesses involved in the latest technology need to incorporate these timeless principles. 

Update/Context: Published in July 2021, part one delves into the origins of the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program and the story behind its unique name. The program serves as the cornerstone of the Entrepreneurial Mindset class I launched in August 2012. Since then, nearly 200 people in Montgomery County, Kansas, have participated in the course. Almost all attendees report a shift in their mindset, and around 20% say the class has changed their lives. Part one highlights how the Ice House program has become a key tool for fostering entrepreneurial thinking in the region.

The Origin of Ice House Entrepreneurship - Part 1

Many people within our network of contacts here locally, around Kansas and across the country are familiar with "Ice House Entrepreneurship." We use the term frequently when we speak of "Ice House" concepts or the "Ice House" way. It must sound very strange to people that don't know the origin of the term. For many of us, the "Ice House" way represents not only the way we should be starting new businesses, but the way we should all be thinking in how we solve the problems in our career, academic and personal lives.

Most businesses start small and grow

Most new businesses do not start as have been portrayed by our society. The impression we've had all these years was that businesses are started by people with business degrees from the top business schools with detailed business plans and projections. The plan is pitched and after receiving startup capital from venture capitalists, an all-or-nothing gamble takes place. I've not seen much evidence of those kinds of start-ups in the various areas of Kansas in which I've lived.

Then, in 2011, I learned of a statistic that ninety-eight percent of the Fortune 500 businesses were started with less than $10,000 in start-up capital. Even the mighty Walmart started out as a small store owned and operated by Sam Walton. Amazon was started in a garage with a few computers and doors converted to desks by adding 4 x 4 legs. (When I did my hard time as an area manager at the now defunct Coffeyville Amazon fulfillment center, that's what we still used for desks; a door on 4 x 4 legs.)

Introduction to the "Ice House" way

This revelation came to me at a conference in Oregon in October of 2011 when I heard, for the first time, Ohio business man, Gary Schoeniger and international speaker and Pulitzer nominated author Clifton Taulbert speak of a book titled "Who Owns the Ice House?"

From gutter cleaning to construction management

Schoeniger, without a business degree and with little money, started a small business cleaning roof gutters. He recognized that homeowners had a problem; they knew their gutters needed to be cleaned, but didn't want to do the work themselves. Although he didn't like ladders either, he went door to door offering to clean gutters for a fee. One customer asked if he could fix her garage door opener. He told her he'd have to check and, in the era preceding Google, he went to the library to find a resource to help him figure out how garage door openers work.

One thing led to another as Gary tweaked his business model, always looking for new problems he could solve for his customers. A few years later, he owned and operated a multi-million dollar construction management firm.

From flunk-out to another family business

At the time Gary was a single father with a teenaged son living with him. The son had a friend named Jason whose personal life was a train wreck. Jason was about to flunk out of high school seeing no relevance in the subject matter. Again, one thing led to another and Schoeniger ended up adopting Jason. With no special training in helping a teenager with Jason's background Gary first set about finding something constructive for Jason to do after school. In his construction management business, Gary knew that most contractors don't like to clean up their sites (we all know this too) so the two went to garage sales picking up bargain tools and supplies that could be used in construction site cleanup. They designed some flyers and business cards and Jason became the proprietor of a construction site cleaning business. He became well known for his reliability and ability to use a calendar to do the work for his customers when and where needed without reminders. Jason operated the successful business until he was graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marine Corp. The business made him see the relevance in much of the subject matter in school and his grades improved greatly.

Gary Schoeniger and adopted son, Jason Campbell, both started businesses with no special education and very little money. The businesses flourished as they both learned to solve problems for their customers.

Changing how we grow entrepreneurs

Gary saw the discrepancy between what we've been led to believe is required to start a business and his own experience, along with that of son Jason. He set about to change the way we educate people in starting businesses by studying the way successful entrepreneurs and business owners think in terms of solving problems for others. There was a huge challenge in this undertaking since most successful entrepreneurs can't verbalize how they think, let alone write it down.

Next time; how it became "Ice House"

In the next column, we'll explore how Schoeniger solved this problem and how he met Clifton Taulbert and co-authored the book "Who Owns the Ice House?" with him to become the center of what we now call the "Ice House Entrepreneurship" program.

Published in July of 2017, this article discusses the problem-solving mindset and why everyone needs one in their personal, professional and academic lives.

Have you ever learned how to do something complicated over time and become good at it? This could be a sport, a business process or skill like woodworking. Many times, we say these things become “second nature,” meaning that we’re good enough so as to make what we do look easy and natural. This is common when we see athletes and performers, artisans and craftsmen or women. Almost always, we acquire new knowledge and skills as a solution to a problem. If we play a sport or a musical instrument, it’s usually answering a problem in that we have an innate need for self-improvement. We may not be a professional athlete or musician, but we can feel good about the process of improving our skills over time. In our professional lives, we all need to be life-long learners and improve our professional knowledge and skillset in order to survive and thrive in the ever volatile economy. This process of continuous learning and self-improvement in order to meet the challenges and solve problems in our personal and professional lives becomes a mindset; a mindset of problem solving. 

Successful entrepreneurs and small business owners have this mindset for problem solving. They have learned to view problems as opportunities for innovative solutions. When problems arise, they don’t throw up their hands and give up, but rather they subconsciously search through their minds, extracting bits and pieces of prior experience to go together to  solve the current problem at hand. We call it entrepreneurial mindset and we believe everyone should have it, no matter what age and no matter what walk of life; student, professional or personal. 

Most people that are good at certain tasks or processes find it difficult to explain how they think while performing those tasks or processes. If you ask them how they know to do things a certain way or how they have made certain decisions, they find it difficult to answer. We call this tacit knowledge, “the kind of knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it.” Successful entrepreneurs and small business owners have this tacit knowledge and it is, indeed, difficult for them to articulate how they think. Gary Schoeniger, founder of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative and the revolutionary Ice House Entrepreneurship program figured out that the way to learn how they think is to listen to them tell the stories of how they got started in business and about the twisted and winding paths they’ve taken to become successful. The Ice House program is centered on video interviews of dozens of entrepreneurs from around the globe. As you listen to each one, you begin to see some common themes. These themes are organized into the eight life’s lessons of entrepreneurial thinking. The eight life’s lessons, that should be practiced by all of us, are: the power to choose, recognizing opportunities, ideas to action, pursuit of knowledge, creating wealth, building your brand, creating community, and the power of persistence. 

At Fab Lab ICC, we have discovered that adding the process of making things to the entrepreneurial mindset greatly accelerates the development of our mindset for problem solving.  

We would like to become the national leader in the combination of entrepreneurship and the Fab Lab making experience. We believe this combination is an essential ingredient in the economic re-development of our small rural communities across the United States. 

In our area, the Entrepreneurial Mindset class will start on August 23; Wednesday nights through Thanksgiving. Class is a collaborative effort by participants to further develop their mindset of problem solving by listening to video as well as live entrepreneurs while practicing their own problem solving skills.