Published in the Independence Daily Reporter June 2018

Last time, we introduced Gary Schoeniger, founder of what is now the Ice House Entrepreneurship program in a company called the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. He had started small in building a successful gutter cleaning business that evolved into a multi-million dollar construction management company. He also helped his near-drop-out son start a construction site cleaning business while still in high school. Jason went on to be graduated from high school and college and become a Marine seeing combat action.

Two Start-ups Started Small

These two start-ups, starting small without much money and without special business education were in extreme contrast with the way our society has portrayed entrepreneurship and the implied need of big money and special education for a start-up.

In search of a better way to educate aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners, Schoeniger became involved with an initiative supported by Cisco Systems to conduct video interviews with entrepreneurs from all over the United States to try to figure out if there were common traits in their thinking that made them successful. Cisco had discovered that entrepreneurs can’t consciously describe how they think, let alone write it down, but if you get them to tell their story about how they started, you can begin to see these common traits.

Gary was in the process of traveling all over the United States, interviewing, on camera, all kinds of entrepreneurs that had become successful. Nearly all had started out with very little money and little formal business education. Many weren’t even subject matter experts in the areas of business in which they found themselves.

Schoeniger Interviews Taulbert

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gary had finished the planned interview by about lunch time with a flight that didn’t leave until the next day. Asking the people he met for suggestions about who else he might try to interview while in Tulsa, someone suggested Clifton Taulbert. Taulbert had lived in Tulsa for several years and was involved and a co-founder of the company that marketed the original “Stairmaster” exercise machine. Clifton was available and, indeed, the interview took place that afternoon in Clifton’s office on Lewis Avenue in Tulsa.

Not Only Entrepreneur But Also International Speaker and Author

Clifton’s story was quite a find for Schoeniger. The “Stairmaster” piece was only a small part; he had been a shareholder in one of Tulsa’s banks and had become, and still is, an international speaker and author, having been nominated for the Pulitzer for his “Last Train North.” His first book “Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored” has been in print for thirty years after he struggled to find the first publisher who told him that a run of 5,000 copies would be enough for a lifetime. The United States State Department asked for a copy of the book to have on Nelson Mandela’s desk when he was finally released from prison.

It was the story of Clifton’s upbringing and his introduction to entrepreneurship (before we stole that term from the French) that really caught Schoeniger’s attention.

Taulbert’s Upbringing Is the Real Story

In the segregated South of the late 1950’s, Clifton grew up on the Mississippi delta in the small town of Glen Allan. Life was difficult for all African Americans there. Nearly all teenaged and adult males worked in the cotton fields; females, domestic help in the white and Jewish homes. All were for meager wages. The one exception was Clifton’s Uncle Cleve Mormon. He owned the only ice house in town–that was before wide-spread refrigeration–everyone bought ice. This most unlikely of entrepreneurs, Uncle Cleve had little money, little formal education and certainly no power or political clout. Yet, somehow he built his own business in this small town and everyone, no matter what ethnicity, bought ice from him. He asked Clifton to help him in his business a couple of high-school summers instead of working in the cotton fields. Today, Taulbert says that’s where he really learned the lessons of entrepreneurship.

Ice House Entrepreneurship Program Evolves

Over the months after the interview the two, Schoeniger and Taulbert, had many conversations and co-authored a book “Who Owns the Ice House?” In it, each chapter is a piece of Clifton’s story relating back to his upbringing and work with Uncle Cleve followed by commentary from Gary relating why that part of the story is relevant to today’s entrepreneurial thinking. After that, the whole entrepreneurship education initiative was changed to revolve around the “Ice House” book and its eight life’s lessons from an unlikely entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurial Thinking is for Everyone

Since then, we’ve learned that those life’s lessons really are for everyone, not just those wanting to own businesses. The lessons are about problem solving, taking action, continual search for knowledge and persistence. That’s why you’ll see and hear me talking about the “Ice House” way so much and for so many people. It represents the idea of always learning new ways to use small experiments in the search of solutions to big problems. The results of each experiment either validate an assumption or point out the need to try something else. Entrepreneurial thinking is not just about starting a business. It’s about becoming better at solving the problems we encounter in our personal, academic and career life situations.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter May 2018

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 businessman, 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 he 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.

The next “Entrepreneurial Mindset” class featuring the “Ice House Entrepreneurship Program” starts in mid-August on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8 PM through mid-November. It is different than any other class with no heavy reading or testing. Most say it’s inspiring; some, life-changing. Learn more at www.fablabicc.org.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter May 2019

Employers are on the hunt for members to add to their workforce who have a strong work ethic and can work well with others, but also need those who can work without constant supervision. Where are these workers going to come from and who is going to train them?

Not all of today’s high school graduates are ready to head off to college, and even those who are have grown up in a very different environment than their parents and grandparents. Most of these students have never known a world without the Internet, and have been carrying around smartphones since their teen years. So what does this mean for those of us in higher education?

The student of today, whether a recent high school graduate or an adult learner wanting a new career is very discerning. Today’s student wants more than a sage on the stage, expounding wisdom about concepts needed to be successful someday. There is an outcry for getting more bang for the buck when it comes to education, not only from students and parents but from the federal government as well. The purse strings are being held tighter and tighter. Professors are stepping up their game in order to not only attract students but to provide a better learning experience. Students want to understand the how and why of what they are being taught. They harbor a deep desire to be active participants in their learning process. So what is the answer?

Independence Community College and Fab Lab ICC have teamed up to help provide an answer. In the Fall of 2018, ICC will roll out a new academic, credit-bearing program: Fab Force. This program will provide adult students of all ages and backgrounds an opportunity to get training in a way they cannot experience just anywhere. Fab Force is designed to provide core training in design thinking, conflict management, project management, leadership, as well as an understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset. In addition to the core courses, students will be able to choose from a variety of areas of interest to complete either a Certificate or an Associates of Applied Science Degree. Many of the classes have industry recognized credentials available to those students who successfully complete these specific courses.

The coursework within the Fab Force certificate and degree program will provide training that is relevant to the workplace. Students will become problem solvers, critical thinkers, and active learners. They will be able to seek out opportunities in the workplace and offer employers innovative solutions, making them an invaluable resource to their employer. All of this will happen through hands-on, experiential learning opportunities. From the first day students enter into a Fab Force class they will be making and doing. They will get the opportunity to learn the theory of their trade through action. By helping students become more active participants in their education, it is our belief they will obtain a better work ethic and desire to not only be better employees, but lifelong learners, as well. They will understand the “why” from the very beginning. The students will have an opportunity to see what they are working so hard for, that desired job which interests them. Faculty and staff of the Fab Force program will assist students in finding that area which interests them and help them to enroll in the classes best suited to the career they are interested in. These students will be equipped to enter into a workforce well equipped with a broad range of skills that will be appealing to any employer today.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.

 

Published in the Independence Daily Reporter May 2018

Entrepreneur and entrepreneurship are of French origin. We enjoy many great French traditions; fashion, cuisine, art, and architecture. The word “entrepreneur” is not one of them. Back in 2006 when I became the facilitator of the new Successful Entrepreneur Program at Independence Community College, it took me a long time to learn how to say it, let alone spell it. Even today, after typing it thousands of times, spell-check is always telling me I’ve misplaced one of the “r’s.”

The meaning of entrepreneur and its forms; entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial mindset, and entrepreneurial thinking, have also morphed over the years to a point where many people think about the meanings in many different ways.

Entrepreneurship Is Not Just About Owning A Business

The original definitions of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship have always been thought of as related to starting and owning a business. Many times, our society has portrayed entrepreneurs as mavericks who risk all to launch their business ideas. The idea that all entrepreneurs are huge risk-takers is a myth. In a recent year, research has shown us that ninety-eight percent of new businesses that went on to be on the Fortune 500 list were started with less than $10,000. Research has also shown that the kind of thinking used by those entrepreneurs that started a business with less than $10,000 is very useful for all of us whether in business or working for others. Entrepreneurial thinking is even useful for government workers always trying to do the most with shrinking budgets.

How Entrepreneurs Really Think

Studies of entrepreneurial thinking, also known as entrepreneurial mindset reveal the ways successful entrepreneurs look at problems and find solutions. They make assumptions about a given perceived problem and their newly derived solutions. They don’t write a 100 page business plans with 5-year projections about how much money they will make solving these problems. They don’t borrow huge sums of money to launch these businesses, only to find out their assumptions were wrong about either the perceived problems or the solutions they thought everyone would buy. Instead, they figure out how to conduct a series of small experiments to validate their assumptions. That way, if their assumptions are wrong, they haven’t exhausted their resources and can tweak their solutions or sometimes pivot to new solutions. Only after validating their assumptions do they do more business planning and invest more resources into growing businesses.

Validation Is More Than Market Studies, Focus Groups, and Surveys

These entrepreneurs don’t base their validation on market studies or even focus groups listening to what potential customers say. They develop what’s called a minimum viable product and see if they can get a small subset of their potential customers to actually purchase and try the solution. This launches a feedback loop of learning and tweaking, always paying attention to what customers say after using the products or services.

It is this kind of entrepreneurial thinking that includes validating assumptions with a series of small experiments and trials that we should all be using in our professional lives whether we own businesses or work for others. All of our work involves solving problems for others, whether customers, coworkers or bosses. This kind of validation helps us choose what problems to solve and whether or not our solutions are considered valuable by those having the problems. Starting small and learning directly from customers or constituents as we go saves countless sums of money, time and resources. Entrepreneurial thinking is the most efficient way to accomplish our work.

We Should All Be Entrepreneurial Thinkers

Think for a moment about a society where all members work to solve problems for others using this kind of efficient; i.e. lean, type of entrepreneurial thinking. All segments of our society, business, and government, academic and not-for-profit, would be more effective and efficient with scarce resources of time, money and energy. That’s why so many of us around the world, working in “entrepreneurship” are saying that this type of thinking benefits everyone.

 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349, by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu or Twitter @jimcorrellks.