August 9, 2010
Clay
“Do you really know what you ate today?” Natural Check, LLC dares to answer this sometimes unnerving question by making the science of water and food testing easily accessible.
This innovative startup company, and member of the TowsonGlobal Incubator, provides fast, affordable and reliable methods to screen for unacceptable compounds in the food and water supplies. For example, the company has developed a lab-based test for the detection of artificial growth hormones in beef and offers a rapid field test for antibiotics in milk. Additional tests are under development in partnership with labs from around the world.
NaturalCheck also supplies water testing kits and is striving to build community awareness through city-specific “What’s in my water…” Facebook fan pages created for cities like Baltimore, DC, Los Angeles, and New York. In addition, the company offers the BRIX Meter, which helps determine the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables.
Similarly, NaturalCheck, through its AuthentiCheck division, is on the forefront, developing and distributing new technologies to protect manufacturers, retailers and consumers from often unsafe counterfeit products. The technologies offer two important services—authenticating products and tracking and tracing the movement of products through the supply chain—and are suitable for textiles, packaging, pharmaceuticals, and many other products.
NaturalCheck was founded by Larry Bohlen, former NASA engineer, international environmental advocate and food safety entrepreneur. His experience has taught him that testing and sharing the results can be a powerful tool for facilitating real change.
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Business Analysis, Community Outreach, Education, Entrepreneurship, International Business Development, News, Small Business Development | Tagged: antibiotics, beef, BRIX meter, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, food contamination, food safety, growth hormones, Incubator, Larry Bohlen, milk, NaturalCheck, nutrition, product authentication, product safety, TowsonGlobal, water safety | 
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Posted by Clay Hickson
April 20, 2010
Clay
In these tough economic times, everyone is feeling it. Some families are watching their budgets, eating dinner at home more, and maybe not getting that new iPad they wanted. Individuals are not the only ones feeling the pressure, so are businesses. While big companies may be having cutbacks and layoffs, small businesses also are struggling. Along with everything else, marketing budgets are tight, so companies are forced to be creative.
One company that is working to turn a challenging situation into an opportunity is Transcending Cosmetics, a TowsonGlobal incubator member company, through the launch of its new marketing campaign “Turning Gloom into Bloom.” The initiative strives to use every opportunity to stretch marketing dollars and incorporate a variety of tools to help build awareness of the company’s revolutionary all-in-one foundation/concealer Natural Cover and the services of Linda Seidel—Pioneer, Makeup Artist, Author, Educator and Aesthetic Rehabilitation Specialist.
The campaign includes:
- Partnerships with health professionals and special interest groups like Vascular Birthmarks Foundation
- Radio talk show appearances such as “Woman Talk Live” and “Your Prescription for Health”, both on WCBM
- Presentations to groups such as the Lupus Foundation Mid-Atlantic
- Exploration of new media tools by engaging a consultant to help set up an easy-to-manage social media initiative that will include a corporate Facebook profile
- Limited targeted advertisements such as in the program book of St. Joseph Medical Center’s gala event A Night with the Stars where Linda also did makeovers on cancer survivors
The campaign is also geared to giving back to customers and the community. Transcending wants every man, woman and child to have an opportunity to feel confident about the way they look, so they are donating consultations, gift certificates, and time. The company looks for a variety of avenues through which to share information on how to accentuate one’s best features, and how to deal with some of the common complaints that people have, such as dark under-eye circles, uneven skin tone, and rosacea.
Even in these rough times, companies can prevail and turn a very gloomy situation into a blooming success.
Read more about Transcending Cosmetics and the “Turning Gloom into Bloom” marketing campaign here.
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1 Comment | Business Analysis, Economic Analysis, Entrepreneurship, International Business Development, News, Small Business Development | Tagged: advertising, creative marketing, entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, marketing, small business | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
April 6, 2010
Clay
Starting and running a business can be daunting, but you don’t have to go through it all alone. Even before you launch your business, it probably is a good idea to find a mentor or two, someone more experienced who can serve as a trusted advisor over an extended period of time and who can provide guidance and input that will help minimize the likelihood of making many common mistakes.
The mentor can help brainstorm and strategize, can provide an important third-party perspective, can challenge deep-rooted but perhaps misplaced views, can offer support and motivation through difficult periods, and can give constructive feedback.
The mentor should be someone who suits you and your circumstances. The right mentor can make all the difference, so how do you find that person? Here are some suggestions:
- Look at your network of contacts: friends, family, former colleagues, college professors, SCORE, business associations, chambers of commerce, or other sources. A business incubator like TowsonGlobal also has may have an advisory board or entrepreneur-in-residence who can provide in-house mentoring.
- Choose a mentor in the same field as you who or someone who is aware of many of the specific issues that might arise in your field and can uncover hidden challenges.
- Choose a mentor who can talk to you about their mistakes (and successes) and will share what they have learned. This can help advance you more quickly along the learning curve.
- Choose a mentor who has a network that will expand important contacts in your industry. Having access to the right people early on can help make things happen more rapidly.
- Choose a mentor who has no ulterior motive, no service or product to sell you. You need someone you can trust, with whom you are comfortable sharing your hopes and fears.
- Don’t view it as only a one-way relationship; be willing to reciprocate and share your own insights, contacts and opportunities.
Once you have found your mentor, be willing and prepared to listen and seriously consider their advice; otherwise they won’t be sticking with you for long. Ultimately, their counsel could make all the difference in the world.
Jill Blashack Strahan was a small business owner with a struggling gift basket company in Minnesota. She counseled with her mentor as she was trying to figure out how to be more successful. Jill said her goal was to make $30,000 a year but was advised that not only had she set her sights too low, but she was focusing on the wrong thing. She should focus on her passion not the money. During many of the rough times, Jill thought of giving up, but then she remembered her mentor’s advice to focus on her dream. She did that, and today Jill’s company, Tastefully Simple, is a direct-sales business with $120 million in sales.
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Leave a Comment » | Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development | Tagged: business support, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial support, Entrepreneurship, incubation, Incubator, mentor, mentorship | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
March 22, 2010
Clay
University-based business incubators such as TowsonGlobal not only support start-up businesses from the surrounding region, but also offer students a plethora of hands-on experience and practical knowledge before joining the workforce (see story from The Baltimore Sun special education section).
While the model may vary from one incubator to another, area entrepreneurs, students and others can tap into the incubator’s resources by paying affordable membership fees as either resident or associate members. The incubator offers a wide variety of resources, including office space, mentoring, and networking assistance. For instance, TowsonGlobal’s advisory board, brimming with advice from seasoned executives, is a great asset for member companies.
Affiliation with a university provides incubator companies ready access to faculty and staff for collaboration on research and development, for commercialization of university generated technologies, or other types of academic-business partnerships. This also can provide an ideal avenue for finding enthusiastic and hardworking student interns.
At TowsonGlobal, for instance, over the last several years as many as 30 students have benefited from internships with participating companies as part of their academic programs. They have been assigned to companies where they have conducted market research, produced feasibility studies, and developed real business contacts for the incubator clients (see the TowsonGlobal YouTube video).
Encouraging entrepreneurship through incubators allows universities to provide great collaborative, educational experiences that benefit all… students, faculty/staff, entrepreneurs, and student entrepreneurs, too.
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1 Comment | Business Analysis, Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development | Tagged: business plan, business planning, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Incubator, SBDC, SBRC, SCORE | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
March 8, 2010
Clay
As in just about every area of life, the importance of planning really can’t be overemphasized for the entrepreneur. This old saying is very true: Failure to plan is a plan for failure. Even though some entrepreneurs may “luck” into success without going through the process, a lack of planning really is a formula for failure.
The business plan does not need to be complex or long, but it is necessary. In simple terms, a business plan is a written description of your business, a document that describes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.
What is included?
- A business plan conveys the business goals and the strategies you’ll use to meet them.
- It discusses the potential problems and risks that may confront your business and ways to solve them.
- The plan highlights the organizational structure of your business and who the team members are.
- It demonstrates that there is a market for your product or service and that you know how to tap that market.
- The plan highlights how the product or service will be produced.
- It also discusses the amount of capital required to finance your venture and where you expect that money will come from.
Clay Hickson advises a TowsonGlobal business
Business plans have several purposes. They’re used to seek support from potential lenders or investors. They also may be used to attract key team members, win new business, work with suppliers, and understand how to manage the business better. However, just because you have a plan doesn’t mean that everything is covered and that there won’t be surprises. It does mean you will be much better prepared and more likely to achieve success. Even so, once you have the plan in place, it doesn’t mean that all your work is done. A business plan is a living document that should be regularly revised as conditions and goals change.
There are numerous resources available for guidance on developing a business plan. Small Business Development Centers have workshops that teach all the basics. Their counselors and those of a Small Business Resource Center or of the Service Corps of Retired Executives also can help. Of course, there also are templates and other resources available on line, such as from the Small Business Administration. In addition, participation in a business incubator program like TowsonGlobal can provide an entrepreneur significant help in fine tuning his or her business plan.
This nautical analogy sums it up pretty well: “It’s better to be 5 or even 10 degrees off your charted destination than to have no port in mind at all. After all, the point of sailing is to get somewhere, and without a plan, you’ll wander the seas aimlessly, sometimes finding dry land but more often than not floundering in a vast ocean. Sea captains without a chart are rarely remembered for discovering anything but the ocean floor!”
Do you need a business plan? Yes!
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2 Comments | Business Analysis, Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development | Tagged: business plan, business planning, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Incubator, SBDC, SBRC, SCORE | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
February 8, 2010
Clay
Demonstrating that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and strong in Baltimore County, Vulcan Furniture, Inc. and Study Abroad Counselor, LLC, have become the latest companies to join TowsonGlobal, Towson University’s international incubator for startup ventures.
Vulcan Furniture, Inc. specializes in the supply and wholesale of office furniture, systems, seating, cabinets and accessories. The company provides office furnishing solutions to architects, designers and 
businesses seeking an upscale image. The firm represents high-end international brand manufacturers, primarily from Asia. Vulcan is a U.S.-incorporated affiliate of an established furniture company in Pakistan. According to Shoaib Mastoor, CEO, his grandfather established Vulcan as a steel fabrication company in 1948 after immigrating from neighboring India.
Study Abroad Counselor, LLC, (SAC) is an online-based organization dedicated to assisting students around the world in pursuing studies outside their respective countries. Initially, the company will target smaller colleges in the Mid-Atlantic region and focus on programs in Spain. SAC’s founder Amine Faridi developed the concept for this one-stop-shop web-based business in light of his own experience of being a foreign student in Spain and in helping many other students prepare for study abroad opportunities, while realizing there was no easy way to navigate through all the information spread around the Internet.
Although these companies work within separate industries, both will bring valuable products and services to our region as well as internationally. And, importantly, they will create new jobs and contribute to the overall economic strength of Baltimore County.
Since the mission at TowsonGlobal is to help both domestic and foreign entrepreneurial ventures learn how to compete in the global economy, we are excited to add both companies to the already diverse mix of startups here at the incubator.
View the press release here.
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Posted by Clay Hickson
January 13, 2010
Clay
I started my first business when I was in fourth grade, but having grown up on a ranch in Texas, many of the usual ways a kid earns money weren’t really available to me. I couldn’t have a lemonade stand or a paper route or mow the neighbors’ lawns. What were my options? I had to work with what was available if I wanted to earn a few extra dollars. Well, along with the beef cattle, we also had a flock of chickens. I’d been taking care of them since as long as I could remember, so I thought maybe I could sell eggs in town.
After talking it over with my parents, they agreed to support my entrepreneurial initiative. Someone nearby was selling some of their older hens, and with some of my own money and an “investment” from my parents, I bought 20 of them. We set up a separate chicken coop with nests in a part of one of the barns and fenced in an adjoining new chicken yard. I went to town to find customers for my farm-fresh, free-range eggs and was able to get several people to sign up, including my school bus driver.
left to right: Aaron and Clay Hickson
Every evening I gathered the eggs, cleaned them, and stored them in cartons in an old refrigerator that gave me an electrical zap every time I touched the handle. Each Saturday I’d load the eggs into the car, and one of my parents would take me on my delivery route in town. [Eventually, I would drive myself since the country lane into town was not paved, and no driver’s license was required for that.]
Naturally, those tired old hens didn’t produce for long, so I had to invest in some younger pullets in order to keep my supply coming. While replenishing my “producers” was an occasional expense, I really didn’t have too many other expenses… except for chicken feed. Skyrocketing input prices are what eventually put me out of business. While I did gradually raise my prices, I couldn’t keep pace with the increase in the price of feed. After about five years, the prices I needed to charge to break even, even considering the subsidy from my parents, were well above the prices in the grocery store. I think my price got as high as $1.25, not much higher than super market prices of just a few years ago. Alas, the chickens flew the coop, and I went out of business.
Even though I didn’t make much money over those years, I did learn some valuable lessons.
- I learned the concept of supply and demand;
- the importance of having a support network, of planning, and of monitoring competition;
- and that you don’t always have to have the best of everything to do something well.
Of course, there also is that old adage: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
from stock.xchng by bartozzi
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6 Comments | Business Analysis, Education, Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development, TU Faculty & Staff | Tagged: business incubation, business incubator, creativity, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, first business, small business, youth entrepreneur | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
December 2, 2009
Clay
The world we live and work in today is a much smaller place than it was even just a few years ago. Advances in telecommunications and transportation technologies have increased international and cross-cultural interactions among people and businesses. Each of us is impacted personally by these effects of globalization because we increasingly find that our colleagues, customers and friends come from different cultures or may even be in different countries. This fact makes the ability to speak a second, or even a third language a great advantage in both our professional and private lives.
Recently, on Foreign Languages Day (November 18, 2009) during International Education Week, I had the opportunity to address two beginning Chinese language classes at Towson University to share some of my experiences as a bilingual businessperson. A unique opportunity I had during my college years allowed me to learn Mandarin Chinese in a two-year, sink-or-swim total immersion environment that only whetted my appetite for learning the Chinese language and culture. This pursuit ultimately focused my career in a way in which working in a multicultural and multilingual environment became a daily reality.
While not everyone will have the same opportunity I had to immerse themselves in another language and culture, each of us can (and should) create our own unique opportunities in this “smaller world.” The benefits of being fluent (or even just conversant) in more than one language are numerous, including many personal, social and professional opportunities. Opening our minds to new ways of thinking not only enriches us personally but also can help the organizations we work for (or want to work for) manage in this global environment. The ability to manage a diverse workforce and client base makes us even more employable.
from stock.xchng by dogmadic
Businesses of all sizes need bilingual capabilities in this globally interconnected economy. They can create a competitive advantage with bilingual owners and employees. However, knowing another language alone will not guarantee success. Learning the culture—customs, traditions and social norms—can be just as important in understanding a “foreign” people and business environment. With such language and cultural capabilities, organizations will be able to communicate more clearly to a broader global market. Companies and individuals in touch with a wider variety of cultures may very well have the upper hand over the competition.
Young or old, there are many ways to gain fluency in a new language if you have the passion to learn. Universities are expanding language offerings and language programs and software are available from a variety of sources. You also should look outside your immediate circle to make bilingual friends to converse and learn. If you have a real passion to learn, you should take advantage of travel opportunities, study abroad programs, volunteer programs, the Peace Corps, etc. to gain valuable language and cultural experiences.
Even though I learned the fairly challenging Chinese language, it is past time for me to learn another language… to learn Spanish.
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Leave a Comment » | Education, Entrepreneurship, International Business Development, Lifelong Learning, Small Business Development, Students | Tagged: bilingual, Chinese, competitive advantage, Entrepreneurship, entrerpreneur, global economy, Incubator, international business | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
November 16, 2009
Clay
From November 16 to 22, 2009, millions of young people around the world, and right here in Towson and the Baltimore region, will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and explore ways of doing things better. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity.
Global Entrepreneurship Week helps young people realize their potential as self-starters and innovators. Through this initiative, the next generation of entrepreneurs will be inspired to take action. In doing so, they will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and networks needed to grow innovative, sustainable enterprises that will have a positive impact on their lives, their families and communities.
TowsonGlobal, Towson University’s international business incubator, is serving as an official partner and is supporting the mission of the movement by participating in or disseminating information on several activities during that week, such as:
- The Bilingual Entrepreneur Lecture Series (Foreign Languages Day)—These lectures by yours truly will help focus attention on the importance of learning at least one other language and on participating in study abroad programs, which can enhance a student’s ability to do business in today’s global economy. This event also coincides with International Education Week.
- JA BizTown—Junior Achievement of Central Maryland will host several elementary schools for JA BizTown throughout the week of November 16-20. JA BizTown, is an experiential economic simulation in a 10,000-square-foot replica of an American city that helps upper elementary school students prepare for and become productive citizens.
Through the many different programs and partnerships Global Entrepreneurship Week hopes to achieve four goals:
- Inspire young people under the age of thirty to consider entrepreneurship as a career path.
- Connect young people and organizations across national boundaries to discover new ideas.
- Mentor the next generation of talent as they pursue their dreams with inspiring support from entrepreneurs from around the world.
- Engage opinion leaders and policymakers on the topic of how entrepreneurship is central to a nation’s economic health and culture.
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1 Comment | Education, Entrepreneurship, Events, International Business Development, Small Business Development, Students, TU Faculty & Staff | Tagged: Entrepreneurship, global business, international business, Students | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
October 15, 2009
Clay
The term entrepreneur comes from the French word, entrependre, which means “to undertake,” and this is precisely the basic principle of entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is one who has a vision of an opportunity and takes the initiative to capitalize on it. In simple terms, he or she organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business. Surprisingly, there actually is debate over exactly what the term means, but few would argue that anyone who embarks on a new venture in order to create a new business would be considered an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs and other small businesses are the driving force behind the US economy, creating jobs and innovative technologies. These businesses “represent 99.7% of all employers, employ more than half of the private sector workers, account for 39% of high-tech jobs, and create 60-80% of the net new jobs annually,” says Entrepreneur magazine.
A true entrepreneur has a vision to seize an opportunity with passion and diligence. And these traits are crucial to success. If you are thinking to yourself: “This whole entrepreneurial thing is a piece of cake! It can’t be a complicated process? I can make millions effortlessly!” Well, you are sadly mistaken. Experience, knowledge, and most importantly, planning breed success.
from Flickr MartinPhotoSport
Entrepreneurs often are innovators, creating new products, new production methods, new markets, new forms of organization…. However, being an innovator doesn’t ensure success. People come up with new ideas everyday that we never even hear about.
Planning is the key to success. Even though some entrepreneurs may “luck” into success, a lack of planning really is a recipe for failure. There must be a market for whatever the idea is, and the product/service must actually be successfully produced and marketed. And then there is the competition; someone may already be doing something very similar, or may learn how to do it better very quickly, stealing the market away. The successful entrepreneur has a pretty good handle on all of these elements because he’s done his homework, he has planned.
Many entrepreneurs find that obtaining the support of an incubator can help them move more quickly along the path to success. Incubators like TowsonGlobal provide a wide range of support, including affordable office facilities; business counseling & mentoring; networking assistance; and workshops and other educational forums.
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Leave a Comment » | Business Analysis, Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development | Tagged: business plan, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Incubator, small business, Small Business Development | Permalink
Posted by Clay Hickson
NaturalCheck also supplies water testing kits and is striving to build community awareness through city-specific “What’s in my water…” Facebook fan pages created for cities like Baltimore, DC, Los Angeles, and New York. In addition, the company offers the BRIX Meter, which helps determine the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables.
Guest Blogger
Bobbie Laur
Sharyn Grove
Jeremy Monn
Raquel Frye
Clay Hickson
Dawn Bott
Lindsey Meyer
Allie Pyzik
Daraius Irani
Past Bloggers
Jenn Lake
Kelsey Beckett
Timothy Brooks
Ashley Buzzeo
Matt Michels
Nicole Schiraldi
