There are a number of ways to evaluate your chance of success, including whether you are an entrepreneur with the “right stuff” or if your business has the “right stuff.”

The following evaluation should be made before making any new start-up business decisions:

A)      Market assessment

B)      Securing realistic funding sources

C)      Forecasting sales, expenses and cash flows

D)      Potential profitability

E)      Regulatory, legal issues

F)      Personal costs

Arguably, the most important issue revolves around determining who or what your market niche is. You need to quickly address a market review that indicates who are your clients, where are they located, how will you reach them and what are the costs associated with this process.

Secondly, start-up businesses require varying amounts of cash. Figure out how much it will cost to get your business open on its first day and then determine how much working capital will be needed to keep it running for a period of time - typically 90 to 120 days. Be prepared to personally provide a great deal of this early money from your own finances, and then work to secure traditional funding (banks) or from possible angel investors.

When you have completed your market assessment, it is vital that you work with an accountant or local economic development agency to develop projections which will include sales, expenses and burn rates. This information is not only vital when determining potential profitability, but will also help guide you in your effort to secure the proper amount of financing, and also timing as well.

Most businesses have either regulatory or legal issues that have to be dealt with at some point,  such as OSHA, the FDA, health departments, city, state and federal laws, etc. The sooner you identify them, the better prepared you will be.

Last but not least, very few entrepreneurs take into consideration the personal “life” costs associated with starting their own business. How does this impact your family, your personal financial situation, your “day” job, personal and legal risks?

Although there are many more issues you should work through before making a decision, this exercise will certainly help you decide if you have the “right stuff!”

Daniel P Slifko

At Rocket Ventures, we focus on technology, entrepreneurs, growth and opportunity.  But we also offer some intangibles that we can’t take credit for, but we sure do leverage.  Our location is arguably the top of that list.  Ohio is known as the State of Perfect Balance.  As the Ohio Business Development Coalition states on their website ohiomeansbusiness.com, it is the place “where world class companies and those who aspire to be don’t have to compromise professional or personal satisfaction in pursuit of their ambitions. The same goes for their families and the employees whom they lead. The Great State of Ohio offers business and industry many unique qualities that contribute to better balance and, ultimately, optimal business performance.”  What about Northwest Ohio specifically?  What makes us so special?

The largest city in NW Ohio is Toledo, with a population of about 400,000 in the metro area.  Owens-Corning, Dana, Pilkington-North America and Owens-Illinois are headquartered and Fifth Third, Huntington, Key, and National City banks have major operations in the Toledo Metro area.  This critical mass supports a minor league baseball team and has enabled a new sports arena to be built (officially opening in just one month) that will house an East Coast Hockey League team and an Arena Football 2 team as well as countless music, sports, and entertainment events.  The ballpark and the arena combined with the Seagate Convention Center and the Valentine Theatre anchor an entertainment district in the heart of downtown.  Toledo also boasts about its Art Museum, thought of as one of the top five in the country, and its Zoo, one of the world’s most complete with over 760 species.  Even with this draw, we don’t experience some of the problems that larger cities do, such as traffic and crime.  Our highways and surface streets allow for such good flow that it is often joked we don’t have a rush hour; we have a rush “half-hour.”

Findlay and Lima, each with a population around 40,000, are tremendous assets for the region.  Findlay and Hancock County offer one of the more comprehensive community planning and economic development efforts available.  In fact, more than fifteen high-profile companies such Marathon, Whirlpool, and Cooper Tire are present because of it.  Lima has been home to many manufacturing companies, serving the locomotive, automotive, and home appliance industries among others.  Both offer cultural and entertainment outlets, from the Arts Partnership of Greater Hancock County to the Lima Warriors semi-pro football team to Findlay’s Riverside Park band shell.

Despite our size and corporate history, we haven’t lost our honest, straightforward nature or our traditional values such as generosity and strong work ethic.  We still appreciate a job well done and will honor a commitment.  In fact, Lima was once named among the Top 10 places to raise a family in the U.S. by Reader’s Digest due to the area’s strong sense of community, great business and entertainment opportunities, and a rewarding quality of life that’s easy on the pocketbook.  America’s Promise Alliance and Capital One announced Findlay as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in 2007.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Lake Erie shoreline and islands of Ottawa County or the city of Defiance, which was recognized for the seventh consecutive year by Site Selection Magazine as one of the Top 100 small towns in the US.  As the midpoint between Fort Wayne, Indiana and Toledo, it is experiencing growth and investment due to the “Fort to Port” project.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, and you have an idea, we would love to talk to you.  We can offer advice, coaching, management expertise, and maybe grants or investments.  But we can also help you build a business in one of the best possible places – Northwest Ohio.

Craig Ortega
Program Manager

Ignite! Development Fund