vol. XV no. 2

				Small Companies, Fast Moves Large, established companies often have the luxury of financial and experiential cushions sheltering them from damages that can devastate small start-up businesses. "Established firms have the resources to thoroughly study a problem and have a better sense of how customers will react," Oviatt remarked. "They have more resources to put into promotion or distribution, and they have the financial resources to withstand mistakes. Entrepreneurs more often don't. So the ability to make necessary changes quickly is essential to survival." In the '80s, Wagner's financial services company provided advice and technical skill to two major national publishers. Publishing is a highly concentrated industry with very few competitors. So when the contracts ended ­ in one case due to a shift in ownership and in the other a change in personnel - it seemed the company would soon follow. "We had to move quickly," Wagner recalled. "We took the expertise we built in accounting, tax and financial services and began offering it through a CPA firm to local businesses. In essence, we took a highly concentrated relationship and made it highly dispersed. We were selling the same expertise, but not the same product." Entrepreneur Bob Woosley, CEO of iLumen and founding sponsor of the Society of Entrepreneurs, is proud to say his business plan has been rewritten several times. His most recent venture is a business monitoring service for banks and CPA firms that need to monitor their small- to mid-market customers. "Those bringing a new idea to market can be sure of one thing: The business model you start with will be adapted because your customers will give you feedback," Woosley explained. The Certainty of Change Despite what he learned in business school, Wagner believes a few industries - like the 50-year-old neighborhood dry cleaner - are immune to change. Knowledge-based industries, however, thrive on it. "In the accounting industry, we buy into the fact that we'll have to change over time and be able to respond very quickly to change. The decision hurdle then becomes what is going to change. There are no guarantees, and for many of us, no safety net. It takes an enormous amount of self-confidence - and some might say foolhardiness - to envision the future and act on it." Herman J. Russell, Sr., entrepreneur, developer and benefactor of the College's Center for Entrepreneurship, says success depends more on proactive change than reactive response. "A great entrepreneur is the one who can look around the corner and predict what may happen. Years ago in my development work ­ I'm talking four decades ago ­ when I built my first apartments, I realized the benefit of setting up a property management business. Today, we manage about 18,000 units all over the South." If there's one thing almost every entre-preneur can count on, said Oviatt, it's change. Customers change. Businesses change. Talents change. Personal interests change. "Who would have thought the CPA industry would be undergoing such massive change?" asked Woosley. "But the question is: Are you the proactive catalyst of this change, or is the marketplace making you change? We probably came out with some dumb ideas, or rather improperly expressed ideas. We have had a couple of 'aha' moments. If we didn't try, we couldn't have succeeded." Top | Back

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