As an entrepreneur, Ken Proudfoot knows what it takes to launcha business from home. Between psychological forces like isolationand motivation, to traditional business issues like productdevelopment and marketing, the home office can be a stifling placeto work.
So Proudfoot helped create the Larry Friedman InternationalCenter for Entrepreneurship at Johnson & Wales University inProvidence, Rhode Island. The school serves as a businessincubator, creative lab and headquarters for new businesses startedby the university's students and alumni--many of which arestarted from home, says Proudfoot, the program's director.
"Our Center offers homebased entrepreneurs a complementaryhome-away-from-home place to further develop theirbusinesses," he says. "It's a dynamic environmentwith other entrepreneurs creating and building their enterprises aswell. This creates additional synergy that can lead to improvementsand enhancements to your business model, marketing strategy andproduct design."
Johnson & Wales' entrepreneurship program is one ofapproximately 1,200 such programs in two- and four-year collegesand universities nationwide, says George Solomon, an adjunctprofessor of management and entrepreneurship at George WashingtonUniversity School of Business and Public Management. That's upfrom about 90 in 1979. The current list includes Harvard;University of Southern California; George Washington University;and Babson College, which Solomon says is considered by many as themecca of entrepreneurship programs.
Community colleges and two-year universities have targeted theat-home business owner with programs that fit their own philosophy."They're smaller, the faculty is made up of practitionersand there's less bureaucracy," he says. "The key isthe understanding of the small business at the college level.It's not just that they're shrinking down a big businessprogram."
At Johnson & Wales, the students are a mix of traditionalstudents and older enrollees who have returned to the classroom tolearn new business strategies and styles, he says. It makes for adynamic educational mix. "[Older students] have the businessand would like the degree," says Proudfoot, who also publishesThis Week in Entrepreneurship, a weekly electronic newsletter onthe center's programs and activities. "They've beenthrough business, so they can tell fascinating stories about thehorrible customer or how the bank turned them down for a loan. Theyhave wonderful stories for the younger students."
The Johnson & Wales center, which opened in 1998 with a$500,000 grant from a local entrepreneur, now has 100 studentsworking toward two- and four-year degrees. In an office-styleclassroom, each student is afforded a desk, a chair, a filingcabinet and portable walls so they can style their own workspace tofoster creativity and individual thinking, Proudfoot says. Toolsalso include an Internet connection, a computer, a copier and a faxmachine.
One student formed a business plan to manufacture industrialoven mitts within federal guidelines. Another created a collectionagency based within a law firm to tap the clout of the legal officeand increased collections at a lower cost to his customers.
"What we do is called 'ideation,' " saysProudfoot. "The students bring ideas to the table, and we helpthem refine their plans."
