New contenders: statistics reveal today's business start-ups are no lightweights - includes a table of state-by-state statistics on the number of new businesses during 1995-96

Entrepreneur, Oct, 1996 by Janean Chun

When is bad news considered good news? When the number of business start-ups goes down but employment goes up, according to Joseph Duncan, vice president and chief economist for Dun & Bradstreet Corp.

A recent Dun ok Brad-street report shows that for the first six months of 1996, new business starts added to its database totaled 84,952 - down 2 percent from the total tallied in the first half of 1995. "You would normally say if the number of entrepreneurs is down, its a sign of a weakening economy," says Duncan. "And yet the current business cycle effect shows the economy is strong and not weakening."

Does this mean fresh batches of entrepreneurs are of less import to our economy? Quite the contrary. Says Duncan, "New businesses are playing a bigger role this year than last year."

Huh? The key, Duncan explains, is not the drop in actual start-ups, but the 8 percent increase in employment created by these companies. While a recent survey of existing companies revealed they had even lower expectations of adding workers than they did a year ago, Duncan notes, "this 8 percent increase [among business start-ups] helps explain why overall job growth is stronger than most people expect: New businesses are starting up with more economic force."

Meanwhile, Duncan believes the drop in the number of business start-ups is nothing to worry about, though it may indicate a tightening up of certain markets. "When the economy starts to improve, a lot of people go out with their ideas for starting a business," Duncan says. "And after a while, the field gets crowded A lot of the [obvious] ideas have been taken. That may be the factor behind the 2 percent [drop]. As far as whether this is a long-term trend, we have to wait and see how it goes. It takes longer than just a few months to establish a strong trend."

Comic Relief

Pizza Man gives

publicity a new twist.

Advertising, schmadvertising. That's what Vasilios W. Kapenekas thought. So instead of buying a hum-drum black-and-white ad in the local paper, the co-owner of Vanelli's Restaurant in Tupelo, Mississippi, had an alter ego - pizza Man - created for him by a local artist and made himself the star of his own comic strip. With the help of a cartoonist, The Adventures of Pizza Man has run on the front page of the local paper's Sunday funnies since the beginning of the year. Now that's creative marketing.

Kapenekas expanded the meaning of the pizza parlor's slogan - "Pizza Man Makes It Right" - by having his main character do more than hawk food. Pizza Man is a socially conscious do-gooder who teaches children about everything from not littering to the importance of honesty. His side-kick, Slice, assists him. Although Kapenekas had no trouble attracting kids to his restaurant before, he says the comic strip promotion has helped boost pizza sales 35 percent from just one year ago. The comic strip is also fun for Kapenekas - but that's not why he does it. "The best thing about being in business is being able to things you feel strongly about," he says. "And we enjoy helping children.

Time In

A Bottle

Commemorating

100 years of

the automobile

Prepare to steer your way into history. In honor of the 100th anniversary of our nation's introduction to automobiles, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is assembling auto-related artifacts for inclusion in a time capsule set to be buried in an undisclosed site. If yours is a company within the industry try, you might consider donating a piece of auto paraphernalia for posterity.

Currently making the rounds of museums and automobile racing events throughout the country, the SEMA-sponsored time capsule is expected to add items up until the end o this month. At press time, the items selected for the 6-foot-long capsule included a message from President Clinton as well as a brick from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, artist renderings of futuristic Fords, and assorted catalogs and automobile collectibles.

Intended to give future generation insight into the American automobile industry, the SEMA time capsule won't be unsealed for another 100 years. And you thought it took a long time to battle rush-hour traffic.

Silver Lining

Turning misfortune

into opportunity

When Susan Torrell lost her sales job at a small New York printing company in April 1995, she never thought she'd start her own business as a result of signing up to collect unemployment insurance. But that's precisely what happened.

New York is one of a few states nationwide that have instituted self-employment programs as part of their unemployment insurance systems. People who are likely to collect the maximum amount of Unemployment insurance - and who are unlikely to find similar re-employment - are recruited into the program to determine whether they fit the entrepreneurial profile.

If they are encouraged to start their own businesses. However, they must meet strict requirements, including taking 20 hours of entrepreneurial training and attending counseling sessions.