Speaking out: small business advocates go to bat for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur, Sept, 1996 by Juli C. McGreevy

THE OLD ADAGE that "What's good for General Motors is good for America" should be updated for the 1 990s. A better line would be "What's good for small business is good for America." But while big business is adept at selling its message, small business needs more advocates.

As groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving have proved, the best advocates for any cause are those who care about it passionately. And who is more passionate about small business than small-business owners?

But while entrepreneurs have passion to spare, they have limited time to give. On the following pages, you'll meet four people who demonstrate how entrepreneurs can wrestle time from long days (and nights) of catering to customers and balancing the books to focus on advocating for small business. You'll also meet two advocates from the government sector who help entrepreneurs sell the message of small business to our legislators.

* PUTTING A FACE ON SMALL BUSINESS

Every day on her drive to work, Mollie Cole sees small businesses-dry cleaners, gas stations, pizza parlors. "About XS percent of Illinois businesses are small; most have 10 employees or fewer," says 42-year-old Cole, chief of the Office of Women's Business Development at the Illinois Department of Commerce & Community Affairs for the past two years.

To get others in state government to see what she sees, Cole collects success stories that give a face to small business. Take small business and the environment. Some people see small businesses only fighting environmental regulations. Not Cole. She sees Phoenix Paper Products, near Chicago, which markets an environmentally friendly substitute (made of post-consumer newsprint) for sphagnum peat moss, a nonrenewable resource from Canada. Cole tells Phoenix's story because it illustrates small business on the leading edge--and it's a business her department helped with financing and technical assistance.

As president of the National Association of Women's Business Advocates (NAWBA), Cole urges advocates from across the country to join her in her mission. NAWBA grew out of a greater need for communication among those responsible for developing women's business Issues within state government. "When I started this job, I was a shin without a captain." says Cole, "but through NAWBA, I found others struggling with the same issues. No matter where you, go, women have difficulty accessing capital and resources.

Talking with NAWBA members helped Cole realize she and her colleagues were preaching to the choir, talking to women about women's business issues. "At what point do you mainstream these issues?" asks Cole. "We need to convince other women--not public policy makers and corporate fathers--to make changes."

To that end, Cole is helping create the Illinois Small Business 100 to reflect the diversity of the state's small businesses. "It's a United Nations for small business," she explains. "Out of 100 entrepreneurs, we'll have 37 women and 24 minority business owners, for example. Seventy-two of the 100 will be in retail or professional services; seven will own construction firms." Any state agency or legislative body developing a program for small business can poll the council electronically.

Some see government women's business development programs as affirmative action. Cole disagrees. "NA:e have identified a segment of the business community, or market, that's expanding quickly," she says. Segmenting the market is just good business: "You wouldn't offer the same assistance to a small [urban] manufacturing firm as you would to a mom and pop grocery store in a small town."

* A WAY OF LIFE

Imagine a 7-year-old newspaper carrier savvy enough to encourage his customers to buy from the paper's advertisers. His pitch: "If people don't advertise in the paper, won't have a paper route."

Today, Kenneth Porter, president of Capitol Foods Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, applies the savvy he learned as a paperboy four decades ago to promoting small business in general, which in turn strengthens his own business.

As chairman of the Black Business Association of Memphis (BBA), Porter visited major corporations in 1993 to encourage them to partner with small and minority businesses. A visit to the headquarters for Harrah's Casinos in Memphis led to business for a minority printer and several other BBA members. As Porter was leaving, the folks from Harrah's asked about Capitol Foods. "From that conversation," says Porter, "I got one of my best customers--the world's third-largest casino group."

Many entrepreneurs guard information about big corporate and government customers jealously. Not Porter: "I knock on the door selling my product," he says, "but I always ask what else they buy." Then he calls people in those industries and suggests they approach his customers.

Porter's "listen first, talk last" approach has helped him deal with the most difficult customer. "Government has the potential to be our greatest business friend," he contends. While government's vastness and complex requirements deter many businesspeople, Porter finds working with government agencies the true test of an entrepreneur's spirit.