The business factory

Black Enterprise, Oct, 1998 by Carolyn M. Brown

"Entrepreneurship has to be considered as a career option for the 21st century," says WPEC's Clark, noting that those colleges--particularly the HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) that currently aren't introducing entrepreneurship in their business schools--are going to be left behind. At least three black colleges in the midst of developing entrepreneurship programs are Bowie State, Norfolk State and Hampton University.

The Business Development Incubator sponsored by the Temple University Small Business Development Center targets youth 15-22 years of age who are operating individual or group businesses. Clients pay $25 per month to cover desk and file space, a computer, phone and fax. They also receive one-on-one counseling and attend regular meetings and workshops.

"Our incubator is an interim step for a young person before they go into a full-fledged incubator," says Sandra Sowell-Scott, state director of youth entrepreneurial training in Pennsylvania. "Young people need a transitional period. You can't just take a person out of a classroom setting and say, `OK, now start a business.'"

Clients can remain in the incubator for up to a year, with access to all of the center's services and resources. "We understand that because our clients are young, this may not be the business they keep for the rest of their lives," says Sowell-Scott. "The strategy is to teach them at an early age about contributing to the community by starting a business or by supporting the businesses in their neighborhoods."

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Taking the Next Step in Business

The publishers of Next Step magazine are taking full advantage of the resources and contacts at the West Philadelphia Enterprise Center (WPEC). "Even though we [WPEC tenants] are all in different stages of growth, we still learn from each other," says Keith Ellison, chief editor and co-publisher of the quarterly magazine that addresses diversity and other issues in the workplace and society. "Being a part of the Enterprise Center gave us the ability to appear larger than we actually were. We were also able to draw on the center's contacts to raise outside capital."

Last year, Next Step had a public, nontrading offering, selling shares of common stock to the general public at $1 per share; it hopes to raise $1 million. The magazine, which generated total revenues of $180,000 in 1997, is presently distributed to 500 bookstores, 285 colleges and universities, and 300 corporations across the country.

Next Step, originally conceived as a recruitment magazine, was founded in 1995 by Ellison, who created it from his graduate studies project at the Wharton School of Business. The Philadelphia native called on Norman Bond to help him run it. (The pair were former IBM marketing and sales representatives as well as fraternity brothers.)

Ellison, 33, went to work on a business plan and feasibility study in the spring of 1994, working out of his home office before moving into the incubator in 1997 (for $165 per month). The entrepreneurs had to pass WPEC's scoring system--an interview and application process the incubator uses to weigh the different characteristics it seeks in potential tenants, including experience and commitment.