Students Who Get It

Posted by Jim Van on July 8, 2011 under entrepreneur, small business | Read the First Comment

Last week I had a face-to-face meeting with a couple of summer interns at the RI Small Business Development Center. I need some help with a couple of onlne projects, and the SBDC is an excellent resource for such things…

One of the many things that impressed me, is that the students, both grad students with a focus on business and tech, asked questions. Good questions.

My wife, a psychotherapist, has taught me over the years that asking questions is a good thing. Sometimes, I think she’s right, and from the questions these students were asking, I’d definitely agree. After I spent about 20 minutes explaining Logicomm’s business model, and the upcoming campaign for which I needed their help, they asked the right questions and pointed out some limitations.

I was particularly impressed with their understanding of marketing to and servicing microbusiness (MB), Logicomm’s target segment. While MBs make up the majority of businesses and nearly the majority of all business activity in the United States, I’ve always felt that the segment, as a whole, has not been taken seriously by many vendors, universities, and even small business associations. And yet, chances are, your lawyer, accountant, insurance agent, and perhaps even your doctor, all are MBs.

As an educator, as well as a business owner, I deal with a lot of business students from local universities. Most of them receive little to no exposure to microbussiness, as colleges tend to focus more on larger corporations. These students, and their university, are obvious exceptions, and I hope, the start of a trend…