Provide the tools necessary to hatch viable new businesses and expand successful ones.
How can we connect innovators to resources that can help them hatch, expand, and flourish? Often times, those with a market viable idea or a successful small business just do not have the resources at hand to launch or grow. This is not a reflection on their ability or product, but an issue of resources and support.
Access to capital and social networks are the accelerant that can transform a great idea into a successful product or service and support expansion. How do you bring ideas to market as a business product?
Such tools are just as valuable to existing business owners, students, and residents as they can be when used as carrots to attract aspiring entrepreneurs from across the Midwest. If Fond du Lac wants to further a culture of entrepreneurship, it has to set the stage and foundation for it to occur. The region’s governments and institutions aren’t baking the cake themselves, but they are supplying the kitchen and some of the ingredients.
A vibrant small business scene is also a boon to the area’s large businesses and corporations. It increases the size of the local employment pool, providing a wider range of talent to draw from. In some cases, some of the smaller businesses may develop technology, products, or services that can be utilized by larger businesses. It also helps create a critical mass for a variety of other infrastructure that are beneficial to both. The mixture of both creates a healthy ecosystem that feeds off each other in a symbiotic fashion.
