Entrepreneurs Can Earn Their Stripes in the Minor Leagues, Too
Thursday, April 26, 2007
It became a model for Thomas S. Lyons, a professor of entrepreneurship at Baruch College?s Zicklin School of Business in New York, and Gregg A. Lichtenstein, a business consultant in Margate, N.J., who were searching for ways to develop entrepreneurial talent. ?We kept coming back to baseball?s farm system,? Professor Lyons said. ?It is one of the best talent-generating systems in the world.?
The pair had an ambitious goal: to build a system in underserved and overlooked regions of the country for identifying, recruiting and developing entrepreneurs. In so doing, they said, they hoped to revitalize local economies and stimulate business development in areas that needed a jump-start.
Branch Rickey is renowned for allowing Jackie Robinson to break baseball?s color line in 1947 by signing Robinson to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But he was also celebrated for another significant contribution to the game.
Mr. Rickey was the architect of baseball?s modern farm system, the web of independent minor league teams around the country that serves as the training ground for young players hoping for a shot at the major leagues.
It became a model for Thomas S. Lyons, a professor of entrepreneurship at Baruch College?s Zicklin School of Business in New York, and Gregg A. Lichtenstein, a business consultant in Margate, N.J., who were searching for ways to develop entrepreneurial talent. ?We kept coming back to baseball?s farm system,? Professor Lyons said. ?It is one of the best talent-generating systems in the world.?
The pair had an ambitious goal: to build a system in underserved and overlooked regions of the country for identifying, recruiting and developing entrepreneurs. In so doing, they said, they hoped to revitalize local economies and stimulate business development in areas that needed a jump-start.
Their model is likely to seem familiar to baseball fans. The Entrepreneurial League System features clearly defined talent levels ? rookie league, single A, double A and triple A ? along with general managers, coaches and scouts.
Just as the Yankees scour the bushes for the next Derek Jeter, the league is looking for the next Michael Dell or Bill Gates.
In two years, the pair formed leagues in West Virginia and central Louisiana with a third league starting this month in western Michigan. Nearly 150 entrepreneurs joined teams with the hopes of honing their skills to make ?the show.? In this case, the show doesn?t necessarily mean the major leagues, but it does serve as incentive for these entrepreneurs to learn as much as possible to steer their businesses successfully.
Professor Lyons and Mr. Lichtenstein have worked together for more than 15 years developing methods for training entrepreneurs and creating business incubators. Mr. Lichtenstein?s consulting firm, Collaborative Strategies, is paid a fee for building the leagues by several foundations, including the Kellogg Foundation, the Rapides Foundation and the Benedum Foundation.
The entrepreneurs are coached without charge, though the plan is to charge double A and triple A entrepreneurs a monthly fee as the concept gains wider acceptance.
?Our goal is to help these entrepreneurs create as profitable and effective a business as they can at the level they are at,? Mr. Lichtenstein said. ?Some will develop into major leaguers, but some will never make it that high. They?ll stop at single A or double A and do quite well at those levels.?
The Entrepreneurial League works on the theory that a structured group support system is far more effective in helping small businesses get off the ground, the founders say.
?Any system where you have a mutual support safety net is superior to toughing it out on your own,? said Ian C. MacMillan, professor of entrepreneurship and management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. ?This is a great idea. The sports metaphor is a powerful organizing principle.?
Amanda Short, 28, an artist in Kanawha City, W. Va., joined the local Advantage Valley E.L.S. in Charleston last August to prepare for starting her own stained-glass retail business. Like most other rookies, she was driven by her belief that she could make money with her skills. ?I knew I could make stained glass, but I had no idea how to run a business,? Ms. Short said.
Continue reading “Entrepreneurs Can Earn THeir Stripes in the Minor Leagues, Too“
