Shorty’s Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities at the 2010 Internet Retailers Conference
June 21st, 2010 by Shorty
I attended the 2010 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition at McCormick Place from June 8 – June 10, 2010. Yeah, I know this is a little late which is why you should hire The Write Design Company to share details of your events and meetings in real-time via live blog. As your South Side Resource and entrepreneur, I would like to share the entrepreneurial opportunities I discovered at the conference.
Know that there are ALWAYS ways to make money – legally. As an entrepreneur, I am always seeking those opportunities to share with others. In fact, it’s a blessing to let you know what’s happening in an effort to expand your mental horizons and cash flow. Especially in this recession.
Business Opportunity 1: Start an Online Business
The purpose of this conference was to provide education, tools and resources for online businesses. Retail sales plunged 7% while internet sales actually increased 2% during these challenges economic times. In fact, ecommerce sales were 18.48% in March 2010.
You can’t really lose by starting an online business. You can start part-time at home with little overhead. But you must have a quality product for the right audience with excellent customer service.
Business Opportunity 2: Become a Service Provider to Online Businesses
Businesses from all over the world attended this conference. Over 400 vendors providing approximately 70 types of business services displayed and discussed their products and services. Some of the services included: web design, credit card protection, internet security, customer service, live chat for online customers, and multi-channel marketing.
Visit www.interneretailer.com to learn more about the opportunities available and how to get started in this industry.
Business Opportunity 3: Become a Service Provider to Conference Organizers
There were complimentary appetizers, alcohol and beverages, massages – chair and feet, and cell phone charging. I know for certain that the massage therapists were independent contractors hired to work the conference.
Business Opportunity 4: Mobile Solutions to Internet Businesses
Most people start their shopping online with mobile phones coming in a close second.
Armed with this information, figure out how to make shopping easier for customers; create applications and software for organizations; or come up with something so unique that Apple and Google will compete for it.
Business Opportunity 5: Writing, Design, Editing, Publishing, Printing
Each of those 400 companies had marketing materials ranging from business cards to manuals. They all had logos to distinguish themselves from other organizations in attendance. All of the 175 speakers needed bios, and may have other promotional needs outside of the conference. The conference materials were outstanding. Also, The Internet Retailer magazine may be open to freelance journalists.
These were just a few of the opportunities I discovered during my 2010 Internet Retailer Conference experience. I hope you use this information to consider business ideas, and to create opportunities for yourself. Maybe you can loosen the chains of Corporate America if you are in a position you just absolute don’t love. If you don’t have a job, now is the best time for you to start your own business. As you can see, you can’t depend on other people to take care of you, so it’s best to put your destiny in your own hands.
Also, to view live blogging and tweets from the conference, check out June 8th and June 9th of the conference.
Entrepreneurship @ City Colleges of Chicago
March 14th, 2010 by Shorty
The City Colleges of Chicago is now offering entrepreneurship classes for credit. Visit entrepreneurship.ccc.edu or contact entrepreneurship@ccc.edu for more information.
- ENTRE 201 – Introduction to Entrepreneurship.
This interdisciplinary course introduces participants from various disciplines to the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship, a manageable process applicable across careers, work settings, and time. The course focuses on building entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors that will lead to creative solutions within the business community and other organizational environments.ENTRE 201 is also available online via City Colleges’ Center for Distance Learning (CDL). Register by visiting my.ccc.edu, by contacting an academic advisor at your college, or by contacting Selom Assignon at sassignon@ccc.edu or call 773.487.6953.
- ENTRE 202 – Opportunity Recognition & Development.
Participants will learn techniques and processes leading to opportunity (value) recognition to include the assessment of the current economic, social, and political climate that provides value opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures. Opportunities will be assessed relative to personal strengths and weaknesses, financial, professional, social, and personal goals. Participants will also identify the target market by conducting secondary market research, prototyping, and limited primary market research. Participants will then examine the feasibility of creating, delivering, capturing the value of their venture.
Note: Business 216 can substitute for ENTRE 201. ENTRE 201 and 202 may be taken concurrently. - ENTRE 203 – Entrepreneurial Accounting & Finance.
An advanced entrepreneurial course structured to expose participants to accounting and financial methodologies in order to assess or predict the financial performance of their enterprise. Building upon their business concept or existing enterprise, participants will be introduced to core financial and managerial accounting concepts; as well as, financial analysis techniques that will enable them to prepare short- and long-term financial operations plans, including cash requirements for enterprise startup and ongoing operations. Participants will be trained to use computerized accounting software as part of a managerial tool kit to support operation assessment. - ENTRE 204 – Entrepreneurial Marketing & Sales.
Introduces marketing principles and strategies to support entrepreneurship. Students will develop a theoretical and practical understanding of marketing concepts, e-commerce, pricing policies, product promotion strategies and distribution alternatives. This course will utilize presentation and computer simulation to facilitate the student’s understanding of marketing goods or services. - ENTRE 205 – Law for the Entrepreneur.
This course provides the student with an overview of the formation and operation of business enterprises, exposes the student to types of business organizations, contract law, leases, intellectual property and employment law. Students will learn about sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations, the benefits and disadvantages of each type of entity as well as the formation, dissolution and recordkeeping for each of these entities. Students will apply this information to business plans and will learn about other fundamental areas of law affecting business entities. - ENTRE 206 – Advanced Entrepreneurship (available Fall 2010).
Participants will identify problems that arise in actual businesses of industry representatives and use their problem-solving skills to suggest solutions; integrate sections of externally focused business plan into comprehensive whole, and conduct a short case study analysis of an entrepreneur and their business.