May 2011 Topic of the Month: Innovation 
 
This month's e-newsletter focuses on how we innovate - changing our business services, products and systems for the better.

In our February Business Survey, 40% of you reported that your business innovated in 2010, mostly by adding new products.  What are your plans for innovating in the second half of 2011?  Please share your thoughts, goals and questions with the Hannah Grimes network (a group of veteran and aspiring entrepreneurs) on Facebook, LinkedIn or send us an email.

innovate

 

Review Resources:

April Survey Results

State Budget Cuts 

Last month we asked readers to share: What kind of an impact do you expect state budget cuts to have on your business?  Just three of you weighed in: See Survey Results.

Did you miss taking this? 
Go ahead and
take this poll.
FROM MARY ANN  

Tending to Seedlings 

I planted my onion seedlings over the weekend.  My patience runs in waves but, as the onion plants' luck would have it, I happened to be in a methodical mode as I set to the task.  Onion seedlings look like overgrown thread - there isn't much to them.  As you set them in the ground even small clumps of soil and little pebbles pose viable threats to their survival.

onion seedlings


Gardening is full of miracles, but it is truly a miracle that these fragile onions make it.  I seed them thickly in January and they get a haircut or two as they grow, then I gently tease them apart from each other, dig a tiny trench, lay them in one by one, crumble fine soil over them, and water them in.  A light remay fabric cover keeps them safe from chicken digging as it is still spring and the chickens have yet to discover that the fence I put up this time of year is meant for them. 
 
With 20 years now of growing small businesses - starting with my own and graduating to Hannah Grimes - I know that success at this task is also no small miracle.  The individuals, and the business entities that become so closely entwined with them, are so fragile - and their environment so fraught with threats to their survival. 
 
I do not expect all my onion plants to survive - I overplant for that reason.  Why bother nurturing them along inside and then not carefully tending to their transition to the garden and then doing everything I can to assure their growth there? 
 
While numbers vary considerably by industry, on average, we can expect 25% of new businesses to fail in the first year; 55% by the fifth year, and we see only 29% of businesses still surviving in their tenth year.  Research shows that many of the mistakes that cause businesses to fail can be avoided.  Research also shows that certain activities, including networking and attending workshops, increase the likelihood of business success.  Entrepreneurs invest time, money and all of their passion and a big piece of themselves in a business.  Why squander this valuable economic resource if we do not ensure that those businesses have the nurturing they need at every stage. 
 
We invite all "seedlings" to get a good start in our six-month Business Start-Up Program - the next one begins May 26.  And we invite all of you to make sure the businesses in our community, including yours, are planted in good soil and being well tended.

Keep up the good work,


MAK

Mary Ann Kristiansen

Hannah Grimes Center Executive Director

[email protected] 

HANNAH GRIMES NEWS

MindFullMindFull Money:  

A Local Bookstore Gets Creative With Financing

 

MindFull Books & Ephemera a community bookshop and music venue in downtown Jaffrey is looking to creatively finance a renovation project with MindFull Money.  Owner John Sepe shares, "With banks, lending institutions, and investors holding the reins tight, small businesses need to look at other alternatives for funding.  And what better way than to share with, and be supported by, the community with whom they interact every day."  More details about MindFull Money.

 

MindFull Money   

 

Hannah Grimes Center &  

Monadnock Buy Local Join BALLE


The Hannah Grimes Center and Monadnock Buy Local recently joined the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) community of independent business networks.  BALLE's mission is to catalyze, strengthen and connect networks of locally owned independent businesses dedicated to building strong Local Living Economies.  

 

BALLE networks create local living economies through the building blocks of independent retail, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, green building, local zero-waste manufacturing, community capital, independent media, and local arts and culture.  

 

 

 

Inn at Valley Farms Awarded Keene's Green Business of the Year Award

 

Congratulations to the Inn at Valley Farms in Walpole for receiving this year's Green Business Award from the City of Keene.  Learn more about the Inn's green practices and Keene's Green Business Award at the Inn at Valley Farms Blog

May Workshops

Offerings at Hannah Grimes Center

CLASSIFIEDS
Entrepreneurial Needs & Offerings*
Sponsorship Opportunity: Reach your customers and build relationships at BizConNH on October 1, 2011 in Peterborough, NH, during a full day of special events (networking, workshops, table talks and more) exclusively for business owners and executives.  See details at http://www.bizconnh.com/sponsors.

*The Hannah Grimes Center is posting these classifieds as a service to readers and does not imply endorsement.  Add your own classified ad: Send a 20-30 word description of your service or product that is directly supporting entrepreneurs to [email protected].  Make sure to include the best way to contact you.
MONADNOCK REGION EVENTS

WorkSafe Ergonomic Solutions

Matheson WorkSafe

Monday, May 16 - Wednesday, May 18, All Day

Matheson Clinic, Keene 

 

The WorkSafe Ergonomic Solutions training gives you real world tools to implement a company-wide ergonomic program that actually resolves ergonomic issues.

Course topics include:

� Introduction to ergonomics

� Identifying risk factors

� The role of each member of the workforce in ergonomics

� Learning ergonomic tools

�Introduction to the Matheson WorkSafe web-based software

� Solutions and resources

� Team case studies and practicum

 

Cost: Free to Monadnock Businesses. Contact: [email protected], 603-358-6525 


Ten Tips to Jumpstart Your Survey Workshop

With Barb Jackson, Searchlight Research 

Wednesday, May 25, Noon - 1:30 p.m. 
Hannah Grimes Center, Keene

Don't base critical decisions on best guesses.  Find out how to collect the information you need with a well-designed survey.  Cost: Free.  Register at http://hannahgrimes.com or 603-352-5063.

 

 

Leading From Within™

River Valley Community College

May 31 - August 30, 8 - 11:45 a.m.

Location TBA, Keene

 

Leading From Within™ is a results-oriented program with specific demonstrated outcomes:

  • Assists managers and supervisors with aligning strategic goals with measurable department and employee goals.
  • Enhances communication skills of feedback, conflict resolution, interviewing, coaching, and teamwork.
  • Builds analytical skills of problem analysis and decision making.
  • Develops a systems-thinking approach to performance management and HR Law Assesses leadership style and behavioral strengths of participants.
  • Clarifies for leaders, their underlying values that define their character and engenders trust.

Cost: $2,050 (NH Job Grants available to offset half of cost).  View Flyer.  Contact: 800-837-0658 ext. 5346.

 

 

Slow Living 

Slow Living Summit

Wednesday - Friday, June 1 - 3

Brattleboro, VT


Join fellow sustainability experts from business, education, government and non-profit organizations from New England and beyond at the first Slow Living Summit for an intensive two-and-a-half day exploration to discuss these questions and find ways to build healthy, thriving local economies while encouraging, mentoring and supporting a new generation of activists, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens. Cost: $150 (until May 14).  Details: http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com.

 

Scheduled speakers include:

  • Bill McKibben, author, co-founder of 350.org 
  • Gary Hirshberg, entrepreneurship guru; president/CEO, Stonyfield Farm
  • Josh Viertel, Slow Food USA president
  • Majora Carter, President, Majora Carter Group; founder of Sustainable South Bronx
  • Matt Dunne, Head of Community Affairs, Google
  • Will Raap, founder, Gardener's Supply founder
  • Terry Mollner, Trusteeship Institute and Calvert Funds and Foundation
  • John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies
  • Trish Karter, Dancing Deer Baking Co.
  • Jesse Laflamme, CEO, Pete & Gerry's Organic Eggs

   

Smaller Incubator Logo

Save the Date:

Business Incubator  

Grand Opening!  

Friday, July 22, 8:30 - 10:30a.m.

Hannah Grimes Center, Keene  

 

Grand Opening Festivities 8:30 - 9:30a.m and Open House 9:30 - 10:30a.m. More details to follow.

Looking for More Events? 

 

Manchester Small Business Week

Monday, May 16 - Friday, May 20

 

Inspiring Women in Business 

Thursday, May 19 

SERESC Conference & Training Center, Bedford 

 

2011 SBA Small Business Awards 

Wednesday, May 25 

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nashua

 

NH365.org
NH Small Business Development Center
NH Business Resource Center
LOCAL LIVING ECONOMY EVENTS
Events that help business owners give back and strengthen our region's local living economy.  

Communities of Artists,  

Arts in the Community

AUNE Spring Speaker Series

Thursday, May 19, 7 p.m.

Antioch University New England, Keene 


A thriving, well-rounded community needs art. From landscape painting, to chamber music, modern dance, to avant-garde sculpture, artists need opportunities to meet other artists, and to present their work to the communities in which they live. Come hear directors of three important local arts organizations talk about what they do to provide space for artists, and to bring art into the community. In addition to their primary work, each is also an active member of the Arts Alive! initiative, whose mission is "advancing arts and culture in the Monadnock Region." Panel Discussion with: David Macy, OM '00, Resident Director, MacDowell Colony; Lenny Matczynski, Executive and Artistic Director, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music; and Aaron Wiederspahn, Executive Director, The Starving Artist.  More details.


Heading For Home

Affordable Housing Summit 
Heading for Home

Wednesday, June 1, 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Keene State College, Keene

Join us as we work together on strategies to break down the existing barriers to these projects within the Monadnock Region.  Your experience and time will be critical to solving this challenge as we move forward.  The day will include:
  • Speakers with experiences in local towns working toward implementing affordable housing
  • Roundtable discussions with members from important economic sectors to resolve these issues
  • Great food
The $20 registration fee covers the cost of breakfast, lunch and snacks.; http://www.headingforhome.org.


Green Paper, Green Forests   

NH Businesses for Social Responsibility

 Wednesday, June 8, Noon

Online Webinar


Lisa Hardin Berghaus, Marketing Specialist, Monadnock Paper Mills and Jack Savage, VP Communications/Outreach, Society for the Protection of NH Forests.  Learn why the Forest Society promotes sustainable management of New Hampshire's forests, how Monadnock Paper Mills works to minimize environmental impact, and how the Forest Stewardship Council sets responsible forestry standards for the paper supply chain. You'll hear about the top five myths about paper and paper-making and come away knowing real ways to make environmentally responsible paper choices.  Cost: Free for NHBSR members/$25 for non-members. More information: 603-391-7437 or [email protected]. Register at http://www2.gotomeeting.com.


Save the Date: 

2011 CONNECT Event 

With Michael Shuman

Hannah Grimes Center 

Wednesday, October 12

Alyson's Orchard, Walpole 

 

Michael Shuman directs the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies' (BALLE) research and economic development outreach program.  An economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Michael has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) which was awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers' Association.  More details to come!

NEWS & RESOURCES
Idea Hunter

 InnovationInnovation Lessons From  

Small Business

By Andrew Waldeck & Renee Hopkins Callahan, Originally Posted on Forbes.com 

Many people have come to think wrongly of innovation as a separate activity, walled off from their regular course of business, something they have to pursue intentionally. We saw this firsthand recently while participating in a workshop on small-business innovation. One small-business owner disavowed the notion that anything his business did could be classified as innovative, saying, "We're not creating the iPod."

 

Discovering the  

Best Business Ideas:

The Keys to Successful Innovation

By David Smith, Originally Posted on Inc Magazine 


Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, and Henry Ford were some of the most brilliant innovators in our country's history; yet, Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer might argue that it was not their genius that was responsible for their iconic status, but rather their insatiable hunger for creating, developing, and sharing ideas.

 

Innovation Measure:  

Time Since Last Contact (TLC)

By Ryan Jacoby, Originally Posted on do_matic 


For most challenges, the primary source of your inspiration should come from understanding or being inspired by users, customers and other influencers. Yet, most of us chain ourselves to our desks or hide behind self-imposed and self-erected barriers. I'm no exception. I can get focused on a design challenge and lose sight of what my users and customers need when I'm not careful.

The point is, the questions, needs, answers and inspiration are all out there, not in here. So, I'd like to propose another innovation measure: Time Since Last Contact (TLC).


Lessons on Innovation From  

Jack Sparrow

By Harvey Schachter,  

Originally Posted on The Globe & Mail 


If your company is trying to be more innovative, why not take Captain Jack Sparrow as your model? On his ThoughtLeaders blog, consultant Mike Figliuolo highlights these attributes culled from Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

 innovation

Innovation:  

It Isn't a Matter of Left or Right

By Steven Johnson,  

Originally Posted on The NY Times 


In my research, I analyzed 300 of the most influential innovations in science, commerce and technology - from the discovery of vacuums to the vacuum tube to the vacuum cleaner - and put the innovators of each breakthrough into one of four quadrants. First, there is the classic solo entrepreneur, protecting innovations in order to benefit from them financially; then the amateur individual, exploring and inventing for the love of it. Then there are the private corporations collaborating on ideas while simultaneously competing with one another. And then there is what I call the "fourth quadrant": the space of collaborative, nonproprietary innovation, exemplified in recent years by the Internet and the Web, two groundbreaking innovations not owned by anyone.


Read more about Innovation at:
http://www.inc.com/innovation
2011 Hannah Grimes Center
Key Partners
2011 Key Sponsors

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In This Issue
APRIL SURVEY RESULTS
NOTE FROM MAK
HGC NEWS
CLASSIFIEDS
MONADNOCK REGION BUSINESS EVENTS
LOCAL LIVING ECONOMY EVENTS
INNOVATION RESOURCES
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