Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
When Eric Ollis wanted to take his idea for a new business from concept to reality he had several decisions to make. Pack it in and not pursue the opportunity. Roll the dice and take the chance on his own. Or seek out a resource to help guide him past those initial fears of becoming an entrepreneur in the Upper Peninsula. He chose the latter option and began working with MTEC SmartZone a couple of years ago on developing his company Lexul.
“It was a combination of validating the idea in the beginning. And being a source of feedback as we grew. And then helping us grow as we started to get traction on the idea and understand what our customers wanted. And then, now we work on how do we make this into a profitable company.” – Eric Ollis, CEO, Lexul
Lexul helps contractors and labor workers get paid faster through the use of its invoice software. Ollis says that no single idea is unique. However the execution and drive to move past an obstacle makes the difference between a company that succeeds. Across the United States, says MTEC SmartZone CEO David Rowe, many businesses will start but many will fail within the first year. He adds makes the guidance incubators like MTEC can provide important to growing regional economies.
“The challenge is to help those people through the early turbulence. Such that they survive and thrive. And quite frankly part of the mission is, if there’s a new business. You hear people talk about, failing quickly. Such that you don’t prolong the agony. Or win and succeed. And we talk about those types of dynamics as well. There’s a lot of experience in helping clients navigate the pitfalls and potential risks. And those are important. Sometimes just talking about it, gets people beyond that fear of getting started or maybe going in a different direction.” David Rowe, CEO, MTEC SmartZone
Rowe and Ollis agree that entrepreneurs have several qualities that help in building a business; confidence, drive to impact the world, and a passion for solving a problem. However, overcoming the fear of getting started takes time.
“This ecosystem has grown up over the last 15 to 20 years. And I think is on the precipice of launching forward and growing dramatically. We’re going to see this area continue to thrive and develop in the high-technology realm. And with some of this incremental funding, we will be able to work with, we’re going to work with more Main Street types of businesses and service businesses to help strengthen our local economy and business climate.”David Rowe, CEO, MTEC SmartZone
The MTEC SmartZone has helped a variety of companies get started, many of those companies working on some aspect of emerging technology. In recent months SmartZone has received two major grants to support its mission to help small businesses get started and develop the necessary tools for that business to succeed. Go to Keweenaw report dot com to learn more about the MTEC SmartZone and how the business incubator can help a business get started in the Upper Peninsula.
Learn more about MTEC SmartZone here.
Learn about Lexul here.
