A Couple of Free Resources For Startups

One of the things that big universities have over smaller universities is resources.  It’s not to say small college isn’t good, it’s just a fact that a big land grant institution is going to have resources the smaller and mid size schools don’t.  It might be worth exploring resources at your local big state school to see if you can use anything.

I know at IIT in Chicago, they have wet lab space available which is hard to find.  At the University of Nebraska they have a similar program.  I am quite sure at big schools you can find something somewhere you might be able to use to help your company out.  There is an opportunity cost, since it takes up time to dig and organize the project.

A number of years ago, Professor Paul Magelli created a resource inside the Gies College of Business.  It’s called “Illinois Business Consulting”.  Paul has passed away but his influence lives on.  Initially students would go out and run a consulting project for free with local businesses to help them build and grow their business.  This prepared students for consulting jobs when they graduated.  It also exposed them to the consulting business.  Maybe you were thinking about consulting, but found you really didn’t like it.  Turned out, it was good for businesses and they grew their top line revenue.

You don’t have to be in Illinois to interface with the program.  They have done projects all over the US.

You might be thinking, they are just kids. What do they know?  You might ask Marc Andreesen, Max Levchin, the Yelp guys,  Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates what they knew while they were in college.

IBC can do startups but can do larger businesses and cash flow businesses as well.  I have had startups use them and some have been successful.  Consulting is all about what you put into it.  It will take some time to do it right but some folks find it’s really worth the time.  Your decision.  The program became sustainable, and it has expanded.  The person that runs it is Mike Decklever.  Here are a couple of links where you can find the path to him.  HERE, and HERE

I found out about another resource at Gies on my last trip there.  EntreCorps is specifically tailored to startups. Here is a flyer about them. Perhaps you can use them to propel your business forward. I know some startups that are using them.  Good for students.  Good for your company.  Win win.