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Week of December 24 - 30, 2007

Emerging Global Challengers

Where will the next Google or Microsoft come from? Chances are that these new global multinationals will hail from India or China. A new Boston Consulting Group study seeks to identify some of these hard-charging emerging companies. Overall, the Boston Consulting Group 100 Global Challengers (BCG 100) hail from fourteen countries. China (41 firms), followed by India (20 firms), host the larger numbers of BCG 100 firms. These firms come from a diverse mix of sectors; no one industry dominates. While the firms operate in different markets, they are all pursuing an aggressive globalization strategy by actively competing in foreign markets. Most of these companies have realized that they cannot continue to grow through their home markets alone. Continued prosperity requires that they also succeed in the global marketplace.

Access the executive summary of the December 2007 Boston Consulting Group report, The 2008 BCG 100 New Global Challengers. The full report is available for purchase.

Education Levels and Self-Employment

As people obtain more schooling, they are more likely to consider self-employment.   That’s one main result of a new study from Chad Moutray of the US Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.   Moutray examined how various factors impact one’s decision to pursue entrepreneurship as a career option.  Additional education has a strong effect, as heads of households with college degrees are 4.4% more likely to start a business when compared to the overall working population.   Military experience has an even more pronounced impact; veterans 9.4% to 11% more likely to start businesses than the general population.  The research also indicates that self-employed heads of households are more likely to be older, married, white, military veterans, Internet savvy, and rural.

To access the December 2007 US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy working paper, Educational Attainment and Other Characteristics of the Self-Employed:  An Examination using Data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, by Chad Moutray.

Three New Web Resources for the Coming Year

As we wrap up 2007, here are three new sites that might be worth a visit in 2008:

Ideablob (www.ideablob.com): Have you ever had a “crazy” business idea but weren’t sure how to get someone to fund it? If so, you might check out Ideablob, a new site where you can share a business idea and maybe get $10,000 for it in the process. The site solicits ideas regarding any kind of business proposal, and then opens up on-line voting for a month. The idea with the most votes is awarded $10,000 that can be used to help make a dream into reality. The site announced its first monthly winner in October with Chicago-based entrepreneur Tom Kriegelstein’s idea to create new orientation software for incoming college freshmen.

Zopa (www.zopa.com): Zopa, a website begun in Great Britain, was the first on-line social finance company. Other websites where users can pitch new business ideas for funding include Prosper.com. Until recently, Zopa was only available in Britain, but it is now open for business in the US and in Italy.

USASpending.gov (www.usaspending.gov): Visit this site if you want to know where your tax dollars are going. The website was created by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 and provides detailed information on every government contract by company, size, and location.

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online.

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All stories © 2007 The Public Forum Institute
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