LANSING - Since failed sales
and property tax Proposals A
d B Will not bring additional
funding for education. Will
Michigan's businesses come to
the rescue? Partly. .
Th the proposals 'NeI'e
overwhelmingly defeated, the .
c .paign had at least one
lingering benefit, ccording to
officials.
have an coalition that
ica1ly coalesced around the
i ue of educ tion," state
Budget Director Shelby
Solo on said.
re
"Not only educators but the
business community and labor
community also. We have an ef­
fective 'coalition to try to bring
apout the change (in education) .
are looking for."
B the 1986 Partnership for
Education program tha grants
state funds to schools and helps
businesses and other com­
munity members form partner­
ships with schools to aid K-12
education, bad its funding cut
about $50,000 for 1989-1990
from about $200,000 in 1988-
1989.
Despite the cuts, businesses
will not stop funneling funds,
ong hours, hard
WASHINOTO - Long hours, .
hard· rk and good service are
still the key ingredients for
entrepreneurial succe , ac­
cxording to a nationwide study
released today by the National
Federation of Independent
Business' research foundation
aDd American Express.
More than three-fourths (17
percent) of the nearly 3000
firms urveyed during the three­
ueceeded, Almost
onc-fifth (19 percent) failed.
or
N"mety percent (90 percent) of
those who urvived three yeats
said they would do it again.
The study is the rust nation­
wide research project to com­
pile information on both
businesses and their owners
during the critical start-up
years. A key finding was that
those who succeeded shared
several common characteristics
. including working long. - but
not excessive - hours, em­
phasizing service over prices,
human resources and materials
to. schoo , said Executive As- .
sistant Stephen Economy of
Michigan Bell Telephone Co., a
Partnership for Education
. member.
·Something h got to be
done but it's going to get worse
before it gets better," Economy
said.
Gov. James Blanchard said
in JUs 1988 State of the State
message that employers are the
ultimate customers of
Michigan's school system and
that "the business community
should be an increasing partner
in improving school quality,"
Economy said business
should be working with schools
but that the solution also de­
pendent upon the govermnent.
Parents and teachers to im­
prove education .
Businesses are taking ction
but we are not producing a
product tha is saleable to the
market place, Economy said.
Another Partnership for
education member agree that
�ople are not being prepared
to successfully enter the ,wor
force.
. "There's no doubt you will
continue to see an increased in-
?
•
•
terest in the business corn
munity for better education,"
s id Manager of Communica­
tion and Legislativ Affair
Richard t. John of the U pjohn
Co.
"It's a rna ter of self-en­
lightenment, we do n t get the
human • resources to fill our
ranks for a global competitive
society, .thi nation i indeed
troubled."
stiU key to s ccess, study finds
haviDgself confidence, knowing
the product, size, and devoting
full time to the business.
-: Long, but not excessive
hours, make difference.
Eighty percent of those who
worked between 60 and 69
hours a wee remained in busi­
ness after three years. But put­
ting in long hours does -not
guarantee uccess, The survival
rate of those who rked more
69 hours a wee actually
dropped (75 percent), as did
• I
Every Day We Talk Td
Over A ThoUSand People
Abo t AJ Loan.
�1. Like
1hlk�You
is clearly unfounded."
Small-business owners who
held down second job are less
likely to succeed than those who
devote full time to the company,
the study concluded. More
than three-fourths (78 percent)
of those who 'COncentrated sole­
lyon one venture survived; 8
percentage points more than
those who attempted double
duty.
Starting a small busine with
a positive attitude payoff, too.
Th se who believed they had a
nine-to-one.chance at surviving
in the btl inc s world fared ·t­
tcr (82 percent) and th e who
'ave them elves only ix-t -one
Ids.
I hi J cr better? In mall-
usinc ca pital inve tment
terms, it i. ighty-four percent
of th se wh b gan their firms
with inve tments exceeding.
50,000 to d a 10 percent bet­
ter chance f making it th n
tho c who tarted out with Ie
than 20,000 in the firm.
It al 0 p: ys to know your
busine. wncrs who worked
with the s: me products or er­
vices in prior jobs had a 10 per­
centage point chance of
I urviving (80 percent to 70 per­
cent) than th sc who had
worked with very different
product and services before
tarting their own firms.
A profile of the typi I uc­
cc Cui mall-busine s owner, as
determined through the study,
found that he or she j 35 years
old, marr icd t a working
sp usc, did not move their
rc id n c to start the firm and
had held n more than five
other job in their career .
Money was not the primary
motiv ting factor for starting a
business, the maj ority
responded. More than three­
fourths (78 percent) id
greater control over my life"
was the fir t reason; next cam "
using my skills and abilities" (75
percent) and "building me­
thing for my family" ranked
third (74 p rcent). .
I ,