Focus

Aleta Mechtel never intended t

When Paul Anderson and three colleagues thought they had an idea for a product that would help close large wounds better, they invested $206,000 of their own money to create a prototype before they ever went looking for assistance on the open market.

One of the partners, Dr. Robert Wilke, is a plastic surgeon and another, George Hoedeman, is a University of St. Thomas graduate.

So right off the bat, Wound Care Technologies had a leg up on other companies seeking financing for their early stage businesses. Sources say two of the best things owners can do to help their search for capital are including their own financial skin in the game and having people on staff or a board with experience in varied aspects of running that business.

In the fast-paced, dangerous and highly competitive world of taxi service, an approach that keeps both passenger and driver first.

“All the world’s a stage” was a pronouncement Cindie Smart absorbed as a theater major in college.

Phil Roberts has made a living by giving dining patrons what they needed before they knew they needed it.

Most people he asked told Michael Lacey that moving a business was a year-long process. After a bum start burned precious time, the CEO of Digineer Inc. had six months left on his lease and a decision to make. Should he stay or should he go for it?

?I?m a stubborn, bullheaded business owner, so we went ahead,? Lacey says. The months that followed were a hectic blur that could generously be described as a series of unfortunate events. Employees of the fast-growing company ended up enduring not one, but three moves.

What Lacey and so many others have discovered is that moving requires larger doses of time, patience, planning, energy, money and luck than most people would ever guess. ?It was a wonderful learning experience,? he says wryly.

Concord Technology sells technology for large professional services companies that make various aspects of their businesses faster and more efficient.

The firm specializes in recruiting senior-level IT professionals who can help clients with individual projects or upgrades of their operating systems.

So forgive CEO Chris Davis if he is a bit sheepish. The three-year-old Edina company has spent plenty of time and money servicing its own clients. But as a startup, the firm underestimated its own needs and now is in the middle of doing a customer relationship management (CRM) software implementation.

Upsize invited Minnesota?s small-business owners and managers to nominate their most trusted advisers for the second annual Upsize Lifeline Awards, and share the best lessons they learned.

Six winning pairs (their stories follow) and one special winner, the 2007 Upsize Lifeline of the Year as nominated by nine business owners (their story precedes), were judges. Criteria were the impact of the lesson learned on company performance, the quality of the gratitude expressed, and the relevance of the lesson to Upsize readers.

Bob Hansen remembers December 2000 as particularly harsh. A record-breaking cold snap had settled in the Twin Cities, but for Hansen it wasn?t the weather that made things so bleak.

The co-founder, chair and CEO of Electromed Inc., a medical technology company in New Prague, was grieving. Hansen?s wife and brother had recently died, and as Electromed prepared to bring its first product to market, it was slapped with a patent infringement lawsuit by a much larger competitor.

Minnesota small-business owners are again feeling optimistic about the upcoming year, according to results from Upsize Minnesota?s second annual small-business outlook survey.

But as unemployment rates go down and more qualified workers find jobs, owners are concerned about the shrinking size of their labor pool as they begin 2007.

Polled in early November, right after the midterm elections, 84 percent of respondents said they expect revenue to increase next year ? almost identical to last year?s 85 percent. Their rosy outlook outshined that of their national peers results of an Administaff survey showed 70 percent of small businesses planned to exceed their 2006 growth levels.