Entrepreneur in residence teaches real life lessons
Released: October 17, 2002
Energy, edge and execution. These main ingredients, plus a dash of luck and a dose of calculated risk-taking, can lead to success in starting one’s own business. That’s the message emphasized by Entrepreneur in Residence Craig Schmidt to business students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater this fall.
The undergraduate course Entrepreneurship 387 is designed for students who aspire to own and manage their own business - now or in the future. It focuses on helping them create a business plan and attracts about 60 students per year. As part of the course, a guest entrepreneur is invited to spend time in the classroom putting a real world spin on textbook theory.
As Chairman and CEO of Partner Health Systems in Berlin, Wis., Schmidt has helped establish a network of 13 companies with 900 employees in the central Wisconsin counties of Marquette, Green Lake and Waushara. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1977 and his MBA in 1983, both from UW-Whitewater. In 2000, Schmidt was nominated for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Although he dislikes labels, Schmidt said that technically his role should be defined as an “intrapreneur,” which is a person who starts a business from within an existing one.
“I don’t own the company, but I helped lead the transformation of a small rural business into a diversified comprehensive health system,” Schmidt explained. “It takes an entrepreneurial spirit and perseverance along with calculated risk-taking and luck to be successful. I’ve also had some failures along the way, which students seem interested in discussing.”
Schmidt will be speaking to the entrepreneurship class on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. He said he considers it a privilege and is looking forward to the classroom experience of “growing ideas” and encouraging students to “develop their own initiatives.”
While 387 is an undergraduate course, James Bronson, Irvin L. Young Professor of entrepreneurship, is in the process of developing a similar course for the MBA program. This fall, management instructor Bill Dougan is teaching the undergraduate course. Here are a few “nuggets” from his class:
--Entrepreneurs are not all that different from other people, they just encounter the “right set of circumstances” at the right time in their lives.
--Tough economic times often propel innovation and new businesses.
--The best time to start a business is at the bottom of a business cycle.
--Most business ventures fail due to lack of adequate planning.
--A lot of businesses are founded on good ideas, but are not necessarily good opportunities.
--The entire American economy is driven by the fundamental pursuit of opportunity with as few barriers as possible.
--If an idea is truly worthwhile, the money can be found. The real stumbling block is timing.
- Jane Provorse,provorsj@uww.edu
