SpringBoard at The Company Lab is an exciting place for an idea to grow. It comes already planted in the mind of the participant but sitting dormant, waiting for water and fertilization. Over the course of eight weeks, it receives nourishment until it sprouts, its tender shoots peeking above the surface of the ground and ready to spread - ready for the world to notice.
I know this from personal experience. This summer, I stole time from an already busy schedule to go through SpringBoard. I write, “go through” SpringBoard instead of “take” SpringBoard because the moment you and your classmates sit down together at The Company Lab, you’re not passive recipients of lectures and videos but part of an interactive process. You’ll receive, but you’ll also give.
The idea that took me there popped into my head over a year ago. Like the moment of creation, there was nothing, and then there was something. “That’s brilliant!” I said to an otherwise empty room. Everyone present concurred.
Because I still have a few things to do before I can publicly talk about the idea, I’m going to refer to it using a familiar term: widget. Inspiration having struck, I began to work through how the widget would come to be. However, the more I labored, the more I realized I didn’t know what I was doing. In college, I dropped Accounting 300 after one class and talked my Mass Communications teacher out of making me take microeconomics. That was the extent of my business experience, unless you count prepping point of sale goods at Blockbuster Video.
I remembered meeting Sheldon Grizzle, one of the owners of The Company Lab, a few years ago and chatting with him about Chattanooga’s soccer team. If memory serves me correctly, the Lab was a sprout itself at that point, its tender shoots peeking above the surface of the ground. I sent him an email containing many words that boiled down to one - help.
A few days later, I was meeting with a mentor at The Company Lab and explaining my idea. The cost of that meeting: one hour of my time. The mentor is a busy man, too, but having succeeded in his field, he’s giving back. I was glad to receive.
I came out of that meeting invigorated. In a short time, the mentor had encouraged me and even helped to slightly reshape the widget. “You have a good idea, but it’s not something in which an investor would be interested,” he said before explaining why. His final advice: Take SpringBoard.
So, what is SpringBoard? In a nutshell, you go in with a business idea and come out with a business plan. A real plan, with an executive summary, a financial strategy and a blueprint for marketing. You’ll take a close look at who your customers and competitors are. You’ll know whether you want to form a corporation or an LLC. You’ll research the costs involved in launching your business and then keeping it open. You’ll know your breakeven point and your variable costs and other things you thought your brain couldn’t contain. And you’ll learn about raising capital.
Even better, you’ll meet remarkable people. At least I did, beginning with our facilitator.
He didn’t teach the class - he turned on the stove and stirred the pot. Each night featured a distinct topic of discussion and exercises designed to provide a foundation for writing the next part of our business plans. Without his guidance, we would have been 11 people trying to outtalk each other, but he kept us focused and on target without walling us in. My favorite thing he did: during the first class, he called us entrepreneurs.
I also like how he made room for guest speakers, including a lawyer who spoke about intellectual property, an online marketing specialist and a member of Lamp Post Group, a local venture incubator.
Then there were my fellow entrepreneurs, ten people whose creativity and intelligence have destined them to do great things. Some of their ideas were amazing. Other ideas were more down to earth, but the drive of those participants was just as intense as those who had a big project in mind. Each Monday night, I counted myself fortunate to be in the midst of what felt like electricity.
We’d often break into groups of two or three to do an exercise, or a student would grab a dry-erase marker and go to the glass wall on one side of the conference room and start scribbling ideas and getting feedback. If you asked me for a single word that describes SpringBoard, I’d say “dynamic.”
As a result, my idea went through a cleansing fire and came out looking more like gold than when I had brought it in. I had slammed into a few brick walls and made some hard choices, but in the end, my widget was better for the journey. As I gave a PowerPoint presentation during the last class, I felt confidence I didn’t have eight weeks earlier.
As I said goodbye to people I’d come to know and admire, I felt more energized and optimistic than when I graduated from college. I have a lot of work ahead of me, and more brick walls to slam into and hard choices to make, but I know one thing: I can do this.
That’s the best part of having gone through SpringBoard.
Do you have an idea for a business but don’t know how to get started? Go through SpringBoard. It’s for you. Do you have an idea for a business and feel like you know everything you need to know to get your endeavor off the ground? Go through SpringBoard. It’s especially for you.
Are you financially strapped? The Company Lab bases the cost of the class on your income. If all you can do is bring sandwiches for everyone, that’s what they’ll charge you. You can do it.
Is your plate already full? I work two jobs and volunteer at church. There are people busier than me, but not by much. You can do it.
Do you have kids? So did the single mother who sat next to me. You can do it.
If SpringBoard is an exciting place for an idea to grow, then Chattanooga is a perfect place to watch it blossom. The soil here is rich with nutrients, and the air is crackling with innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. SpringBoard is eight weeks out of your life and an accomplishment in and of itself.
As Teddy Roosevelt said, and as our facilitator quoted on the last night, “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure ... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.