GLADWIN ? The name, Rooms Full of Notions started as a song in the 1980s, and now has evolved into the name of a business that provides affordable decorating services. In 2003, Rooms Full of Notions was named one of the Best Small Business by the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center. The song,
GRAND RAPIDS ? The Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center is partnering in January with Western Michigan University to offer a three-week workshop to show QuickBooks users how to clean up their books. The workshops will be held at WMU?s Grand Rapids campus on January 7, 14 and 21 from 9 a.m. to noon.
ANN ARBOR ? The deadline to compete in the fall Great Lakes Entrepreneur?s Quest business plan contest is looming. Teams that want to compete in either the Emerging Company or New Business Ideas tracks need to submit an application by December 15. The Quest is structured into Fall and Spring Cycles and two distinct maturity
GRAND RAPIDS ? When a new business engages a consultant to design, develop, and launch its Web site, the most important issue is whether the Web site will attract the number of eyes that the new business needs. However, after the implementation of new laws by several states, the oft unnoticed privacy policy notices are
BLOOMFIELD HILLS - David Cole, the Chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, will speak to Great Lakes Angel investors at the December 15th final deal screening event. Cole will discuss The Automotive Future: It?s the Law of the Jungle. The meeting is by invitation only to accredited investors in Michigan, Ohio
DETROIT ? Angels aren?t just of the heavenly kind. They?re also well-off private investors who pump thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, into promising start up companies. One such group in Michigan is called the Great Lakes Angels. Last year, the Great Lakes Angels invested nearly $4 million into 24 deals, up
ANN ARBOR ? David Brophy, a University of Michigan finance professor, is well known in the Midwest venture capital community for his annual Michigan Growth Capital Symposium, a two-day conference that gives 30 start-up companies that chance to woo potential investors. Now armed with a $350,000 state grant, Brophy hopes to make the 24th version
BIRMINGHAM ? The two most important things a company needs to grow are capital and talent. The Michigan Venture Capital Association works to provide both, primarily to established, technology-focused companies. The MVCA represents 65 organizations and individuals actively involved in investing. Those include angel investors, venture capitalists and professional services firms, such as lawyers and
GRAND RAPIDS ? All businesses start with an idea. But many of those ideas need a lot of fleshing out before they?re ready to be described in a business plan. Taking business ideas to the next step is what StartupCentral hopes to do. StartupCentral was formed a year ago by David Brenner and Tom Edwards
ANN ARBOR ? Great Lakes Entrepreneur?s Quest helps would-be business owners craft what most experts contend is the key to business success - a business plan. Business professors and professional investors have mentored upwards of a thousand entrepreneurs since the program was launched five years ago. ?It?s a process that allows entrepreneurs to take a