Brand strength and franchisee support contribute to success for Scooter’s Coffeehouse

Watch for additional articles over the next month on our new series about franchising. When Don and Linda Eckles opened the first Scooter’s Coffeehouse in 1998 in Bellevue, Neb., they weren’t just offering specialty coffee and warm service to their drive-thru customers. They were establishing a brand that the company would later build upon to [...]

Franchising Tips: Fast But Controlled Growth Fuels Complete Nutrition

Watch for additional articles over the next month on our new series about franchising. Ryan Zink and Cory Wiedel of Omaha were operating a GNC franchise when a career-altering revelation changed everything. Success in the nutritional supplement business, they realized, would be achieved by offering much more than just products. “We had come up with [...]

Startup Tribulations Overcome by Customer Relationships

Given his general apathy toward running, a business geared toward fitness was the last thing on Mike Ewoldt’s mind when he decided to launch Peak Performance with his brother Jim. Founded in February 1994, the business which was conceptualized over a late-night conversation and initially comprised merely an 1,800 square-foot store has now burgeoned into [...]

Are You Destined to be an Entrepreneur? Interview with Grant Stanley

[Our VIDEA contest in August produced a multitude of entries on entrepreneurs that they felt have good lessons to share. Grant Stanley of Contemporary Analysis was one of those.] Nebraska entrepreneur Grant Stanley recently sat down with us to talk about his experience starting Contemporary Analysis and entrepreneurs in general.    

Simplifying IT

Ameet Savant has always been a scientist at heart. Growing up in Mumbai, India, Savant could usually be found disassembling his toys – or for that matter the family radio and television – simply for the sake of understanding their inner workings. “In retrospect, the minor cuts, scrapes and 240-volt shocks were worth the natural honing of my [...]

Long road to production for fashion designer Yolanda Diaz

Most entrepreneurs have amazing stories about how far they’ve come to fulfill their dreams, but how many had to move to a different country, learn another language and be knowledgeable about multi-government regulations on imports and exports? And that’s just some of what Yolanda Diaz has endured to fulfill her 25-year dream of having her own full clothing [...]

Business Model Innovations – Joe Petsick, Proxibid

Proxibid started in 2003 with the task of taking one of the oldest industries - auctions - and bringing it online. Since 2003 Proxibid has held more than 35,000 auctions live online and increased its staff to just over 100. Proxibid was one of three companies that presented on a panel about business model innovations in information technology at [...]

Outstanding Speaker Lineup for the 2011 Nebraska Research and Innovation Conference

[UPDATE: Registration has been extended until 3pm Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011.] Innovation has been at the forefront in Nebraska with the new Talent and Innovation Initiative and many other objectives, both public and private. The need to foster innovation in key industries has taken hold as a clear way for Nebraska to grow its economy [...]

Joe Olsen and Phenomblue: Finding Partners

2011 Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship Phenomblue: Finding Partners Joe Olsen, CEO, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Phenomblue, an industry leading interactive brand experience agency.  

Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Award Winners

On March 14th, 2011 UNL’s Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship hosted their annual Innovation Night to present their 2011 Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Awards.  This years awards went to four different companies including Jack Henry with Global Industries, Charlie Hull and Clint! Runge with Archrival, Steve Kiene with Nebraska Global and John Lund with OFFWIRE. The purpose [...]

Agile Sports and Stephanie Healy talk about growth

2011 Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship How to rapidly grow a Nebraska startup – unlimited vacation and Jets tickets Brian Kaiser, CTO, Agile Sports Technologies In four years, Agile Sports has grown from its three founders to 30 employees and from one devoted customer (the University of Nebraska Husker football team) to 2500 teams in 48 [...]

Collaborative Work Spaces and the Accelerating Effects on Business

Collaborative Work Spaces and the Accelerating Effects on Business Matthew Wegener, President & CEO, ISoft Data Systems and Turbine Flats Turbine Flats is an idea community and home to 10 early stage and start-up businesses. In this session, Matthew Wegener will discuss the businesses that are taking root at Turbine Flats today. He will explain [...]

UNeMed and UNMC to host seminar on Intellectual Property and Licensing Basics

On April 16, UNeMed and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have teamed up with the Licensing Executives Society (LES) to host a one-day seminar on Intellectual Property and Licensing Basics. This is part of LES’ popular Professional Development Series (PDS). The course will cover: • IP Basics: patents, trademarks, know-how and trade secrets. • Smart strategies [...]

Keynote: Moglia shares insights, lessons on business

Joe Moglia is one of the most recognized names in the heartland. Whether it’s through the Omaha Nighthawks or TD Ameritrade, Moglia has made an impact on Nebraska with his knowledge and expertise on business. Before joining TD Ameritrade a decade ago, Moglia worked for Merrill Lynch in New York. After 17 years there, he moved [...]

National Lemonade Day comes to Omaha

It’s not uncommon to see children sitting on the sidewalk in a neighborhood with a self-made lemonade stand in the spring or summer with the hopes of making a little money but on May 1, don’t be surprised by all the lemonade stands outside Omaha metro businesses. It’s all part of National Lemonade Day, an [...]

2011 Summit Preview: Megan Hunt of CAMP Co-working Space

The 2011 Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship will feature lecturers, panel discussions and question and answer sessions from various experts on the climate of entrepreneurship in Nebraska. Among the speakers will be Megan Hunt of CAMP Co-Working Space. Hunt created CAMP, Omaha’s first creative co-working space. Since CAMP started in June 2010, the site has seen [...]

Metro’s Booming Entrepreneurship Program Educates Small Business Owners

Michela Wipf’s passion for photography wasn’t translating into money. The stay-at-home mom had turned an old dining room in her Weeping Water, Nebraska, home into a photo studio. To create a thriving home-based business, her plan was to shoot photos at home as well as at local scenic spots and other nearby towns east of [...]

Education is key for a successful startup

An entrepreneur not only has the challenging task of turning an idea into a successful business, but they have to know the ropes of running a business. One of the greatest errors for a small business owner is not understanding all of the aspects of running a business. Educating oneself about all angles of a [...]

Second startup weekend to hit Omaha

A recent college graduate and a businessperson who’s owned a company for several decades have different backgrounds, levels of experience and ideas for the future. On September 10, college grads, business owners and people from all walks of life will have the opportunity to work together to make new business ideas a reality at the [...]

Small companies find ways to compete, keep business

Being able to bring in revenue is challenging when there are larger businesses or massive corporations selling the same product just blocks away.  Entrepreneurs can find it tough to compete and as a result, many ideas for small businesses often never reach the drawing board.  Entrepreneurs also face the challenge of keeping shoppers or customers [...]

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