July 20th Blog

In this issue...
# The Ten Personality Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs, Part 4 (of 10)
# Dr. Bessie House Accepts New Position at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI)
# Dr. House to Present Keynote Speech at Black Culture International Business Conference Luncheon and will Receive Marcus Garvey Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship
# Dr. House to Appear on Culture Time Television Show
# Kent State University Press to Publish the 2nd Edition of Confronting The Odds
# Dear Dr. House


Friday, July 20th, 2007
Greetings!

We are delighted to present you with our 24th issue of Entrepreneurial Alternatives Newsletter and our 8th issue of 2007. I am absolutely thrilled to inform you that I have accepted a new position at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) as "Public Scholar in African American Studies, Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship." I will also hold dual Full Professorships in both the Department of Political Science and the African American and African Diaspora Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts. By accepting this position, I look forward to the opportunity to take my work to the next level.

Moving to the next level and seizing the moment has been a constant theme of ours for the past decade as our entrepreneurial training centers have served as a catalyst for the promotion of more meaningful dialogue in the area of entrepreneurial development. In the process, we have established several premier entrepreneurship centers which include the National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., whose mission is to build entrepreneurial capacity all over this country. We have also developed the Center for Minority Businesses at Kent State University which is 9 years old, the Entrepreneurial Academy of the Cleveland Empowerment Zone (now 3 years old), and more recently have worked collaboratively with the Mayor of the City of Youngstown to establish the Youngstown Entrepreneurial Academy. Yet, much more work needs to be done and we have received numerous requests to establish additional affiliate business centers all across America. We intend to honor our commitments to help many other cities to rethink and rebuild their entrepreneurial development capacities over the next few years. It is so very exciting!

In this edition, we present the 4th personality characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, more information about my exciting new position at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI), provide details about my upcoming television appearance on the "Culture Time" show this Saturday afternoon, provide information about my upcoming Keynote speech at the International Business Conference in Cleveland and my selection to receive the 1st Marcus Garvey Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship, and our Dear Dr. House letter for this week, which comes from Los Angeles, California.

Quote of the Week

"There will come a time when big opportunities will be presented to you, and you've got to be in a position to take advantage of them."

---Sam Walton---
Founder of Wal-Mart, Inc.


The Ten Personality Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs, Part 4 (of 10)
by Dr. Bessie House

Personality Characteristic Number Four: Determination

(The following information is an excerpt from Dr. House's fourth book, "The Ten Personality Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs." This book is based on research findings of Dr. House in which she examined the lives of hundreds of entrepreneurs and was able to isolate and identify 10 personality traits that they shared in common which contributed to their ability to achieve entrepreneurial success.)

"There is in this world no such force as the force of a man determined to rise."

--W. E. B. DuBois

"I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons taught us we were entitled to, no matter what the sacrifice."

--Rosa Parks

In order to succeed, you must be determined and must not give up. Entrepreneurship is not an area for people who are easily discouraged. You need to have a tough skin. The reality is that many doors will be closed in your face. Many people will also do things to get you angry because they understand the psychology of anger. What happens when you get angry? You don't do anything because when you become emotional, your internal logic loses the battle with the forces of emotionalism. So, you become immobilized and you accomplish nothing. How should you cope with this? Cry if you must, vent your anger with a friend, go jogging, go to a movie, do whatever you need to do. Then, get over it, stay focused, and move on.

There is also a psychology to not giving up. One reason that many businesses fail is that they give up too soon. If only they had stayed in place a little while longer, some of the very doors that had been closed in their faces would have opened up. We've had our own share of disappointments in our businesses, but we kept on going. And, if you think that things are difficult for you today in the 21st century, what about the enormous challenges that entrepreneurs faced in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Don't take my word for it. Pick up a copy of my third book, Confronting the Odds: African American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio.

If you would like a copy of Dr. House's audiobook, please e-mail minoritybusinesses@gmail.com for instructions on how to purchase a copy.
Dr. Bessie House Accepts New Position at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI)

Dr. Bessie House has recently been appointed by Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) to the position of "Public Scholar in African American Studies, Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship." She will also hold dual Full Professorships in both the Department of Political Science and the African American and African Diaspora Studies Program in the College of Liberal Arts.

Dr. House is a nationally recognized leader, advocate, and expert on entrepreneurship and economic development. She has a strong background and expertise in urban economic development processes and entrepreneurship. She received her Ph.d. degree from the University of Denver in 1988 in International Studies with a GPA of 3.89 out of possible 4.0. She is an award-winning author and poet, administrator, professor, inventor, and talk-show host. She is also an entrepreneur herself, having established several for-profit and non-profit business enterprises. She currently has a patent pending with the United States Patent Office for a technological invention which she seeks to commercialize and sell to the public later this year under the umbrella of her latest for-profit company, Finders-Keepers, International.

She is the President, Founder, and CEO of the National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., which is a national, regional, and international collaborative of business centers which use the model of applied entrepreneurship that she created. She was the Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Minority Businesses at Kent State University and is the Director of the Entrepreneurial Academy of the Cleveland Empowerment Zone.

Under her leadership, the NCE and its' affiliate centers have produced award-winning research, curricular materials and business training programs. They have also helped to launch 51 new business start-up companies in recent years. She is currently finalizing her fourth book, Confronting the Odds: African American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland , Ohio, 2nd Edition to be published by the Kent State University Press in 2008, and performing research on her fifth book, Beyond the Empowerment Zone: Rethinking Inner City Development for the 21st Century and Beyond with James McQuiston, her Ph.D. student.

Dr. House says this about the future of her centers: "The National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., which I founded last year, will continue to maintain its' national headquarters in the greater Cleveland area and the Entrepreneurial Academy of Cleveland will also remain there as well and thus I shall return periodically to the Cleveland area to maintain oversight and management capability over these entities. The Youngstown Entrepreneurial Academy is doing very well and will continue to be directed by Mr. Herman Hill. I am currently in discussions with Kent State University about the future of the Center for Minority Businesses (formerly The Minority Business Program) which I established 9 years ago. It is my hope that this center can continue to provide assistance and leadership to the community in the area of entrepreneurial development."
Dr. House to Present Keynote Speech at Black Culture International Business Conference Luncheon and will Receive Marcus Garvey Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship

Dr. Bessie House will present the Keynote speech at the Black Culture International Business Conference Luncheon to be held at Cuyahoga Community College Metropolitan Campus (2900 Community College Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio) on Thursday, August 9, 2007. The title of her speech is "International Business Opportunities for Black Entrepreneurs in the Global Economy."

Dr. House will also receive the very first Marcus Garvey Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship at the Ambassadors Ball to be held on Friday evening, August 10, 2007 at the Terry Macklin Event Center in Solon, Ohio. According to Dr. House, "I look forward to addressing members of the international community on viable business opportunities and strategies that black entrepreneurs can use today to create wealth for themselves and their communities on a global scale. I am also deeply humbled to be the upcoming recipient for such a prestigious award named in honor of Marcus Garvey, who was one of the great Pan Africanists of his era. He also established one of our greatest organizations, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)."

If you are interested in attending and purchasing tickets to these great events, call 216-761-2501. We look forward to seeing you there.
Dr. House to Appear on Culture Time Television Show

Dr. House to Appear on Culture Time Television Show on Saturday, July 21st, 2007 at 6:30 P.M. on Channel 21 (Time Warner Cable). Dr. House will discuss her new position as public scholar at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI).

She will also discuss her many entrepreneurial training centers that she has established through the years, including the National Center for Entrepreneurship. Carl Williams is the host of "Culture Time" television, and is pictured on the right.
Kent State University Press to Publish the 2nd Edition of Confronting The Odds

Kent State University Press has announced its' plans to publish the 2nd Edition of "Confronting the Odds", Dr. House's seminal work on African American entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio. The 2nd Edition of the book will include an updated history of African American businesses and the African American community in Cleveland from 1795-2007 along with additional life histories of successful entrepreneurs, new public policy recommendations an additional information. The release of the 2nd edition is slated for 2008.

The first edition of "Confronting the Odds", published in 2003, experienced many successes. It was the recipient of the Henry Howe Book Award, received much favorable press coverage in several major newspapers and sold several thousand copies. According to Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker, one of the foremost experts on Black business history and entrepreneurship in the United States, "Confronting the Odds: African American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio" provides one of the first systematic studies of the historical development of black business history in an American city. Proceeding from a multidisciplinary perspective in conceptualization, analysis, and methodology, this compelling well-written assessment provides a wealth of data, concluding with valuable and insightful public policy recommendations for black business activity in the twenty-first century. [It is] a well-conceived study that will have a significant place in the expanding field of both historical and contemporary assessments of black business activity in American cities. A must read for scholars, businesspeople and public policy analysts.'

To purchase a copy of Confronting The Odds: African-American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio for personal or classroom use, please contact Dr. Bessie House at 330.672.5307 or email her at minoritybusinesses@gmail.com.

Please also contact Dr. House if you have any information, pictures, or experiences relevant to the subject matter of the work. Look for additional information in following issues of Entrepreneurial Alternatives.
Dear Dr. House

Thanks for the newsletter. There is much good information in each issue. Let me know when you are in the LA area. Continued success.

- Pat Tobin
President/CEO
Tobin & Associates, Inc.
4929 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 245
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Dear Ms. Tobin -

Thank you for the kind words. We hope to provide an informative, hard-hitting blog with each issue we send out. Your e-mail to us represents one of the most necessary things that an up and coming entrepreneur can do, and that is to network.

I hope to be out in the Los Angeles area and the greater west coast in the near future, and wish you and your company the best in the years to come.

All the best,

Dr. Bessie House
President, Founder, and CEO
National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc.

Director
Entrepreneurial Academy of Greater Cleveland

Executive Director and Founder
Center for the Study and Development of Minority Businesses
Kent State University

Public Scholar in African American Studies, Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

Professor, Political Science
Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies

Quick Links
# NCE
# The CSDMB
# E-Academy
# B. House Communications, Inc.
# The Dr. House Minority Business Blog

In Closing
Finally, we at the National Center for Entrepreneurship, the Center For The Study and Development of Minority Businesses and the Entrepreneurial Academy of Greater Cleveland want to make a call out to any former student of our Centers. If you move or have some other method of contact, please notify us! We love hearing about your new businesses, business plans, and any other successes that you might be experiencing. If you could send us a recent photograph and a small description of your success, we will include them in one of our upcoming editions of Entrepreneurial Alternatives.

Our demand pull is high, and we cannot conceivably get everything that we would like done without your aid. We are looking for volunteers for both of our centers. If you are interested in volunteering for us, please call our Kent center at 330.672.5307 or our Cleveland center at 216.731.4426.

There are individuals in our class that we have not heard from since they stopped attending; keep in touch! Contact information is at the bottom of this blog.

Dr. Bessie House
President, Founder and CEO, National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc.

Director, Entrepreneurial Academy of Greater Cleveland

Executive Director and Founder, Center for the Study and Development of Minority Businesses, Kent State University

Public Scholar in African American Studies, Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

All Stories, Pictures, and Works Copyrighted by their Original Owners. Entrepreneurial Alternatives is a copyrighted publication of the National Center for Entrepreneurship, Incorporated. © Copyright 2007, Dr. Bessie House