Avionics News January 2014 - 4

The Spirit of Entrepreneurship

I recently listened to Mike Paton, co-author of "Get a Grip."
recently had the pleasure of meeting U.S. Congressman
As an entrepreneur, one of his statements resonated with me.
Sam Graves of Missouri's sixth congressional district
at the fall Aircraft Electronics Association board of directors He said an entrepreneurial company is not a startup. Regardless
of size, it is a company that is growth oriented,
meeting. Graves serves as chairman of the House
open-minded, nimble, passionate, and will deliver
Committee on Small Business and co-chair of the
value before asking for something in return. He
General Aviation Caucus. He brought to light how
talked about getting real, keeping it simple and
the two share many common interests and how
getting results.
he focuses on supporting the American spirit of
The Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship
entrepreneurship. As we look around our industry,
issued a report titled "The Anatomy of an
we see many small business and entrepreneurial
Entrepreneur." It was based on a survey of more
companies. His visit sparked my interest to do a
than 500 company founders across a variety of
little research.
Jeanne RauFlattery
industries. Here are some of the points I found
According to statistics from the U.S. Small
interesting:
Business Administration, small business in America
is not so small.
1. The average and median age of company founders
when they started their current companies was 40.
*
The 23 million small businesses in America account for
54 percent of all U.S. sales.
2. 95.1 percent of respondents had earned a bachelor's
degree, and 47 percent had more advanced degrees.
*
Small businesses provide 55 percent of all jobs and 66
percent of all net new jobs since the 1970s.
3. Less than 1 percent came from extremely rich or
extremely poor backgrounds.
*
The small business sector in the U.S. occupies 30 to 50
percent of all commercial space, an estimated 20 to 34
4. 15.2 percent of founders had a sibling who previously
billion square feet.
started a business.
*
The number of small businesses in the U.S. has
5. 69.9 percent of respondents indicated they were
increased 49 percent since 1982.
married when they launched their first business. An
additional 5.2 percent were divorced, separated or
*
Since 1990, as big business eliminated 4 million jobs,
widowed.
small businesses added 8 million new jobs.
The small business sector has been growing rapidly. While
6. 59.7 percent of respondents indicated they had at least
corporate America has been "downsizing," the rate of small
one child when they launched their first business, and
business "startups" has grown, and the rate for small business
43.5 percent had two or more children.
failures has declined.
7. The majority of the entrepreneurs in the sample were
If you look at the general aviation industry, 97 percent of
serial entrepreneurs. The average number of businesses
businesses in our community are small to mid-sized, according to
launched by respondents was approximately 2.3.
statistics from the National Business Aviation Association. This
8. 74.8 percent indicated a desire to build wealth as an
number captures businesses that include single-pilot airplanes,
important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur.
turbine aircraft, helicopters, fixed base operators and the service
9. Only 4.5 percent said the inability to find traditional
companies that support these aircraft.
employment was an important factor in starting a
As I reflected on Graves' statements, I realized just how many
business.
innovative, entrepreneurial companies there are, and many are
10. Entrepreneurs are usually better educated than their
members of the AEA. I feel so fortunate to have met such an
parents.
inspiring group of people. They are not only entrepreneurial; they
are innovative, dedicated and hard-working. They collectively
Continued on page 30
work to keep the dream of aviation alive.

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january 2014
january 2014

Avionics News January 2014

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