The 3 Best Qualities of an Entrepreneur
I’ve had the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs of all types throughout my career. Some are pure visionaries, while others are executors. Only a select few are both. But no matter what type of entrepreneur they may be, they all seem to share at least three qualities, and those are the ones [...]
Benefits of Mentorship
Mentorship is an oft-overlooked asset in the entrepreneur’s toolkit. Mentors are often utilized as key building blocks of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that can enhance and expand the knowledge transfer and capacity of early-stage and growing entrepreneurs. My Experience with Mentors Professionally speaking, I can look back on my career and [...]
Cory Dickman: A Waco Renaissance Man
Cory Dickman is a true renaissance man. From axe throwing to escape rooms, pedal bikes, and more, Cory has had his hand in many business ventures that help make the Waco community special. A Portland native, Cory came to Waco in 2006 to study communication and film at Baylor. After [...]
Five Books for New Entrepreneurs
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein Most entrepreneurs are very familiar with this truth. If you are in the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, we want to equip you with some resources that may save you from making mistakes and increase the [...]
The Starving Artist: A Hunger for Creativity
Breathtaking design, delicious baked goods, and an unmatched dedication to creating beautiful work can exist in one business. And it does. Haley Cash is the “Starving Artist” behind it all. The Starving Artist is a creative agency and home bakery passionate about creating, from logos and brand identities to cakes [...]
How to Start a Business in 15 Minutes a Day Part 4
Part 4 – Basics to Secure Your Business This series aims to provide a formal plan to support new entrepreneurs seeking a process of launching a new business by breaking down the major components and first steps over a multi-part, day to day guide. Each part will highlight a major [...]
Filled to the Brim with Quality and Taste
Brotherwell Brewing is a Waco-born brewery that seeks to serve the Central Texas community with locally crafted beer of the highest quality. However, what exists today as a full-scale brewery and taproom off Bridge Street in East Waco, started as just a small homebrewing group amongst friends in 2011. At [...]
Four Key Values to Look for in a Cofounder
When it comes to co-founders, it’s hard to avoid the marriage analogy. Any partnership has to be founded on basic compatibilities and can thrive only if both parties want the same thing. But the qualities that make for an ideal co-founder can vary, depending upon each entrepreneur’s vision, temperament, communication [...]
Cracking Cases and Eating Cakes with Melissa Thompson
The stereotype of the doughnut-loving cop is well established. Working long shifts at odd hours, police officers haven’t always had a plethora of food options in the early morning or late-night hours of their shifts. Cheap, convenient and providing that very needed sugar rush, doughnuts became the associated snack for [...]
Know Your Target Market
You have hurdled over the fears of becoming an entrepreneur and decided to take the risk. Your entrepreneurial idea has been born and you’re thrilled about the future of your new business. One crucial step to launching your business is understanding your client base. Where will your customers come from? [...]
Collide Creative: Helping the Community Create, Connect and Grow
People need people. It seems simple, but this basic need is the spark that keeps the fire burning for Collide Creative. Collide Creative is an organization committed to fostering sustainable connections and holistic growth for creative individuals and local businesses in the Waco community. It serves as an intersection for [...]
Creating Space at the Table through Tapioca
In Waco, where it seems like we have a quaint coffee shop on every corner, a mid-afternoon coffee run is all too familiar. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with a cup of joe, there’s another way to satisfy that caffeine hankering: Boba tea. Originating from Taiwan, boba tea is a [...]
How to Start a Business in 15 Minutes a Day Part 3
Part 3 – Preparing for Launch This series aims to provide a formal plan to support new entrepreneurs seeking a process of launching a new business by breaking down the major components and first steps over a multi-part, day to day guide. Each part will highlight a major theme and [...]
Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Creating Space for Collaboration
Established in 1975, the Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has been a driving force of unity in the Waco community for 45 years. Even the organization’s logo, a bridge, demonstrates how the Chamber builds connections and creates space for collaboration between people of all backgrounds within the community. Alfred Solano, [...]
Growing Pains and Stretching Your Potential
Most people want to grow and improve no matter what hobby or job they might be doing. Whether it’s a professional athlete, a business, artistic skills or simply just trying to be a better person. As an entrepreneur, you should love and embrace the concept of expansion. It doesn’t matter [...]
Deep in the Heart of Brazos River Supply Co.
You don’t have to be from the Lone Star State to know that Texans are notoriously proud of their state. From barbecue to cowboy boots, pickup trucks and football, Texans love the land they call home. Native Texan, Coleburn Davis, is no exception. Davis is the founder and owner of [...]
Feasibility Analysis for Your New Business
Do you have a great idea for a new business that is going to change the world, or at least change the world around you? Before you can launch your business there are several things to consider. One of the most important items to consider is the development of a [...]
Oh My Juice: Making Healthy a Lifestyle
So, you want to get healthy, but you don’t know where to start. We’ve all been there. Maybe you’re inspired by the turning of the new year, watching interviews of your favorite Olympic athletes, or the liveliness and longevity of the elderly couple down the street. Whatever your “why” is, [...]
How to Start a Business in 15 Minutes a Day Part 2
Part 2 – Assessing Needs Through Customer Interaction Continuing with your entrepreneurial endeavor takes commitment, focus, and passion. Now that you’ve completed the first pieces of this guide and worksheet, it is important to shift your mentality towards being in the shoes of your customer or user. This mindset shift [...]
Baking Treats and Building Bridges with My South African Kitchen
When you roam about the lively Waco Downtown Farmers Market on a Saturday morning, you’re bound to find some of the best culinary artists, agricultural producers and local vendors in Central Texas. But if you look closely enough, you may notice that many of your favorite booths and vendors have [...]
Entrepreneurship Toolbox: MVP Edition
The entrepreneurial process is difficult to navigate for anyone, but especially for someone just starting out. As a continuation of the Entrepreneurship Toolbox: BMC Edition, here we will discuss the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) which is a way to implement your ideas into a functional way to test customers and [...]
Po’Boy Place: A Taste of Cajun Classics
If you’ve ever made your way East of Texas and into the culture-rich state of Louisiana, you know there’s one thing they do better than almost any other state: Cajun food! But did you know you can have a taste of the zesty Cajun classics right here in Waco? Po’ [...]
Entrepreneurship Toolbox: BMC Edition
The entrepreneurial process is difficult to navigate for anyone, but especially for someone just starting out. Let's discuss the Business Model Canvas (BMC), a visual illustration where entrepreneurs can develop ideas and prepare to launch their new business. Creating multiple BMCs is one of the most influential practices in your [...]
Around the World Delicacies in the Heart of Texas
Adilene Camarena is the founder and chief baking officer of Around the World, a local bakery that provides Wacoans with an array of delicious international desserts right in the heart of Downtown Waco’s Union Hall. Growing up with many extended family members in the restaurant business, and parents who own [...]
How to Start a Business in 15 Minutes a Day Part 1: Ideation and Consistency
In my own journey as an entrepreneur as well as helping entrepreneurs, I’ve learned there is no perfect or right way to do it. No three-step guide is going to make you successful and you can't just, "pay someone to do it." Entrepreneurship is mostly about solving problems and figuring [...]
Roots of Entrepreneurs
Dustin Evans is steeped in a family of entrepreneurs. His grandfather served many years in the Army before starting Precision Tune Autocare which remains in their family today. His uncle also owns many restaurant franchises from Dallas to San Antonio. Southern Roots Brewing Company is a family affair, Evan, his [...]
January Letterpress: Timeless Design for a Beautiful Life
Letterpress printing is a form of relief printing that uses the direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. This form of printing has been around for centuries, and although it remained the primary form of printing until the 19th century, industrialized printing [...]
Four Creative Sources of Capital to Fund Your New Business
Starting a business is an expensive endeavor that is not for the faint of heart. Very few entrepreneurs have the capital or credit to pull out $25,000 to seed a new idea, much less the hundreds of thousands of dollars that some types of business may cost just to get [...]
Eric Linares: A Spice for Food, Culture and Community
If there’s a community event happening in Waco, Eric Linares is never far away. The man behind QuetzalCo Taco and Eastside Market, Linares is a Waco entrepreneur passionate about bringing people together through food, culture and collaboration. Having never stepped foot on campus, Linares enrolled at Baylor in 2012 to [...]
Understanding Intellectual Property Part II: Copyright and Trade Secrets
As mentioned in our first part of the series, Understanding Intellectual Property Part I: Patent and Trademark, Intellectual property can be crucial depending on the product or service your company provides. You may understand its importance but are overwhelmed. What is intellectual property exactly? What counts and what doesn’t? Intellectual [...]
Gather: The Art of Hospitality
Sara and Jonathan Martin never set out to become entrepreneurs and business owners. Flash forward to today and their Waco retail store, Gather, is a Best of Waco Winner and the go-to store for many in our community who are seeking beautiful, carefully curated items for their home. A place [...]
Understanding Intellectual Property Part I: Patent and Trademark
Intellectual property can be crucial depending on the product or service your company provides. You may understand its importance but are overwhelmed. What is intellectual property exactly? What counts and what doesn’t? Intellectual property can be categorized in several different ways. In this two part series, patents, trademarks, copyright and [...]
Let Your Holiday Lights Shine Bright
There is something to be said about grabbing a warm cup of hot cocoa, piling into a car, blasting Christmas carols while driving through neighborhoods to ‘ohhh’ and ‘awww’ over beautiful light displays that celebrate the holiday season. Making those magical memories, is exactly why Light Waco strives to bring [...]
Why I Love Failure: Part II
The second part of this series aims to pull us back to leveraging failure towards success. We first explored failure as a tool for learning, then considered how our fight or flight reflexes play into adapting our mindset around failure. Finishing off Why I Love Failure: Part I, the Build, [...]
The Size of A Man: Darryl’s Heart
Darryl W. Thomas, Jr. was raised in the Eastwood area of Fort Worth. He suffered from poverty, a distracted mother abusing drugs and an abusive, absent father. His younger brother Quincy was his running buddy and he always kept an eye out for him. When Thomas was just 14-years-old his [...]
Building a Culture of Excellence
Every organization strives to be great. Jim Collins wrote a bestseller called Good to Great where he suggests that “good is the enemy of great.” There are quite a few great companies out there. These companies provide wonderful products and services that solve customer problems. They employ thousands of people [...]
Conversations with Entrepreneur Trey Bowles
Experienced Dallas-based Entrepreneur, Trey Bowles talks about important questions to consider before starting a business. I’ve heard people say that sometimes you just need to dive into entrepreneurship. Is that your view? No. I like to tell people that entrepreneurship is like a pond, and you’re standing 15 feet away. [...]
How to Win a Startup Pitch Competition
Win or lose, startup pitch competitions represent a great opportunity for your business to generate buzz, connect with potential mentors and advisors, and even begin the process of securing investors. Pitch competitions can also help you to sharpen and hone your mission, strategy and other key components of your business [...]
How to Build Your Network: Part I
How does one build a strong personal network, stay active in the community and generate opportunities to lead and serve? While there is no formal process or structure to facilitate these things, it must be something done philosophically and systematically. A leader should find ways to give back, serve and [...]