Oldest in Texas!!
Founded January 2, 1985, the Entrepreneurial Development Center is Houston's first
and Texas' oldest business incubator. It's also the oldest "Entrepreneurial
Development Center" in the world and its original name has been widely copied.The EDC pioneered business
development and entrepreneurial education programs to accelerate business growth for
entrepreneurs in emerging businesses without using public funding.
The EDC is the first
incubator in the nation designed to be totally self-sufficient, based entirely on client
fees for services rendered and not public funding, grants, gifts, donations or
contributions
Neither the EDC, nor its
sponsor, the SCA, have taken the first dime of public money, focusing
instead on creating value for clients in such a way as to grow their companies faster than
they could possibly do it on their own and fulfill a niche in the marketplace. (A
fundamental process for any successful business, eh?)
The EDC was also the first in
the nation to advocate that entrepreneurship could be taught as an experiential process.
This "radical concept" has now been confirmed by leading universities around the
nation utilizing experienced entrepreneurs as adjunct professors.
The EDC provides the
resources, methodology and environment to accelerate business growth of client
entrepreneurs and receives a modest royalty fee based on the success of the venture.
The structured development
methodology, the Entrepreneurial
Development Program (sm), is uniquely tailored, case-by-case, to the specific
personal resources, attributes and aptitude of the client entrepreneur to address the
aspects of marketing, operations, administration and finance of the venture.
As the client company grows, the Center
makes a profit. Only by growing client companies does the Center remain
self-sufficient. Consequently, the Entrepreneurial Development Program provides a
"What's next? What's missing?" inventory of items, contacts and resources to
rapidly progress client entrepreneurs through each stage of business growth.
The Entrepreneurial Development
Program has been further refined to address precise needs of:
At the EDC, we provide
answers for business growth from pre-startup entrepreneurs-to-be to business owners with
many years of business operations. For instance, the Houston Engineering and Scientific
Society (HESS, a private membership organization for technical professionals - founded
in 1918) was our client for 4 years after it encountered "growing pains."
Our development methodologies
include an advisory board, mentor,
professional
development coach, guidance with the business plan, marketing strategy, personal selling skills
and CEO training.
The Center has a modest seed
fund and has been involved in virtually every type of funding option. For instance, we
were very early to be involved in home-equity lending for Texas and the Small Corporate
Offering Registration (SCOR - Form U7).
For those entrepreneurs seeking an office environment,
the Center provides a friendly, powerful, high energy focus group atmosphere,
conducive to enhancing entrepreneurial attitudes with an adjacent conference room conveniently
provided.
Full small business development
business support services and emerging business assistance are readily available for
efficient operation of any business. Support services are available by the hour or by the
project. Fees are sliding scale and very affordable. Call 713-932-7495 (an audio
information system) and select any additional information required.
Thank you for visiting. Feel welcome
to call our Director of Research, C.
Dean Kring, at (713) 932-7495 x13 or use our live chat feature.
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