Entrepreneur Interview Project (EIP)

Entrepreneur Interview Project (EIP) - Project Resources

The Entrepreneur Interview Project (EIP) is freely available and provides participants the opportunity to interact with small business owners. They ask questions that span competitive practices, start-up, information sources, technology, training, financing, challenges, and advice. Participants gain invaluable insight.

The EIP provides the following advantages:

• Secure and web-based
• Canvas Module, Pages and Rubric
• Easy infusion as FREE project (classroom and/or on-line)
• Participants network & identify mentors
• Incrementally adds to an archive of over 1,200 interviews (anonymous and publicly accessible)

Participant Learning

Participants learn directly from entrepreneurs:

• The EIP trains them to identify and secure business mentors. These relationships can last a lifetime.
• Participants learn the importance and nuances of appropriate business communications protocol.
• Direct communications help participants to learn and explore, firsthand, the concept of informational interviews.
• The project affords participants the opportunity to develop and practice their networking skills.

Stand-Alone Project

• EIP is a stand-alone activity that faculty and trainers may easily use.
• This project is appropriate to any academic discipline. For example, interviewing a CPA about her/his firm can provide valuable insight to accounting participants.
• This project is appropriate for any business development organization. If you are working with aspiring entrepreneurs, the EIP will help them build skills and insight.
• Talking with a business owner can help clarify prospective entrepreneur expectations.
• Interviews may be conducted using a variety of methods, such as face-to-face meetings, email, virtual, social media, or other mobile apps.

Instructor Resources

• Participant step-by-step instructions and grading rubric
• Faculty instructions, PPT and hand-outs
• Canvas Modules for easy course web integration

Web Based

• Complete web infrastructure includes log in, posting, editing, deleting, and browsing
• Password-protected and secure log-in process
• Participants log in to their class to post their work
• Instructors log in to browse their specific courses
• Faculty can access their specific courses for convenient grading
• Canvas grading rubric provides more objective grading criteria

Participant Feedback

Here is a sampling of participant feedback:

• "I learned that making a business work is no simple task"
• "... having the chance to get with an actual entrepreneur and talking to them"
• "This interview has helped me in ways I would never expect"
• "I got to sit down with an entrepreneur and really discuss what it takes to be a successful businessman"
• "... really useful and helpful for me to find a job or to set up my own business in the future"
• "I had a ton of questions and I got the detailed answers step by step"
• "I learned that getting into business isn't easy, but if you put your mind to it you can do it"

Entrepreneur Interview Archive

• Over 1,200 interviews currently in archive
• Participant posts initially are not visible to the public, and later join the web archive anonymously
• Researching the archive stimulates great class group discussions. It helps participants to identify business trends
• Filter posts by industry, sales, interview question and/or business type. Can obtain specific insight by combining filters (e.g., industry and sales revenue)
• Keyword search allows for targeted information and specific firm insight

History

This project was initiated in 2009 by Mt. San Antonio College Professor, Dr. Ralph Jagodka. The process began when he polled his Small Business Management (entrepreneurship) classes. He asked his participants to articulate what they would most like to learn from entrepreneurs, through an interview. The combined results, after consolidation, produced a list of 65 issues. Dr. Jagodka then held a series of lunch meetings with local entrepreneurs. He asked them to consider the participant-identified issues and select which entrepreneurial perceptions they would also like to know. Only questions that they themselves would be willing to answer could be chosen. This eliminated many proprietary questions, yet yielded questions that, when answered, would provide insight into industry competitive practices.

The Interview Questions

Eight questions that span the topics of competitive practices, start-up, information sources, technology, training, financing, challenges, and advice: