There’s an interesting conversation going on at the Chamber Professionals Group on Facebook. A chamber professional wanted to know what other chambers are doing to attract the young entrepreneur.
How do I get younger entrepreneurs into the chamber. I am struggling with the perception that the Chamber is for old people. the few that come don’t stay for long. What deliverables could change this perception and condition.
Marketing to the Young Entrepreneur
I’m going to differentiate between attracting Millennials and attracting Entrepreneurs. While many Millennials want to be entrepreneurs, not every young professional is going that route. Having a successful young professionals group does not (necessarily) cater to the same interests of an entrepreneur.
So…
There are two kinds of entrepreneurs — those who are and those who want to be. Marketing to these two is different.
The Wanna-be Entrepreneur
This is someone who wants to start a company SOMEDAY but in the meantime works for someone else. They are probably pretty low on the totem pole and the amount of time they can spare during the day is limited to hour lunches or pre- or post-work events. This rules out a lot of your normal mid-day chamber events because they can’t spare the 1.5-2 hours for a lunch and learn.
If they are truly working on their dream of entrepreneurship, their personal time may be spent doing things like working on a business plan, which means to take them away from that precious time you have to offer something that will directly impact their ability to see their dream of entrepreneurship more clearly.
Events like that might be a business mentorship program for entrepreneurs, an angel investor question & answer session, or a TED-esque inspirational group.
Your average young professionals bar networking event may not be enough to get them excited about dropping their business plans and tasting some craft beer.
The Actual Entrepreneur
These are people who are living the dream. Despite being young, they are branching out on their own and making things happen. If they’ve invested their own money in making it work, dues that cost several hundred dollars a year might not be in their budget no matter what the return on investment is for them. They simply might not have it to spend.
They can join a meet-up online for nothing. They can also create their own networking group, charge a nominal fee, and create their own cash flow. You have to offer them more than networking.
Lunch and learn topics such as Taxes for Start-ups, Hiring Your First 20 People, Grants for Start-Ups, or Getting Seed Money will attract eager young people.
Provide something they can’t do for themselves or something they don’t have time to do for themselves.
What are you doing to attract the young entrepreneur at your chamber? Join the conversation here.
