Deadline nears for BIG innovation contest entries

Grow Idaho Falls, the city's economic development leader, is looking for people who think BIG.

In this case, BIG stands for the Business + Innovation + Growth Competition, to be held March 28 at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, 995 University Boulevard. The competition is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and inventors to show off their innovative or novel business ideas or products.

“We have a wealth of creativity right here in eastern Idaho with BYU-Idaho, Idaho State University,
Eastern Idaho Technical College, University of Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory and our surrounding community,” said Grow Idaho Falls CEO Linda Martin CEO.

Six finalists will be chosen to compete before a panel of judges. Winners will share in the $5,000 cash award. Applicants are required to submit a one- to three-page executive summary by Feb. 20 to: admin@growidahofalls.org.

“I expect we will see diverse business ideas and products, ranging from micro farming technology to computer apps to novel energy-saving ideas," said Stephanie Cook of INL’s Technology Deployment group. "Since this is the first competition in eastern Idaho, we are casting a wide net to capture great ideas, no matter the industry or segment.”

Participants are encouraged to work with the Small Business Development Center in their region to refine their executive summary and, if chosen as a finalist, perfect their financing pitch.

For more information, contact Martin at 208-522-2014.

Young Web entrepreneur starts consulting business to help self-employed

Tyler Kraupp

Kraupp is no stranger to self-employment. He started his first company at the age of 16. Now 22 and with a college degree in hand, Kraupp of Idaho Falls has launched a new online business called Knowble,  offering guidance to start-up companies and freelancers as they deal with the challenges of self-employment.

Knowble -- a conflation of "knowledge" and "noble" -- relies on a network of expert business mentors from around the United States offer customized advice on such topics as marketing, branding, pricing, inventory, taxes, client relations, pricing and contracts. For a monthly membership fee, clients have unlimited access to this team of online experts. The mentors represent a range of fields, including web design, marketing, and writing. 

"I'm excited to launch Knowble as a social entrepreneurial venture," Kraupp said. "All of our mentors are committed to helping small business owners."

"I remember the position I was in and my lack of business knowledge," he said. "I didn't know how to get clients, work with contracts, or how to report essential tax information. These are just some of the things we can assist with, all online. If a business owner has a specific challenge or question, our mentors can give them some direction and resources and hopefully educate the new business owner to success."

To find out more, visit www.knowble.biz. Or watch this video: http://vimeo.com/58397097

Melaleuca announces $1.13 billion in sales for 2012

Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot

Melaleuca announced Monday that its worldwide sales for 2012 were up 9.2 percent, amounting to $1.13 billion. The bulk of that growth occurred in the United States and Canada, although the Idaho Falls-based company has representatives selling household, health and wellness products in 16 countries.

Melaleuca started in 1985 with eight workers. When it posted its first million in sales the figure was written on a blackboard. In December, it announced it was building a new headquarters south of Idaho Falls. The cost then was estimated at $50 million, but it's more likely to be $60 million, CEO and President Frank VanderSloot said Monday.

Melaleuca's sales in the United States are now greater than Amway's, NuSkin, Herbalife and Shaklee. VanderSloot used the occasion of Monday's announcement to stress the difference between Melaleuca's consumer-direct marketing system and multi-level marketing, where inventories are sold from one level to the next.

No Melaleuca representative has ever wound up with a garage full of inventory he or she can't sell, he said. "Marketing executives refer customers directly to the company. We're the ones with the inventory, and the customer gets it directly from us."

None of this is terribly new information. "VanderSloot is insistent about not burdening new recruits with huge startup costs or a garageful of inventory," wrote Phyllis Bermann in a 2004 profile of VanderSloot that appeared in Forbes magazine.

VanderSloot said he rejected the multi-level business model early in 1985, and met with a considerable amount of scorn at the time. "They told me I would go broke, that we needed to sell case lots to make any money," VanderSloot said. "Yet here we are today. I think our 27-year history of consistent growth proves that consumer-direct marketing is superior to multi-level."

Dancing With The Idaho Falls Stars coming Feb. 20

I will be back on the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium stage Feb. 20 to participate again in Dancing With The Idaho Falls Stars. This is no lie: I created quite a sensation last year, and I hope so to do again. I want people to say, "Wow, he's either got phenomenal nerve or he's the most ridiculous person I've ever seen."

It was a lot of fun, and it was particularly meaningful as my wife, Karen, was about to start chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. A year later she's got a full head of hair and is looking and feeling great. It is possible to fight cancer, but it takes a lot of courage and you need a mess of help.

If you want to donate in my name, here's a link to the American Cancer Society/Relay for Life page: http://www.relayforlife.org/. Or come by the Civic Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. and I will personally shake you down.

Facebook likes benefit critters

Schatzi, slightly nervous

Here's a nice example of social media in action. If you like Teton Volkswagen's Facebook page between now and Feb. 25, owner Mario Hernandez and his black lab Buddy will donate $5 to the Snake River Animal Shelter. How hard is that? With help from my miniature dachshund, Schatzi (whom we adopted five years ago right about now), I've already done it. You can too. Here's the link to Teton VW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/TetonVolkswagen?fref=ts.

Just because she's so darned cute, here's a picture of Schatzi, perched on the sofa. I would nominate her for mascothood, but she isn't terribly comfortable around strangers and she's even more ill at ease with children.