Midwest Entrepreneurs' Forum

Promotes and strengthens the process of starting and growing companies, which have a strong technology orientation by providing services which educate and inform entrepreneurs.

We meet the second Monday in Chicago and the last Tuesday of the month in Wheaton. At our meetings, we normally use a case presentation/panel discussion approach to focus on a single company in a critical stage of development. We also hold special seminars, workshops and other events of interest to our audience.

The cost of membership is $60.00 per year. Membership includes monthly newsletters, admittance to monthly meetings, introductions to both key members of the business community and other entrepreneurs. It also affords you the opportunity to work as a volunteer with other entrepreneurs and some key business leaders in Chicago. Most importantly, your membership entitles you to learn the how's and why's of starting and managing a business from entrepreneurs who have already started their own businesses.

If you have ever wanted sound advice, advice from a very senior, independent and expert Board of Directors that you couldn't find or afford, then you should consider presenting before the Forum. The main "cost" is letting the public listen in so they too can learn from the experience. But no matter how many times they come or how hard they listen, they only see a small portion of the real value to the company. The reason is that much of the value comes before and after the session itself.

Of course the company needs to have a business plan. In addition, the entrepreneur must prepare a 20-minute presentation that defines the business, clearly enunciates a vision for its future, explains the current situation and articulates current problems. This is an extremely difficult task, which forces the entrepreneur to crystallize his or her thinking and planning. In many cases, the moderator works with the entrepreneur to help develop an effective presentation.

There are meetings of the entrepreneur with panelists in advance of the session so that there is an opportunity for more informal, private interaction than is seen on the surface. Often, the business plan does not fully and fairly reflect the entrepreneur's past accomplishments or vision. A direct discussion allows the panelist to get a more complete and accurate picture of the business, its opportunities and challenges, to improve the quality of the advice given.

In the end, the entrepreneur should have an improved business strategy, a clearer, stronger vision of where the company is going and how it will get there, a more effective business plan and a finely-tuned company presentation that can be used for a variety of purposes.

It would be hard to put a dollar value on that result, but it could be the difference between failure and success. We invite you to attend one of our meetings and judge for yourself the benefits we provide entrepreneurs. 

We look forward to seeing you at one of our meetings. If you need additional information, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jerry R. Mitchell
President

The Midwest Entrepreneurs' Forum