Funding, mentoring, business plan development, networking — the list of resources available to Michigan entrepreneurs goes on and on, and it’s just getting longer as the state recognizes the power of entrepreneurialism to create jobs and fuel the economy. But these resources are only useful when entrepreneurs know they exist and know how to access them.
Enter InsYght, a free, web-based tool created to connect entrepreneurs with resources targeted at their specific business development needs.
Ken Agacinski, Executive Director of The MORE Program, creators of InsYght, explained that InsYght was created to serve two groups of people. The first includes entrepreneurs and innovators who are considering starting a business or who have a product they are trying to commercialize, as well as those who already have a business and are looking for help. The second group is entrepreneurial champions, or people who assist entrepreneurs on a day-to-day basis.
InsYght is a valuable time-saving tool for both groups. Because it provides specific contact information for programs and services, entrepreneurs spend less time surfing the Web or making phone calls looking for the right people. Entrepreneurial champions can spend more time focusing on the services and programs offered by their organizations, rather than directing calls to other organizations.
Partnership with other business development organizations is an important aspect of InsYght. The MORE Program builds an InsYght web portal for each of their partners — over 100 of them in Michigan, including Automation Alley. Rather than creating another “one-stop-shop” or gatekeeper for business resources, InsYght allows entrepreneurs to “stumble across this statewide pool of resources wherever they turn for help,” explained Agacinski.
“It doesn’t make sense to drive everybody to yet another place,” said Agacinski. What does make sense is “to take advantage of the very strong connections that most of the organizations in the state have already created with entrepreneurs, with innovators and with other economic development groups.”
To start using InsYght, visit Automation Alley’s portal at http://automationalley.insyght.co/ or http://themoreprogram.com/insyght.htm.
This article was submitted by Automation Alley.