The entrepreneurial spirit may be taking a hit these days.

Studies show members of the Millennial generation appear less interested than previous generations in starting their own businesses, preferring instead to find work with established companies. In 1989, 11.6 percent of households headed by someone younger than 30 held a stake in or owned a private enterprise; today that percentage is 3.6 percent, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

Randy H. Nelson finds that troubling, but perhaps understandable.

"The statistics show the odds of success for a new business are pretty dismal," says Nelson, author of the Amazon best-selling book "The Second Decision: The Qualified Entrepreneur." (www.randyhnelson.com/book)

"Half of new U.S. small businesses fail in their first five years, and 70 percent have gone under by year 10. That's not exactly a new trend, but what is a new is that each year in the United States more businesses now are shutting down than are being started."

But Nelson, who developed leadership skills as a Navy submarine officer and has a track record of starting and building successful businesses, says there is a reason for those sobering statistics.

Anyone can become an entrepreneur. No qualifications are required. If more entrepreneurs understood the ramifications of that - and took steps to compensate for their weaknesses - the odds of success could improve, Nelson says.

One problem is entrepreneurs tend to be extraordinarily confident, which can blind them to their weaknesses.

Nelson remembers that early in his business career his wife asked if he knew what he was doing. He assured her he did. Since then, experience taught him he was wrong.

"The truth was, I didn't know what I didn't know," Nelson says.

Over time, Nelson became what he calls a "qualified entrepreneur." He says when he looks back over his 25-year entrepreneurial career that he could clearly identify four components of the qualified entrepreneur, and recently he added the fifth component, self-awareness, which is an important piece of each of the other four.

·  Entrepreneurship. People who become entrepreneurs are usually brimming with self-confidence, Nelson says. That helps them when it comes to making that "first decision" of starting a new company, all but ignoring those sobering odds for failure that would dissuade many others. The entrepreneur optimistically thinks: "I know I can do this."

·  Career-Long learning. Entrepreneurs think growth all the time for their businesses. They preach their vision to employees and hire the best talent to help them reach their goals. But are entrepreneurs growing their skillsets as fast as their companies grow? If not, they risk becoming the wrong person in the wrong seat, with the very employees they hired to take them to the promised land asking: "What value do you bring to the company?"

·  Leadership. The importance of good leadership is paramount to business success, but not all leaders are created equal. Nelson breaks down leaders into four types. The "urgent/reactive" leader thrives on an almost crazed atmosphere where he or she can ride to the rescue, put out the fire and move on to the next problem. There isn't much time for introspection and no real vision. An "ever optimistic" leader starts from the belief there is nothing he or she can't do. "Yes, we can do that!" is the typical answer from this type of leader...leaving it up to their staff to figure out how, even if accepting the new business takes them away from their core focus.

The "reflexively pessimistic" leader plays to survive, not to win. This leader has been toughened by hard times, and always worries about the economy's effect on the business, Nelson says. In some industries easily battered by a downturn, this style can be effective. But if maintained too long, the pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The final leadership style, the "steady/proactive" leader, is the one every CEO should strive to become, Nelson says. This type of leader values productivity and profitable growth above all things, knows how to achieve both and can course-correct no matter the difficulty. "They understand both offense and defense, and can shift between them as cycles dictate," Nelson says.

·  Life cycle. A business has different needs at different stages of the corporate life cycle. The qualified entrepreneur must recognize that. The startup stage is where many entrepreneurs thrive. Creating something from scratch is what they are about. Needs and challenges change, though, as companies enter growth or expansion stages. The entrepreneur's needs change, too, because entrepreneurs have their own life cycle, Nelson says.

First, there's getting the business started, and then there's the second-decision stage when the entrepreneur needs to choose what role he or she plays in the business, and whether others might be better equipped. There's also a third decision when entrepreneurs realize work infringes too much on family and personal time, Nelson says. "To avoid regrets later, you have to consider whether you need to make a stronger commitment to a more balanced life." Finally, there's the end stage when the entrepreneur is finished with the current business and must decide what is next. Having experienced the "exit" twice in his career, Nelson has come to realize that after the sale only a few lives really change. Everybody else goes on with their normal day while the entrepreneur, much like a retired athlete, must figure out how to function without leading their entrepreneurial venture every day.

"Ideally, entrepreneurs and CEOs would be more knowledgeable than everyone we manage," Nelson says. "That's rare, though. The rest of us would benefit from a better understanding of the vast reaches of what we don't know, and a dose of the humility that goes with it, and this is where the self-awareness component comes in."

·  Self-Awareness. Entrepreneurs need to know their strengths and weaknesses, and how they affect the business, Nelson says. Unfortunately, that's a trait they often fail to develop. His suggestion: Surround yourself with people who know more than you (entrepreneurs, leaders, and coaches/advisors who have been through all the life-cycle stages the entrepreneur is navigating through) and learn from them. Once you have a clear understanding of what you do and don't know, you can decide your next steps. Will you continue to lead the business directly; take a supporting role and let someone else lead; or move on to create another business?

About Randy H. Nelson

Randy H. Nelson is a speaker, a coach, a Qualified Entrepreneur, a former nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy and author of "The Second Decision - The Qualified Entrepreneur" (www.randyhnelson.com/book/). He co-founded and later sold two market-leading, multi-million dollar companies ? Orion International and NSTAR Global Services. His proudest professional achievement was at the Fast 50 awards ceremony in the Raleigh, N.C., area when NSTAR, a 10-year-old company, and Orion, a 22-year-old company, were awarded the rankings No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Nelson now runs Gold Dolphins, LLC, a coaching and consulting firm to help entrepreneurial leaders and CEOs become Qualified Entrepreneurs and achieve their maximum potential. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Miami University, Ohio, and was awarded the Admiral Sidney W. Souers Distinguished Alumni Award there in 2011.

Death of the Small- to Mid-Tier Agency Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

Since the 1980's, the anticipated shrinkage in numbers of the small- to mid-tier ad agencies (less than 100 people or so) has not happened. If anything, there are more of them! While worldwide mega-agency groups (starting with Saatchi & Saatchi back then) have continued to grow, merge, morph, and control more media dollars, the small, independent shops stubbornly remain. There are several reasons why even worldwide brands, as well as local or regional brands, prefer working with small- to mid-tier shops.

•  Relationships matter - Most businesses are small themselves, and those large enough to seek the help of an ad agency, PR firm or web shop prefer to do so, in most cases, with similarly-sized companies. In RFPs, a common question is about the agency's client roster and where the prospect's account would fit in the pecking order. Mattering to an agency's business translates to a certain amount of leverage, regardless of the added services or bench strength the larger agency promises it would give access to. All that added firepower that's promised sounds good, but in reality, how much will actually be used on your business?

•  The age of specialization - Almost as common as in the field of medicine, many small shops have become known for their areas of expertise, whether based on creative, or digital media, by client, or channel experience and reputation. Very often advertisers want the particular ingredient for which the small shop excels. It's not uncommon for marketing departments of larger advertisers to manage several "boutique" agencies to keep ideas fresh and flowing.

•  The digital age - The advent of personal computers and the Internet have been the great equalizer between large and small agencies. As long as a small shop stays current with technology, they can compete with agencies twice their size; provided the brain-power and desire is equal to the task. The search ability of the Internet, affordable survey programs, and niche market research available off the shelf, has also leveled the playing field of category knowledge and competitive intel.

•  An appreciation for experience - Make no mistake; the ad business is a young business. Always has been and always will be. That's because historically, many consumer brands (which constitute the bulk of advertising dollars) are aimed at a young adult demographic. But as the population has aged, the number of active, senior-level ad execs has also increased. Many of these are found as the hands-on ownership or leadership in small agencies that they themselves have started. Clients, in turn, benefit enormously from direct access to their tried and true wisdom and insight.

•  The end of the three-martini lunch - The move toward a more accountable approach to client service began in the 90's, as accounting systems and MBA's began to take hold. The recent Great Recession cemented this new, more austere reality. Clients, on the whole, are simply more overhead sensitive nowadays. They know intuitively they will ultimately be paying for all of those assistant's assistants, lavish offices, and entertainment. Small- to mid-tier agencies, on the other hand, run leaner operations out of necessity. And smart clients appreciate the obvious stewardship of money - their money.

•  Demand for better service - As the ad business has matured, the associated mystery and mystique has diminished to a certain extent. Clients are less inclined to suffer aloof, prima donna creative directors, disorganized media buyers or absent-minded account executives. They want and expect more service for their marketing dollar. They have seen "the man behind the curtain." It's been our experience that small- to mid-tier shops, even with smaller "bench depth," deliver as good if not better service for most clients than shops that are much larger.

About the Authors:

Over the last 35 years, Jim Lindsey has served as vice-chairman at several of the world's most powerful advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, McCaffrey & McCall, and Hill Holiday/Wakeman & DeForrest. He has been honored with more than 50 ADDY Awards, Clio Awards, and Golden Quill Awards and is a recipient of advertising's highest honor, The Silver Medal Award. He has managed hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising contracts on behalf of advertisers around the world.

Paul Friederichsen specializes in marketing strategy and award-winning creative direction and television campaigns for developing and launching brands. He has done so for The Home Depot, Dixie Crystals Sugar, ITT Technical Institutes, RCA and GE consumer electronics, among other category-leading clients. Paul has held executive creative positions at several top advertising firms, including Saatchi & Saatchi.

Local Advocates Argue Damaging Cuts to Services for Children Can Be Avoided with Adequate Revenue

Rock Island, IL - Today, advocates in the Quad Cities - armed with a new analysis from the Responsible Budget Coalition (RBC) - are pushing back against Governor Bruce Rauner's proposed FY 2016 cuts.  The RBC analysis breaks down cuts geographically and shows families in the Quad Cities area will suffer due to steep reductions in services for children, home services, autism, community care, public safety, and economic development.

Despite warnings from bond houses that a failure to extend 2014 income tax rates would cause serious harm to Illinois' families, politicians failed to act.  Failure to extend the tax rates resulted in a $5-6 billion revenue gap for the upcoming budget year, and as a result, Governor Rauner has been pressing lawmakers to pass a budget with $6 billion in cuts to vital programs.  The cuts are the result of expiring tax rates, which are primarily going to corporations and upper-income individuals.

Advocates that work with at the Arc of the Quad Cities Area are advocating for a responsible state budget.  The Arc of the Quad Cities Area's Respite Program provides children and adults with disabilities care throughout the workday so that their families can work.  Rauner's FY 16 budget proposes the elimination of respite programs, resulting in a $90,000 cut for Arc.

Respite care provides families cost-effective, short-term, intermittent care for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This program provides primary caregivers the opportunity to work and handle the daily struggles with the comforting knowledge that their children are well taken care of in their absence. One of the primary benefits of the Respite Care program is to defer to deter costly residential placement of individuals of disabled individuals, which is roughly $60,000 a year in a CILA setting or $240,000 in a state-operated facility.

Says Kyle Rick, Executive Director of The Arc of the Quad Cities Area, "Respite dollars are some of the most cost effective use of funding for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the State of Illinois. Eliminating this essential service is counter-intuitive and potentially ruinous for working families with disabled children."

With the deadline for lawmakers and the Governor to pass a budget just 33 days away, local advocates say they will continue to fight for adequate revenue to avoid Rauner's unnecessary and painful cuts.

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Quad Cities Report Summary

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Safe Jobs save lives, keep the promise alive

Cedar Rapids: April 28, 5:30 pm. IBEW Local 405 Hall, 1211 Wiley Blvd SW. Speakers: Kelly Steinke, President of Hawkeye Labor Council; Paul Iversen, University of Iowa Labor Center and Liz Mathis, Iowa State Senator. Sponsored by the Hawkeye Labor Council.  Rick Moyle rmoyle@hawkeyelabor.us or 319-396-8461

Clinton: April 28, 1 pm. Clinton Riverview RV Park (9^th ave. north at the beginning of the dike). Speakers: Congressman Dave Loebsack; State Senator Rita Hart; State Representative Mary Wolfe, Clinton City Council, Mayor, Fire Chief and Police Chief have also been invited. Contact Dave Keefer 309-788-4569 or dkeefer@lu25.org.

Des Moines: April 28, 11 am. West Capitol Terrace (west side of Capitol, near Historical Building). Speakers: Commissioner Michael Mauro (Iowa Division of Labor); Director Beth Townsend (Iowa Workforce Development); and Ken Sagar, President of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO. Sponsored by the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor. Contact Mark Cooper 515-265-1862 or mark@scifl.org

Dubuque: April 28, 5:30 pm, at the Labor Temple (1610 Garfield). Speaker: Ken Sagar, President of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; Bruce Clark, President of the Dubuque Federation of Labor. Dubuque Fire Fife and Drums, UAW Color Guard. Mark Cook steel1861@qwestoffice.net or 563-590-8749

Fort Madison/Keokuk: We hung wreathes that said Hero at both Keokuk and Fort Madison Halls then we surrounded them with names of everyone who died to honor them. Contact Gary Mortimer, 319-670-1103 or garydalemo@hotmail.com.

Iowa City: April 28, 12:30 pm at the Iowa City Ped Mall. (Fountain Plaza) Ceremony. Contact Jesse Case, 319-361-3212 or jcase@iowalabor.com.

Quad Cities: April 28, 11:30 am. USW Local 105 Union Hall, 880 Devils Glen Road, Bettendorf, IA.  Sponsored by the Quad Cities Federation of Labor. Contact Joshua Schipp 309-738-6536 or schipp.joshua@gmail.com.

Sioux City: Northwest Iowa labor council will have an event at the UFCW local 222 hall at 7:00 pm. Mac Smith will be speaking. Contact Rick Scott, 712-898-4915 or atulocal779@gmail.com

Waterloo: April 28, 5:30 pm. Black Hawk Labor Temple, 1695 Burton Ave. Waterloo. Charlie Wishman, Secretary/Treasurer Iowa Federation of Labor, and others, will speak at the event. There will be other activities to honor those killed on the job.