The Center for Entrepreneurship is proud to sponsor innovative, diverse, cross-disciplinary research. Check this page often for updates on the Center’s ground-breaking initiatives and externally-funded projects.

Current Projects

The following research initiatives are currently taking place at Villanova University’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

Special Initiative in Venture Capital

Venture capital is the term that describes financing for startup and early stage businesses. Because they are high risk, venture capital investments must offer the potential for above average returns. Whether the investment is made by a venture capitalist or a venture capital fund that primarily invests the financial capital of third parties, the venture capitalist becomes part owner of the new venture. Most VC investment criteria include a planned exit event within three to seven years.

The research team will study several of the roles of a venture capitalist, such as:

• Providing funds for the venture in the forms of seed capital, start-up capital, development capital, and mezzanine financing
• Arranging additional financing from lenders and other investors
• Assessing and revising the entrepreneur’s business model
• Reformulating the overall venture strategy
• Finding and hiring key managers
• Making business contacts
• Reformulating the management and ownership teams as necessary
• Providing operational and technical guidance
• Preparing the company to be acquired or to undertake an initial public offering.

The Special Initiative in Venture Capital will require the participation of experienced venture capitalists at every stage. A great deal of specific expertise is involved in a VC investment that exceeds the functional competencies developed through a traditional business school education. This instructional capital is typically conveyed through an apprenticeship model in venture capital firms. Therefore, one of the educational goals of this Initiative will be to help transport instructional capital into the classroom in the forms of new learning by professors and the development of new educational materials and pedagogies.

The project director is Jack Pearce.

Proposed Projects

The following research initiatives have been proposed by Research Associates at the Center for Entrepreneurship.

An Assessment of Effective Advertising Techniques for a Small Business

Two distinct market survey instruments will be developed through the Center for Entrepreneurship: (1) a survey of past clients in terms of customer satisfaction; and (2) a survey of potential clients, both corporate and residential, in the area to create awareness of the business, to establish whether her current advertising is effective, and to estimate future demand for the service.

The project director is Peggy Chaudhry.

Implementation of a Financial Reporting System for a Small Business

Through the Center for Entrepreneurship, the following financial management analysis will be conducted: Set up an optimal accounting reporting system for the small business, create effective accounting practices to ‘lead’ the account receivables and ‘lag’ the account payables, develop a systematic way to reveal current financial data of the firm for both the owner and banks/lawyers to review for future financing decisions; and establish a cost accounting system for the services to reveal the ‘true’ labor costs of each distinct project.

The project director is Peggy Chaudhry.

Efficacy of Strategic Alliances of Small Management Consulting Firms

Traditionally, a firm’s growth in size was regarded as a virtue and an objective. However, instead of pursuing growth, there is an increasing interest in smaller, leaner, and more flexible firms. The persistent theme of this trend is that a firm can achieve the same or a higher level of output with a smaller number of employees or units. The proposed project will focus on the interplay of firm size and the practice of alliance formation in knowledge industries, and will examine the efficacy of such strategic alliances of small knowledge-based firms based on a framework that has been developed with a theoretical and systemic thinking.

The project director is Q. Chung.

Relational Networks of Entrepreneurial Firms and Competitive Advantage

Entrepreneurial firms face special challenges relative to larger firms possessing market power. For many successful entrepreneurial firms the social networks of executives and key employees are critical resource. Networks help these firms gain legitimacy, access critical resources, and aid in the development of cooperative strategies such as alliances. Dr. Kevin Clark is currently developing a research project to assess these issues and provide managers in entrepreneurial firms insights to guide their decision-making regarding network development and usage. Dr. Clark is partnering with the Center for Entrepreneurship to locate several small- to medium-sized firms in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Participant firms would receive detailed feedback from the study.

The project director is Kevin Clark.

Factors that Influence Site Selection for Small Retailers

Critical to the early success of a small retail business is the location selected for the business. How familiar beforehand was the owner with the community where the business was ultimately located? Was there an examination of the demographics of the area? Are there large retailers nearby? All of these are considerations which may play a significant part in the ultimate success of the business. This project is designed to try to understand the factors instrumental in an owner selecting a site and which of these factors tended to be the best predictors of success for the business. The study will begin with a survey of owners of businesses less than five years old. The businesses will be identified through state records that register the creation of new businesses.

The project director is Dennis Kuhn.

Exploring and Testing the Relationship between University Research and Development Expenditures, New Firm Formation, and Economic Development: Evidence of Primary and Secondary Employment Effects Using the Longitudinal Establishment and Enterprise Microdata (LEEM) prepared by the Center for Economic Studies of the Bureau of the Census and other secondary data sources, we examine the relationship between publicly funded research at the university level and job creation. We argue that research universities form local innovative activity centers, from which both knowledge spillovers and growth in specialized markets generate extraordinarily high rates of new firm formation and employment growth. Results from our empirical analysis confirm our arguments, thereby demonstrating the significant role universities play in contributing to economic growth by creating and sharing knowledge with the larger community.

The project director is Scott Newbert.

An Evaluation of Marketing Techniques for Small Business

What marketing techniques provide the best returns for a small business? Does a new entrepreneur in an industry need a different strategic orientation than established firms? These are important questions for small business managers, but answers usually come only from their individual experiences or anecdotes. This research project is designed to provide a better alternative. A systematic, large scale survey of small business managers will be conducted to produce publishable research that can guide future decision making. The first major phase of this research will involve a survey of owner-mangers in the floral industry. The floral industry in the U.S. accounts for $15 billion in yearly sales. Yet, the average income of 40,000 American florists was $310,000 in 2003, making the industry one of the few that is dominated by independently owned and operated businesses. The Center for Entrepreneurship will partner with the Society of American Florists and its 10,000 members to conduct the study.

The project director is Jack Pearce.