From Deseret News archives:

Utah's excellent entrepreneurs: Ernst & Young awards to honor best in state

Published: Sunday, June 3, 2007 12:19 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Obviously, receiving one of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards means a person is doing something right.

But what that "something" is can be debatable and often different for each entrepreneur.

"It's the whole ball of wax," said Becky Lunceford, founder and chairman of Lindon-based For Every Body, a 2006 EOY award recipient for the Utah region and a judge of this year's competition.

"It's hard to separate one thing from another," Lunceford said. "You just have a feeling about the ones that really stand out." Several of those standouts will be selected from among 25 finalist companies and honored with EOY awards during the annual gala at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Ballroom of the Salt Palace convention center. (To read profiles of each of the finalists, look inside today's Money section.)

The people who judged those finalists said what's crystal clear, at the end of the day, are the myriad ways in which companies can fall short of the degree of excellence expected of Utah's best entrepreneurs.

Story continues below
So for all the nascent entrepreneurs in this enterprise-rich state, here is a cautionary primer of what NOT to do if you strive to follow companies like Backcountry.com, Stampin' Up!, Overstock.com and LoveSac to EOY glory.

Do what everybody else is doing.

This year's finalists don't just offer good products or services. Many have literally built a better blender or home security service or retail store. Or they've found new ways to sell insurance, software and doors.

Innovation and creativity play a part in deliberations, said judge Mark Burton, founder and chief executive officer of Ogden's International Armoring and a 2006 EOY winner. Companies that lack those qualities won't be rewarded.

"It might be because their approach to how they did business was not very inventive or necessarily original," Burton said. "Maybe the background of the company was not quite as strong as some of the others."

A number of this year's finalists excel at what Burton called "staying ahead of the curve."

"Some of them have reinvented their companies," he said. "They were going down one path, and they discovered another path with so much more potential. To change your approach, especially if it's working, is a real risk. You have to have some vision to do that.

"It's like this: If you're going along making $10, maybe you're happy with that, but then you see an opportunity to make $100. That's huge, and if you're really going to be an entrepreneur, you take the step."

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

Letters: Global warming a lie

Personally I don't believe in God, but respect those who do. I believe that...

Want to rad what is happening today, just go back and read Helaman and the...

To me the Book of Mormon is a dull, derivative tale, as Mark Twain and others...

Obama's strategy is a road map

His road maps have proven to have twists and turns that no one could drive on...

A little pricey, but good. I took my wife there for our 40th Anniversary....

Letters: Unusual TRAX gift

Before you complain about tranist riders having subsidized fares, lets start...

Letters: Unusual TRAX gift

Loren, it looks like you're taking bits and pieces of information and making...

Didn't Jesus observe the Jewish holidays? He would have been making...

Editorial: 10 years of TRAX

Did you know that TRAX carries 40% of UTA's riders... and does so with only...

Thank you for a great article. I'm a BYU grad and U faculty member, and this...

Advertisements