Entrepreneurs and small business owners have a tough time finding the right training, tools, and funding necessary to improve and scale their business. Now there’s a clear solution.

ICA’s 2012 Business Growth Strategy Series features the 8 Factors framework, developed and taught by The 8 Factors President, ICA Board Member, and Advisor, Michael C. Bush, providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with the tools to successfully launch, gain control and scale their businesses. Classes are going on now.

Specifically targeting companies and entrepreneurs with the following profile:

▪ ~100K-3M in annual revenue **
▪ 3+ employees
▪ Established companies (2-5 years old)
▪ San Francisco Bay Area based companies
▪ Demonstrated growth path
▪ Commitment to creating jobs and employing people from the inner city

** (ICA has the discretion to accept companies outside of this range)

8 Factors – The Framework from 8 Factors on Vimeo.

8 Factors is a practical, proven, action-oriented framework that has been taught for over a decade and utilized by thousands of successful entrepreneurs.

The framework arose from the daily problems Michael encountered as a small business owner; tracking cash flow, assessing competitors, hiring the right people, etc. Quickly realizing his Stanford MBA had not taught him the realities of running a company, he began to analyze the most critical aspects of his business in order to gain control. This analysis evolved into 8 Factors, an entrepreneur and small business-learning program that combines real world experience with the practical, action-oriented parts of an MBA program.

8 Factors – Meet Michael C. Bush from 8 Factors on Vimeo.

As president and founder of 8 Factors, Michael has more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneur, educator, consultant, and business executive.

Since developing the 8 Factors framework over 10 years ago, Michael has taught the curriculum to over 1000 entrepreneurs and small business owners. Through his service on the Board of Inner City Advisors, Michael has presented at numerous business improvement and education events as well as providing pro bono advisory services and operational improvement consulting to over 300 small business owners. Additionally, Michael was instrumental in establishing a ground-breaking private equity fund that targets job-creating inner city entrepreneurs.

Michael has successfully launched and led over 15 companies in 7 countries. He has also turned-around an additional 10 investor backed companies and projects across multiple industries in 3 countries.

In 1994 Michael founded Decision Pathways, a project management consulting firm, that later merged with Whalen and Company, an international telecommunications consulting company of which Michael later became President and CEO. Tetra Tech, Inc. bought Whalen and Company in 1996, creating the world’s largest provider of wireless infrastructure (Market Cap 1 Billion).

Currently, Michael heads The MattMar Group, Inc., a global management consulting firm, and teaches Entrepreneurship at Mills College and Business Growth Strategies at Stanford University.

Michael received his M.S. in Management from The Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

See what ICA Education Company entrepreneurs had to say after learning the 8 Factors framework from Michael.

ICA created the Inner City Entrepreneurship Institute in order to scale its current investment to provide educational opportunities for inner city entrepreneurs. The institute expands the impact of our mission through efficient and in-depth delivery of practical education programs and tools, which feature immediate access to insight from professors that give entrepreneurs resources to critically analyze how experts and peers have approached similar challenges.

The education component of ICA ties core business principles together for inner city entrepreneurs to access knowledge that facilitate strategic and sustainable growth. The forums provide the space to share best practices, lessons learned, and network. Presenters come from ICA’s business advisors, local universities, and other consulting firms.

Since 2008, 107 companies have graduated from the Business Growth Strategy Series. For a comprehensive list of these companies, please visit: http://www.innercityadvisors.org/education

As a Strategic Partner of ICA, Chevron provided initial funding for the launch of the Inner City Entrepreneurship Institute and recently donated an additional $100,000 dollars towards scaling ICA’s vision for the Institute, thereby increasing its impact and ability to create and retain more quality jobs. The Institute will leverage Chevron’s donation by expanding the size and number of companies that receive the tools they need to grow more sustainably and more quickly.

Bringing Bay Area inner city entrepreneurs together with prominent business and industry leaders for lively panel discussions, ICA is proud to partner with the Mills College Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of business to host the series.