The Big Idea’s goal to help credit union members turn their dreams of small business ownership into reality. More and more people who are nearing retirement age are starting their own businesses. Others would if they had the resources to do so. The Big Idea will help credit unions position themselves to be at the forefront of this new wave of older entrepreneurs by providing support, resources, and products and services to help turn business ideas into realities.
The project consists of two distinct and potentially separate opportunities:
• The Big Idea Evaluator—a tool to help evaluate business readiness.
• The Big Idea Challenge—a contest to create awareness among members and potential members about the credit union’s business service offerings and its commitment to entrepreneurship.
Open source innovation has created options for credit unions interested in implementing The Big Idea:
1) The Web page code is available at http://filene.org/home/innovation. This will require an investment of credit union IT resources for customization.
2) Beyond Marketing, LLC is offering a solution with the complete technology at a minimal cost. For more information, contact Beyond Marketing.
3) Another fee-based option is Currency Marketing’s The Big Idea Biz Challenge. Visit Currency Marketing for more information.
Contact us to learn more about this idea from Filene i3.