“We are honored to be selected as the 2013 Amazing Entrepreneur Contest Grand Prize winner,” stated Susan Bacon, Founder and President of Palmetto Grant Consulting. “Our company seeks to help educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments navigate the grant-writing process, and we hope to use these prizes to continue supporting these entities in and around the Gwinnett community.”

Finalists for the Established Business category also included:

• Adrian Collaborative – a professional planning firm specializing in project management, environmental impact analysis, GIS mapping and analysis, transportation planning, and more.
• Flairtab – a company which provides a cloud-based television news and entertainment service for doctor’s office waiting rooms.

“The Amazing Entrepreneur competition was developed as a method to engage, support, and promote small businesses during the critical early years of their existence,” stated Mark Farmer, Director of Entrepreneurship and Information Services for Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development and Partnership Gwinnett. “We congratulate Palmetto Grant Consulting on their exceptional efforts and look forward to seeing each of the finalists continue to grow and flourish in Gwinnett County.”

As the 2013 Amazing Entrepreneur Contest winner, Palmetto Grant Consulting accepted the top prize package which includes $2,500 cash, a consultation with an attorney from Arnall Golden Gregory ($2,500 value), a trip to Sage Summit customer conference in Maryland, a one-year Gwinnett Chamber membership ($500 minimum value), three copies of Microsoft Office 2010 ($1,500 value), and more.

Presenting sponsor of the 2013 Amazing Entrepreneur is Jackson Electric Membership Corporation. “Jackson EMC is a proud supporter of Partnership Gwinnett and its efforts to further encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses in the community,” stated District Manager, Randy Dellinger. “We are pleased to sponsor a contest that highlights the County’s successful entrepreneurs and the new ventures thriving in Gwinnett.”

“We are proud to partner in hosting The Amazing Entrepreneur for the third consecutive year—a competition which recognizes small business and entrepreneurial growth in Gwinnett County,” said Robert Andoh, Area Director for The University of Georgia SBDC. “Our mission at the SBDC is to encourage the development of small businesses and help entrepreneurs have access to the services, resources, and initiatives which will help them succeed.”

New to the 2013 contest was the Pre-Venture category, offering businesses not yet in operation the opportunity to win prizes. Announced as the inaugural winner, ReadySpot is an internet-business which allows users to reserve parking spots for events and places of business prior to arriving at their destination.

Designed to cultivate new business development in Gwinnett County, The Amazing Entrepreneur competition allows contestants to enter a business plan summary for judging, with finalists given the opportunity to present before a panel of judges. The contest finalists and winner were announced today during The Gwinnett Chamber’s Pinnacle Small Business Awards luncheon.

For more information on the Amazing Entrepreneur Contest, please visit www.amazingentrepreneurcontest.com. To receive updates and reminders on Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development’s small business and entrepreneurial efforts, click here.

For more information or to learn how to get involved in local economic development efforts, please visit www.gwinnetteconomicdevelopment.com.

Breakthrough entrepreneurship is about solving problems — but it’s only half the battle. If you’ve brainstormed a business idea and have a sense of the customer pain your product can solve. The next step in your billion-dollar business generating process is to figure out if you can fill that need profitably.

To do this, you need to understand the value proposition you’re creating. Estimate the economics as best you can so as to figure out ahead of time if customers will actually agree to purchase your product or service for significantly more than it costs you to produce it.

Three factors make up your value proposition:

Production cost: What will it cost you to develop and produce your product or service?

Customer utility: What dollar amount can you use to represent the degree to which your customer will value the product?

Price: How much will your customer be willing to pay?
READ MORE: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222710

The Wall Street Journal indicates that entrepreneurs today don’t require as much money or manpower as they once did to start their new business. With the advent of accessible and cost-effective software, equipment and communications technology, resources are more abundant now than ever for those with the determination to turn their small-business dreams into reality.