Taking Care of Business: Student entrepreneurs

Does this sound like your typical day? Wake up. History class. Lunch. Study session. Board meeting. Board meeting?! College students across the country attend business classes with plans to join a company after graduation. But these days, with dorm-room Web access and burgeoning Internet savvy, those same students are checking inventories and eyeing margins before heading off to an intramural volleyball game.

For students, by students
Among the many student-run companies is Student Solutions Incorporated, which was started in 1992. It began as the brainchild of seven students at Northwestern University. To avoid the headache of carrying belongings back and forth from home every year, their idea was to store them on campus over the summer.

Now Student Solutions is a reputable business on campus that students rely on for help each year. In fact, the company was acquired in 2001 by Collegeboxes, a national storage company.

"We have free pickup and delivery, we offer door-to-door service, and we store everything in a climate controlled warehouse," says Alex Welk, former director of operations and a Northwestern graduate. "Our philosophy is 'for the students, by the students,' because as college students, we can also relate to the customer's needs."

The seven students who developed that philosophy have long since graduated. But current Northwestern students still play an integral role in the business, and the company continues to live up to its name.

"The business was passed down to students year after year and we all have stock in the company," says former assistant manager Victor Sears. "A lot of us aspire to get in the business field, and it's good experience to manage a company during college. It's not a T-shirt company or a lemonade stand."

A growing trend
Student Solutions is just one of many student-owned companies appearing on campuses throughout the country. "[Student entrepreneurship] has just been exploding the last four to five years," says professor Gerald Hills, of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO). "In a recent survey of 3,000 business students, we found that 68 percent are interested in owning their own business." Students are seeing the benefits of starting up their own companies and are finding college a great place to start. "They're starting up everything from Internet companies to candy stores," Hills says.

More than just fringe benefits
So you're reading this, thinking, "But for all the time and energy it'll take, what do I get out of it?" There are lots of advantages to starting your own company in college (besides the obvious bonus of additional cash):

• Your business can help you get through school. A successful business can help you pay for tuition, books, and room and board.
  
  
• You can show potential employers and graduate school admissions officers that you have initiative, responsibility and creativity.
  
  
• Campuses are close-knit environments where students are willing to try new things and where word travels fast.
  
  
• You can learn a tremendous amount about the business world and about yourself.
  
  
• And college can be one of the best times to start a business, because college students generally don't have the responsibility of a full-time job or a family to restrict what they can do.

Use campus resources
Getting started may not be as hard as you might think. College campuses contain a wealth of practical information and know-how. It's simply a matter of finding out what your campus has to offer and using it to your advantage.

• Take classes. Courses in entrepreneurship, marketing, advertising, accounting, and commercial law will complement your business while furthering your education.
  
  
• Get good advice. Speak to professors who have started their own businesses. Those who teach business, economics, or accounting can offer advice on how to manage your operation.
  
  
• Visit the right offices. Some schools maintain an entrepreneurship office on campus to help developing small business owners.

• Advertise. Campus bulletin boards and kiosks, dorm mailboxes, and doorknobs can be a cost-effective way of getting the word out about your product. However, consult your student government office before posting anywhere, since many schools require that you get permission first.
  
  
• Use media. Campus radio, television, newspapers, and Web sites can also be very effective and inexpensive. Ask other students who have experience with the media to help design your ad.

Perhaps the most important part, though, is to believe in what you're doing. Says Hills, "Those that I've seen that have a real passion for their product succeed far more often than those who are driven only by money." By subscribing to this philosophy, any business and personal success you achieve in starting your own company will enrich your life and help you on your way to a fulfilling career.