Despite early difficulties, some IU students find success in launching small businesses.
About a year ago, Kelley School of Business student Nate Irons and his friend Andrew Wintek said they were working long and miserable shifts at a plastics factory. They both said they dreamed of someday owning their own skateboarding business since it was their childhood passion, but time and money concerns were constant obstacles.
“Andrew and I had talked a few times about starting our own boarding company, but we never actually thought it’d be possible,” Irons said. “But after months of working at the factory, one day we just decided we’d had enough and chose to try it.”
The business school’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program was ranked third in the nation by U.S. News in 2015, but young business owners like Irons still need every advantage they can get.
Even with the benefit of a degree from one of the highest ranked business schools in the country, entrepreneurship is a highly competitive industry, with more than 50 percent of all new businesses failing within their first five years, according to a entrepreneurship and United States economy study under the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In spite of this fact and even with only two employees, himself included, Irons has still managed to keep their skateboarding business, All Natural Boarding Co., afloat in the year since its launch.
“One of the biggest issues that All Natural has encountered so far is making things happen on time with only two guys doing almost everything, from building the boards to shipping them out,” Irons said. “It’s been one of the toughest things I’ve ever done, but we’re having success just taking it one step at a time.”
Along that same vein, Irons also said that some of the main difficulties All Natural will face in the next few years will stem from their drive to expand business operations.
“No two boards that we make are exactly alike, which is both a selling point and a mark of pride.” Irons said. “Because of that, we’ve made it work so far by limiting the amount of boards we put online based on however many we sold the previous month, as well as only selling them via social media.”
Once their website is up and running, however, Irons said they’ll need to start hiring more employees before they get overwhelmed.
While accelerated expansion is a problem for some young business owners, for others, such as Morgan Book, a fellow business school student and founder of NoviBee Honey, difficulties lie with retaining focus.
“Last summer I spent time hitch-hiking around Europe, and around mid-way through I found myself in Serbia,” Book said. “I was so moved by the people I met there that I decided to start something that both gives back to their communities and utilizes Serbia’s natural products, one of which happens to be honey.”
The ultimate objective of NoviBee is to help finance training for the next generation of Serbian entrepreneurs by importing honey to the U.S., in order to encourage Serbian youth to start more small businesses within the country.
But with such lofty goals and expectations, along with his daily responsibilities, Book said staying focused on day-to-day operations is a big challenge.
“Classes, my involvement in other organizations and other personal stuff can sometimes take my eyes off the ball,” Book said. “But if I’ve learned anything so far, it’s that having willpower to not lose interest or try 20 different things at once is a test for all entrepreneurs.”
Because more than 50 percent of businesses fail in their infancy, owning a small business is notoriously arduous, but Book and Irons agree that having a vision and the drive to fully realize that vision are the two most important aspects of a successful entrepreneur.
“I believe that visions are holy commodities, so my advice to anyone thinking about starting their own business is to never abort one out of fear,” Book said. “Having a purpose other than financial gain and being courageous enough to take a chance on your idea is crucial to the launch of that vision.”
