Biz Trek

Joshua Gold began forging notes to get out of school in the fourth grade. He was that guy in your X201 class who rolled into lecture once in a blue moon and called you 10 minutes before a group meeting to say he couldn't come, regrettably ("I've just been really, really sick the past semester or so"). On the eve of I-Core, he dropped out of the Kelley School of Business because, let's face it, who really has the time or energy to study while in college?\nHis resume: lifeguard, pool hand (inspired by a suggestive "Desperate Housewives" episode) and full-time New Jersey Shore beach bum (an occupation he chose during the summer he "didn't feel like working").\nOh, and owner, manager and salad preparation artist of Bloomington's novel eatery, Mixed Greens.\nThe restaurant, which opened in June 2005, serves an array of salads, wraps, smoothies and other health foods. It offers a breakfast menu and an assortment of Splenda-fied treats for those who want to indulge without the extra calories. Since opening, the restaurant has drawn health conscious students, locals and business people to its hip 10th Street and College Avenue location. It's open seven days a week, has a delivery service and on average pulls a couple hundred orders a day.\nNeedless to say, Gold is seeing the green in more places than his salad bar. \nAlthough Mixed Greens is a niche all its own, Gold is just one of the student entrepreneurs in Bloomington. Baked!, Straight2YourDoor.com and Btownmenus.com and Proof Magazine are other businesses run by ambitious students who have sacrificed their free time, social life, and school work to put all of their energy into these enterprises. \nGold, 21, would be a senior were he currently enrolled in any classes at IU. He had aspirations of starting his own restaurant for years and a heart that just wasn't in school. Growing up, his prodigious independence and natural ability as a businessman opened doors for him to make a quick dollar, selling anything from baseball cards to pool supplies. After making a stop at the Mixed Greens in his Morganville, N.J., hometown to curb a case of the munchies two summers ago, he knew it was the one he'd want to mirror his business after. \n"I was hungry and asked my mom if there was anything new in town," he says. "She told me about this place, Mixed Greens. The second I went there, I told the owner I wanted to franchise it because I knew it was the one that would work in Bloomington."\nFrom the beginning, Gold has run a one-man show. While the New Jersey Mixed Greens was his inspiration, Gold didn't just want to copy it: He wanted to expand it, make it bigger and better. He revamped the basic business plans that were handed to him and began negotiating leases with building owners in Bloomington the instant he had the basic logistics figured out. \nWith a loan from his parents (that he affirms he will be able to pay back within the next two years), he started construction for Mixed Greens last year. After getting all his ducks in a row, including picking out paint and primer and working with advertisers and researching prices, his restaurant was ready for the public. However inspiring his story may be, it wasn't an easy ride. Despite experiencing rejection from local landlords and being cast aside as an untrustworthy and inexperienced kid, he finally bought the location he's at now. \nGold reports multiple headaches. He paid twice as much as he should have for the space he owns and hears endless empty promises from different people with whom he works. He missed his spring break. He stayed in Bloomington all summer instead of going home, logging about 80 hours a week. At home he faces the mountains of paperwork he is finally whittling down now that the restaurant has been running smoothly for a few months. Other student entrepreneurs, such as Straight2yourdoor.com's Jason Moldoff, have experienced similar sacrifices. \nMoldoff, an IU alumnus, has been running the food delivery service since last year, and he says his personal sacrifices are extensive. Playing basketball, going to the gym, watching TV and frequenting Bloomington's restaurants for dinner were nothing more than happy memories. His amount of sleep and grade point average declined, and hardships with his girlfriend became the norm. \nMoldoff and student Seth Fishman modeled Straight2yourdoor.com after national companies like Takeout Taxi. Their Web site serves as the liaison between the customer and restaurants that don't traditionally deliver. With Fishman's recent resignation from the business, he is running Straight2yourdoor by himself. \n"Personally, if I found the right person I'd prefer to have a partner," he says. "But if you don't have someone as dedicated as you, it's much better to work alone." \nThere are certainly benefits to working alone. Gold says that the profit he would normally have to cut to a partner go to luxuries like flat screen TVs for the restaurant and top of the line kitchen appliances. \n"It's difficult to run a business and be a student," he says. "You'll never be able to completely run and nurture it while doing both, but you can sustain it and grow it slowly."\nWhile they are two \nseperate entities, Straight2yourdoor.com\nis teaming up with Btownmenus.com in an effort that will help both businesses.\nBtownmenus.com, created by juniors Peter Margulies and Michael Rolland, was what happened when the two friends were sick of ordering from the same places. Motivated by frustration with the lack of options and the opportunity to start something new, the pair made a phone call to a friend at Penn State who was involved in a Web site on which students could view restaurant menus and place online orders for. \n"We knew of this Web site where students could go look at menus from restaurants all over town, see what was open or closed, and then place their order online," Margulies says. "We decided that we wanted to do the same kind of thing and started talking to restaurants around town into being a part of our site." \nA year later, Margulies and Rolland are running a successful business and telling their stories to classes as guest lecturers all over campus.\nThe majority of their time is spent wheeling and dealing with the some 60 restaurants they feature on their Web site. When other students are sleeping soundly until class, Margulies says he is up every day running around town visiting clients, building and maintaining a good reputation, and as always, trying to find ways to expand. \nGaining experience is the common denominator in all of these student-run businesses. While some of these entrepreneurs might have visions of expanding their businesses or leaving them all together when a better offer arises, they have made a name for themselves by pursuing a dream and working to make it happen.\nAnd when other college students and twentysomethings are worrying about where to party or how to balance time between working out and studying, these young businessmen's concerns are keeping the wings they are delivering to clients hot, that perpetual leak in the restaurant bathroom and building a reputation among students, locals and clients. \n"I don't mind the lack of sleep," says Gold, who considers four hours of sleep average. "What sucks the most is sometimes when I get up and turn the shower on, I'm so exhausted that I pass out again, and by the time I wake up the shower has been running for two hours and there's no hot water left."\nBut when he cashes his paycheck on Friday and can add "restaurant owner" to the list of jobs and activities on his resume, a cold shower is not a bad price to pay.