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Young entrepreneurs make the grade

Like many Americans, Aaron Lifford and Jessica Keckhaver dreamed of running their own business.

But they were still students, both sophomores at Indiana University. So last December they sought the advice of a mentor — Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the university’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation — and set out with $500 saved from part-time jobs, a little help from some friends and a lot of nervous energy.

Less than a year later, the temporary staffing service the 20-year-olds co-founded, Prodigy Staffing Solutions, has more than 100 part-time employees, is compiling a growing list of clients and is on track to earn $150,000 in revenues — about triple what their business plan anticipated.

“It was a learning experience, that’s for sure,” Lifford said. “We knew we wanted to start a business. So we sat down, put our heads together and figured out what we wanted to do.”

Though it’s difficult to track the exact number of student-run businesses, numbers of young entrepreneurs are on the rise and interest among colleges and universities in teaching entrepreneurship also is increasing, experts say.

Worldwide, 3,000 colleges and universities teach entrepreneurship, with at least 2,200 courses being offered at any given time, Kuratko said. That compares with just a handful of schools that taught the subject two decades ago.

In a 2006 poll of 1,474 middle and high school students, Junior Achievement found nearly 71 percent said they would like to be self-employed someday — an increase from 64 percent two years earlier.

“The interest is there, and it’s increasing,” Kuratko said. “Our younger generation is very much an E generation. They very much have an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Kuratko remembers meeting with Lifford and Keckhaver and being impressed with their enthusiasm and passion for running their own business.

When “coaching” prospective entrepreneurs, Kuratko said he looks for three qualities: a passion for what the person wants to do, experience in that industry and a clear understanding of the challenges of running a business.

When advising student entrepreneurs, he said, one additional concern arises: making sure they understand that their education is paramount and that running a business never should interfere with their studies.

Paige Darling Sylvester, 19, in her second year at Purdue University, started her business, Darling Designs, when she was 15. She estimates she has earned $8,000 selling her knitted scarves and other clothing items on two Web sites — http://www.darlingdesigns.org/ and http://www.zazzle.com/booknutty — and in two stores at a mall.

“It’s hard to juggle at the start of each semester,” she said. “It’s mostly time management, once you figure out how to do it.”

Technology, particularly the Internet, has made it easier for students to operate businesses, said Nathalie Duval-Couetil, associate director of the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Center at Purdue.

No longer do students need to lease building space and man the counter, Duval-Couetil said: “They can build a Web site and dabble in business, instead of doing it full time.”

However, no amount of classroom learning can make up for the actual experience of running a business.

Since they began training workers in wait service, bartending and other skills in donated space at a family friend’s restaurant last spring, Lifford and Keckhaver have moved Prodigy Staffing Solutions to Indianapolis. They have had to hire someone to staff their local office to help interview prospective applicants and schedule appointments with clients.

“The business has really taken off since we first started,” Lifford said one recent weekend, while fielding business-related calls.

All that from an initial investment of $500.

Online resources for young entrepreneurs

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Association encourages students to own their own businesses.

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization sponsors student programs and undergraduate student entrepreneurship awards.

The Young Presidents’ Organization provides networking opportunities for young global business leaders.