Can’t find a summer job as a student?  Then start a business.

That is what two students from Belmont University are doing this summer. Hayden Coleman and Ale Delgado took second place in Belmont’s Baker Donelson Business Plan Competition this past spring.

The $2,000 prize helped them launch Moovers and Shakers.  Their business brings together one of the hot new trends in small business, food carts and mobile food trucks, with good old fashioned soda fountain.

The beauty of food carts and mobile food trucks is the low start-up cost, as seen in this profile on the food cart boom in Portland, Oregon from Business on Main.  For just a few thousand dollars aspiring restaurant entrepreneurs are able to break into the food service industry.

But even with the ease of entry, there are always a few bumps in the road for any new start-up.

“It has been a pretty crazy adventure trying to get Moovers and Shakers started,” said Hayden. “There has definitely been a learning curve for us, since we are two students who have never started a business before. Also, we have had to deal with things such as health code regulations and searches for places to buy a proper food truck. Everything has taken about four times as long and cost about four times as much as we originally expected, so we have really had to be able to adapt and hustle.”

So was it all worth it?

“At the end of the day, after all the stress and setbacks, we still just love making milkshakes,” added Hayden. “The people that we have met along the way have been so supportive and helpful. If anything, our experience has made us even more determined and excited for the future of Moovers and Shakers.”

Shawn Sweeney will soon be graduating from the MBA program at Belmont University. Like a growing number of graduate students and alumni, he made the decision to leave his corporate job to become a full-time entrepreneur.

But what makes Sweeney unique is his choice of a business partner for his venture. It is his 7-year-old son, Gunner.

As with many opportunities, this business was born out of an interest that Shawn and Gunner had in common.

When Gunner was 5, he became interested in recycling. It was around the same time that Gunner was also learning about money and how to count. Since Nashville’s recycling program does not pick up glass, Shawn Sweeney mentioned the idea of taking neighbors’ glass to the recycling center for a fee. That piqued Gunner’s interest right away.

In August 2009, Gunner and his dad walked through their immediate neighborhood to find customers. Six neighbors signed up.

The neighbors loved the service and began telling their friends and neighbors. Gunner Recycling soon reached the maximum capacity for the family truck, so father and son decided that it was time to invest in a trailer.

As Gunner Recycling continued to grow, it quickly became a family business. Tiffany Sweeney, Gunner’s mother, became part of the team. Shawn Sweeney recently left the corporate world to focus more time on entrepreneurship, including Gunner Recycling.

“It’s inspiring to see the amount of glass recycled through our small business,” Shawn Sweeney said. “Gunner’s vision is to get every person in the world to recycle as his customer. I’m still trying to talk him into focusing on getting every person in Nashville to recycle as his customer.

“We have a great opportunity to reach more residential neighborhoods, apartments, office buildings and small businesses.”

Gunner is already learning important entrepreneurial lessons.

“When you are forced to explain every detail in a situation, it helps to slow down the process and make a more informed decision,” Shawn said of teaching business to a 7-year-old. “We’ve learned not to over-complicate things. There is no need to make our simple business difficult. Keeping it simple for us means keeping it simple for customers, and they seem to appreciate it.”

Gunner loves to deliver bins to new customers because “his customers” are his favorite aspect of being in business. Customer service is an important lesson for entrepreneurs of any age.

I am a strong advocate for teaching children about managing money and business at a young age. Many undergraduate students who come to study entrepreneurship at college arrive with operating businesses in hand. I hope I have the privilege of having Gunner become one of those students in my class in a few years.

If you are interested in learning more about Gunner’s business, visit www.gunnersrecycling.com.

This Quote of the Week is the best example of opportunity cost I have come across in some time:

“When you’re at a focal point of history, you don’t realize you’re at a focal point of history.” (Ron Wayne, co-founder of Apple Computer who sold his 10% share for 0 eleven days after the corporation was formed).

Source:  CNNTech.  Thanks to Andy Tabar for passing this along.

Most entrepreneurial start-up don’t come from some magical “ah ha!” moment of inspiration.  They come from our daily lives.

The best ideas from business come from our work and training, our knowledge and educational background, and from our personal experiences. 

BNET has an inspirational story of an entrepreneurial idea that came from personal experiences.  It is the story of Kirby Best, who happens to be right here in Nashville:

“My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago. She’s fine now, but we had four little boys at the time and her illness was a blow to all of us. The chemotherapy triggered early menopause, and one of the side effects is hot flashes or night sweats. You perspire heavily, and the bedding gets very wet. And once you’re wet, and the flash passes, you get that awful clammy, cold feeling.

“I had experimented with some of the early wicking material, and remembered I had some clothes made of this material from the 1980s. I asked my wife to just try sleeping in this material. I said it would wick away the moisture and keep her dry. All of a sudden she could sleep at night. It transformed our life.”

(Thanks to Bill Hobbs for passing this along).

Once again we are partnering with Angel Capital Network to run a Pitch Camp and pitch competition called Fast Pitch. 

Here are the details on the pitch camp:

Pitch Camp!
February 5, 2010
1:00-4:00pm
Belmont University – Frist Lecture Hall, Inman Health Sciences Building

Have you always wanted to start your own business, but didn’t know how to communicate your idea to investors?

Have you already started your business but need funding to get it off the ground?

Or, simply, do you foresee an interview with a company, large or small, in your future?

If you recognize yourself in any of the above, you must plan on attending Pitch Camp!

Pitch Camp covers topics such as: creative thinking, effective communication of ideas and how to pitch successfully in 60 seconds. Groups will work together and then pitch to the room. It is not necessary that you come to this event with a business idea in hand; learning to pitch transcends entrepreneurial endeavors – everyone should be able to pitch themselves for networking.

Attending this camp will set you up for Open Pitch and the opportunity to compete in Fast Pitch (held March 30, 2010) for the opportunity to win a top prize of $3,000.

Pitch Camp is free to students with a valid ID and $55 for non-students.

For more information on this event or to register, please contact Rachael Qualls at rachaelqualls@angelcapitalgr.com or Sarah Reeves at sarah.reeves@belmont.edu.

(Thanks to my colleague Jennie Bowman for passing this along).

BNET.com has a list of seven types of businesses that they suggest you may want to think twice about before starting during the current economy.

(Thanks to Belmont alum Joe Ormont for passing this along).

Franchising is still a viable entry strategy even in the current economy.

The downside is that franchises take capital to launch, and capital is tight right now.  But if you have a bucket of money and are an accidental entrepreneur in search of a business, it may be a good option.

Make sure that you temper any projections to the current economic conditions.  Also, look for franchise opportunities that create value for the customer.  I believe that this will be the best business model for some time to come.

There are some sticky contracting issues with buying any franchise.  Make sure to work with an attorney who has experience with franchising.

But, beyond the contractual issues that arise in franchising, there are
some fundamental business and personal concerns that many franchisees
experience after it is too late.

One of the biggest sources of frustration among franchisees is that
they perceive that the value added from association with their
franchisor diminishes over time. A franchise will charge a significant
monthly percentage fee (this can average about 7% of sales) associated
with all that they offer in terms of systems, marketing, purchasing
power, and so forth. Over time, many franchisors realize that they can
be just, if not more effective on their own without paying the monthly
percentage of sales to the franchisor. This on-going monthly fee is
often glossed over by franchisees during start-up planning, as they
tend to think only about the initial fees and capital expenditures in
their planning.

Another concern expressed by franchisees is that with all of the
rules and standardized procedures, they tend to feel more like an
employee than a business owner. Those who try to break away from the
predetermined model and processes can face the wrath of the franchisor.
Larger franchisors have entire staff dedicated to franchisee
compliance.

A financial risk to consider is that many first time entrepreneurs
can only afford newer franchised concepts, since well established
franchises can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy in. These
start-up franchisors can begin to experience their own growing pains.
Some don’t survive. In some cases they may take the franchisees down
with them.

It is critical to understand all of the ins and outs of franchising
as a general business strategy first. Then if the idea of a buying a
franchise still makes sense, do your homework on the company and its
concept. All franchise opportunities are not created equal.

Maureen Farrell at Forbes offers their top choices for franchises in this article.  These types of rankings can offer some good insight into the ins and outs of various business models.

Twenty entrepreneurs have advanced
to the second stage of Forbes.com’s third annual “Boost Your Business”
editorial contest. Vote for the five companies most poised for
growth among the 20 semi-finalists at www.forbes.com/byb.  Their submissions, including self-recorded
30-second “elevator-pitch” videos, are available for review at www.forbes.com/byb.  Voting for this
round runs through September 30.  

Most experienced entrepreneurs learn that opportunity comes from change that disrupts markets.  Change creates new needs and leaves many current players in that market with outdated business models.

The challenge in turbulent times like these is that change has kicked into hyper-drive.

We are now seeing whole industries being shaken to their core.

For example, the modern restaurant industry in the US owes much of its success to a social changes that happened over thirty years ago.  First, it was around that time that women entered the workforce in large numbers as a result of the push toward equality between the sexes.  Second, around that same time we experienced a significant spike in divorce rates in this country.

As more and more families had two working parents or just one single working parent, dining out became less of a special occasional treat as it had been when I grew up, and more of a necessity for busy families with little or no time to prepare meals at home.

However, the current recession is so deep that it has altered the behavior of many families.  We are seeing a sudden and sharp decline in dining out in this country, as can be seen in an article by Zachary Wilson posted at Fast Company yesterday:

According
to the latest numbers coming from the restaurant industry, some version
of this one-act play is taking place all over the country. Total
traffic declined 2.6% this past spring versus the same quarter last
year, the biggest decline in 28 years, says the NPD Group. And it’s
households with kids who are beating the hasty retreat from eating out.
One-third of dining traffic is groups with children, and this marks the
third quarter in a row families are cutting back. (Adult households
with no kids were stable this spring.)

Change both creates opportunity for entrepreneurs and it can take that same opportunity away in what can seem like a blink of an eye.

Know what forces in the economy and society drive your business.  They are the ones that gave you success.  Keep a careful eye on those forces throughout the life of your business, for in times like these opportunity can be quite fleeting.