Post-Crescent:
One of these days I know I’m going to catch it. It’s a bug spread by only a handful of people and it’s called entrepreneurship.
You may already have some early symptoms, which include frustration at your current job, a feeling of being overworked and underappreciated by an employer, restlessness and a desire to control your own destiny.
Anyone who has worked for someone else may already have experienced one or all of these symptoms.
I thought for certain that I would catch the bug during the recent Extreme Entrepreneur Tour, which was organized by the Venture Center, a collaboration between Fox Valley Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, with a goal of inspiring entrepreneurs. The event, hosted by Player’s Choice in Appleton, brought together several under-30 entrepreneurs who gave motivational talks on what inspired them to start their own businesses.
Nicolas Thomley, president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Services Inc. and Summit Fiscal Agency Inc. in Minneapolis, was among the speakers. He was 19 and still in college when he and a partner launched Pinnacle, a company that provides services to the developmentally disabled. ‘I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur,’ Thomley told the attendees.
The sacrifices he made in the beginning were a little scary for me. I’m used to seeing a paycheck from a stable employer automatically deposited into my account every 2 weeks. He said he didn’t pay himself for a year and even reached a point where he had to borrow money from his grandmother so that he could pay his employees.
But his hardships did not last forever. Today, Thomley, now 26, employs about 300 people, mostly part-time workers, and expects to generate about $7 million in revenue this year.
He has received recognition for his achievements, including numerous accolades for being an innovative executive under age 40. ‘We’re in a constant state of change,’ he said. ‘But you also have to have fun at work so that you enjoy going to work.’
New Yorkers Michael Simmons and Sheena Lindahl co-founded Extreme Entrepreneurship Education. Simmons said fear keeps many people from starting their own companies.
He said it’s better to start a business when you’re young. ‘When you’re in college, you don’t have a lot of obligations,’ Simmons said. ‘You don’t own a home and no one will fault you if have to work for someone because your business failed.’
Joel Suprise of Appleton had been working as an electrician until he stumbled across the spud gun, a projectile launcher that can be used to shoot an assortment of items from tennis balls to |T-shirts. He operates The Spudgun Technology Center out of his home.
Some of his customers are well-known celebrities including former Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar. ‘They’re really toys for big boys,’ Suprise said of his product. He left his job as an electrician to make and sell spud guns full time.
Suprise didn’t dislike working as an electrician but thought making spud guns would be more fun. He said he’s sold ‘thousands’ of the launchers, which range between $60 and $2,500. ‘If it can be tossed, I can build something to launch it,’ he said. ‘I’ve been self-employed since 2002.’
He allowed tour visitors to fire one of his launchers that was loaded with tennis balls. Several people tried it, including me. Yes, it was fun. I admit the urge was little stronger to take that leap of faith after interacting with so many young entrepreneurs.
I jumped out of airplane once and lived to tell about it. I see entrepreneurship in the same context. I just need to be certain my parachute, and the back up, are in working order before making taking that leap.
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