When the going gets tough, USF students create businesses

It's the worst economy since the Great Depression, and recent college graduates know it personally.

Stymied by shrinking job opportunities, many have flooded college campuses for graduate school, rather than languish unemployed.

"In the past, the recessions have not impacted college students as much as this recession has," said Drema Howard, director of the University of South Florida's Career Center. "I think we're seeing more students saying, 'Well, I'm not going to depend on someone else. I'm going to take care of my own career and be my own boss.'" Graduates are looking around, finding a need and filling it.

Entrepreneurial Hard Knocks 101

University of South Florida graduate Andrew Dundas, 26, struggled through four months of unemployment after earning an economics degree in 2007. He decided to use his business sense and experience in the food delivery industry to start Feed-a-Bull, a company that delivers entrées from more than 30 restaurants in the University area.

"I worked for a couple local pizza places when I was in school," Dundas said. "Learning how to dispatch people combined with the education in economics and the entrepreneurship in me, I went to this."

Dundas spent countless hours researching and developing a business model. With a solid plan and relatively low startup costs, Dundas' Feed-a-Bull idea became a reality. He has 13 employees, half of whom are students.

For customers, ordering food from Feed-a-Bull is as easy as picking a restaurant from Feed-a-Bull's menu and deciding what they want. Orders must be more than $15.

Feed-a-Bull calls or faxes the restaurant. The restaurant notifies a Feed-a-Bull driver by text when the order is ready, then a driver picks it up and delivers it to the customer.

Feed-a-Bull, at 11007 N. 56th St., makes its money through commission from the restaurants. This year the company is on track to top $400,000 in sales, despite the economic downturn.

"This is an unprecedented market," said Howard, who has been in career advising for 30 years, 13 at USF. "The changes in the market are not cyclical. This is structural. We've seen job loss that will never be coming back. It has really changed the workplace. And, as a result, I think students get really discouraged."

The national unemployment rate in November was 10 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In Florida, the rate was 11.2 percent in October, the most recent data available. Among 16- to 24-year-olds nationally, the rate was 18.5 percent in July, the most recent numbers available.

Struggling toward success

Jon Mishner, 27, has been in and out of school since 2001.

He was working in a restaurant in 2007 when he came up with the idea of starting a clothing company. He single-handedly runs Eleven O Twelve from his living room in South Tampa, where he designs men's and women's clothing on his computer. His Tampa-themed shirts are selling, but he has yet to turn a profit.

"I remember someone saying, 'Running a startup is like being punched in the face repeatedly,'" Mishner said, "and I agree wholeheartedly."

Mishner focuses on T-shirts, but plans to add formal attire to his lineup. His clothing is sold online at www.shop11012.com and in a few shops in Hyde Park, including B'Szene Boutique and Nicholson House. He also has his friends wear the shirts to spread the word about the company, hoping people will ask where they bought them.

"I was tired of coming up with ideas and not acting on them," Mishner said. Unlike Dundas, he said he "took the leap and dove right in" and has struggled because of it.

"Knowledge is probably the No. 1 must-have," he said. "So many walls would not have been so high and wide if I had more knowledge beforehand."

Building a business slowly

Sometimes a great business idea comes when you least expect it. That was the case with Shaun Robinson, 26, who started a moving company while still in school at USF. The idea of Strong College Students came to him after being repeatedly summoned to help move suitemates in and out of their dorm rooms.

Now Robinson, who graduated in spring 2005 with a degree in interdisciplinary social sciences, employs 22 student staff members.

"That's what we're all about. We have a 100 percent college student workforce. From our representatives on phone calls, to the movers who arrive on the job sites, all are students," Robinson said. "I'm pretty much the only person who is not a student."

Though competitors are closing, Robinson said his company is prospering, averaging about 40 to 50 moves a month. By year's end, Strong College Students will have moved more than 500 customers, compared with 392 at the end of 2008, Robinson said.

"It's actually been pretty positive for us," he said. "It's kind of hard to find positive attributes in this economy right now. But it's dwindling down the number of moving companies that are out there. So there's a lot less competition for our business."

Strong College Students, at 10730 N. 56th St., has clients throughout the state.

Robinson said he never imagined he would own a business. His initial startup costs came out of pocket. He reinvested and started to expand slowly, buying moving supplies, uniforms and his first truck.

Now in his fifth year, the company boasts two full-size trucks and plans to add another in early 2010. Robinson hopes to one day step down as CEO and go back to school to pursue his dream of becoming an architect.

Recently, he received the 2009 Outstanding Young Alumnus award from USF.

Advice for entrepreneurs

A business degree is not necessary for starting your own business and may actually be discouraging for young, prospective entrepreneurs, Robinson said.

"In business school, you learn about marketing, advertising, branding and diversifying yourself in the business model," Robinson said. "Those things can be seen as pitfalls and challenges that would alert you to not start a business."

Dundas, Mishner, and Robinson agree that young entrepreneurs must have faith they're going to succeed when starting their own businesses.

"You have to go into it full force or I wouldn't even think about it," Dundas said. "Unless you can obtain the financial backing, I would look for a job first. If that doesn't work out and you have a good idea, go for it."

Theodore Esposito and Matthew Wiley are students in a multimedia journalism class at the University of South Florida.