BY MICHAEL BURKE
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, April 5, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - Michael Simmons, who started his first business when he was 16, will be the next Sustainable Community Series speaker.
The New York City resident, now 26, is co-founder and chief executive officer of Extreme Entrepreneurship Education, which visits the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Tuesday. He is also author of "The Student Success Manifesto: How to Create a Life of Passion, Purpose and Prosperity."
He will speak at the SC Johnson Golden Rondelle Theater, 1525 Howe St., from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday. The program is free; call (262) 260-2154 to RSVP.
What follows is part of a recent conversation with Simmons by phone and e-mail.
What was your first business, and how did it do?
It was a Web site development company that I started with a friend when we were 16 years old. Our business model was that we charged $100 per hour and would outsource the work to India for $25 per hour.
It went out of business in the dot-com crash in 1998. It failed as an economic enterprise, but it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Many business startups fail, causing loss and grief to the people involved. Do you talk to students about that?
My first business failed, so we definitely acknowledge it.
Part of my message is to try to make your startup as least-risky as possible, so you spend as little money for as long as possible, until the idea is proven. I think sometimes people get so enamored with their idea that they don't even see if there's a demand.
When would you say is the best time for someone to start a business?
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the best time to start a business is when students are in college because:
* Often, they don't have to worry about health care, children, mortgages, student loan debt and other bills.
* It's harder to not meet expectations and easier to exceed them. There's little competition from other students.
* There are many resources that support youth entrepreneurship endeavors.
* Many students have an existing passive secondary stream of income - their parents.
* Creativity might be at a high point.
Students seem like pretty busy people. How can students navigate running a business while working to get degrees?
Actually, the two can go hand in hand very well. Students who are in the process of launching or running a business will have a lot more real-world experience to which they can immediately apply what they're learning in school - not just their business classes, but their psychology and communications, and of course knowledge of whatever industry they've started the business in. It can help them to ask better questions about their field and take away more knowledge.
Plus, there is an opportunity to build relationships with professors who can give them ideas and support on how to apply what they're learning to their venture.
Why are your speakers successful?
These people have all found something they're willing to work harder, longer and smarter to achieve. They actually took action on these things and kept going, despite their mistakes and challenges and setbacks.
Most students I see seem to only care about partying and doing well in school. Why should students care about entrepreneurship?
For several reasons:
* Most students in our generation are interested in doing well in school in order to get a good job so they can have money. They're interested in partying to have a good time in their life. Entrepreneurship allows them to marry these two things, passion and prosperity, because it is a way to have a job that makes money doing something you love - and to make a difference in their community at the same time.
* Even if they are not interested in entrepreneurship in the long haul, it is a unique experience that will help them stand out to future employers.
* There's nothing to lose as a student entrepreneur, and a lot to gain - especially those leadership and out-of-the-box thinking skills employers desire so greatly.
* Two-thirds of all millionaires are entrepreneurs.
* In addition to the many skills you develop from working on different parts of your business, there is a maturity and personal growth that develops from launching a business, because you have to take responsibility for your actions. It is less easy to blame others when something goes wrong, and you have to come to terms with the fact that you don't know everything and don't always have the best judgment.