Develop Your Entrepreneurial Skills
It's never too early to establish a business goal

For your everyday high school or college student, the after-school job usually consists of working for minimum wage in food service or retail. They say you have to start somewhere, but why work at a fast food restaurant or department store when you have no intention of folding clothes or working in food service as a full-time occupation? Why not get a jump start in the business world… you’re going to end up there eventually.

Young entrepreneurs are popping up all over the country and are rewarding themselves with more than just a hefty paycheck. Many companies, such as the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), are helping students to do this. CEO is an association that promotes entrepreneurship among college students. At the moment, it has more than 100 chapters nationally. Within the next few years CEO expects to have 400.

Another company, Youngbiz, also prides itself in helping young people reach their business goals through in-school and after-school programs and summer camps and workshops. With or without the help of such companies, students are seeing the advantages of starting their own business ventures and are discovering that high school and college are the right places to start.

High school and college can be one of the best times to start a business because students typically don’t have the responsibilities of providing for a family or working a full-time job to limit them in what they can do. Because of all the time and energy it takes, many may feel that it would be better to wait until after college to begin their entrepreneurial ventures. However, starting early may be the very ticket they need for entering the post-graduate job market.

Besides the obvious financial gain, starting a company as a teen or twenty-something can help pay the way through school. Youth with extensive business experience also impress potential employers and college or graduate schools’ admissions officers by showing that they have ingenuity, initiative, and can handle responsibility.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of running a successful business at an early age is not only what they learn about the business world, but more importantly, what they learn about themselves – which is priceless.

Check out CEO on the web at www.c-e-o.com and Youngbiz at www.youngbiz.com.

Tackling the Business World Head-On

Meredith Lane: When did you first start to become interested in the auto repair business?

Nathaniel Walls: I have always been interested in the business because my father owned the company and I knew one day it would be mine… I’ve also always had a passion for pretty much anything with an engine…

ML: What is your favorite part about your profession?

NW: My favorite part would be the time flexibility and the staff I work with.

ML: What steps did you take to reach the position you are in now?

NW: I graduated from high school in 2000. That following summer, I started my own small lawn care service. In the fall, I began my freshman year at the University of Kentucky and decided to work part-time at Cockrell’s because I couldn’t mow lawns in the late fall and winter.

As I was going to class and working part-time, I started to develop a passion for the business rather than my academics. Coincidentally, my dad made the decision to retire from Cockrell’s to become an executive pastor at Southland Christian Church. During my winter break, I told my parents that I no longer felt the need for college and that my heart was set on running a business. They were very supportive of my decision and told me that I could always go back to school.

On January 1, 2001, I began working full-time at Cockrell’s under the direction of my mentor, Melvin Banks, who continues to be a major backbone of the company. Under his guidance for the past three years, Melvin has helped me develop into the person I am today. God has a plan for everyone and sometimes you may not understand until you look at the past and realize that everything happens for a reason.

ML: Do you feel that you missed out on “the college experience?”

NW: At one point I did… I guess you could say that I kind of felt that “the grass was greener on the other side.” Then I realized that no matter where you are in life, you will always feel that something else is better, when in fact you should just be content and thankful for what you have.

ML: What are your aspirations for the company?

NW: I would like to expand the company into a larger building and double what my father has started. Life is no fun if you have to keep everything the same. I always strive to become better.

Meredith Lane is a contributing writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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