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Entrepreneurial Camp hopes to spark 'risk takers'

One point camp Director Allan Steinberg of WCU's Small Business and Technology Center stresses to the students is to 'be a good corporate citizen and give back to the community.'

By Rose Hooper
Alexa Sorrells of Clyde, Ashli Roberts of Charlotte and Anna King of Clyde

Getting the word out through advertising is a key component to starting your own business, these three young entrepreneurs learn during the Entrepreneurship Camp at Western Carolina University. From left are Alexa Sorrells of Clyde, Ashli Roberts of Charlotte and Anna King of Clyde.

Starting your own business is more involved than ninth-grader Matt Welsh of Cullowhee ever imagined.

But during last week's summer Entrepreneurship Camp at Western Carolina University, Welsh learned some valuable components. Like start with the finances.

"This week I've learned everything from how much capital I would need and where to get it, to how to conduct an interview with a bank loan officer," Welsh said at the camp's conclusion Friday, June 30. He was so good at the numbers that his team appointed him bookkeeper/accountant of their start-up business Outdoor Express.

Here's how Welsh stacked up the numbers for their business: They would need to secure a $10,000 start-up loan, along with $5,000 equity, which would be repaid over 36 months. As collateral, he listed several acres of farmland.

The high school students attending the entrepreneur camp are divided into teams of five and each team must come up with its own business, complete with a business plan.

Welsh's team included Alexa Sorrells and Anna King of Clyde, Ashli Roberts of Charlotte and Reynard Hall of Reidsville.

Hall, elected manager of the on-paper-only business, said he discovered "a business can only be successful if you work as a team."
Matt Welsh of Cullowhee

Crunching numbers, ninth-grader Matt Welsh of Cullowhee tries to balance the figures for the $10,000 start-up loan Outdoor Express needs.

For their Outdoor Express business, the team developed the slogan "We're the big catch." "As a retail business, we would carry outdoor and hiking equipment, including backpacks, hiking boots, socks, sleeping bags, tents, thermal wear... and we'd also concentrate on the fishing part by carrying rods and reels, lures, flies, bobbers, waders and tackle boxes - that kind of stuff," said Sorrells.

Their business would mainly target the college crowd but wouldn't be limited to it, said King, "since these are activities people of any age can do." To target the 9-5 workers, the business would stay open until at least 7 p.m.

"You can stay open all the time, but if you don't market your business, and if you don't advertise, we learned, you might as well close your doors," King said. One of the skills King and others learned during the camp was how to produce radio and television commercials and compose newspaper ads.

As part of the Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning experience, the group visited real entrepreneurial businesses in the area like In Your Ear Music Emporium, My Best Friends Professional Dog Grooming, Nantahala Outdoor Center and the Chamber of Commerce to see first-hand success stories.
Reynard Hall of Reidsville and Alexa Sorrells of Clyde

Reynard Hall of Reidsville and Alexa Sorrells of Clyde develop the slogan "We're the Catch" for their proposed hiking and fishing business, Outdoor Express. Hall, elected manager of the on-paper-only business said he discovered, "A business can only be successful if you work as a team."

"What we are trying to foster in these young people is the real entrepreneurial spirit," said camp director Allan Steinberg of WCU's Small Business and Technology Development Center. "That's the future of economic development in Western North Carolina."

One point Steinberg stresses to the students is to "be a good corporate citizen and give back to the community."

"The camp gives you skills not just to go into business for yourself, but skills you can apply to other parts of your life," said Roberts, who might like to start her own business "not right now, but after I finish school."

All members of the Outdoor Express team liked the idea of having their own business and being their own boss, rather than working for someone else.
"There are a lot of risks involved in starting your own business. We show the students why businesses fail, especially in the first couple of years. We want them to understand the hardships, as well as the advantages," said Steinberg. "In that balance, we hope this camp will spark some risk takers."

For information on the Summer Entrepreneurship Camp, contact Steinberg at 227-7492; for N.C. REAl Enterprises, contact Mike Sorrells at 1-800-438-1140.

Back to Archive: 07/06/00.