When he was 8 years old, David Liu traveled to Taiwan to visit
family, including his aunt who owned a store.
Not so unusual, really, except that what would likely have been
for many kids just another family vacation turned into a career
inspiration for Liu.
“I was really captured by the thought of having your own
business, your own store,” the fifth-year communications
studies student said.
Upon his return to the United States, Liu started his first
business ““ he sold candy to his friends.
Just five years later, the 13-year-old graduated from selling
candy to founding a Web development and control company.
And in 2004, Liu changed focus yet again, founding an online
social networking site called FAQQLY.com.
FAQQLY users create profile pages by asking and responding to
questions from other users.
“So many (other social networking Web sites) are designed
to keep people away from real life and on the site,” Liu
said. “We wanted to build a community online that reflects
and integrates with real life. It’s a community
process.”
Though it’s starting to expand, FAQQLY is still a small
company, and from technical support to marketing, Liu still does
much of the work himself.
“Pretty much I work and I sleep, and I don’t sleep
very much,” he said. “There are times when you have to
do (either school or work), and school usually takes the back seat.
If you don’t do anything, then your business stands
still.”
Manouk Meguerditchian, a third-year political science student
who learned the rudiments of business practice as an intern at
Washington Mutual, said he has encountered many of the same
problems.
He is a co-owner of Tradeway, a business lending firm that
finances ventures ranging from construction projects to start-up
companies.
Meguerditchian, who estimates that he devotes 20 to 30 hours per
week to his business, said he often finds himself having to choose
between schoolwork and Tradeway commitments.
But like Liu, Meguerditchian credits his childhood business
roots for much of his determination.
When Meguerditchian was young, his father owned a jewelry store
and introduced him to basic bookkeeping.
Later on, Meguerditchian applied those skills when he founded
his first company, a party management service.
He said he often feels a disconnect between his business and
schoolwork, not only because of conflicting time commitments, but
also because his business experience does not always reflect the
lessons he learns in the classroom.
“A lot of people take the (economics) classes and they see
all the numbers, but when you’re actually sitting there
looking at a business’s tax forms and all that, it’s
really difficult. You have to sit there and make yourself
understand what the heck is going on,” he said.
Mike Casey, on the other hand, is trying to create a business
that connects almost seamlessly with his life at school.
The first-year business-economics student owns an online
athletic recruiting Web site called Weblete Sports Media.
It is aimed at putting high school athletes in touch with
college recruiters by allowing players to create profile pages with
statistics and videos that recruiters can peruse.
A sports announcer in high school, Casey said part of his
inspiration for starting Weblete Sports Media was his experience
editing sports videos in high school.
“It’s a service people need,” he said, adding
that by the end of his senior year athletes were asking him to edit
tapes they planned to send to recruiters.
“(Putting those videos online) basically eliminates the
need for people to send DVDs to colleges.”
But, like Liu and Meguerditchian, Casey has business experience
that dates back long before high school.
As a child, for example, he organized a loose confederation of
friends to mow lawns for neighborhood residents.
“I guess you could say from a young age I’ve been
pretty interested in money,” he said.
But for the moment, Casey has put Weblete Sports Media on a sort
of hiatus, anticipating that he will not have enough time to devote
to the business until next fall, when he plans to launch the
site.
At the end of the day, though, all three students said they
believe the benefits of owning a business outweigh the costs.
Liu, for instance, said his business has helped him network
extensively.
“A lot of interesting things happen if you’re always
trying to meet new people,” he said, adding that his business
has brought him into contact with a wide variety of people,
including a Yahoo! vice president and rapper MC Hammer.
Meguerditchian, on the other hand, extolled the more practical
virtues of owning a business.
“My favorite part is the money itself. You’ve got to
be very patient and very persistent, but the payoffs are
awesome,” he said.
And Casey said the work and commitment is not only necessary,
but worth it.
“The hardest part is getting people who believe in it as
much as you do,” he said. “The best part is seeing your
vision fulfilled. Everyone has big ideas, but you have to be
willing to work hard for them.”