CAMPUS AND AREA
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University Daily Kansan, July 27, 1984
Page 6
Entrepreneurs shuffle studies, businesses
Raymond Brecheisen/KANSAN
Pat Melland, a senior and co-owner of P.R. Herman's, 700 New Hampshire St., tosses a pizza crust into the air, in an effort to even out the shape. Juggling crusts and classes have become a way of life for Melland.
By MICKI SAMPSON Staff Reporter
The sweat shone on his face, and its tortoiseshell glasses slid down his weaty nose as he poked a long pizza saddle into the broiling oven to test row well the pizza was cooking.
Every morning, seven days a week, he comes into work and starts the daily routine, preparing the pizza in front of the New York style pizza his shop serves.
At 5 p.m., he begins planning for the night's rush.
He is a cook, a delivery boy, a marketing specialist, a manager, an
PAT MELLAND, Hutchinson senior, is the co-owner of P.R. Herman's Pizzeria, 700 New Hampshire St.
The hours are long, the pay can be incredibly low, but the rewards are indiscreable for the student entrepreneur, he said.
Melland and his partner, Rob Ferber, Kirkwood, Mo., sophomore, are among the students at the University of Kansas who have taken the risk of opening their own businesses.
Like any entrepreneur, Melland faces the challenges of business life, such as keeping employees on the job with city codes and ordinances.
He also faces the pressure of going o school full time.
Marilyn Taylor, the director of the small Business Development Center, located in the School of Business, said that close to 5 percent of the 893 students enrolled in the School of Business owned their own businesses.
SHE SAID THAT there were other student business owners at the University, although she could not estimate the number.
"Entrepreneurs have to make their own opportunity," she said.
Most of these students start businesses that are a service to other students because they see the need in their community.
"They tend to capitalize on their knowledge of what's 'in' or is popular with students, . . . Joyce Claterbos. They offer a hands-on Business Development Center, said.
The students who can capitalize on needs they see in the market usually have high energy levels, are risk-takers and take the view that they can get the world to work for them, Taylor said.
But even though some students can predict what will sell, few take advantage of the opportunity, Taylor said.
"MOST STUDENTS AREN'T in a position to the," she said.
For the majority of students,
working for someone else is easier
and more rewarding.
Of the number of students who do go into business for themselves, few
For every 10 small businesses that open, eight will close their doors within the first five years of operation. Taylor said
The failure rate is even higher for student entrepreneurs, she said.
New businesses usually fail be cause there is no demand for the equipment.
LACK OF MONEY to get the business started or to keep it going while it gets firmly established is an indication of failure of many small businesses.
business is bad or the owner underestimates competition, Taylor said.
Pat Alexander, vice president of the First National Bank, 900 Massachusetts St., said that all loan applications at the bank were reviewed according to four criteria.
First, the loan officer determines now much of the applicant's own money will be put into the venture second, the amount of experience the applicant has had in the area they wish to go into is considered. Third, the loan officer looks at the applicant's projections and plans for repaying the loan. Fourth, the applicant's collateral is determined.
For further assistance, the SBDC provides a free consultation program.
Even with such helpful resources,
nowhere, challenges and surprises
are on the way.
Bob Schumm, owner of Schumm Food Co., 719 Massachusetts St., said that a common misconception among new entrepreneurs was that they would get rich instantly when operating their own business.
"If the applicant can't address all four of these areas, he probably hasn't given the venture much right to begin with." Alexander said.
OFTEN, HE SAID, would-be entrepreneurs seek out banks for advising before starting in business.
Other facilities that provide help for small businessmen are the Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center.
The SBA provides guarantee loans or direct loans, sponsors seminars and does personal counseling.
"PROVIDING YOUR HOBBY at home is much different from providing your hobby for the public," he said.
Schumm started in business as a KU senior by selling sandwiches at fraternities. He now owns the Massachusetts Street Delicatessen, 941 Massachusetts St., The New Yorker Restaurant, 1021 Massachusetts St., and the Smoke House, 719 Massachusetts St.
Some of the biggest surprises that student entrepreneurs face, he said, are getting enough capital to keep going, learning to work with employees and being tied down to a regular routine.
Taxes and government red tape are another surprise for business
"Suddenly, your dream hobby becomes a ball and chain," Schumm
need to take care of the book work the paymep and the problem that the business has in the business
NOT ONLY DO the owners work a regular work week, but they also
The owners, he said, are the backstop for all problems and must be "willing to get their hands dirty."
Even now, Schumm says he works 50 to 60 hours a week.
When he first walked into 700 New Hampshire in February and said "this place is perfect," he never dreamed what the next few months would hold.
At P.R. Herman's Pizzeria, Mel land has also faced most of these surprises.
"You can't tell someone how much work it's going to be." Melland
HE FOUND OUT about building codes and health laws that he never knew existed. Inspectors of every sort descended upon P.R. Hermans, making sure that every addition or subtraction he made in the building was up to specification.
When changing the empty building into a pizza parlor, he met several surprises from the City of Lawrence.
The sink in the preperation room could be no closer than 36 inches from the fuse box, his plumbing had to be assembled by a professional, he had to receive a building permit in order to build counters and he would have to make his bathroom handicap-equipped before adding seating.
At first he didn't know how to schedule and would often end up with too many or not enough employees on each shift.
Once the building was ready for business, Melland faced the problem of training and working with employees.
"THOSE KINDS OF things are going to put you in your grave early," be said.
One night, none of his delivery boys arrived for work during one of the busiest shifts.
Long working hours also plagued Melland.
During the first two weeks of operation, he had not yet hired a manager for P.R. Herman's and was at the shop every night until 4 a.m.
"I barely went to shool last semester, that's how bad it was." Mellany said.
But the enthusiasm of creating something himself took fire in Miami.
He said that he would stay at the shop until late at night, then get up the next morning and hand out promotional flyers or make advertising plans. By early afternoon, it would be time for the day's routine to start again.
"Most of my time is spent on this right here," he said, motioning to the restaurant around him.
Working day and night has left Melland little free time.
However, he said that the experience he had gained from running his own business would far outweigh the memories of missing parties.
"It helps you grow up a lot," he said.
"You get really discouraged sometimes. But I have a saying that hard work always pays off, and it's true."
Duo's comic-book fantasy becomes real-life business
By MICKI SAMPSON Staff Reporter
At a glance, Christopher Hula and Sam Clark look like casual customers standing in a store leafing through such comic books as "The Saga of the Swamp Thing," "The Fly," and "Power Man and Iron Fist."
But since Sept. 4, 1983, these two former KU students have owned and operated Comics and Fantasy, 1402 W. 17th Street, Topeka, a store which specializes in hard-to get comic books, games and novelty items.
"Every kid wants to work in a candy store. This is our candy store, but it just happens to sell broth with a big smile, a wry hair with a big smile."
"AS LONG AS I can remember,
I've been reading comic books",
said Clark, a boyish-looking redhead.
They talked while sitting comfortably in the back office they built themselves. Hula sprawled on an old, grimy couch with a faded yellow floral pattern, and Clark on a bar stool with his elbow on an old drafting table.
The room was strewn with old movie posters, comic books and papers.
Before Hula and Clark decided to go into business for themselves, they took a success survey they found in a trade magazine designed to determine an individual's chance of becoming a successful entrepreneur.
"WE BOTH FAILED miserably." Hula said with a chuckle, "so we're out to prove them wrong."
Now, the 20-year-old comic connoisseurs not only get to read comic books, but order, price, stock and sell them.
Throughout the school year,
Hula and Clark, both of Topeka,
ran their business via telephone
from Lawrence, with weekend
trips to Topeka to make sure that
things were in order.
For the first year, under its new ownership, Comics and Fantasy was run by what the two called "babysitters."
"My phone bill was phenom enal." Hula said.
"We're trying to set it up so that when we we're not here, the store will not fall snart." Clark said.
But frequent trips were still unavoidable.
During finals week last winter, Clark had spent a great deal of time on the road between Lawrence and Topeka.
"In one week I drove 550 miles on the same stretch of 30-mile road." he said.
TO HELP THEM. Hula and Clark decided to hire a manager, an accountant, a bookkeeper and clerks, all of whom were friends.
They spent a great deal of time in Lawrence, saying that their own
Even though their system worked smoothly, Hula and Clark did encounter trials during the first year of business.
store had interfered with their schoolwork.
Clark, a chemistry major, will be attending Washburn University in the hula. Hula, who says he is a business major because "it sounds like what a person should be doing if they own a store," will be attending Kansas State University.
Clark worked at Comics and Fantasy for two and a half years, and when he found out that it was for sale, he and Hula, who was an avid fan and frequent customer of the store, bought it.
THE BEST PART of owning the store, Hula said, is that he and Clark can keep as many of the comic books as they want — usually about 3 percent of all the store's purchases.
By the looks of the store, 3 percent is quite a few comic books.
More than 60,000 comic books are stashed in cases, boxes and shelves at various places throughout the store.
"We don't know what we have in this store." Hula said.
In a box on top of the safe, they keep their prized possession - Golden Age comic books individually wrapped in plastic bags.
These comic books, from the 1930s and 1940s, are worth up to $100 each.
Like two boys at show and tell,
Hula and Clark excited pulled
from the box a Wonder Woman
comic book they recently bought
at a garage sale for $10. They are now
selling it for $200
COMIC BOOKS, like stocks and bonds, are a great investment because of the profit that can be made on them, they said.
But no matter how well they think they know the comic book market, the two said, they still get surprised sometimes.
Their back room is filled with $8,000 worth of comic books they can’t tell. Yet some items, such as 12 foot kites that they predicted would just collect dust, were gone being put on display, Hula said.
Despite the problems, Hula and Clark said they were doing well. They are planning to expand their store this summer, and are flirting with the idea of opening another Comics and Fantasy in Manhattan.
"WE'VE LEARNED TO avoid people at all costs." Hula laughed.
Whether Comics and Fantasy succeeds or fails, Hula and Clark said, the most valuable thing they have received is the experience of running their own store.
"At our age, you have enough time to start over two or three times if you fail." Hula said.
Although selling comic books is great for 20 years-olds, Hula and Clark said, they plan to move on in the future.
"When you're 56 years old and you're getting excited about what Spider: Man did in the latest issue," Hula said, "it's time to join the Santa Fe band or something."
MURRETS
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