CAMPUS/AREA
NIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, July 3, 1996
5A
At center, business is capital idea
By Tom Moore
Kansan staff writer
In seven years, Mike O'Donnell, director of KU Small Business Development Center, has encountered only one idea he would call stupid.
"We had a guy that wanted to build something like Disney World," O'Donnell said. "But twice the size, and he wanted the government to give him the money. I think we estimated it would cost $560 billion."
The center, 734 Vermont St., unites students' intellectual capital with sound planning. Students are encouraged to bring ideas to the center, where they become working models for a real business.
; "I would estimate that anywhere from 5 percent to 10 percent of the people we see are KU students," O'Donnell said. "They are always the most interesting to work with because of their energy and drive."
The center not only has helped business majors, but fine arts students, liberal arts students, journalism students, KU faculty, high school students and teachers and business owners — anyone with an idea.
A small business can be anything from car washes to Internet services, and can be run from an office or a residence hall.
Bennett Griffin, president of Griffin Technology Inc., graduated from KU in 1993 with a degree in computer science. While in college, Griffin used the center to start G-Tronics, a software firm.
"They're kind of like your own board of advisers that is essentially free," Griffin said. "They give you an opportunity to discuss ideas with other people. They provide several resources at different times, they fine-tune concepts."
But O'Donnell said a successful business was not simply about ideas.
"If you have a great idea, fine. But a plan helps you get a higher return on your intellectual capital," he said.
Typically, the center helps budding entrepreneurs develop a plan for their business.
Schuyler Lister, owner of Creation Station, 726 Massachusetts St., said that's the center did for him.
"They helped me write a plan," he said. "They are an absolute necessity in a town like this."
Lister said the center helped nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship and opportunity in Lawrence.
"If you have a great idea,fine. But a plan helps you get a higher return on your intellectual capital."
Small business is no small matter. O'Donnell said that 8 percent of the total U.S. work force was self-employed, and that about 16 million of the 22 million businesses in the United States were small businesses.
offices, and works in cooperation with the federal government's Small Business Administration and the University of Kansas
O'Donnell said that opening a business did not suit everybody.
"It's a big change to go from working for someone else and picking up a regular pay check, to go from having a regular schedule and going home at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, to an indefinite schedule," he said. O'Donnell estimates that a person can spend from 60 to 70 hours a
The center is one of 10 regional
Melinda Bryan, assistant director of the center, said the center helps people differentiate between pastime and lifestyle.
"We help people realize — especially students — what they want," she said. "Obviously, a part-time commitment means you can't open a restaurant."
Small businesses are likely to become more prevalent in an age of corporate layoffs and shrinking job opportunities, O'Donnell said.
"Many students are becoming aware that with all the downsizing and restructuring the benefits of personal entrepreneurship are even better at a younger age," he said.
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