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Business savvy

Students start their own companies

Four years ago, the Indianola native was doing clerical work for a Des Moines business and was a cheerleader and choreographer for the Iowa Barnstormers arena football team. She soon realized there was a market for her talents and formed Champion Dance to provide coaching and choreography to high school cheerleading, drill and dance teams. These school-year training sessions and summer camps prepare students for their sports performances or the annual state competition.

"While some larger dance companies offer this same training to the girls through camps at large universities, many of the area high schools can’t afford to send their girls to them," Bence explained. "For less money, I can go directly to the schools and choreograph routines especially for those teams."

Bence cites her biggest successes to date as retaining all her clients and creating positive, mentoring relationships with the girls. "I’m close enough to their age to have some positive influences on them," she said, "and for me, that’s really important."

Bence also works part time at the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, assisting with data entry and clerical duties. Currently, most of Bence’s earnings are invested in her education. At graduation, she will determine whether to take the business regionally or nationally, or to open a more traditional dance studio.

"Regardless of what I choose," she said, "I know I’ll want to be hands-on in every aspect."

And even though he was marched outdoors, like his brothers, to tend to that immaculate, blooming yard, Aaron Zalaznik actually enjoyed digging in the dirt and creating perennial beds. So when he was in high school, he found a part-time job at a nursery. Soon word got out in Schaumburg, Ill., about his horticultural talents, and before long, the nursery job was history and A to Z Landscaping was born.

The summer after his freshman year at ISU, Zalaznik transferred A to Z to Dubuque, his birthplace. Over the past three summers, that endeavor has grown to landscaping new upscale housing subdivisions, office buildings and ponds. The services offered are specialized for yards and perennial gardens ("We don’t mow lawns and we don’t build retaining walls"), and have taken Zalaznik from a one-man operation to company president with paid staff.

About 60 jobs have been completed the past three summers, with Zalaznik returning to Dubuque on weekends during the fall and spring to complete the work. The 21-year-old horticulture major looks to his professors, as well as mentors at the Pappajohn Center, for direction, but cites an Iowa State alumnus as having the most significant influence on his work.

"During one of my Management 310 classes, Dwight Hughes (’70) came in and talked about his nursery business in Cedar Rapids," Zalaznik remembered. "He really got me going. He made me realize that I could do it. I finally saw my full potential."

After graduation, Zalaznik plans to manage his business full time, with hopes of someday opening a public arboretum. "I know I’m not going to get rich doing this," he said, "but I’ll be very comfortable once we’re the best and biggest landscape company in Dubuque."

When five students in the ISU Entrepreneur Club created a survey last fall for a Des Moines capital management firm, the company’s management was pleased with the product. So much so that the firm’s employees convinced the students they should create their own business.

Thus, Innovative Group L.L.C. was born.

Serving as the company’s president is James Zehr, a junior from Conrad with a triple major in management, finance and international business. Joining him at the ground level are Dan Stein, a sophomore in pre-business; Kristin Carstensen, a senior in advertising; Marcia Armentrout-Silhanek, a senior in marketing; and Caleb Mathews, a senior in finance.

In a nutshell, Innovative Group surveys its clients’ clients. Typically, the subject matter involves customer service. To date, the company has worked solely with financial service organizations, but is seeking other venues to round out the marketing plan of a 10-client base.

The group, which works together about 15 hours per week, faces some public skepticism due to their ages. "I guess we just have to work that much harder to impress them before we can get a sale," Zehr said.

The company requires little overhead and operates primarily on investments from its five owners and client fees. The five also work part-time jobs while going to school full time.

While the specific goals for the business remain undefined, Zehr said, "Our objective is to make it as big as we can, and then hopefully ride the wave that comes from it. It’s very possible that after graduation, if it turns out to be profitable, with a reasonable income comparable to a typical first job, that would be the first career move for all five of us."

Or the second.

But so far, the third time is a charm for Adam Curtis, a Sioux City native majoring in computer engineering. The 21-year-old senior is president of Otis 8 Web Development, a Web site design firm. Launched in July with Cory Schmitz, a senior from Boone, the company offers programming and user interaction services, as well as site design. Projects have included creating sites for an Iowa bank, a European electronic book and a fishing lure company.

Curtis estimates that by next summer, the company will have grossed between $50,000 and $100,000. Not bad for a guy whose previous two entrepreneurial ventures at Iowa State bombed. The first of Curtis’ self-described "junk businesses" involved building computers, for which he "got stiffed – that’s when I learned about contracts." Next, he created a Web site to make money from accompanying advertising. "I got up to 30,000 hits a month and still didn’t make anything," he said.

Curtis said his current company is succeeding because of his earlier failures. "Every step I’ve taken has actually built on the last one, and I really couldn’t have skipped any of those steps," he said.

Curtis also credits the Pappajohn Center for guidance. Last year, he worked a half-time internship and was paired with the owner of a technology-based incubator company. He also worked with ISU’s Center for Advanced Technology Development.

"That experience with the Pappajohn Center made me realize for the first time that entrepreneurship is a great possibility for a real career," Curtis said. "Before that, I thought of my businesses as just little projects, but now I see Otis 8 as a company that can go all the way and as something I can at least live off of."

It’s a world where models don’t show up. Where fashion show sponsors yank their support at the 11th hour. Where potential clients request $50-per-yard fabrics, then don’t want to pay the tab. Where every moment you’re not in school, you’re sitting behind a sewing machine.

This is the world in which Nicole Sallis is pursuing her dreams. And regardless of the obstacles, she speaks only of opportunity, blessings and strength. This summer, the Waterloo native created Elocin (Nicole spelled backwards), the design company she’s been dreaming about since she created her own Barbie clothes at age 7. A successful fashion show held in July featured 44 of her designs and launched her reputation as an up-and-coming couturier.

That fashion show resulted in several more bookings, which Sallis will produce while carrying 13 credits this semester. By year’s end, she hopes to have a Web site to market her designs.

Sallis’ creations are geared primarily to women ages 18 to 25, and run the gamut from casual to formal to business attire. She doesn’t illustrate her designs or use patterns; "I just see it in my head and start sewing," she said.

"When I was in high school, and I finally told people I wanted to be a fashion designer, I kept hearing that I didn’t need to go on to school for that," said the textiles and clothing major. "But I want to know as much as I possibly can. This is my passion and my dream. And some day, I want people to know me as a successful young designer with a line of clothes everyone is talking about."