Local universities offer classes for entrepreneurs

Missouri State and Drury universities are offering classrom and real-life training for current and future small-business owners.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms, employ half of all private-sector employees and pay 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll.

And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Missouri had 122,383 small businesses, employing more than 2.3 million workers in 2003 – the latest year for which figures are available.

In order to prepare would-be entrepreneurs and enhance knowledge of existing business owners, both Drury and MSU offer classes for entrepreneurs as part of their management degree programs.

MSU is working toward offering an entrepreneurship major as early as fall 2007.

Tami Knotts, assistant professor of management at MSU, said the proposed entrepreneurship program has made it through two levels of review, but there are still several stages before the major is added.

“For students, this change would involve a more focused curriculum, where additional marketing and finance courses would be required,” Knotts said.

For now, MSU students can continue taking core classes in accounting, marketing, finance and management, along with three classes focused on business ownership, through the management degree program.

Through the program, students prepare a feasibility study for clients of MSU’s Small Business Development Center and study the mistakes and successes of small-business owners. Students also develop business plans for community leaders and potential investors, and strategically assess the operations of existing businesses in the community.

Eric Martin, owner of Ming Auto Beauty Center, 1273 E. Republic Road, is taking entrepreneurship classes at MSU and using what he learns to benefit his business, which he bought in April 2005. He plans to expand his business – which employs six – in the next few years.

“The entrepreneurial classes I’ve taken focus on the small business,” Martin said. “I can apply what I’m learning, especially the financial stuff.”

At Drury, all undergraduate business majors are required to complete an entrepreneurial class.

“Anything that would exist in a business, we look at from a process perspective,” said Robert Wyatt, director of Drury’s Breech School of Business. “At the end of the semester, it will culminate into a business plan, written by each of the groups. We’ll then bring in venture capitalists to evaluate the business plans.”

But learning about business isn’t limited to the classroom.

Drury’s Students in Free Enterprise will open Avenue 33, formerly En’Core Resale Boutique, in May. SIFE is changing the demographics of the clothing boutique and remodeling the store at 1636 S. Glenstone. The organization is responsible for running the business, which was donated to SIFE by former owners Shannon Crawford and Kim Brayman.

“This is an extremely huge undertaking for our SIFE team, but at the same time, (it’s) a tremendous learning opportunity,” said Drury SIFE Director Christopher Mitchell.

At MSU, SIFE and the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization focus on entrepreneurship and provide networking, educational resources and a supportive environment where students can take their ideas and make them a reality.[[In-content Ad]]