Writer

Many people would probably that think 29 years old is a pretty young age to begin a business — especially one that aims to be an international powerhouse someday. But for Wes Hurt, 29, he felt like an aged veteran with one last chance to prove himself. After all, he had already had a long series of odd jobs (working in water damage restoration, selling cookies) and had attempted starting a couple businesses — all while attending college for eight years at four campuses across several states.

True, he never really expected selling scooters on the side of a highway to necessarily make him a mega-millionaire, but he had high hopes when he tried to start a children’s vitamin water beverage.

That hadn’t exactly worked out. And now, to the bemusement of his family and friends, Hurt was going into the cupcake business.

Small Product, Big Dreams

Hurt was visiting a friend in New York City when they dropped by a bakery that specializes in selling cupcakes, and he couldn’t help but be impressed. To borrow the popular expression, the cupcakes were selling like hotcakes. And suddenly Hurt couldn’t help but think he might try the same thing where he lived: Austin, Texas.

Hurt returned and, at first, told no one of his idea. He had already had plenty of ideas fizzle out, and the reaction from his parents when he did tell them was predictable. They were supportive, as usual, but they didn’t exactly weep with joy when they heard their son was going to sink his time and money into cupcakes. “I had tried so many things, learning a lot, but without success. To them, it was just another idea, I think,” says Hurt.

Hurt had some serious money saved up from his past ventures — $50,000 — so he decided it was worth sinking into what would ultimately be a mobile cupcake stand. The customer would walk up to the sleek-looking van-like trailers, order one of several cupcakes on the menu, and if all goes well, return later because they’re so delicious.

Now, two years after opening, Hurt has two of these trailers and a brick-and-mortar eatery — all of them in Austin. (Photos can be seen here.) The cupcakes sell for $2.50, each with names like 24 Carrot (a carrot cake bottom and a cream cheese top) and the Snowcap (chocolate bottom and vanilla icing top).

A Tough Beginning

From the start, Hurt was almost able to list Hey Cupcake as another casualty to his career history. He partnered with an old childhood chum, Brian Morris, now 30, and they opened for business out of an old Sno-Cone stand on the Austin University campus.

For whatever reason, the cupcakes didn’t connect with the student population. People would ask what Hurt and Morris were selling, and when they said “cupcakes,” the potential customers, disinterested, would just walk away. They opened in March 2007 and closed two months later.

Several months later, in September 2007, they sunk money into an Airstream trailer and set it up at a busy location in Austin. As they had before, they rented a commercial kitchen at off-hours — paying $300 a month for it — and they kept trying to tell themselves that they weren’t crazy. They also worked long hours, and Hurt paid a steep price, losing a girlfriend who apparently felt like she was the other woman in this business relationship. But Hurt and Morris made things work, opening their brick and mortar business in November 2008, and another Airstream trailer-based location in May 2009.

“The hardest part in the beginning is having confidence,” says Hurt. “You just have to stay confident, especially when you’re starting something new, and stick to your gut and just keep going and going.”

Where to Go from Here?

As successful as Hey Cupcake has been so far — they have 27 employees — Hurt is about to embark on the startup phase that every entrepreneur experiences if they’re lucky enough to stay in business for two years: growing pains.

“Personnel is a huge challenge,” says Hurt. “I have really good people, and they’re the reason it’s possible, but managing human resources — that’s what I’ve found is the most difficult thing.”

He also wants to expand to other cities, states, and eventually across the globe. “I know that sounds insane, but that’s the goal, and one of the biggest challenges I’m facing is how do we maintain the integrity of our brand? How do you make sure that every step of the way you aren’t taking the cheap way, but conducting your business in the true spirit of how you began it?”

Then there’s the personal angle as well. Hurt is dating again — her name is Heather — and he observes that when it comes to the personal and professional lives, “it’s all about trying to strike a balance.” Indeed. As Hurt already knows, success is hard to come by, but hanging onto it can be even harder. In fact, if the next couple years are anything like what many entrepreneurs experience, he will often feel like everything is hanging in the balance.

website: http://www.heycupcake.com/splash.html

Young Entrepreneur: Zoe Damacela

mauthor — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:35:10 +0000

Young entrepreneurs find it’s never too early to start their own firms

Teens turn hobbies into profitable ventures with help from educational programs

Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid980748097?bclid=979465104&bctid=31289712001

NTFE’s curriculum inspired Damacela, a 17-year-old dress designer whose company has sold more than 300 dresses over the past four years.

Damacela, who sold greeting cards at 7, started making clothes for herself when she was 14 and selling them to friends a year later. But she didn’t have the business know-how to make a profit from her custom-made clothing business until she took the entrepreneurship class this year at Whitney Young High School.

“Before I was just doing it for fun, but this year I made the most money because I was determined to succeed,” Damacela said, adding that she has earned about $5,000 from her apparel business to date.

Damacela was selling her dresses for $65, churning them out quickly without examining her profit margin. Now, she charges $60 to $2,000 per dress, depending on the time and materials involved. Many are one-of-a-kind designs, and she has designed dresses for a full wedding party.

Damacela pays herself $20 an hour and puts the rest in a checking account to be used for the business.

“Considering all my options, it’s a lot more profitable to start my own business rather than working for someone else,” she said.

source: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jun/08/business/chi-mon-minding-youth-0608-jun08

Rags to Riches: Kristina Guerrero

mauthor — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:21:34 +0000

Kristina Guerrero: From picking asparagus to TV’s bright lights

Kristina Guerrero is staring at one of the sexiest men alive: Hugh Jackman. Her latest fantasy, brought to you by ‘E! News’, is far from her past life where she picked asparagus for a living.

As the daughter of immigrant parents, Guerrero would wake up at 4AM and pick vegetables and cherries in American farmers’ fields. Her whole family earned a combined $20,000 a year, so they didn’t have enough for her to sleep in her own bed until she went to college.

Who would have thought that a Mexican girl- raised in the small town of Sunnyside in Washington state – and sister of four, would end up interviewing the world’s biggest stars.

“I took chances and big risks. I worked for free many years in television to learn the industry,” she said.
Guerrero always had her sights on Hollywood. At age of 18, Guerrero moved to Los Angeles. But the experience was tough. She dreamed with celebrities, red carpets and bright lights, but her reality was different: no money, no home, no place to go.

Until ‘Inside Edition’ came along.

“The show was great and it’s been on for 20 years. But I wanted to speak to my generation, and that’s why it didn’t quite speak to me,” she said of her big break job.

From ‘Inside Edition’ to ‘E! News’, it seemed like a century from her childhood dreams.

“My childhood was very difficult, and that helped. We didn’t have the best food or Christmas presents. What it taught me is that if you really wanted something you really had to work hard for it. To this day it amazes me how my life turned out,” she said.

Before she booked her ‘E! News’ job, the road was tough. She enrolled at the University of Southern California and landed an internship with L.A.’s Fox KTTV. After graduating with a B.A. in Journalism, she parlayed an opportunity as a correspondent for ‘Access Hollywood’ into a starring role as the co-host of ‘The Rub’, a talk show on SiTV Network.

This was followed by one of the most crucial moves in her career. In 2005 Kristina decided to leave Los Angeles and move to San Antonio, Texas, to host her own CBS morning show. Hard work and talent earned her a local Emmy nomination and her own radio show as well. In January 2008, she returned to L.A. as the entertainment correspondent for ‘Inside Edition.’

The show paved the way to her current ‘E! News’ job. She really enjoys creating portraits of people, whether they are celebrities or not. “I bring a lot of that fun, irreverent attitude to E!… There are so many people that would die to do what I am doing. It’s a big honor for me and a huge responsibility,” said Guerrero.

But if you think her high profile has changed her background you are mistaken. When speaking about her family, “they still live in the same house we grew up in and they very proud of me,” she says.

Her family members are not the only ones proud of her. So is she.

“I want to represent my people and to be the face of my community…I am so proud of that.”

One last headline from the entertainment goddess: “To all Latinas out there. With a lot of work, it can be done.”

source: AOL LATINO

Young entrepreneur: Colette Young

mauthor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:50:37 +0000

Colette Young is just starting her education at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, but by some standards, she’s already an old hand at the rag trade. Now 18, Young was just 14 when she founded L’Colette Boutique, a women’s clothing store in her hometown of Tulsa, Okla. Because she was a minor, her mother, Chae Young, had to put all the loans, permits, bills and taxes in her own name, but the institute freshman, whose official title is creative director, is responsible for everything from store design and fashion decisions to financing, marketing and advertising. (Her mother’s title is active professional CEO; they’re in the process of making Colette a legal partner.)

Since opening the shop, they have turned a profit, the young entrepreneur says. “The store does contribute to the household income,” she says. “A lot of our profits we put back into the business for renovations, but the rest of the money goes to either savings or disposable income. I’m thrilled to be able to contribute.”

Not all of the youthful business owners profiled here are focused just on the family finances. Some were simply lured to the business world because it seemed like fun.But like Colette Young, many are finding an additional benefit to pursuing their small-business dreams: With the economy spiraling downward, these startups have become a way to stay occupied, make some money and help their families at the same time.

Four years ago, when he was just 9, Jason O’Neill of Temecula, Calif., came up with a simple idea to sell at a local crafts fair: colorful, buglike pencil toppers that would make schoolwork a bit more fun.

Little did he know that people were going to like his products — which come in eight colors and perch on the eraser end of pencils — as much as he did. But they do, and now Jason is the CEO of Pencil Bugs Plus, selling his wares on his Web site and shipping them internationally.

“His business is profitable — otherwise we wouldn’t spend as much time with it as we do,” says his mother, Nancy O’Neill. “He’s certainly not making millions or even close yet, but he’s on his way, and we’re always coming up with new marketing ideas to expand and working on getting his Pencil Bugs mass-produced.”

The young toy mogul — who donates some of his income to charity and socks away the rest for college — now also has a Pencil Bug-related board game, and a video game is in the works. Last year, Forbes.com placed him on its list of 10 role models 18 and under.

To read more or watch the video of colette young, go to this link: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/young-entrepreneurs.aspx#pageTopAnchor

R.I.P: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

mauthor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:56:47 +0000

Farewell, Michael Farewell, Farrah

You’re both stars in your own right

One by his music and the other by her beauty/acting

Both gift that the Good Lord gave

The world weeps, as you rest in peace

As time drift on , your legacy will live on

With your fans

With your families

With your friends

With future dreamers that would be inspire by you

Farewell, Michael Farewell, Farrah

Be at peace

-Writer