Local Students Learn Entrepreneurship from the Masters

(Editor's note: the following is a letter to the editor by South Gwinnett student Mary Williamson. Williamson will soon be Snellville Patch's Voice of South Gwinnett in a new blog.)

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, the Featherbone Communiversity presented ten entrepreneurs a 'Masters of Innovation' award at the Brenau East Campus in Gainesville, Ga.

A group of thirty from Snellville, including students, two Entrepreneurship teachers from South Gwinnett and Brookwood High, Snellville's Economic Development director Eric Van Otteren, and Torey Rose, a successful uniform manufacturer and entrepreneur, all attended this field trip and shared business ideas on the bus as they rode to their destination.

Each student was able to see first-hand what unknowns might trouble them in starting a new business. Some of the common challenges each of the ten awarded entrepreneurs experienced were facing the unknown, finding the right person, bank and/or family members to help finance, and focusing on brilliant public speaking techniques to convey their sales pitches in successful tones.

What students took away was that it was not only that one successful business idea that they needed, but charisma, faith, leadership, commitment, drive, and an eager heart that would not give up after “eleven banks would turn you down, but ironically you would still be in business after they had all gone bankrupt," according to entrepreneur Rick Boyd.

All of the bold characteristics they mentioned do not make a perfect business man or women. What makes an ingenious entrepreneur is their ability to adapt to changes in target markets, research the current consumer needs and sacrificing time away from family to mold and shape their communities, businesses, and futures.

These ingenious entrepreneurs help grow the American economy not by being a part of the small 7% of business that are corporations but by being a part of 93% which make up small businesses.

What an inspiring field trip it was to understand their voyages to success, their struggles to establish their reputations, and their advice to the young aspiring entrepreneurs in the auditorium.

“Integrity is important," said Barclay Rushton, and these twenty-six students will focus on their ideas and sense of creativity as they establish their integrity for the future.