When starting a business, prospective entrepreneurs have many things to consider, and the University and Eugene community have many resources available to to help those beginning the process.
“At a minimum, a venture must have both the creative and business elements represented,” Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship Director Randy Swangard said in an e-mail. “A great product without sound business fundamentals will not fly. Sound business fundamentals without a great product/service is also
in jeopardy.”
In addition to sponsoring entrepreneurship classes for admitted business majors, the LCE at the University’s Lundquist College of Business also offers business competitions, clubs, and access to mentorships and internships.
Former University student Chris Althouse said he used LCE’s resources. He now owns NRG Entertainment, a mobile disc jockey company that provides music at weddings, company parties, fraternity and sorority functions, and bars. He started the company in July 2003 while still a student.
“I started the business while going to school because I figured, what better way to learn?” Althouse said. He got advice on his business from the center, and he also did class projects about his business.
“It actually provided a learning experience as well as real world application,” Althouse said.
Althouse said the most difficult part of starting a business was under-capitalization, or not having enough money.
“We’re at the point where it doesn’t matter that much now, but in the beginning, it was pretty tough,” he said.
Althouse described his initial financial strategy as “creative financing.”
“I lived off my credit cards a lot and other stuff they tell you not to do,” he said.
Althouse said no banks were willing to give him loans because of the relatively high number of disc jockey businesses in the area.
Outside the University, other organizations
in Eugene are available to help with the financial aspects of starting a business. The City of Eugene’s Business Development Fund gives loans to help businesses, filling in the gaps when banks cannot provide loans.
“Because our program is focused on job creation, we look at this as an economic development tool,” City of Eugene Planning and Development Department loan analyst Denny Braud said.
“A lot of what we do is more production-oriented,” Braud said, explaining that retail and service companies generally have lower
pay and growth potential than
production companies.
Braud advised that loans should not be an entrepreneur’s only financial strategy.
“If someone really has a great idea, they should be looking at some other things as well,” he said. Other options, Braud added, include getting people to invest in the business or selecting someone with more resources and experience as a business partner.
“Financing is something that should be at the end of someone’s business planning,” Braud said, emphasizing that it is very important to have a solid plan in place first.
“A good business plan is something that would be very critical for us if we were looking at a startup,” Braud said.
Braud said his department is
cautious when evaluating startup businesses for loans.
“The failure rate for startups is very high,” he said. “That’s just the nature of business.”
However, it is not impossible to obtain loans for new businesses.
“There’s a lot of young entrepreneurs that come out of the University that we’ve done business with,” Braud said.
Despite the hard work inherent in the process, in his e-mail Swangard listed many advantages for students who start businesses: “Amazing sense of accomplishment and belief in one’s own capabilities, the chance to build something from the ground up, being your own boss and all that comes with it.”
“Bill Gates did well,” Swangard wrote.

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