The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 6/3/08 Section: La Vida

Media Credit: Ruben Castillo

Many students attend college with hopes of learning how to own and manage a business, but some undergraduates get a head start by opening their own businesses to pay for their education.

Something Texas Tech student, Clinton Williams, Tech graduate Jared Dunn and South Plains College student, Hunter Hutchins, have in common is they all purchased and run their own businesses.

Their businesses are doing well enough that the income supports Williams and Hutchins entirely, including paying for their tuition.

Williams, a mechanical engineering major from Panhandle, is the owner of Broadway Bikes, a bicycle and repair shop that has been open for 30 years. Williams purchased it in December 2006.

Broadway Bikes has the most potential as a profitable bike shop in Lubbock, which Williams said is because of its location.

"Seeing that potential, I kind of acted on it," Williams said. "I've been in the bike industry for a long time, and I moved in from the outside, and sort of got a different view of its potential."

Growing up, Williams spent much of his time in a bike shop, as his stepfather worked in one for 15 years. Williams said he thinks the best way for students to learn about their desired career is through observation and listening.

Working in a bike shop for three years after high school is how Williams said he gained that real-life experience.

"I've always supported myself," he said. "That's the one thing I have that a lot of other students don't. I've had to have that knowledge of how to support myself. I think it takes that knowledge in order to become a business owner and be successful at it."

Williams said he does not know if he will be opening up another shop anytime soon, and that he is busy enough trying to balance school and one business.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor indicates that 18- to 24-year-olds are starting businesses at a more rapid rate than 35- to 44-year-olds.

It is estimated there are more than two million small businesses in Texas, according to an estimate done by the Office of Advocacy, with no records of how many of those are student-owned.

According to the Small Business Administration, in any given year, approximately 7 percent of working-age people in the United States is taking steps to start a business.

Hutchins, a sophomore agricultural business major from Castroville, is one of those small business owners, as the owner of Lawn Raiders, a lawn care service he purchased from a friend's uncle in August 2004. He also is the co-owner and creator of Raider Waiters, a restaurant delivery service that opened in March 2007.

Continued...

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