Entrepreneurial Small Business 4th Edition by Jerome Katz ,Richard Green

Exercise 18

THE AMBITIOUS COLLEGE KID WHO JUST CAN'T WAIT
Lyle Wong has been carrying a briefcase everywhere he goes since the age of 12 and has always been glad to let anyone and everyone know that he is an up and coming entrepreneur. At the age of 14, Lyle started and ran a flea market on weekends on a field next to his house. He rented space to vendors and sold his own merchandise on consignment for a commission. He then started and ran his own landscaping company during the following three summers. This required Lyle to first persuade his older brother to use his truck and become an employee, as Lyle was not yet old enough to drive. He then started and ran a DJ business during his last two years of high school. By the time Lyle graduated from high school, he had more than $75,000 in savings and mutual fund investments.
His parents had all they could do to keep him in high school. Although he earned straight A's, Lyle considered high school to be a waste of time and nothing but an obstacle to earning his first million. He was offered a full scholarship at a Michigan college. Thanks to some friendly and persistent convincing from his parents and from his already established business associates, Lyle agreed to give college a try as long as he could continue to conduct business.
Lyle is now a 19-year-old sophomore, majoring in computer science, with minors in business and international marketing, and lives in a dorm. He started a T-shirt business during his freshman year, which he says pacifies him for now, earns him spending money, and allows him to continue investing in his retirement portfolio.
He is ready to take it to the next level. Lyle has set a goal of accumulating $1,000,000 by the time he graduates from college. He is willing to do this "part time" since he is in school. Lyle has discovered that college takes up much less time than high school. He figures that he needs only about 30 hours a week to attend class, study, complete all assignments, and continue to earn straight As. He has decided to dedicate an additional 40 or 50 hours per week, his version of part time, to the next venture in order to earn him his first million.
Lyle is still undecided as to which direction to go with his next venture. He is thinking about setting up and running an entire operation from his dorm room. He views this as a location with free overhead. As a full-time student, Lyle also has access to many other on-campus resources. Those resources include an abundance of cheap help if needed, access to all computer technology, access to most on-campus buildings and facilities, free public transportation, and access to the student newspaper and radio station.
Lyle is thinking a lot about e-commerce. He knows that this gives him access to a worldwide customer base. Unlike his previous ventures, which were all very small and localized, Lyle is excited about the prospect of selling merchandise on a global basis. He has always liked the concept and role of the middleman, and is searching for product lines that he can buy low and sell high in volume. Lyle knows that the necessary infrastructure is already well established. There are an abundance of manufacturers, shippers, and consumers throughout the world. Lyle figures it is just a matter of putting together the right mix of those entities with him properly placed to reap the benefits.
Lyle's current and past ventures have given him a lot of good experience in key areas of business. Those include customer and employee relations, handling merchandise, and managing cash and the many details and tasks that arise from the normal day-to-day operations of most any business. He is now very computer literate, and in spite of his passion and drive for business success, Lyle has lots of friends, good social skills, and enjoys and participates in many hobbies, social events, and extracurricular activities.
Do you see yourself taking a route similar to Lyle's Could you do it Will you do it