Being the boss—especially in this economy—takes moxy. (We know, we know, it’s a very dated word, but we’re hoping to help it make a comeback! Next word up: “swell.”) Still, we know of several alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who are flourishing as business owners. We reached out to these graduates for tips on what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to being the man or woman in the corner office. If you are running your own show…let us know how you made it happen.
Hit the Books (or at least crack open a few)
While more school may be the last thing graduate students and graduate alumni want to consider, it is possible to get some business acumen without enrolling in an MBA program or adding to an already busy schedule. Jeanne R. Smith, G94, owner of Jeanne Rosier Smith Fine Art and a graduate of the English Ph.D. program suggests getting “as much free advice a possible. Take or audit an accounting course in school if you still can and visit the small business administration in your area for free tax advice on setting up a small business.”
Fellow English Ph.D. program graduate and Peachtree & Ward Catering President Jon Weinrott, A74, G74, agrees, adding that future business owners should “find out how a business works. For this, you will either need to take a class to understand basic finances, profit, and loss, or you can seek a business partner who can bring passion and expertise in these areas.”
Speak with Some Young and, er, Seasoned Entrepreneurs at Tufts and Beyond
Noah Wilson-Rich, president and CEO of the Boston-based Best Bees Company and a 2011 graduate of the biology Ph.D. program launched his company in 2010. But before he did, he spoke with as many business leaders—young and old—as he could.
“From my experience, the best on-campus opportunity for students to learn about starting a business and to share ideas is the Young Entrepreneurs at Tufts club,” said Wilson-Rich. “The club is run by undergraduates, but is open to all students in the Tufts community. It’s an open forum to share ideas, listen to guest speakers, and learn what it takes to turn the bright light bulb above your head into a brick-and-mortar light bulb factory. I also sought off-campus mentors, since starting your own business requires many of them. It’s true what my adviser used to say, ‘seek advice from those who know.’”
Don’t Be Afraid to Give Some Business Away
It’s true that nothing in life is free, but sometimes the best thing you can do for the future of your business is to give services away or cut clients a discount. Jeanne Smith did the former when she was just starting out.
“When I first moved to Massachusetts and began my business, I had to establish my name and reputation from scratch. I got involved with the best community art association around—the Concord Art Association—and entered as many local area juried shows as possible, attended openings, and networked. I accepted every invitation to do demonstrations for local art groups, whether I was paid or not.”
Jon Weinrott took a different approach, reducing the cost of his services for one client in particular. A decision that was, as Trent from Swingers would say, ‘so money.’
“Years ago, we had the opportunity to work for one of the local Fortune 100 companies, but to do so we had to discount our services by about 50 percent,” said Weinrott. “We did this and then a local cultural institution we had been trying to do business with for years became our client, all because of our gesture to this Fortune 100 company. In the years that followed, the Fortune 100 company and the cultural institution ended up spending more than $1 million with us.”
You May Need to Start Small…Really Small
McDonald’s started with a single restaurant in 1940. Walmart began with one person—Sam Walton—in 1962. Facebook was launched by, um, we’re not quite sure how many people can take credit after viewing The Social Network so let’s say the social media giant was started by between one and five individuals. So, if these established companies can start small and subsequently prosper, so can you.
“I figured out pretty quickly that a strong business takes time to grow,” said Iris Ponte, who graduated with a master of art and Ph.D. in child development in 2003 and 2008, respectively, and is president of Boston’s Ponte & Chau Consulting Incorporated. “Lots of people who are interested in starting their own businesses feel the pressure to go big fast. It’s really important to give yourself time to learn the ropes and make mistakes. Knowing your limits and capabilities is also important.”
Added Lynn Bratley, who earned an M.Ed. in education from GSAS in 1986 and is founder and director of the improbable PLAYERS of Watertown, Massachusetts.
“When I started my theatre company twenty-seven years ago, I had a telephone and a file cabinet in my bedroom, and no computer” she said. “The first year we had maybe four shows. The next year we had more, and then it snowballed.”
Join the conversation by clicking the “Leave a comment” tag below.
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Art,
We’re happy to hear that you liked the blog and that it will help with your presentation! Stay tuned for next month’s entry in which our graduate alumni share best practices they used to land a tenure-track position at a college or university.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Jere,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and it’s good to hear that the information we have presented is/will be useful. Good luck with all your business endeavors!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Glad we could help!
-GradMatters Blog Team
I’m happy I came across this site, and I’d just like to add that I agree with the concept of starting out small. Every business has to start somewhere, and the success of your business typically lies in how passionate you are about your business..day in and day out. Thanks for the great post, and I’m sure it will help a lot of people nowadays with finding jobs and growing/starting their own businesses!
Hi Lance,
Thanks for reading, and for your comments on the post. Starting small–along with getting some business experience–seemed to be a common response from our alumni. Glad to hear you liked the post and stay tuned next month when our alumni share best practices for landing a tenure-track job at a college or university.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Hi Reiko,
Thanks for the head’s up! We’ll look into it.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the blog! For this first year, we’re going to add a new post each month. Have a great day!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Graviola,
Thanks for checking out the post and we’re glad you liked it! Stay tuned next month when our grad alumni share the do’s and don’ts of landing a tenure-track faculty position.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the blog and please feel free to send along any ideas you have for future posts!
-GradMatters Blog Team
Hi Bob
I enjoyed reading others experience in starting up a business. I can relate to all of it! I can add that perseverance, patience and business plan are a must! Networking with other professionals, especially through social media (Facebook and twitter), has been tremendously helpful . I have also found great support from members of the Tufts community in the Engineering and Occupational Therapy departments. Oh, and having a husband that is an enteprenuer is also very helpful!
Beth,
Thanks for reading the post and sharing your thoughts, especially about the use of social media in business-related work. In the future, we may include a post on how grad students and grad alumni can use Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to build their personal brands and/or promote their work. I’ll make sure to keep you in the loop if we go with a post like this.
-GradMatters Blog Team
Please do!
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Thanks for reading the post and for sharing such positive feedback!
I love two points from your post:
1. Continuing education
2. Starting small
It is important to continue educating yourself to stay at the forefront of any industry, and you cannot be afraid to start small, and set your business up properly for steady, consistent growth. Great post.
Thanks for checking out the post! Yes, it seems like starting small is something that alumni agree with. We were a bit surprised about how many suggested getting some business-related training, though. In retrospect, it seems so obvious, but is not something all business owners consider when just starting out. Thanks again for reading!
-GradMatters Blog Team
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Very happy to hear that you found the blog. Honestly, we’re not sure how Google ranks info; will look into, though. Thanks for reading!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the blog and for your comments. Yes, the objective of our blog is to provide useful information to a wide audience, primarily our grad students and alumni; but we are happy to hear that this blog post in particular reached a lot of people beyond our grad student/alumni audience.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the blog and we look forward to sharing future posts with you!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Elvira,
Thanks for checking out the post. Have a great weekend!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the blog! Come back next month when our alumni share tips for landing a tenure-track position at a college or university.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Thanks for checking out the post and we’re glad to hear it was useful. Good luck to you and your neighbor!
-GradMatters Blog Team
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Hi Debra,
Thanks for checking out the blog and tweeting about the post! Also, we’re on twitter as well (@TuftsGSAS) if you would like to follow us.
-GradMatters Blog Team
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