STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS EARN DOLLARS AS WELL AS DEGREES

	University of Virginia students are using their heads to
foot the bill for their education.  By recognizing and providing
needed services, the student entrepreneurs are meeting -- and
sometimes exceeding -- their financial needs.  Several descriptions
of students who have started their own businesses while pursuing
degrees follow:

Put To The Task

	Doing homework has paid off in a big way for Mark Harnois
and Duncan Pickett.  Students in U.Va.Õs McIntire School of
Commerce, Harnois and Pickett used an idea from a marketing textbook
to start their own successful business.

	Founders of Task Force Inc., a group of independently
contracted University students, who provide a variety of personal
services, Harnois and Pickett expect sales to exceed $15,000 in
April.  Task Force services include tutoring, house painting, yard
work, piano lessons, voice lessons, carpools and anything else
clients demand.

	Although the entrepreneurs started by going door-to-door to
find clients, business rapidly expanded, and they now keep a master
list of students with particular job skills to match with clients
who need specialized services.  Harnois said they select students
who are in financial need to perform most of the jobs.  Despite the
extra help, the founders of Task Force Inc. spend about 40 hours
weekly running the business.

	Harnois attributes Task Force Inc.Õs success to the positive
relationships students have established with local residents.  ÒWe
emphasize service with a smile.  Our clients trust the students
because we are reliable and friendly,Ó Harnois said.  For more
information, contact Mark Harnois at (804) 984-1468 or via his
beeper at (804) 972-8484.

An Honest Racketeer

	Chris Sloan is stringing his way toward a bachelorÕs
degree.  The U.Va. student earns $5,000 each academic year by fixing
tennis rackets for the menÕs and womenÕs varsity tennis teams.
Sloan said the money he makes from stringing rackets goes a long way
toward paying his rent and phone bill.  (His parents cover his
out-of-state tuition.)

	The entrepreneur started stringing rackets during his first
year when the varsity tennis coach offered him $5 per racket to fix
the teamÕs rackets.  Although Sloan said some country clubs charge
$20 per racket, he decided to give the tennis team a Òbulk discount
rate.Ó In addition to fixing 15-20 rackets per week, he also spends
approximately 20 hours weekly as both the menÕs and womenÕs team
manager.  ÒThey keep me phenomenally busy,Ó Sloan said.
	On one occasion, he had an exam to take the next day, but
decided instead to work through the night to finish 28 rackets the
menÕs tennis team needed for its tournament.

	SloanÕs activities may sometimes interfere with his studies,
but he still manages to keep a 3.75 grade-point-average and is a
member of the National Honor Society and Golden Key.

	Now a third-year environmental science and classics major,
Sloan is also a member of the UniversityÕs College Bowl Team.  For
more information, he can be reached at (804) 984-2533 or via e-mail
at cas5c@virginia.edu.

Clean Slate

	Susan Carter cleaned up when it came time to finance her
U.Va. education.  The 36-year-old fourth-year student runs her own
cleaning business, providing enough revenue to cover education costs
and living expenses.  The business employs six other independently
contracted students of non-traditional college age.

	Carter, who spends 15-20 hours weekly working, says she
tries to keep her business Òsmall and manageable,Ó so she can
provide customers with only Òthe best personal services.Ó

	The entrepreneur claims that although financing her own
education has been challenging, she would not have it any other
way.  ÒI have incentive to get the most out of it.Ó

	After spending several years working as a hotel sales
manager and a cocktail waitress, Carter said she truly understands
the value of higher education.  ÒI wanted the best education I could
buy for myself.  ItÕs an investment.Ó

	When she walks down the Lawn at graduation this May, Carter
will have overcome more than financial obstacles to reach her goal.
She also has a learning disability that makes spelling and reading
difficult.   For more information, contact Carter at (804) 979-5377.

Dial 1-800-SUCCESS

	Paul Watkins, a second-year student at U.Va.Õs Darden
Graduate School of Business Administration, is enjoying his last
semester as an MBA student with a job in hand -- a vice presidency
that he earned through ingenuity, persistence and free phone calls. 

	A native of Louisiana, Watkins saw little or no Cajun food
products in local grocery stores -- especially no Mam PapaulÕs, a
Creole and Cajun line manufactured by Louisiana Gourmet in
Hahnville, La.  While in New Orleans over break, Watkins called the
1-800-EAT-KJUN number he found on a Mam PapaulÕs box to see if he
could be a summer intern at the firm.

	Although he was told Òno,Ó his call was received by the
sister of the companyÕs president, who relayed it upward.  Watkins
called the next trip home and received the same answer, but he
continued to call the 800 number, and finally got an interivew at
the firm.  When a company representative said there were no job
openings, Watkins countered by offering to work free.

	In the summer between his first and second years at the
Darden School, Watkins produced a successful gift catalog for the
firm.  He so impressed his employer with his marketing skills, that
he earned a modest sum and a bonus at the internshipÕs end.
	After returning to Charlottesville this year, Watkins
persisted in calling the 800 number, seeking a permanent position
after graduation this May.  His perseverance paid off:  in January
he was offered the position of vice president of marketing and a
stake in the company.  For more information, contact Watkins at
(804) 979-5901.

Cornering The Market

	During his last year at U.Va., Jason Palmer spent 70 hours a
week working at a small business for a tough demanding boss:
himself.

	Convinced that students wanted an alternative to typical
dining-hall fare, Palmer opened in June 1993 ÒThe Corner Meal PlanÓ
that allows students to charge meals on a debit card at local
restaurants in the ÒCornerÓ business area adjacent to the University.

	Although PalmerÕs business took a loss during its first
year, the number of students on the meal plan has grown from 400
initially to approximately 1,700 in February.  With the increase in
participants, Palmer expects the business to make a profit this
year.  He now hires three part-time paid employees and six interns
who receive a monthly stipend for their work.

	Although Palmer was an Echols Scholar with a concentration
in government at U.Va., he says that the information he learned in
class could not have prepared him for the challenges he faces in the
business world.  ÒStarting my own business was really a trial by
fire.  The real world is entirely different from the academic
world,Ó Palmer said.

	In addition to managing The Corner Meal Plan, the U.Va.
graduate works approximately 80 hours weekly teaching high school
students through the Close-up Foundation in Washington, D.C.

	Although PalmerÕs time is limited, he said The Corner Meal
Plan business will continue Òas long as there are students at the
University and restaurants on the Corner.Ó

	He can be reached at (202) 332-6558 at his home in
Washington, D.C., or at The Corner Meal Plan office in
Charlottesville at (804) 971-1595.


March 29, 1995