2008 Woodie Awards
Early start proves beneficial in business world
Paige Gabriel
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: News
By Paige Gabriel
Staff Reporter
Several UTC students have invented products and created their own businesses.
Laura Cecere, a Gatlinburg, Tenn., senior, helped her family invent and market Soda Pop Tops, a bottle cap with hard candy attached that screws onto regular plastic bottled drinks.
"During a family vacation, my younger sister, Julia, was dipping her sucker in Sprite, and my dad thought this might be a good idea," Cecere said. "On the drive home, we worked on the concept and checked out convenience stores to see if there was anything like it."
Cecere spent the summer attending candy shows to introduce and promote her family's new product.
"It's hard work and keeps me busy most of the time," Cecere said. "But it is my family's business, so my whole heart is in it and I don't mind the work."
Since March of this year, Soda Pop Tops have been picked up by several stores, including 7-Eleven and Food City.
Cecere's family has not yet made a profit from Soda Pop Tops. Cecere hopes that they begin to see a profit as their product is picked up by more stores and they expand their business.
Matt S. Wildman, a Signal Mountain, Tenn., junior, owns a landscaping business.
Wildman started out helping a couple of people from his church and now maintains the yards of between 25 and 30 people with the help of one other friend.
"I love working outside, love working with my hands and I was making great money and setting my own hours," said Wildman. "I decided to do a few more yards, and then it grew and grew.
"It was difficult at first [to balance school and work] but I soon figured out a schedule that balanced the two," Wildman said.
Richard Becherer, professor of marketing and entrepreneurship, believes creating a business while in college is a good way to get started.
"If you trace the history of most successful entrepreneurs, you find that they started early," said Becherer.
"If you start as an adult, you have a $30,000 lifestyle that you have to maintain, and your business has to start off earning that much," he said. "Students don't have to worry as much about making money, and this gives them time to let their business grow before they have to start depending on it."
Becherer added: "People make the mistake of thinking they need a certain amount of money to get started. Go ahead without that because you may lose the opportunity."
Staff Reporter
Several UTC students have invented products and created their own businesses.
Laura Cecere, a Gatlinburg, Tenn., senior, helped her family invent and market Soda Pop Tops, a bottle cap with hard candy attached that screws onto regular plastic bottled drinks.
"During a family vacation, my younger sister, Julia, was dipping her sucker in Sprite, and my dad thought this might be a good idea," Cecere said. "On the drive home, we worked on the concept and checked out convenience stores to see if there was anything like it."
Cecere spent the summer attending candy shows to introduce and promote her family's new product.
"It's hard work and keeps me busy most of the time," Cecere said. "But it is my family's business, so my whole heart is in it and I don't mind the work."
Since March of this year, Soda Pop Tops have been picked up by several stores, including 7-Eleven and Food City.
Cecere's family has not yet made a profit from Soda Pop Tops. Cecere hopes that they begin to see a profit as their product is picked up by more stores and they expand their business.
Matt S. Wildman, a Signal Mountain, Tenn., junior, owns a landscaping business.
Wildman started out helping a couple of people from his church and now maintains the yards of between 25 and 30 people with the help of one other friend.
"I love working outside, love working with my hands and I was making great money and setting my own hours," said Wildman. "I decided to do a few more yards, and then it grew and grew.
"It was difficult at first [to balance school and work] but I soon figured out a schedule that balanced the two," Wildman said.
Richard Becherer, professor of marketing and entrepreneurship, believes creating a business while in college is a good way to get started.
"If you trace the history of most successful entrepreneurs, you find that they started early," said Becherer.
"If you start as an adult, you have a $30,000 lifestyle that you have to maintain, and your business has to start off earning that much," he said. "Students don't have to worry as much about making money, and this gives them time to let their business grow before they have to start depending on it."
Becherer added: "People make the mistake of thinking they need a certain amount of money to get started. Go ahead without that because you may lose the opportunity."
