By Charlotte Young

How much does it cost to persuade a bright, young college student to drop out and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams? About $100,000.

As the value of a college education continues to be questioned, Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, is offering a new fellowship that has sparked controversy because it raises questions about the purpose of higher education. Through his Theil Fellowship, Theil will pay 24 winners $100,000 not to attend college for two years so that they can develop business ideas instead.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the winners, all 20 or younger, are leaving Ivy League institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They will develop entrepreneurial ideas in biotechnology, education and energy as they work with a network of over 100 Silicon Valley mentors.

The goal of the fellowship is that winners will learn more from the real world than they would from staying in college.

Thiel, who attended Stanford in the 1980s, called college a “default activity,” but admits that he probably wouldn’t have participated in a program like this fellowship when he was a student. At least one student initially selected for the fellowship chose the traditional education route instead.

Some of the Thiel fellows said that their introduction to college did help them with their current goals since they first explored their business ideas in school and received positive feedback and assistance from professors.

Still, others confirmed that they did most of the work for their ideas in their free time.

Managing Director at MIT’s Entrepreneurship Center, William Aulet, believes encouraging students to leave college “sends the wrong message.”

“To say that you’re better off dropping out of school is a gross generalization,” said Aulet. “It depends on the situation.”

Dear Felicia:

I am interested in starting a strategic marketing business. I became interested in this field because I have been assisting friends and acquaintances who are starting new businesses with finding the right kind of insurance, making telephone calls, conducting research, marketing their product and obtaining venues.  But it has been impossible to get them to pay me for the resources and information that I have provided, which is invaluable.

I am currently not working.  I got laid off of my job as a legal secretary about a year and a half ago, and I have been trying to look for work and establish a business.  Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sheila B.

via e-mail

Dear Sheila,

I am glad you are considering the idea of starting a business while looking for work.  When some people are downsized they shut down and don’t consider all their options.  The reality is, for many people, becoming an entrepreneur — even if on a part-time basis — will be their best bet going forward.

First, let’s address your business.  The projects you have completed for friends touch on marketing, but most of them sound like advanced administrative tasks (insurance analysis, making telephone calls, conducting research and securing venues).  So, start there. Which business do you really want to launch: a strategic marketing firm or a freelance administrative business?

Your legal background gives you a strong leg up on the competition if you become an independent executive assistant. This way, you can help solo entrepreneurs and small businesses with both marketing and compliance (proper insurance, business licenses, quarterly tax filings and more).

So, you can go the general route, or you can create a lucrative niche by assisting businesses in a specific industry.  If you do this, specialize in industries that are booming such as environmental protection, energy, healthcare, technology, pharmaceutical or biomedical sciences.  On another note, since you have a legal background, an additional option is to sign five to 10 busy law firms as clients and bill them hourly as an on-call legal assistant.

Regardless of which business you decide to pursue, starting out, all your time needs to be spent selling and marketing your service so you can build your client base.  As you gain clients, you will spend more time doing client work and less time selling and marketing; but, don’t ever stop selling and marketing, even if you have someone else handle it for you.  This is a big mistake many entrepreneurs make–once they see the money coming in, they stop marketing. Always market your business.

If you work until you get to 35 hours per week doing client projects at $45 per hour (a national average for the kind of services you are considering offering) then you’ll be at about $75,000 per year in revenue before taxes and other expenses, and you still have five to 10 hours per week (or more) for marketing.

As for your friends not paying you, they either refuse to compensate you because you haven’t officially launched the business and made it clear to them up front that you are now handling marketing or other projects for a living; or they won’t pay you because they think as your friend they are entitled to your talents for free.  Nip both of these in the bud.  First, make a decision about what kind of business you want to start and launch it, even if only part-time.  Second, stop doing free work!  Don’t even allow people to “pick your brain” unless they compensate you for a consultation.  Period.

Good luck!

Grace & Peace,

Felicia Joy

Felicia Joy is a nationally recognized entrepreneur who created $50 million in value for the various organizations and companies she served in corporate America before launching her business enterprise.  She is often called on to discuss the ins and outs of entrepreneurial success and has appeared on CNN, FOX and in other national press.  Felicia operates Ms. CEO Inc., a company that helps women entrepreneurs achieve more success, faster — as well as Joy Group International, LLC, a business development and consulting firm. Send her your questions at ask@feliciajoy.biz or www.twitter.com/feliciajoy.

Dear Felicia,

Based on a podcast I sent out, one person asked me how much I would charge to motivate his teens.  I have never charged for it, but now I am attempting to market myself as a motivational speaker since I already mentor teens through my own organization.  How do I charge?  By the hour or in a lump sum? Also, do I send a brochure stating my services?

Daphne W.

via Facebook

Dear Daphne,

Kudos to you for attracting a business opportunity without necessarily intending to do so!

There are different models for growing a motivational speaking business so it’s really up to you.  Overall, people are still very money conscious these days, and they want to know exactly what they are getting and how much it costs.  So, it would be most effective for you to offer speaking packages.  Create a list of several topics you can speak on and come up with catchy titles for each topic. Then, list what the teenagers will learn after hearing you speak on the subject.  Set a rate for each speaking topic. This takes the guesswork out of it for you and makes it easy for people to buy from your business.

As far as sending a brochure stating your services–you can do that, but creating a blog with WordPress or another free service would be more effective.  This way, other people can find you. You can quickly and easily update your speaking topics and fees without having to print new materials each time. This way, you will have a place to create a library of your podcasts, which is what landed your first paid speaking opportunity to begin with!

By using your blog, you can also take advantage of free social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to grow your business.  You can post video snippets from your talks—and video is the fastest growing way to market any kind of business today.

You can keep your blog updated with thoughts on your current list of topics, as well as new topics that inspire you.  Writing your thoughts will make you an even stronger speaker.  Over time, you can take all those blog postings, get them edited and create a book, which you can then sell at future speaking engagements for an added cash flow stream.

If you want something tangible you can hand out where ever you go, opt for a clean, well-designed business card, and maybe a 4×6 flyer with strong brand messaging. Don’t include details like pricing, which could change. Give people a reason to go to your website. You can order 1,000 or more of the 4×6 flyers for less than $100. Just search “flyers” on Google for printing options.

Congratulations and good luck!

Grace & Peace,

Felicia Joy

Felicia Joy is a nationally recognized entrepreneur who created $50 million in value for the various organizations and companies she served in corporate America before launching her business enterprise.  She is often called on to discuss the ins and outs of entrepreneurial success and has appeared on CNN, FOX and in other national press.  Felicia operates Ms. CEO Inc., a company that helps women entrepreneurs achieve more success, faster — as well as Joy Group International, LLC, a business development and consulting firm. Send her your questions at ask@feliciajoy.biz or www.twitter.com/feliciajoy.

Dear Felicia,

What are the best ways to encourage entrepreneurship and economic empowerment amongst our people?

Cameron R.

via Facebook

Dear Cameron,

The answer to what you’ve asked is complex and loaded.  A discussion about entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the black community is one we need to have honestly and mindfully.  Beyond simply talking about the answer, we’ve got to get busy and focused on taking consistent action.

Two years ago, the outlook for new entrepreneurial activity in the black community was looking up.  According to the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship, the greatest increase for business creation in 2009 was among African-Americans¹.  However, Kauffman’s latest research shows that both blacks and non-Latino whites experienced declines in entrepreneurial activity in 2010².

While I wish the business creation rate in our community was still on an upward trend — because the more businesses started by black people, the more likelihood of seeing more of them stick around — the worthier challenge is developing the strength, stature and staying power of the businesses we already own.  Therein lies the overall answer to your question.

The best way to encourage entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the black community is to make successful business ownership routine.  It needs to become an everyday, expected, normal part of our way of life.  This actually isn’t just an issue in the black community. Of all new businesses started in America, 96 percent of them fail within 10 years.  While that rate of failure cuts across the board, African-Americans are disproportionately affected because we lag behind all other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. for wealth creation³. And successful business ownership is the number one way to create first generation wealth⁴ so this is a double whammy.

To make business success more routine in the black community we have to:

• Increase our financial literacy;
• Start with a business plan;
• Constantly train, study and execute to become smarter, more skilled entrepreneurs;
• Grow our businesses with the intention of creating jobs because employer firms vastly out earn sole proprietors;
• Operate our businesses based on principles and numbers, not emotions;
• Learn to do business internationally;
• Prepare and compete to be number one period (not just in our community);
• Start or buy defensive businesses, which are ones that provide products and services that people need regardless of economic conditions;
• Start or buy businesses in the biggest wealth creating industries—such as technology, engineering, manufacturing and energy; and
• Spread this mentality and these behaviors among our family members and throughout our communities.

On another note, we also have to teach our children and youngest family members that entrepreneurship is just as noble and respectable an option — if not more so — as building a great career at a company that is a household brand.  Plus, we need to get children and teenagers in the habit of entrepreneurship early.  Instead of giving them allowance or sending them off to a minimum wage job, we have to challenge them to think of creative ways to earn their own money. Last but not least, we ought to be as eager to invest in their early businesses and entrepreneurial education as we are to invest in their college education.

Grace & Peace,

Felicia Joy

Sources:

¹ Kauffman Foundation – 2009 Index of Entrepreneurial Activity

² Kauffman Foundation – 2010 Index of Entrepreneurial Activity

³ U.S. Census Bureau – Wealth and Asset Ownership

⁴ University of California at Santa Cruz – Sociology Department

Felicia Joy is a nationally recognized entrepreneur who created $50 million in value for the various organizations and companies she served in corporate America before launching her business enterprise.  She is often called on to discuss the ins and outs of entrepreneurial success and has appeared on CNN, FOX and in other national press.  Felicia operates Ms. CEO Inc., a company that helps women entrepreneurs achieve more success, faster — as well as Joy Group International, LLC, a business development and consulting firm. Send her your questions at ask@feliciajoy.biz or www.twitter.com/feliciajoy.