Small-business owners share stories, give advice to Southeast students

As part of National Small Business Week, the Missouri Innovation Corp. at Southeast Missouri State University on Wednesday hosted a presentation titled "Dream Big, Start Small," where successful entrepreneurs shared their small-business stories with students.

The first speaker, Michael Rzeznik, is co-founder and chief technology officer of RoverTown. The app-based, student discount program offers coupons and deals to college students. It was founded in 2009 and serves more than 2.1 million college students at 100 colleges and universities nationwide.

Rzeznik co-founded the business while attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

"When I first started thinking about the concept of this kind of program, it was sort of abstract," he said. "There were other companies out there, and we really didn't have an idea of what we were doing."

But Rzeznik and his friends had a passion for building a company, so they started Rover Enterprises. Initially, they wanted to offer student discounts to businesses, as well as other products and services.

"We quickly realized we had to focus on one thing, and what we all knew a lot about were discounts," he said. "From there, we really started to build out a brand."

Rzeznik shared details of the obstacles the business had to overcome and its move to St. Louis, where the business was named the No. 1 Fastest Growing Startup in St. Louis in 2014 by the IT Entrepreneur Network.

Since 2009, the business has been through major changes and learned by trial and error. But Rzeznik encouraged students to pursue their ideas, citing the business' switch from using discount cards to becoming app-based.

"We knew there are a lot of apps out there, and we knew there was going to be a lot of competition," he said. "But there's always a way to do something better. If you have a good idea, don't be discouraged by competitors."

Caitlin Schlichting

Brian Schlichting

The second and third speakers, Caitlin and Brian Schlichting, own Digital Refresh, a digital marketing company based in Cape Girardeau.

Caitlin founded the business a year ago, and started out working in her basement with one client. Digital Refresh now has five employees and 20 clients and is on Broadway at Codefi.

Caitlin and Brian, who are married, attended the University of Missouri, and neither had plans to someday launch their own business. But after several years of working for other companies, Caitlin said they wanted something more.

They discussed the challenges and hardships that came with launching the business, from startup costs to finding clients and employees. Then they listed the benefits, including the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with owning a business.

"If you're considering starting a small business or becoming an entrepreneur, I think the No. 1 obstacle for a lot of people is, 'How do I transition from what I'm doing now to what I want to be doing without going broke in the meantime?'" she said. "You have to go through the squeeze period, and it's going to take everything out of you. But if you can get past that, the rest will be like a walk in the park."

Leah Powers

The fourth speaker, Leah Powers, detailed Southeast's new business incubator, Catapult Creative House. Powers, operations manager, said Catapult is entirely student-run and serves as a way for students to learn how to be entrepreneurs.

Its first floor contains an art gallery, retail store, classroom, printing stations and a beverage bar run by hospitality management students. Upstairs in the building is a conference room, a kitchenette area, collaborative "think space" and workspaces for various disciplines.

Catapult had a soft opening Friday, and its summer hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The hours will expand during the fall with its grand opening.

As Small Business Week continues, the Missouri Innovation Corp. at Southeast also will host a free small-business marketing workshop from 6 to 7 p.m. today at the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 920 Broadway.

klamb@semissourian.com

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