could explore the campus independently when no formal tours were scheduled. Keen Guides now is eyeing some 34,000 cultural institutions in the United States as potential customers and projecting it will be cash-flow positive within two years. It aims to have 125 paying customers by its third year in operation and is working hard to raise $300,000 in angel financing or venture capital so it can avoid tapping friends and family any further. Of course, even the best businesses rarely grow exactly according to plan. While Borchert and Franklin had the good fortune to have a friend with a winning idea and a nurturing school environment in which to launch it, they kicked off their first full year of business this year in a challenging business climate. The two remain as exhilarated and motivated as ever. They know they have to expand rapidly to gain a foothold, but the current market environment is creating challenges. Financing is difficult to come by, and nonprofit organizations, such as museums, are short on funds. “This is a really risky venture now,” Borchert admits. She says Keen Guides has responded by cutting back even further on its shoestring budget and pursuing partnerships with more established tour providers or book publishers that might benefit from a technology upgrade. Alic, who became an early investor in Keen Guides last year, says she remains so strong a supporter that she is considering making a second, larger investment, tough market conditions notwithstanding. “If they had started the company a year earlier, they’d probably be having an easier time,” she says. “But starting a business in tough times, you learn how to operate in a lean mode.” So far, Keen Guides’ management team is finding that the potential to create something from scratch and provide a valuable service outweighs the challenges of starting a business in a tough economy. “I could have continued to work for my old employer,” Franklin says, “but it is fun building your own thing and seeing how it grows.” w
Entrepreneurs in Training
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eorgetown University’s McDonough School of Business attracts students interested in working for established consulting companies and finance firms, as well as those intent on starting a business from scratch. Most recently, the ranks of the latter group are growing. Georgetown’s Entrepreneurship Network swelled from about 15 members last year to upwards of 60 in 2009. Brett Kornblatt, a first-year student in the MBA Full-Time Program, serves as co-president of the Entrepreneurship Network and believes the current economy has caused more students to contemplate nontraditional careers. “The risk
associated with creating or going to work for a very young startup may seem more acceptable,” says Kornblatt. The club hosts venture capital competitions for student entrepreneurs and maintains ties with local startups, including some formed by Georgetown alumni. Undergraduates at Georgetown University also can acquire management skills while working in student-owned businesses on campus as coffee shop baristas and convenience store cashiers. The Corp is a 27-year-old organization that runs these operations, which include a grocery store, a snack shop, three coffee shops, and a storage service. The Corp reinvests profits back into Georgetown.
Students hired to work for The Corp start in minimum-wage jobs but can advance into managerial roles, where they can help set prices and decide how to reinvest profits. Last year, the company earned $35,000, which it put toward student events, including the Harakat festival celebrating Arab culture. Although it is an incorporated business, The Corp also has a social mission and tries to keep prices low on the products it sells for students. “It is a large, complex operation,” says The Corp CEO and President Ryan Callahan, a junior at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. “There is a lot to keep track of all at once. You have to be able to hold it all in your mind and delegate.”
Students who work for The Corp gain management skills and provide campus services.
Andrea Orr is an author, blogger, and freelance writer who writes frequently about high-tech startups. She recently relocated to Washington, D.C., from San Francisco. Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
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