By Jennifer Adkins, Staff Writer

More young adults are starting their own small businesses according to Kathryn Foster, director of small business and entrepreneurship at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Nowadays people are coming in the door that are young and tech savvy. (They have) the desire, drive and energy it takes to get a business going,” Ms. Foster said.

Kevin Burke, 23, opened Varsity Team Sports and Apparel on East Brainerd Road while still attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“As a young person, the biggest misconception is that being a business owner is easy,” he said “People have a misconception that just because you own a business you can do whatever you want to do.

“I’ve got the mentality that I want to work for myself and be my own boss, and with that comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of personal sacrifices. It’s not a 40-hour work- week. My partner and I have worked 50-, 60-, 70-hour workweeks since we opened.”

Ms. Foster said it takes a “different breed” of person to become an entrepreneur. “You have to be able to sleep at night knowing you have everything on the line, and you have to be comfortable with risk,” she said.

Chattanooga businessman Harry Phillips, 45, said a good entrepreneur seizes an opportunity.

Mr. Phillips opened his first business, ProStorage, in 1998 to fill what he saw was as a void in the market.

Now he is renovating a former casino boat to become a dinner-cruise boat because there is a market for it on Chattanooga’s riverfront, he said.

“It’s your job to create income and take advantage of opportunities when they are placed in front of you,” Mr. Phillips said. “It’s nonstop.”

Ms. Foster said business owners have to understand how to turn a profit, how to assemble a management team and how to navigate taxes.

“Everything needs to be thought out, and the beginning is the best time to do it,” she said. “People need to have the skills to find the right resources in the community. They need determination and money.”

Mr. Burke said before he started his business, he and his partner had a brainstorming session and wrote out a business plan covering everything from goals and objectives to how they were going to implement their strategies.

“Do your homework,” he said. “Make sure you are prepared. Don’t rush into anything, no matter what you think you are getting into. There is a huge financial risk no matter what you do. Whatever your definition of financially free is, (that’s) what you want to get to.”

The toughest challenge in owning a small business, according to Mr. Phillips, is letting go of control and delegating tasks to the right people.

“What you find in a small business is you have to be willing to step aside and pay the going day rate for good, qualified people, and that’s a challenge. That’s tough because it’s your money,” he said.

The Small Business Development Center at the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce rents space for startup businesses and works with entrepreneurs for three years until they are financially stable, according to Ms. Foster.

The center has helped 500 businesses set up in the last 20 years, and 440 have been successful, she said, including some that have been sold.

“The whole purpose of going in business is to be able to sell it and make a profit,” she said.

E-mail Jennifer Adkins at jadkins@timesfreepress.com

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