Getting through the first year. (entrepreneurship).

Starting a business is somewhat like preparing for a final exam. There's organizing test information, managing study time, and then taking the actual test. But sometimes, despite taking careful steps before opening shop, the first year can still be a learning process. Ebele Mora, the 18-year-old president of Imprint Design Services, a graphic design and printing company in Columbus, Ohio, did lots of groundwork before forming her company in May 2000. Even with laying a foundation, Ebele learned that a big part of running a business is trial and error.

DEVELOPING THE IDEA

Ebele had the right idea when she decided to enter an NAACP ACT-SO Entrepreneurship competition in her state in April 2000. Prior to entering, she studied concepts such as defining her business and its services, learning basic business vocabulary, and marketing and management. She had to write a 20-page business plan and make a five-minute presentation in front of six judges. Needless to say, Ebele's efforts won Imprint Designs the competition. She also took second place in the ACT-SO nationals in July of that year. In all, Ebele has participated in few business competitions. "Those competitions help me define my ideas." she explains, "Each year when I compete. I write a new business plan. In 2001, I called it A Plan for Success ... a Plan for Improvement and Development for My Business in its Next Year.

FINDING THE CUSTOMERS

Ebele's business, which creates materials such as flyers, invitations, business cards, bookmarks, and program booklets, made $3,000 after its first year. For three years prior to starting Imprint Design Services, she volunteered to design the printed materials for a women's arts and community organization. Once Ebele decided to start a company, she had 12 clients waiting in the wings from referrals from the women's organization. Soon, hairstylists and ether self-employed individuals were calling for her services. "Once the word got out about the business," Ebele says. "I began to connect with several mentors." One of those mentors was a graphic designer who owned a software business. Because she used the family's Gateway desktop computer, printer, and paper, Ebele was able to start her company without any money. Within the first month of doing graphic designs, she made $100. Thinking smart, she reinvested the money and bought paper and ink cartridges.

CHARGING THE RIGHT PRICE

Even though Ebele had a fair share of work coming in, there were several things she hadn't completely figured out before starting some of the projects. She was very excited, for instance when a local salon asked her to create business cards for 14 of its stylist. But Ebele didn't figure out what the project would cost her before giving the customer a price. "I hadn't figured out how many pages I could print per ink cartridge," she says. "And even though I printed the cards at home. I also hadn't factored in the cost of having to get them cut at Kinkos." When done, the job cost about $220, barely leaving $25 in profit for all of the hard work. She raised the cost of the business cards several times before coming up with a price that would give her a larger profit. Ebele decided to change a few other things too,

For starters, she began buying ink to fill the prissier cartridges instead of purchasing a new cartridge every time. She also found a supplier that sold paper at a much cheaper rate. In addition, Ebele decided she wouldn't print less than 400 cards per customer. After determining that, it would cost her $14 to produce that many cards, she set her, cost at $28 per order, leaving her with a $14 profit. "The price I arrived at was cost-effective for the customers and profitable for me," she says.

Ebele also stresses that, at times, she didn't put enough value on her work. In the beginning, no matter how complex or time-consuming the job was, she charged every customer $10 for doing design work on flyers. After realizing she wasn't making much per hour for her efforts, she increased her rate to $15 for a simple flyer and $30 for a more complex one.

EXPANDING THE COMPANY

Another lesson Ebele learned early on was realizing her company's potential to grow. When her business first started, she didn't provide printing services because she didn't know it could be profitable. But after getting a $500 grant in April 200 2001 from the Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Kaufman Foundation, she bought two more printers and expanded her operation. She now prints the flyers and other orders and is able to offer customers smaller print quantities for a good price. As a result of this expansion, 50% of Imprint Design's revenues comes from printing services now. Other services the company provides are cutting, folding, and lamination.

A senior at Bishop Hartley High School, Ebele plans to attend college this fall. While she'll still play a part in operating the business, she'll leave the hands-on work to her younger sister, who often helps with large printing jobs. She wants to major in accounting and plans to learn Web design while in college. "For now," she says, "I want to keep my business going while learning as much in other areas as I can."

making money in printing
typical job: 1,000 gift certificates

work performed                                cost to business

printing                                                $15.00
printing cost for 250 pages in one color:
paper                                                  $ 12.50
ink                                                    $ 37.50

total expenses                                         $ 37.50

time cost at $10 per hour

cutting--15 minutes:                                   $  2.50
design--25 minutes:                                    $  4.25
total time cost:                                       $  6.75

profit


charged salon for entire job                           $150.00
total expenses for project                             $ 44.25

total profit                                           $105.75

RELATED ARTICLE: breaking it down.

MAKE MONEY

"Always consider your profit margin" says Ebele. "I've never bought more supplies in a month than I needed. The business never had a loss. I always reinvested the money for supplies and took profits afterward."

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR TIME

"I try not to let running the business conflict with other aspects of my life, such as school," Ebele says. "The same amount of energy that goes into school is the same amount that goes into the business and extracurricular activities."

DEVISE A SYSTEM FOR COLLECTING CASH

"I would tell people they could pay me later, and I'd end up having to call them back about it. That was a constant stress. Make sure you structure your payment schedule," she advises.

AVOID LOSING CASH FLOW

Not everyone is as fortunate as Ebele, who didn't need start-up cash. Peter H. Seckel, a counselor at SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and author of the book Starting and Managing Your Own Business in New Jersey (SCORE, $21.50), suggests that you start saving money early. "Most customers don't pay until the job is finished, which means you need working capital," he says.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR ADVICE

"Even if you only have a vague idea of what you want to do year's from now, feel flee to discuss this early," says Seckel. You can get free, confidential advice from SCORE, which is sponsored by the Small Business Administration. Visit www.sba.org for more information.