Ted Clements was a freshman at University School near Cleveland, he heard SpinBrush co-inventor John Spirk encourage students to look around and find a problem because chances are good that the problem – and an innovative design that addresses that problem – can equal an entrepreneurial opportunity. Ted was “hooked” and never looked at anything quite the same again.
But Ted also discovered quickly that simply spotting a problem does not guarantee entrepreneurial success. Soon after Mr. Spirk’s talk, he noticed that the family mailbox was knocked down every time the snowplow came through. Seeing a problem that equaled an opportunity, Ted came up with Mailbox Savers, a device with wood poles designed to keep plows at a distance.
“I was pretty excited and talked to all my neighbors about it,” he said. How many did he sell? “Ummm. No one bought one except my mom and dad.” Afterward, Ted sat down with his teacher, Greg Malkin, to figure out what he had done wrong. The lessons apparently stuck. By the time he was a junior, Ted won the school’s annual Entrepreneur’s Cup competition with his idea for a used books business called US Books.
Three years later, US Books is still in business, providing a learning laboratory for Malkin’s students. And Ted Clements is now a sophomore at Hamilton College, double-majoring in geology and environmental science. He is also the young entrepreneur behind Bar Code Connections, LLC. He launched the company last year to create QR codes – those black-and-white square codes that a smartphone camera can convert to a Web address and immediately direct the browser to visit (see our QR code for www.lemonadedayneo.org). The business is expanding with the development of a new platform on which clients can conveniently manage all their social media marketing, communications, and monitoring.
We asked Ted to reflect on his high school entrepreneurship experiences and share some of the valuable lessons that prepared him to launch Bar Code Connections as a college freshman.
What were some of the most useful learning experiences in high school?
The guest speakers were great. The stories were inspiring and made me look at things differently…. I remember John Zitzner [founder of Cleveland E Prep School] talking about the importance of teaching entrepreneurship and how it’s useful for all of life, not just if you decide to be an entrepreneur….Also, I really liked having workshops and speakers where you could learn and then the Entrepreneur’s Cup competition, which made it fun.
What is most helpful from teachers?
Mr. Malkin was really supportive. He gave me encouragement but what was really helpful was getting feedback. I remember I went to him with 10 or 12 ideas I had for one of the competitions, and he would ask critical questions, like ‘What expertise do you have to do this?’ and ‘Have you determined there’s a market for this?’ or ‘Do you know how to build the website that’s needed for this?’ His questions helped me focus on the best ideas.
How could schools teach a simple lesson about entrepreneurship?
Our school had a uniform, so sometimes we’d have “dress-down days.” Usually they’d be set up with a fundraiser, where kids paid to dress down and the money [was donated to a cause]. I always wondered why sometimes it was successful, where lots of kids dressed down and lots of money was raised. But sometimes it just wasn’t, no one remembered or seemed interested. You could learn a lot from running one of these – figuring out the right advertising and marketing, picking a good day and the right cause, having a strategy for collecting the money. That would be a simple way to get [some basic business lessons and] experience. Plus kids would gain confidence to go up to strangers and pitch. That’s really important. You have to be able to go up to anybody and talk about your ideas.
What do you wish you had learned in high school but did not?
One thing that comes to mind is some sessions or workshops on practical computer skills [like some larger high schools offer]. It would have been good to know more of that stuff so I could do it myself for my business. Not more computer technology classes, but just a way to learn the stuff you need for business, like building a website or using different databases
Back to Venture Adventure Contents