Learn how to become an entrepreneur at MU Startups meeting Jan. 28

by Sarah Woodhurst, posted Jan. 27, 2010

If you are interested in learning about entrepreneurship, great networking opportunities and free pizza, then mark your calendar for the Student Entrepreneurship Resource Forum hosted by MU Startups at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28. The meeting will take place in 115 Cornell Hall.

There will be about a dozen representatives from organizations on campus speaking for five to eight minutes each about their organizations and how to get involved.

According to its Web site, MU Startups is “focused on helping foster entrepreneurship at Mizzou and in mid-Missouri.”

“We hope to gauge the interest in student entrepreneurship at this event, so a large turnout would be great to help spur the growth of a great entrepreneurial culture and get more awareness out for the interest in entrepreneurship among students, as well as faculty and staff,” said Anthony Harris, marketing and business development analyst at MU and MU Startups developer. “Hopefully that will lead to even more resources being dedicated to entrepreneurship.”

One person who has put entrepreneurship abilities into good use is Steven Adamski, a senior food science and nutrition major. Adamski and Sarah Newsome, a recent CAFNR graduate in food science and nutrition, have developed their own granola bar business called Herbal Oats.

Herbal Oats is a granola bar brand that comes in four different varieties: Immunity, Focus, Energy and Strength.  According to an article featured on Mizzou Wire, Adamski and Newsome have been recognized by Chancellor Brady Deaton for entrepreneurship and were awarded special scholarships for their efforts.

“I was interested in providing a new product that wasn't on the market,” Adamski said. “It seemed very apparent to me that consumers did not know what the food they were putting into their bodies was doing to their body.  I wanted consumers to have a greater knowledge of what they ate and how that affected their mood and, ultimately, their lives.”

Adamski says that he enjoys the problem-solving aspect of entrepreneurship and being able to come up with creative solutions to the problems that arise.

“We would like to grow our business organically and keep our impact on the environment in mind as we grow our business,” Adamski said. “We have plans to become a larger production business, say 400,000 granola bars a year, but we’re currently satisfied with small steps because we learn so much about business all the time. If we knew half of what we know now at the beginning of our endeavors, we would have saved ourselves a lot of time and money.”

Information about starting your own business and how to handle problems that frequently arise in entrepreneurship endeavors will be readily available at the Student Entrepreneurship Resource Meeting. MU Startups also looks forward to receiving feedback from attendees regarding what resources would help in starting or growing your own business. There is no registration needed for this event.

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