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Entrepreneurs Share Experiences


Robinson-with-class

Richard Robinson with students in entrepreneurship class

One is the largest U.S. importer of Brazilian mangoes, two turned a hobby into a half-million dollar business, and one is a director of a leading China sourcing company.  What do they all have in common?  They are all alumni of the Moore School, all are alumni of Dr. Richard Robinson's entrepreneurship class, and all returned recently to speak to graduate students in Robinson's fall '08 Global Entrepreneurship class.
Entrepreneur-Alums
Entrepreneurs (l to r) Greg Golden (MIBS '00),
Greg Talbot (BS ’92, JD/MIBS ’98), Aimee Talbot (MIBS ’01), and Whit Kelly (MBA '00)

 

 

 


Safe Sourcing

Whit Kelly (MBA'00) is a top executive with PassageMaker, a company that specializes in feasibility studies and production coordination for U.S. companies wanting to do business in China. The company was founded by another Moore alumnus, Mike Bellamy (MIBS'00).  Kelly, who is based in Salem, Virginia, where he also is CEO of Salem Vent International, Inc., serves as the director of PassageMaker North America (while Bellamy is based in Shenzhen, China).  Both men have 15 years of experience working in China.

Sorting through government bureaucracy and locating reliable vendors in China can be a complex and confusing process. PassageMaker bills itself as a "trust-based and transparent sourcing" company, which distinguishes it from other trade models, Kelly said.  "We've obtained pretty much every legal document you can imagine" for operating in China, and PassageMaker has developed a list of approved vendors with whom they work.

PassageMaker conducts a feasibility study for its clients and ranks Chinese vendors for parts manufacturing. Customers then have the option to continue to work through PassageMaker to coordinate production.  "Nine out of ten clients take us up on that offer," Kelly said.

At the core of the company’s business philosophy, Kelly emphasized to the audience of International MBA students, is the notion of trust and transparency, "something no one else is doing," and with his business model, he added, "there are no constraints -- everything we do is a fee-based service; we’re not floating any cash."

Golden Fruit

Greg Golden (MIBS '00) researched potential products for import his first year in graduate school at Moore.  He was particularly interested in imports from Brazil, having lived there for a time with his “sister,” Patricia (a former exchange student who lived with Golden’s family when he was 10) and her husband Gilmar Mello, who would eventually become Golden’s partner. They decided the mango market had the most potential for growth.

While on internship during his second year in the MIBS (Master of International Business Studies) program, Golden helped identify importers for a mango grower, which resulted in profitability for both parties.  The grower asked Golden to become his broker for the American market.

While taking Robinson’s class, Golden wrote a business plan ("best 1,000 hours of work I ever did") and thus, Amazon Produce Network was born.

The company had $500,000 in sales its first year and this year, Golden said, sales are expected to total $20 million.  Like Whit Kelly, Golden touts his company’s "transparency."

"We do a good job of documenting" costs, including freight, warehousing, sales, and commission, Golden said.  "The rest goes back to the grower."

Golden said having his company based in New Jersey -- "a major logistics hub" -- and much of his market in the Northeast is a major advantage. For the future, the Amazon partners are looking at contracts with major chain stores.

Glad to Go to Work

Aimee Talbot (MIBS ’01) and husband Greg Talbot (BS ’92, JD/MIBS ’98) are the owners of EuroLux Antiques in Newberry, South Carolina.

The Talbots’ interest in antiques grew out of a weekend hobby - shopping antique stores to furnish a newlywed apartment while living in Germany, where Greg worked for the American company Terex. They "fell in love" with European antiques and began to consider the idea that fellow Americans might enjoy them, too.

After considerable research and number crunching (Greg’s specialty), and with capital from "family, friends, and fools," they launched EuroLux Antiques.

At first, the couple traveled and displayed their furnishings at trade shows around the Southeast, but found that model to be too labor intensive and time consuming.  "Traveling to trade shows was keeping us from what we should have been doing," Aimee said. The couple plowed their energy into developing a Web site and online sales, enduring a drop in sales at first, but then doubling sales in a short time.

"Now 95 percent of our business is online," Aimee said. "And, we have sold in 48 states and 24 countries."

Greg has since acquired computer programming and Web site development skills and is constantly working to improve operations.  For other programming challenges, he has outsourced; for example, locating a programmer in China who designed a program to make downloads of product descriptions on Amazon more fast and efficient.

For the future, Greg and Aimee are considering providing sales services to other small businesses as an offshoot of their current business. 

Living Lean Is Worth Rewards

All of the alumni entrepreneurs spoke of living lean in the beginning.  "For a year, we didn’t take a day off," said Aimee Talbot.  "But, there hasn’t been a day in four-and-a-half years that I didn’t look forward to getting up and going to work in my own business."

Greg Golden spent his first year in business driving around the country in his personal car, meeting face to face with buyers.  He had faith in an "excellent" business plan, which grew out of his experience at the Moore School and with Richard Robinson’s help.

The work is worth the rewards, said Golden. In the end, he said, "We developed the reputation we were striving for."

Gail Crouch
September 2008