Students at Kennesaw State are seeing the benefits of being their own boss with the support, resources and funding of KSU.
KSU’s Robin and Doug Shore Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center has helped students thrive as entrepreneurs and provided a multitude of resources like funding, networking and self-promotion opportunities to students kick-starting their own businesses.
The Spring Arts Festival is what inspired senior Digital Animation student Andy Hollingworth to start selling his art at markets. As a free-admission celebration of local artists, the festival is one way that KSU helps artists start and promote their businesses, according to Hollingworth. His art will also be available at Ecologie’s Fall Market this year.
Rubin Liggin is an Interactive Design major who runs Dismembered Threads, a vintage re-sell company. Liggin said that KSU also provides a great community to network in. Classes, meeting people on campus, clubs, and professors are some of the ways that Liggin said students can make connections at KSU. Liggin said he was inspired as an entrepreneur to learn business operations and invest in his passion.
Hollingworth and Liggin both mentioned that social media is an integral part of starting a business. Hollingworth said that it has been one of the main ways to get his name out there as an artist, such as posting what fairs he will be at and his new designs and projects. Liggin uses Instagram to run as well as promote his business by selling clothes on the platform.
Hollingworth said “being able to be independent as an artist and make a living off my own work rather than having to sell myself to a corporation” was also a benefit of being an entrepreneur.
Changes in technology and COVID-19 have caused a large societal shift in how people view the workplace. The Edelman Trust Barometer shows that 49% currently distrust CEOs, according to over 36,000 respondents of a survey distributed across 28 countries. Elements Global Services also conducted a study that found a “growing lack of trust between employees and employers“
As an individual artist, Hollingworth said it takes more to promote his work since it is a solo operation that can get expensive quickly.
By providing new businesses with up to $20,000 in starting capital, the Mookerji Inventing Fund has supported students in funding their technology-based start-ups through Sid and Sophie Mookerji’s annual $120,000 donation to the university, according to a KSU press release from 2020. The fund also provides mentors and advising to qualifying students.
The program also offers workshops and information sessions throughout the year for interested individuals. Information sessions are virtual and held four times a month.
For students looking to promote or fund their own start-ups, details on applications and events are available on the Shore Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center website.
