From buppie to biz-wiz: forget corporate America - Generation X is choosing the entrepreneurial path to success - includes a list of organizations for young entrepreneurs - The New Tycoons - Cover Story

Black Enterprise, Jan, 1997 by Tariq K. Muhammad

In May of 1994, only three months after Warren saw the ad in the newspaper, their TCBY Treat/Mrs. Fields Cookies joint franchise opened for business in the airport. Within 45 days, the team recovered their $33,000 down payment on the $200,000 start-up loan from Host Marriott. Baker quit his job at Procter & Gamble as soon as they were approved for the franchise, and Warren left the newspaper just before the store opened. At first, they often worked 80-hour weeks, but Baker says it was worth it. "To me, entrepreneurship is all about enjoying a bigger piece of the pie you create." From May to December of 1994, the store grossed nearly $400,000. Sales shot up to $830,000 in 1995 and the trio pulled down $1.2 million in sales in the next year.

Motivated by the success of their first store, they attempted to duplicate its success in another location. In May of last year, Baker and Warren opened a second TCBY/Mrs. Fields location in the Tower Place mall in downtown Cincinnati - this time without a third partner. They took out a $125,000 loan, which they secured with $25,000 cash, in order to build the second store. This new venture grossed $250,000 between May and December of 1996, and Warren expects 1997 sales to top $500,000. Together the stores have nearly 30 employees, mostly African Americans. Warren manages the day-to-day operations of both stores, and Baker - who now lives in Philadelphia - acts as a consultant and handles much of the accounting for the businesses.

Baker and Warren's decision to leave corporate America was typical of many in this new generation of entrepreneurs. "Dissatisfaction with the corporate world is cited as one of the main reasons for members of our organization," says Richard Bright, marketing director for the Virginia-based Young Entrepreneurs' Organization. (YEO is composed of entrepreneurs under the age of 40 who are founders, co-founders, owners or majority stockholders of companies grossing $1 million or more per year.) "Our organization grew 40% in 1994 and 67% in 1995," says Bright, who expects YEO to show a similar gain for 1996.

A member of YEO, 32-year-old Marc Cormier is CEO of AeroTech Services Inc., an $8.5 million security firm based in Queens, New York. Started in 1986, AeroTech provides security guards and security-related services, such as closed-circuit television installation and document destruction. A member of YEO since 1994, Cormier attends classes in entrepreneurship sponsored by the organization and finds the resources an invaluable asset in his role as an entrepreneur.

"YEO lets me benefit from the experience of my peers, who are also entrepreneurs and have already gone through situations I may be going through," says Cormier. He seeks to expand his firm into the Midwest, and already has over 300 employees in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. Cormier also uses YEO as a worldwide network. "When I'm looking to enter new markets, I already have a contact in any part of the world because of my affiliation with YEO."