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

SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS

Lolita Sweet was discontented with the career prospects offered by corporate America. "I've seen people work for 10 or 15 years only to be downsized right before they are due to receive their pensions," says Sweet, the 30-year-old owner of San Francisco-based BAYE Limousines. Sweet left corporate America after having worked in accounting and as a managerial assistant at several companies. The California State University graduate, who has a degree in business management, was disgusted with the lack of reward and recognition. "The most anyone was willing to pay me was $10 an hour, and most weren't that high," she recalls. "Why should I give 110% to a company that doesn't appreciate my work or even offer me a decent retirement plan?"

In 1992, Sweet decided to start her own business, a record company. But the record deals were slower in coming than the job offers, and she took a job as a limousine driver to make ends meet.

After her first night on the job, Sweet was amazed at how lucrative limousine driving was. That's when she decided to start her own limousine company. In February 1993, with help from her mother and brother, the San Francisco-native purchased her first limousine for $14,000, a 1988 10-passenger stretch Lincoln Continental - and BAYE (which stands for Bay Area Young Entrepreneurs) Limousines was born. The company grossed only $24,000 in its first year, and much of that went to repair the limousine.

In the beginning, Sweet was a one-woman enterprise managing everything, from advertising to negotiating service contracts. "At times it got overwhelming but I had my mother and brother to help me," says Sweet. Her brother helped drive the limousine and her mother provided mechanical expertise when the car needed service. "My mother kept me from being overcharged by mechanics," she explains. Sweet's mother, who formerly worked for a car dealership, buys and sells used cars as a hobby.

For the first two years, Sweet operated as an independent limousine driver. In 1996, she decided to expand her company and, fortunately, there was an opening for limousine services at the San Francisco International Airport. The permit, however, required that the applicant have at least 10 limos and drivers. Sweet found nine drivers willing to subcontract their services to BAYE Limousines in short order, and won the permit. One of only eight limousine companies permitted to advertise in the airport, BAYE's business picked up sharply within months. Today, the company uses 16 limousines and has 18 drivers. Last year, revenues reached $312,000.

RACING TO REVENUES

Craig Reynolds, 25, also felt the sting of corporate America, but in a much different fashion. Reynolds, an AA Pro BMX Racer, is ranked in the top 20 athletes on the bicycle racing circuit. Typically, successful racers receive sponsorship from bicycle and other BMX-related manufacturers to ride, wear and endorse their products. Sponsors pay for the riders to attend races and generally include performance bonuses. Most recently, Reynolds was sponsored by Badd & Co., a bicycle manufacturing firm.