Biz school student launches discount professional business services

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Apr 25, 2003 by John O'Connor

Companies looking to find professional business services at cut- rate prices have a new option, thanks to a University of Maryland business school student.

MBAFinder.net links companies needing a cost-benefit analysis, budget work, market research or other services with master of business administration students eager for experience -- and a few extra dollars -- at the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The idea was the brainchild of Smith students facing bleak job prospects. It uses the business model developed by 28-year-old Asher Epstein and his brother Jeremy with their site SilentFrog -- which offers a similar service to find odd-job help.

"This is an idea conceived by Smith School students for Smith School students," Epstein said. "Instead of going to ... the Ernst and Young's of the world for two or three hundred dollars an hour, you can hire these qualified people for $20 or $30 an hour."

Small companies in particular, Epstein said, could benefit from MBAFinder because many only hire an MBA grad every few years and, unlike the big companies, lack the budgets to recruit on business school campuses. Students benefit, he said, because it's easier to go after one large company looking to hire 50 grads than 50 small businesses looking to hire one.

If MBAFinder works, Epstein said, both can meet online.

"The job market is bad and doing an MBA is an expensive proposition," said Sanjay Arwal, a 28-year-old MBA student who helped develop the idea. "It's definitely beneficial for them in that they get to sample students before considering hiring them."

The site was conceived in February and launched last month. So far, Epstein said, about a third of his class -- between 50 and 60 students -- have signed up, and the site has negotiated for a few small projects. Because companies hire interns for the summer, Arwal said, MBAFinder had to go online now or would have had to wait until next year.

Both Epstein and Arwal credited the school career services office for support.

"The concept that Asher came up with is excellent," said Michael Agnew, assistant dean for career management. "These are short-term projects. They need knowledgeable talent. ... It's perfect for this economy."

The Smith School is ranked by some as a top-20 business school, Agnew said, and most students come in with five years of business experience. While MBAFinder is not perfect for every company's needs, he said, there are plenty of companies with the right projects that could benefit from students with auditing, chemical engineering or other backgrounds.

Smith recently began a partnership with Baltimore executive recruiting firm Stanton Chase to find jobs for MBA grads -- the first partnership of its kind in the country.

MBAFinder is not unique, said Agnew, who has worked at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business as well as Minnesota and Michigan State universities, but is another resource for the school and students.

"The small companies don't come to us because they're not geared for it," he said. "If they're getting a person every five years, we can't invest. ... I've got to put my money in the right place."