Entrepreneurs Who Found an Early Start is Best

Should a college graduate in the current economy plunge into entrepreneurship or get started in the corporate cubical world? Two graduates of Boston College are glad they didn’t wait too long to pursue an entrepreneurial dream.

Starting a new business becomes more difficult when it involves leaving the safety of a regular paycheck. In addition, secure income becomes particularly important as we surround ourselves with personal obligations. What our young entrepreneurs realized is that their youth was the ideal fallback plan. That is, if their business venture was not successful, they were still young enough to re-enter the employment market in an entry-level job.

This realization led the two young men to starting WePay, an online system for groups to manage their funds. While building the company, the entrepreneurs met their limited personal financial obligations with temporary part-time freelance work. Mostly, they focused on building their new business. As WePay moved forward, the entrepreneurs raised nearly $2,000,000 from angel investors in a little more than a year after incorporating.

WePay service was launched in March 2010. It allows individuals and groups around the world to establish accounts and collect money in a variety of ways, such as credit cards or paper checks. A debit card is then used to spend money in the account. WePay has thousands of users. They include sports franchises, fraternities, and even groups of roommates who manage shared costs for rent and utilities. WePay fees range from 50 cents to 3.5 percent of each payment received.

Consequently, our entrepreneurs strongly recommend that young college graduates not delay incorporating new companies to launch their business ideas. All decisions involve risk, but that risk increases when you have more to lose when you’re older. Young entrepreneurs have little to lose and much more to gain from the experience of operating a business rather than going to graduate school or sitting in a cubicle.

There’s no better time to start a business than when you’re young. Before you pile up reasons not to create a new corporation, such as disrupting a career path or having family obligations. Best of all, youth is the time when you can survive on little personal income and have the capacity to effortlessly work long hours.