UH student consultants lift neighborhood entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship knows no stereotype.
Whether it’s an immigrant family opening a restaurant with mom’s recipes, a second-hand shop in a poor neighborhood, or a computer programmer with a killer app, entrepreneurs come from every industry in every community at every economic level.
All businesses should start with a good idea, but nothing can fritter away potential faster than poor execution.
After decades of research, University of Houston business professor Saleha Khumawala wondered if her students could make a difference for the entrepreneurs in the impoverished community around their campus.
“Getting money is one thing, but how do you use that money?” Khumawala asked. “At the end of the day, it’s not the money; capacity is what they need. Our program is based on that fundamental concept that what they need is education.”
Khumawala founded Stimulating Urban Renewal through Entrepreneurship, or SURE, where students working for a grade serve as consultants to four entrepreneurs who have a concrete business idea, a demonstrated commitment and are either from or willing to serve a community in need of investment. Faculty and business experts serve as supervisors.
“They help you look at every aspect,” said Sheletha Taylor, a fashion designer who makes custom dresses in Third Ward. “There are a lot of ways that you can fall in the cracks, especially in the financial part of it. This program makes sure that you’re tapping on everything you need to know in order to be successful.”
Taylor spoke with me during a break from the weekly Saturday morning sessions on the UH main campus. Thirty-five students, sitting alongside 140 entrepreneurs from across Greater Houston, listened as Rebecca Schultz from Texas Dow Employees Credit Union explained what she looks for as a commercial loan officer.
While the entrepreneurs have more life experience, the students have formal education and access to UH resources that can lead to smarter decisions. Judy Young, who completed the program and now volunteers for it, said students are a valuable sounding board. Khumawala said everyone benefits.
“You have a student that has a stake that is also developing these key skills and real-world application through experiential learning by consulting with these entrepreneurs,” she explained. “The entrepreneurs are also getting professional-grade business plans and developing relationships. They are getting guidance and oneon-one consulting.”
Charlie Becker, SURE’s assistant director, compares the program to a teaching hospital, where faculty and staff provide valuable services to the community while giving students experience. The students’ grade depends on the entrepreneurs’ satisfaction.
“In the past, we worked solely with underserved communities,” Becker said, “but we’ve grown to where we still serve a lot of those same people, but we also have people who are very academically and professionally accomplished but are still culturally and economically tied to those communities.”
Charisma Milledge has a doctorate in electrical engineering and works from home, but as a new mom, she wanted a place where she could take her child, get a coffee and keep working. She enrolled in SURE to learn the skills she needs to open a Java Mama Indoor Play & Café franchise near her downtown Houston home.
“I’ve never even seen myself as a business person or an entrepreneur until I saw this need that nobody was filling,” she said. “The financial part is probably the hardest part. The SURE program is really helpful in getting down to the nuts and bolts of building a business plan, and it’s forced me to do it as part of our homework.”
SURE has trained more than 350 students and 1,200 entrepreneurs who are operating 250 businesses. Most participants are women, African American or Hispanic from low-income communities.
The University Economic Development Association awarded SURE its top award this year, and Gov. Greg Abbott recently gave it his Higher Education Community Impact Award.
SURE meets on Saturdays to accommodate work schedules, and sessions include formal lectures, practical exercises and one-on-one time between students and entrepreneurs. Outside subject matter experts like Schultz are critical, the directors said.
Khumawala and Becker rely on outside grants to cover the roughly $210,000 in expenses. Becker says they receive far more applications than they can accommodate, and almost all applicants learned about the program from previous participants.
For many people, starting their own business and becoming their own boss is the ultimate dream. But most will fail due to entirely predictable pitfalls that they could have avoided with a little bit of education.
Small businesses enrich and define our communities. Programs like SURE can make a difference for not only the students who learn valuable life lessons but also for the entrepreneurs who make our world vibrant.