Like most college kids, John Burgess and Brett Bollenbacher spent their years at Northwood University cramming for exams, eating too much pizza, and hanging out with friends.
But what sets these two young men apart is that their college years also included growing their own company,
Eden Computing, LLC, and then selling the Midland-based business for a profit -- all before donning caps and gowns earlier this year.
Like many entrepreneurs, their company began as a hobby.
Acquaintances since elementary school, the pair joined forces with a third friend, Kurt Bouwhuis, when they were sophomores at Midland High School. They began tinkering with computer programming.
"We didn't start out trying to make money. We were just filling a need with something we had fun doing," recalls Bollenbacher, who graduated in May from
Northwood with a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship and is now working with two former classmates to get their start-ups off the ground.
At Midland High, they competed at the state and national level in Business Professionals of America, a student club, and designed a website for one of the club's competitions.
"When a local nonprofit saw our (BPA) presentation, they asked if we would be interested in working with them," says Burgess, who graduated in May from Northwood with a bachelor's degree in business and is now pursuing an MBA at University of Notre Dame.
Eden incorporated in 2006, and found a niche in Midland. The company provided area clients with website development and complete computer care services, which included monthly maintenance contracts for residential customers.
They took on another partner, Tim Meissner, to do graphic design for clients while the four attended Northwood University. Eventually, Bouwhuis decided to pursue a career in economics and left the company at the end of 2008.
Their fledgling company's client list grew as their reputation spread.
"Our business grew strictly on referrals because we believed that if we were doing a good job, our phones would keep ringing," Bollenbacher says.
Running their own company while attending Northwood and working regular part-time jobs did not make for an easy college career.
"We did it with early mornings, late nights, and a bit of caffeine," says Burgess. "You work as hard as you can during the day and then you can have a life. Nothing happens at college until 9 or 10 at night anyway, so we could still go out and have fun."
Eventually, Eden acquired more than 170 computer clients and 30 small business/non-profit website clients such as the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, Great Lakes Safety Training Center in Midland, and Performance Games in Bay City.
But as their senior year in college approached, they knew that jobs and additional degrees awaited them, so Burgess and Bollenbacher decided to sell Eden Computing.
"We sold because each leg of our business planned on moving in separate directions after college. We sold rather than dissolved because it was important that our clients had someone to help them that had similar values," Bollenbacher says.
SAMSA, a website development and IT solutions company in Saginaw, purchased Eden in late 2009 -- six months before Burgess and Bollenbacher earned their college diplomas. Burgess worked with SAMSA for several months after the sale to better transition their clients to the new firm.
Northwood took notice of the pair's feat, giving them the 2010 Entrepreneurship Award, presented to them by James Hop, the Entrepreneurship Chair at Northwood University, in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the area of entrepreneurship and academic excellence.
Bollenbacher says he really enjoyed developing Eden Computing and loves being an entrepreneur.
"We are moving back into a growth phase here in Michigan, which allows people who have been sitting on their ideas to go after them and have a better shot at success," says Bollenbacher, who, while happy to be working with others on developing their ideas, plans on starting his own business again down the road.
Burgess, already in the midst of an intense program at Notre Dame, looks forward to his next entrepreneurial venture.
"People always say, 'Are you born with (an entrepreneurial spirit) or is it taught.' I think it's a good mix of both," he says. "It's a whole way of thinking. Every time Brett and I look at something we always look at how to improve it."
Margaret Essex is a freelance writer in Mid Michigan. She has worked as a journalist and an editor during her career.