Pinkett: Make money by starting a business

By Will Brown
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Long before he was a winner of network television's "The Apprentice," Randal Pinkett was an entrepreneur who used a thirst for knowledge to achieve financial independence. Pinkett was the keynote speaker during Friday's innovation and entrepreneurial workshop held in the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University.

"One of the statistics I cited was the average net worth of a white household versus the average net worth of a black household," Pinkett said in an interview later. "You can correlate net worth to wealth ... if you look at the statistics, the most viable pathway to wealth — seven out of every 10 make their millions by starting a business.

"If we want to start to close that gap and create more jobs, create more opportunities, we must create more entrepreneurs," Pinkett said.

Friday's event was an addition to a curriculum in the business school that encourages students to explore business ownership. Pinkett, the author of Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion Dollar Business , provided information about student entrepreneurship during a presentation. The book is a toolkit for things Pinkett wished he knew when we was a student at Rutgers University, obtaining the first of five degrees.

Lauryn Ware said she left Pinkett's presentation impressed. The senior MBA candidate said Pinkett's speech and other tidbits during the all-day workshop gave her confidence to become a business owner.

"Not doubting yourself is definitely a thing I did take to heart," Ware said. "In today's world, we as African-Americans are sometimes told we can't do it. A lot of people take others' criticism as a crutch, or a reason for not (succeeding.)"

Pinkett's success came as chairman and chief executive of BCT Partners, a Newark, N.J.-based consulting firm specializing in housing and community development, economic development and other services. His accomplishments inspired Ware in her quest to be an event planner.

Ware listened intently to Chris Workman's presentation on marketing potential and strategies for new businesses. Workman, an analyst with the Small Business Development Center, stressed consumers prefer the benefits of a product rather than a specific product.

Workman told attendees students are an attractive market because of the proliferation of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. He cited a recent FSU graduate who marketed his restaurant through social networking sites to preserve his capital for other expenses.

"What entrepreneurship is all about, it encourages the critical thinking and competence that all people should understand in executing a plan," said Alex Moore, associate dean of the school. "As companies have downsized (in this economy), you find the major corporations are being led by this new breed of entrepreneurship. It's important to me (and SBI) that we provide people who are entrepreneurs, to expose our students to these people."

# Contact business reporter Will Brown at (850) 599-2312 or wbrown@tallahassee.com.