By Carolyn Peterson
carolyn@newsroom.byu.edu
When Andrew Carnegie was introduced to the telegraph, he used the new technology to make him a millionaire.
Today's entrepreneurs are finding out that the Internet is a modern day telegraph, and they're using it to make money.
Twenty-two-year-old Curt Cloyd is the senior Internet consultant for Professional Marketing International. The company helps small businesses convert to the Web.
Cloyd was originally working on a degree in organizational behavior at UVSC. He attended one semester.
'I felt like they were teaching me to be an employee,' Cloyd said, 'I didn't want that.'
After leaving school, he found a classified ad about a small start-up company. After being hired, he said he learned as much as he could about the business.
His previous experience included some self-taught Web knowledge and business expertise.
'E-commerce is so brand new that you can figure it out for yourself. No one knows enough about it to say, 'no, you're wrong, that's wrong,'' Cloyd said.
Owen Cherrington, director of the e-commerce center at BYU said the Internet is a good place to start a business.
He said there are two reasons the Internet is so appealing to entrepreneurs.
The first is that the Internet allows small business owners to reach a wide, global audience with a relatively small cost of entry.
'The Internet provides an avenue for (entrepreneurs) to develop their idea and roll it out to the general public,' Cherrington said.
Secondly, he said, the Internet can reach more people than a store.
'If you open up a store in Provo, you're limited to the customers in Provo,' he said, 'The Internet expands your customer base.'
An increased customer base can lead to more sales.
'You can reach a wide audience and you can get a lot of sales fairly fast, if your product is compelling,' said Doug Dean, a professor of Information Systems at BYU.
Twenty-four-year-old Neil Bly works with OneWorld online, an Internet company that connects various companies to customers all over the world through its online store. It allows members to shop with online 'shopping dollars.'
Bly was originally majoring in information systems at BYU but started working instead.
'I felt like it was a good opportunity,' Bly said, 'I thought the company had a lot of potential for growth.'
Internet businesses require less capital investment since the owner doesn't need to buy a building, property or merchandise to display.
Some types of merchandise are better suited for online businesses, Dean said.
'The infrastructure of the Internet allows you to distribute some products very cheaply, things like software or bit images,' Dean said, 'whereas a car would be impractical.'
Joel Smith, 25, became involved with a small Internet company earlier this year. The company provides high speed Internet to its customers.
He was originally majoring in English at BYU but has put school on hold to work with the company.
'There was a lot of risk involved since it was a start-up company,' Smith said, 'But the potential benefits were very good.'
Cherrington said this attitude is typical of Internet entrepreneurs.
'Usually (entrepreneurs) are risk takers,' he said.
'They are willing to try something new or put some money on the line.'
College campuses have begun to recognize the potential of e-commerce, as well, and are starting to offer Internet business classes. BYU was one of the first schools to create a class like this.
Scott Smith, a professor of marketing at BYU, teaches an Internet marketing class where students learn how to build a Web site and market it. The class was first offered in 1996.
'The growth of the Internet has been phenomenal,' Smith said, 'When President Clinton took office there were only 50 Web sites.'