Post by Charity on Jun 22, 2005 10:57:23 GMT -5
Young entrepreneur credits parents and home-schooling with success
By: AISHA A. TALLEY, Staff Reporter 06/20/2005
Today, the 20-year-old Dakota State University senior is the founder of local computer and technology solutions business, Vetter Solutions, Inc., whose growing list of clients has prompted him to add four employees and incorporate what was once a business he ran from the basement of his parents' home in Madison.
And the secret of his success? Incorporating what he learned from his parents as a home-schooled student into his business practices.
"When you're home-schooled, you have to be a self starter," he said, adding that his mother Carol at one time home-schooled Vetter and three other siblings at the same time. "I got done what needed to be done. I learned to do my own thing."
Vetter, whose father Steve is pastor at West Center Baptist Church, also incorporates biblical principles of honesty, working hard and being respectful to people into his business dealings.
"I think if you abide by those principles, whether in business or your personal life...you'll be successful," said Vetter. "People who fail are people who violate those things, I've found so far."
Vetter's interest in computers and technology began the moment his family got a personal computer.
"I kept breaking it and I was the only guy who'd fix it," said Vetter. "My dad's rule was `You break it, you fix it.' So I did. I broke it a lot and I fixed it a lot, and I just kept trying stuff."
He said that once he got to his high school years, his mother would let him independently learn about technology. Vetter also enrolled in Madison High School's now defunct Aries and Cisco Networking Academy programs.
"During my last two years in high school, she let me run my own ship," said Vetter, a 2002 graduate. "She said `As long as you're learning, that's fine with me. Just don't sit around and play video games'. So I didn't. I learned."
He went to a Bible College in Canada after graduating from high school, but decided to return to Madison last year to pursue his calling: technology and computers. He is currently working toward a degree in E-Commerce and Network Security at DSU.
"I've always liked to play with computers," said Vetter, who worked for several computer technology companies before launching his own business in May 2004.
"My first six months or so I pretty much did home PCs and a little bit of business networking," he said. "Now I do that and a variety of business software applications, including e-commerce Web sites, customer relationship software (CRM), and financial systems."
His biggest client right now is J4 Corporation, which recently moved to the former Rosco building on S. Union Ave. in Madison. J4 sells, assembles, packs and ships a pressurized applicator called the E-Nile-Ator, which allows the user to spray for mosquitoes, weeds and liquid fertilizer while mowing with a walk-behind or push mower. The tanks used for the product are molded at Falcon Plastics and the valves are manufactured by G.A. Murdock, both Madison companies.
Vetter, along with four other recently hired Vetter Solutions, Inc., employees -- including a DSU graduate student and a DSU undergraduate student -- is building J4 Corporation's financial Web site and data systems.
"I surrounded myself with smart people," said Vetter, who operated his business by himself until about a month ago. "They're all brilliant."
He said he plans to hire "a couple more" programmers now that his business in booked.
"We just started getting huge contracts," he said.
He credits getting his first contracts to his father's reputation as an honest person.
"When I first started my business, people trusted my father so they trusted me. I got a lot of work because of my dad," said Vetter. "It's hard when you're a 20-year-old college kid to tell people that I can build a system that can will take half-a-million dollars worth of data and make it work."
While the business success is nice, and becoming a full-fledged corporation and designing his own software are his goals, Vetter knows his mission in life is much more.
"I'm not here to make a lot of money or make a huge business. My mission in life is to serve Christ," said Vetter. "I'm very dedicated to my Christian faith."
more and photos
www.homeschoolbuzz.com/news.html?link=http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1302&dept_id=181987&newsid=14726308&PAG=461&rfi=9
By: AISHA A. TALLEY, Staff Reporter 06/20/2005
Today, the 20-year-old Dakota State University senior is the founder of local computer and technology solutions business, Vetter Solutions, Inc., whose growing list of clients has prompted him to add four employees and incorporate what was once a business he ran from the basement of his parents' home in Madison.
And the secret of his success? Incorporating what he learned from his parents as a home-schooled student into his business practices.
"When you're home-schooled, you have to be a self starter," he said, adding that his mother Carol at one time home-schooled Vetter and three other siblings at the same time. "I got done what needed to be done. I learned to do my own thing."
Vetter, whose father Steve is pastor at West Center Baptist Church, also incorporates biblical principles of honesty, working hard and being respectful to people into his business dealings.
"I think if you abide by those principles, whether in business or your personal life...you'll be successful," said Vetter. "People who fail are people who violate those things, I've found so far."
Vetter's interest in computers and technology began the moment his family got a personal computer.
"I kept breaking it and I was the only guy who'd fix it," said Vetter. "My dad's rule was `You break it, you fix it.' So I did. I broke it a lot and I fixed it a lot, and I just kept trying stuff."
He said that once he got to his high school years, his mother would let him independently learn about technology. Vetter also enrolled in Madison High School's now defunct Aries and Cisco Networking Academy programs.
"During my last two years in high school, she let me run my own ship," said Vetter, a 2002 graduate. "She said `As long as you're learning, that's fine with me. Just don't sit around and play video games'. So I didn't. I learned."
He went to a Bible College in Canada after graduating from high school, but decided to return to Madison last year to pursue his calling: technology and computers. He is currently working toward a degree in E-Commerce and Network Security at DSU.
"I've always liked to play with computers," said Vetter, who worked for several computer technology companies before launching his own business in May 2004.
"My first six months or so I pretty much did home PCs and a little bit of business networking," he said. "Now I do that and a variety of business software applications, including e-commerce Web sites, customer relationship software (CRM), and financial systems."
His biggest client right now is J4 Corporation, which recently moved to the former Rosco building on S. Union Ave. in Madison. J4 sells, assembles, packs and ships a pressurized applicator called the E-Nile-Ator, which allows the user to spray for mosquitoes, weeds and liquid fertilizer while mowing with a walk-behind or push mower. The tanks used for the product are molded at Falcon Plastics and the valves are manufactured by G.A. Murdock, both Madison companies.
Vetter, along with four other recently hired Vetter Solutions, Inc., employees -- including a DSU graduate student and a DSU undergraduate student -- is building J4 Corporation's financial Web site and data systems.
"I surrounded myself with smart people," said Vetter, who operated his business by himself until about a month ago. "They're all brilliant."
He said he plans to hire "a couple more" programmers now that his business in booked.
"We just started getting huge contracts," he said.
He credits getting his first contracts to his father's reputation as an honest person.
"When I first started my business, people trusted my father so they trusted me. I got a lot of work because of my dad," said Vetter. "It's hard when you're a 20-year-old college kid to tell people that I can build a system that can will take half-a-million dollars worth of data and make it work."
While the business success is nice, and becoming a full-fledged corporation and designing his own software are his goals, Vetter knows his mission in life is much more.
"I'm not here to make a lot of money or make a huge business. My mission in life is to serve Christ," said Vetter. "I'm very dedicated to my Christian faith."
more and photos
www.homeschoolbuzz.com/news.html?link=http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1302&dept_id=181987&newsid=14726308&PAG=461&rfi=9