WATERLOO - After working for animation multimedia companies for 10 years, Brian Seger and some friends decided they were tired of toiling for somebody else and would be much happier if they were their own bosses.

So they researched. They drew up a business plan. They got a line of credit and found an investor. Seger took a business class at the University of Northern Iowa. They quit their jobs and put money on the line.

They took a risk.

They are just the kind of people that Randy Pilkington, director of Business and Community Services and the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, said Iowa - and the world - needs for economic growth.

"If you think, the foundation of any state, the foundation of any company, was built on entrepreneurial ventures," Pilkington said. "Someone had to take the risk to start it out."

What is a risk taker?

"To me, you're speaking of entrepreneurs, someone who's willing to go out and try a venture on your own, with the risk of failing and losing everything you own. Or on the other side is having a large financial reward for a success," Pilkington said.

"They're visionary," said James Hoelscher, program manager at UNI Regional Business Center's Small Business Development Center. "They can identify demand. And they're willing to put off short-term stability, financial profitability, comfort, a lot of family time for the long-term opportunity to develop that vision into a successful small business."

Pilkington said it takes more than a good idea to start your own business - it takes a special type of personality and courage as well. It may not be everyone.

"And risk-taking's a big part of that," Pilkington said. "So if they're uneasy putting everything they have - mortgaging their house, mortgaging their cars, putting up everything for every piece of equity they can - they probably shouldn't go into business for themselves."

But successful entrepreneurs are not cavalier with their investment; they do not take such risks based on a hunch.

"The successful entrepreneurs are those that are willing to take calculated risks. They are not risky," Hoelscher said.

Successful entrepreneurs do research and background information about their business idea, Hoelscher said. They test the market to see if there is a demand for what they want to offer. They prepare a business plan.

"Then they'll take risks." Hoelscher said. "They'll invest their own money, they'll go to the bank, they'll try to get friends and family on board with the venture.

"That's not risky. The people that fail right out of the chute are those that, 'If I build it, they will come.'"

For budding entrepreneurs who have the drive to start their own business, UNI has programs to teach them how to do it.

Building risk-takers

UNI has an array of classes and programs available to help entrepreneurs succeed.

The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center offers a variety of classes and symposiums on entrepreneurship, geared to toward business and nonbusiness majors. The Regional Business Center has MyEntreNet, an entrepreneur development system that provides customized services to budding business owners. It also has a business incubator, in downtown Waterloo, that offers business start-ups office space, close contact with other entrepreneurs and access to established business "mentors."

Students can earn entrepreneurship certificates by learning the basics for business essentials and starting a new venture, Pilkington said.

But there's more to building a successful entrepreneur. You have to provide a climate that encourages that kind of risk-taking, Pilkington said.

"Well, it's a culture that you have to try to change. And that's one of the struggles in Iowa right now, to create the culture for risk-taking," Pilkington said. "What we see, when students come to UNI for example, I think most of them are Iowans, and they come to UNI to get a good education to go to work for somebody. … We want to create the students so they can create their own opportunity, create their own job, then stay in Iowa."

Hoelscher said it's important to educate the community that entrepreneurs are important to the economy and that risk takers are necessary.

"Unfortunately in Iowa … we're relatively conservative," Hoelscher said. "If you fail, you're labeled a failure.

"The areas that have the highest growth … have high success rate of small business, but they also have high failure rate. The community needs to be tolerant of that. The lenders need to be tolerant. Other businesses need to be tolerant."

Taking the risk

Seger took a fast-track course at UNI, "Planning and Growing a Business Venture," and talked to the Regional Business Center's Small Business Development Center for advice.

Then he and his partners made their business plan, rounded up investors and sunk their own money into the project.

"It was touch and go for a while. I almost lost my house," Seger said. "I invested as much as I possibly could and still be able to pay my bills."

"For everybody involved, it's a do-or-die situation," Seger said. "We've been doing this long enough. To get the clients and manage the projects isn't the problem - we know how to do that. The scary part is actually running the business, the day-to-day operations. We feel that's something that can be learned.

"It's do or die. If this doesn't work, I'm going to do something (completely) different."

But it's a risk Seger and his partners figured was worth it.

"To convince ourselves to take this risk, we looked at the biggest incentive, was the existing agencies that there are, and whether we wanted to continue to work for somebody else or ourselves," Seger said.

"We liked the idea of being able to control the projects without the benefit of a boss," he said. "We think we can do better, is basically what it comes down to."

Contact Jeff Wilford at (319) 291-1423 or jeff.wilford@wcfcourier.com.