Welcome to TE!

We are an online community for entrepreneurs to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.

How can I get involved?

1. Share your entrepreneurial story with us! Let us know how you got started and tell us about your business. Did you get started in a garage or dorm room? Great! To share your story please email the information to us at (info@thinkentrepreneurship.com).

2. Post videos, photos, and other information to our blog. Tell us about yourself and your business. Tell us about upcoming events and become friends with other entrepreneurs from around the world!

3. Use our forums! They are available to both help and inspire others. Contribute to discussions and start your own threads. Do you have a question for another entrepreneur? This is a great place to ask.

4. Have Fun! Be inspired! Ignite the entrepreneurial spark in others! Start it up!

5. Sign up for our Newsletter! We’ll keep you up to date with entrepreneur interviews, tips on creating a blog/website, and other helpful tips for small businesses.

 

Pete Sveen – ThinkEntrepreneurship.com Founder, and avid fly fisherman!

History: How Think Entrepreneurship came about…

Think Entrepreneurship has been in the back of my head for a long time. Becoming an entrepreneur at a young age has taught me many lessons and has shown me that working for yourself is the best way to go. Sharing my passion for entrepreneurship has always been easy for me and it seems that my enthusiasm rubs off on quite a few of the people I meet.

This being said, I thought an online community would be a great place for friends, family, business owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs to come together and learn more about what it takes to start and run a business. I hope Think Entrepreneurship will help and inspire many people.

Pete’s Entrepreneur Story..

The first recollection I have of running a business was my snow cone stand on Melgaard Road in Aberdeen, South Dakota. On hot summer days I’d set up a stand with my brother and would sell snow cones to walkers, bikers, roller bladers, and other people traveling by. I also had many mowing and yard working jobs that kept my summers packed through the high school years.

The summer after my freshman year of college I ended up starting a car detailing business. I always was very meticulous in cleaning my own car, and my mother recommended I advertise and detail for others. That led to a very well paying summer job for me throughout my college summers. My clients were always very happy with the detailing job I did. The business was named Pete’s Meticulous Detailing. I focused on finding clients in nice neighborhoods, at golf courses, and at business functions. I cleaned many cars. My most memorable experience was getting to drive and then detail three different Ferrari’s for one of my clients.

The detailing business taught me that I love owning and operating my own business. I got back to college my sophomore year and switched my major to Entrepreneurship. I entered business plan competitions and prepared to start a new business upon graduating from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2007.

The first business I started was named Creative Concrete Works. I moved to Bozeman, Montana to start the business. Things went well, but all the lifting, messy work, and long hours started to take a toll on me.

The second business I started in Bozeman was named Four Zero Six Printing. I started the business with a friend and grew the client base to include many large companies, events, and non profits. We spent many hours printing shirts and had college students helping with a large majority of the printing. Our 2000 square foot shop was a great place to print and expand the business. After printing for 3 years, I found that I really enjoyed the sales and marketing side of my business, but lacked passion for the production. I started looking for a more efficient way to run my business and found that I could still make a good profit by contracting all of my printing to a large print shop with multiple automatic presses that did a top notch job. I found that contracting the work out significantly decreased overhead and allowed me to focus more on the selling and marketing of my printed products. I still run this business and focus on growing my larger accounts.

In February of 2011 I also started learning about the local foreclosure market and how money could be made even in a bad economy. I’ve purchased a few homes since starting and have been able to flip them for a good profit. I have put sweat equity into the projects that has greatly increased the value of the homes. There is a lot of money to be made in the real estate market, and it doesn’t have to be a full time gig if you don’t want it to be.

Currently I am running both the printing and the real estate business. I love having the freedom, flexibility, and unlimited income potential that comes from being your own boss.