A Christmas card taught Scott Simons that the corporate world wasn’t for him.
At 16, Simons received the card from his employer, Walden Books – addressed to his employee number instead of his name. The gesture’s impersonal nature inspired Simons to become an entrepreneur.
Now a small-business man in East Norriton, Pa., Simons is trying to help young people interested in a similar pathway, through a series of free seminars.
The first daylong seminar, held recently at Simons’ Business Resource Place in East Norriton, Pa., attracted only two students.
But Simons, 45, plans to try again in late February. At the seminars, Simons and three other speakers offered hints on how to acquire the skills to create and carry out a business plan.
“Networking is huge,” Alan Zarkoski, owner-operator of a Chick-Fil-A near Simons’ office, told the students, Patrick Wolenter and Nicole Conley, both 17.
Simons told the teens to beware of instant messaging. While that works for personal chitchat, it’s too informal to work in the business world. He counseled the students to take an English course and become skilled at critical thinking.
Simons, owner of a printing facility for small businesses, suggested using youth and inexperience as a lever to gain access to business leaders and seek their advice.
“Never be afraid to go up to someone and ask, ‘Can I have a moment of your time? I’m thinking of starting a small business,'” he said.
Wolenter, a high school senior who would like to get into the music business, grasped the principle immediately.
“If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no,” he said.
Speaker Zarkoski agreed: “Plus, I’m sure you’ll find, most people don’t mind talking about themselves.”
As students enter college, Simons said, it’s important to have a plan for three years after graduation, so they can pick courses that relate to their career goals. Simons said the pressures seem less daunting when you love your work.
It’s also important to remain confident in your ability to succeed, Simons said. “In the real world, you get a lot of naysayers, and it sometimes comes from those who love you,” he said.
Conley, a high school junior, said the seminar helped her realize “the hard stuff, not just the sugarcoated” aspects of starting a small business.
“I have a lot of thinking to do,” she said.

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