BYU student Richard Robbins runs a business with his brother, while taking classes to learn how to run a business.

Robbins, 26, a senior from Orem, majoring in business management, operates OuterSports.com with Darron Robbins, 25, from Saratoga Springs, Utah County. They sell outdoor equipment over the Internet.

"They're taking advantage of a new marketing tool called the Internet, and they are most likely competing on the basis of price, so they're really a bargain outlet kind of place," said Jerry Nelson, a mentor in the BYU Entrepreneurship Center.

Outer Sports is not the first business the brothers have tried out, but they predict success for it because of their technical skills and a low overhead cost, Darron said.

"It will depend on their passion for the business," Nelson said. "It will depend on how hard they work on it. I think it can succeed."

Having free agency, as a business owner, is fun because success is determined completely by how much work he puts in, Richard said.

"When we got our first sale it was just like, 'wow somebody came to our site, put in their credit card information and bought something.' That was just astounding to us," Richard said.

However, the process of starting and running a business is complicated, which is why many people do not try, he said.

"Say you have a great interest, like we have, in the outdoors," Richard said. "To translate that into a profitable business for yourself takes more than just being an avid outdoorsman. We have to learn the ropes of business essentially."

The brothers had to obtain city and state licenses, find distributors, set up a Web site, advertise and design a system for keeping track of financial and other information. Richard is in a beginning accounting class, where the information is coming just in time, he said.

There are many resources for people starting a small business, Richard said. BYU has a mentorship program, and Utah Valley State College has a Small Business Administration, where the Robbins have gone for advice.

"Even novices like us, people that really don't know what they're doing, can get a support network," Richard said. "So the information and the network are there. The support is available for people."

Outer Sports has one other employee, Provo resident Frederick Penrose, 23, who is not paid. Instead, all the earnings go into advertising, which Penrose is responsible for.

Penrose is Richard's best friend and helps because he sees a lot of potential in Outer Sports, he said.

"There's a lot of excitement with it, in starting up a new business and watching it grow and expand," Penrose said. "I think that's the best part of it."

Sibling rivalry has not been a problem for Richard and Darron.

"It really fits well to a business to be able to have someone that you like to hang out with, to go ahead and spend time doing productive things," he said.

Costs are low because the Robbins do not have to pay any employees or maintain a storefront, although they hope to one day expand in that way, Darron said.

"I think they have a good thing and if they keep working at it, it will grow over time," Nelson said.

They also do not have to store a lot of equipment. Rather, they call their distributors and have them ship an order, usually the same day it is placed

Outer Sports already has customers in the military as well as other countries, and is discovering its market as it goes, Richard said.

"We're just making sure that people are happy," he said. "That's our advantage: we give people what they want. We're just nice guys."

Another feature the brothers feel is important is their online community, where people can write about their favorite outdoor places, Darron said. There is a section devoted to adventure stories.

"We're in the process of building up people who are loyal to the site, and so they have somewhat of a peer group of people that they can get help from, so it's not just retailing," Richard said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 25 Nov 2002