On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the creators of MVP Disc Sports gave a lecture at SVSU on how to be a successful entrepreneur and build an effective business.
The lecture took place between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and focused on growing a $2 million business.
Carter Mazur, a business management major involved in putting on the event, said it was a lecture worth attending.
“Brad and Chad Richardson are recent SVSU students who launched their company, MVP Disc Sports, in 2010,” Mazur said. “They took their passion for Disc Golf and created a business that has achieved wild success in just six years.”
Brad said he and his brother worked at their father’s molding company throughout the school year while they were enrolled and then at his molding shop over the summer.
One day, they came to him with a new mold idea, and he agreed to fund the project.
Their father, Don Richardson, gave them a $10,000 startup in 2010, and they have handled it wisely, selling 100,000 units last year with an expected growth of 40 percent in the next year.
Chad Richardson said he and his brother attended SVSU for many years and that he was happy to talk to upcoming graduates about their goals and their future.
“We are here to talk about what we’ve done with our company, how we’ve started, and we will go from there,” he said. “I think a lot of it is, for people who are here, to learn about how is it that you can build a business, and how to avoid the things you shouldn’t do, and try to do the things you should.”
The event was hosted by the SVSU Dow Entrepreneurship Institute and cosponsored by PNC Bank and Delta Sigma Pi.
Mazur said entrepreneurship isn’t a traditional approach that many college students consider for a career track, but it is a great opportunity for students of any major to discover how they can start a business or work as a member of startup.
“It is important for students to hear success stories like this one to show them that they can chase their dreams and they can be wildly successful doing it,” he said. “Hearing Brad and Chad speak will help inspire students who are interested in entrepreneurship, or maybe just have an idea to take that next step toward reaching their goals.”
MVP Disc Sports is expanding their base of operations in Marlette, and it will be add an additional 25,000 square feet to its warehouse.
The addition will cost $700,000 and will be completed by the end of the summer.
The extra room will allow more space for new and existing products, including the Ion, Energy, Nitro and Catalyst disc.
Both Chad and Brad said the lecture was the first time they had talked in front of students about their business and ideas.
“Pretty much, people can convince themselves that they can achieve something if they put their mind to it,” Chad said.
Brad added, “Hopefully, with our experiences, because you have lots of obstacles and goals, students will see what we’ve done and apply it to their own ideas, and maybe they can gain on edge on things we’ve fought through.”
