Andy Tabar
Cleveland, Ohio
Major: Entrepreneurship
Why did you come to Belmont?
I came to Belmont for the opportunities with the Entrepreneurship program, the proximity to Music Row and the rich network of alumni that I’ll have access to when I graduate. What I also found interesting were the people that go here – a lot of creative people. I just wanted to be in that environment where people are creating, especially as a small business owner, all of these things came together and it just made sense.
What have you benefited from the most as a Belmont student?
The brainpower that exists here and the kinds of opportunities that our professors put in front of us and the experiences of all the people here. We have a lot of people from the music industry, a lot with business experience – I wanted to go to a college with a lot of success entrepreneurs. But in general the atmosphere is very unique, very creative and innovative and that’s exactly what I was looking for.
Tell us about your company.
My company is called Bizooki.com. It’s kind of like a Facebook for businesses. They can sign up and find new talent to add to their team, but it’s also a project management system so people can work on projects together. I started working in my basement and now I’ve talked with investors and written a 30-page business plan. I’m just ready to grow. Andy's company was recently recognized with a prestigious award. Read more here.
How do you balance school with being a small business owner?
In high school I started making money by making Web sites and I didn’t realize it was a business. Then I found out about this thing called entrepreneurship and I found that this could actually be a career, so over time I learned how to use what I was learning in my classes while I was working. It just kind of worked out. Today I have IT guys in India and graphic designers in Russia so I have this global presence and it’s really allowed me to share the workload efficiently. That’s been key to my success here so I can still have time to be with my friends and get the full college experience.
What has been your experience with your professors at Belmont?
I couldn’t believe how involved the professors wanted to be with the students, in and outside of the classroom. I heard that on all the campus tours but it wasn’t until I started attending class and talking with the professors that I realized they’re actually here for us. We can go to them with our problems and they’ll show us how to get things done.
One of the things I found in my business was that I had a lot of people asking me, “How are YOU going to do that?” and “How are YOU going to grow?” It was just the opposite here. I came here with a whole list of challenges and the response was, “OK, how can WE make this happen?” They’re open-minded, they know how to utilize talent and I wanted to be a part of that. I think it’s showing in the things I’m doing today and I think it will show for the rest of my life.
