The members of the Entrepreneurs Club, directly associated with the new entrepreneurship minor at NCSU, say they are learning what it takes to start one’s own business. But as they learn, they laugh together and spend enough time together to become a family. One student, Mark Saad, a junior in marketing and a new member of the club and minor, said entrepreneurship can mean more than just owning a business and making risks, you can work for a corporate office and think entrepreneurially. “People initially come to the [entrepreneurs] club to find out a way to make a quick buck, but that’s not all of it,” Kaitlin Kovary, a senior in biological sciences-nutrition and the president of the club, said. Working hand-in-hand, the entrepreneurship minor, part of the Entrepreneurship Education Initiative and the club can teach students to become entrepreneurial thinkers. “You learn so much about yourself and how you relate to other people,” Ed Scanlan, a senior in psychology and the marketing director for the club, said. Scanlan and Kovary are in the club and are minoring in entrepreneurship. They said they aspire to own their own companies one day. Through the Entrepreneur’s Club and EEI they said they are learning how to think like entrepreneurs. “[The club] gives you ideas … you ask questions that you didn’t think about before,” Sagar Shapariya, a junior in business management and the secretary of the club, said. With the reorganization of the club this year, the membership is growing. The club started with four members in the beginning of the semester and about 43 people showed up to the first few meetings, Scanlan said. “It’s growing … we want to create a strong base to pass on … and have people use their talents to help us,” Kovary said. “We meet every week so we can get the club going and form a relationship with everybody … we want it to be a club that people look forward to coming to.” The leaders of the group have already formed a special bond, laughing and joking with each other about past events. Even though each position has an important role within the club, the executive board finds it necessary to work together to make it happen. “Not one person is responsible for anything. Everyone takes equal responsibility,” Shapariya said. In the beginning of the semester, Scanlan said everyone helped him prepare fliers and promote the meetings so that new students would be attracted to the club. “We really are a team. We lean on each other when we need to delegate, take charge, when others need help,” Scanlan said. “We are very much entrepreneurial in that way … no one can take all the credit.” There are activities at every meeting, Autumn Teal, director of marketing for EEI and the advisor of the Entrepreneur’s Club said. At its more recent meeting, students heard from David Rendall on ‘What it means to be an entrepreneur.’ The speakers who visit talk with the students about their experiences and explain where they have gone wrong in their “entrepreneurial adventure.” They discuss the risks they took and how they have worked through them. “The club focuses on leadership and self-development,” Teal said. “I have high expectations for them because they are all extremely ambitious.” Besides meetings, the club members said they also hope to participate in a variety of service projects, including Take Back the Night, Service Raleigh, Habitat for Humanity and Relay for Life. They are also planning networking events and encouraging speakers for the remainder of the year. “We have planned three speakers in the fall and three seminars in the spring,” Teal said. “Developing a small network of contacts is a good way to be exposed to top business executives and alumni.” The club is developing a mentoring program for those new students in the minor and club, since the minor is new this year. According to Teal, team building activities are necessary for students to understand the importance of a strong team. “Different majors come together with a different perspective to everything.” Kovary said. “Different interests allow you to work together well.”