Feature
What’s it like to be a student entrepreneur?
Just ask junior Surya Raghavendran
Jack Harrison | Staff Editor
In October of 2016, Surya Raghav-
endran decided to go for a run. Shortly into
his run, his iPhone 5 fell out of his pocket,
shattering his screen into pieces. Like anyone
would, he sought help from the apple store
to get his screen repaired. Not only did the
repair cost a whopping $150, but his screen
also still did not function properly. However,
this is where Raghavendran’s story is a little
bit different. Most would return to the apple
store, but Raghavendran did not. Instead, he
decided to make the repair himself. Little did
he know he would soon make a business of it.
Raghavendran discovered that
he could make the same repair for more
than one hundred dollars cheaper than
Apple. He was able to find a sponsor, al-
lowing him to purchase screens in bulk for
cheap prices, and, with the power of You-
Tube, SKR SCREEN REPAIR was born.
“I took advantage of the very
high prices of apple and increased my prof-
it margins. I’m now doing repairs at a flat
rate of 65 to 75 dollars,” Raghavendran said.
In order to grow his company, he created
Email:
skrscreenrepair@gmail.com
Website:
www.skrscreenrepair.weebly.com
Other repairs:
- Charger ports on devices
- Headphone jack repairs
- Button replacements on devices
Possible is everything.
Lawrence Technological University isn’t for just anyone.
We want the future designers, engineers, scientists, and
entrepreneurs who will create the innovations of tomorrow.
What do students think of LTU?
Watch our video! ltu.edu/studentstories
5th 11:1
in nation for boosting student/faculty ratio
graduates’ earning
potential
Architecture and Design | Arts and Sciences | Engineering | Management
Raghavendran makes all his repairs in an office in his basement. Here, he is featured making a screen repair. Photo courtesy of Raghavendran’s website.
social media accounts, t-shirts, and busi-
ness cards. However, at this time, he still
had not exactly informed his parents yet.
“After my third or fourth re-
pair, my parents found out,” Raghaven-
dran said. “They told their colleagues,
and I got some business from them. They
were kind of supportive, but then it took
an adverse relationship with the grades.”
It became quite apparent that bal-
ancing business and school was going to be
difficult. Raghavendran explained that due
to the time he invested in repairing screens,
his grades suffered. “I spent lots of time mar-
keting and growing my business my sopho-
more year, “ he said. “Now, I am paying for it.”
That being said, he realized the
importance of time management, and that
school is the first priority. Now, Raghaven-
dran invests more time in school and lim-
its his work to just weekends, only doing a
couple repairs every month. Raghavendran
emphasized that he does not want other
entrepreneurs to make this same mistake.
“If you are thinking of start-
ing ideas, it is critical to develop and plan
88%
students employed or
registered for graduate
school at commencement
6
your schedule in the summer,” he said.
Now, having several years under
his belt, he has some important takeaways.
Since there are many types of phones, there
are different types of compatible screens,
and on top of that, inventory can be tough to
come by. “Remember, don’t ever pay more for
what you don’t need. This is the first thing all
entrepreneurs must keep in mind,” he said.
Raghavendran realized that entrepreneurs
must emphasize customer service because it
can be especially difficult to overcome a neg-
ative reputation, especially at an early stage.
“At this stage, the short term
goal is to finish what I’ve started- to have
started something and gone through with
it,” Raghavendran said. “This is one of
my main mottos I try to live by in life.”
He explained that although
he enjoys what he is doing, he does not
plan to make fixing screens a profession-
al job because it would be a “waste of an
education.” However, he has achieved his
original goal of a “successful two-year
run” and is quite proud of his success.
Raghavendran clearly has a passion
admissions@ltu.edu
for entrepreneurship. In fact, he even started
an entrepreneurship club at the start of this
year where students could share and gain
knowledge about entrepreneurship. Raghav-
endran quickly realized that membership
would be tough to come by, since he is one
of the few student entrepreneurs at Huron.
Instead of abandoning the club, he changed
the purpose of the club. “My idea shifted
to something we can do as a club,” he said.
The members decided to create
a business together, thus allowing them to
experience entrepreneurship first-hand.
The members brainstormed ideas, thinking
about what students ultimately want. That
led them to the idea of engraving phone
cases with symbols and words relevant to
Huron. They are currently in the prototyp-
ing stage, but expect to release their phone
cases to the student body later this year.
Raghavendran is confident that his prod-
ucts will sell because of their appeal and
because of the pricing model that was devel-
oped. The next task for the club is to solidify
their final products and get them stocked
in both the Green House and Spirit Shop.
Join Huron Men’s Golf
Contact coach Patrick Kelly at
patrick.kelly.t@gmail.com
The power
of adoption
Sydney Crispin-Pischea | Staff Writer
I grew up with two very loving
moms who adopted me and my brother
Lance. We were born Antigua, Guatemala
in an orphanage. When our parents adopt-
ed us, we were very young, so we grew up in
the U.S. Being adopted, I have not learned
any Spanish, nor do I know to much about
my culture. However, back in 2016, my par-
ents took us to Guatemala to see and learn
more about where we were from, and now
it’s like a home. Getting to visit made me
feel more intact with myself and my culture.
Growing up, I didn’t know how
people would react if they knew I had two
moms, and once they found out they thought
it was the coolest thing ever. I get asked a
lot about where I am from because I don’t
look like my parents. I also get asked if I
speak any Spanish. One thing some adopt-
ed parents do is have what’s called a “gotch
you day,’’ which is the celebration of when
I first came home. We usually sit down and
watch tapes my mom made of us when she
went to visit us in Guatemala. Then we ate
cake, and they give us cute little presents.
When we were growing up, we
had a lot of friends that were adopted from
Guatemala, and we used to always meet up at
a tree and then go play around in the neigh-
borhood. Once I got to middle school, I met
my best friend, Hallie. She was adopted from
China. Both she and I had the same baby dolls
to help us fall asleep, plus a backup one in case
the other baby got lost. We are still friends to
this day, and we consider her as family be-
cause she has been there through so much.
Being from a adopted family is
pretty cool, and I love it. If I hadn’t gotten
adopted, I wouldn’t be where I am now, so
for that I’m grateful. I have a ton of cous-
ins that I grew up with and we’re all so
close. Sometimes we get looked at because
our family is different, but it doesn’t re-
ally bother me because I love my family
and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.