Zachary Eikenberry started more than 10 businesses, but don’t call him an entrepreneur
In his biography on the FCD Inc. website, Zachary Eikenberry is described as a serial entrepreneur. Beginning with a lawn care business he started when he was 15 years old, Eikenberry, the senior partner of Federal Contracting Distributors Inc. of Greenville, has started more than 10 businesses. He is also spearheading the creation of NEXT High School, a public charter school expected to open in 2014 that will use a project-based curriculum he said will prepare students for life after school.
What was the first business you started?
I started a lawn care company when I was in high school. I realized real quickly that I could supplant other lawn care companies because I was younger. I’d show up at people’s doors with my letter jacket from school. I’d sell it and my brother would mow it.
To what do you attribute your entrepreneurial bent?
I came out of Purdue University with a philosophy major. I wrote one resume and interviewed with a medical records company in Wisconsin. I was sitting with the HR lady after they wined and dined me. I looked out and saw all these empty desks in cubicles. I asked why they were all empty and was told it had been a 3,000-person company and a couple of years before they had to lay off 1,000 employees. The reason I wanted a job was for job security, and that told me the only way I could make sure I had a job was to hire myself.
You’ve started more than 10 companies. How has that worked out?
Two were complete busts, four were washes and the rest are up in the air.
You said you don’t like to be called an entrepreneur. Why?
A lot of times “entrepreneur” is equated to “innovation.” I don’t consider myself an innovative entrepreneur. I’d consider myself an efficiency guy. I find out what you’re doing and do it better.
What does FCD do?
We help clients develop government sales contracts. When it comes to federal contracting, clients typically fall into one of three categories: They either have no experience with federal contracting, they have started the process and are stalled, or they are underperforming in their government sales efforts. When there are two or more people deciding whether or not to use you, and that’s federal contracts, that’s where we play best.
How is Ledger Work Inc. related?
We work in the world of federal contracts and decided there had to be an easier way to manage our federal contracts. Big-box companies’ solutions were too clunky and expensive. We found some software experts we could trust and created ECHO, a Web-based software solution. We realized the value to the market, and Ledger Work was formed.
What has surprised you the most?
It’s not the hard work. My dad told me when I was young that he was sure there were some out there, but that he had never met a lazy millionaire. What surprises me is how long the road is to success. Business plans make it sound like in a couple of years everything will be all right.
What was the most unusual business lesson you’ve learned?
I was living in Indiana and was at a Starbucks where they had a bowl for people to put their business cards in for a chance to get a free cup of coffee. I would fish out the CEO business cards. I called up one of them and asked if I could meet with him for 15 minutes. I had one question: “How do I get your job?” He had me meet with a venture capital guy who had access to all kinds of business plans. I wanted him to let me look at plans for several successful businesses. He wouldn’t. Instead, we looked at plans for failed businesses to look for strategic and tactical mistakes.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to play baseball. I wanted to wear a suit. I wanted to travel.
You are the planning coordinator for NEXT High School. What is NEXT High School? How is it different?
NEXT High is based largely on CART, or the Center for Advanced Research and Technology in California. The charter school would feature project-based learning that would prepare students for life after school. Education was originally designed to prepare our youth for life in an industrialized world. But the world is drastically different. The knowledge economy is now supplanting the industrial economy. We don’t think public education is broken. We think it’s outdated.
