He's young, but he's experienced
01-02-07

Blaine Hilton was recently featured in the NWI Times.

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21-year-old Portage man among emerging breed of entrepreneurs

BY LOUISA MURZYN
Times Correspondent

HIGHLAND | The college-age founders and entrepreneurial whiz kids of Google and Facebook were still in diapers when luminaries like Michael Dell and Richard Branson starting making entrepreneurship cool.

Today, the GenXers are billionaires and Blaine Hilton, 21, of Portage, is among the new emerging breed of gutsy young adults who have a dream and don't have a touch of gray hair.

"People have approached me about creating a Web site like CollegeHumor.com where they can't pay us but we share in Web site profits," Hilton said. "I think, boy, it could be the next YouTube or MySpace.

"But on the flip-side, my company has transitioned and I'm not working by myself anymore. I'm more concerned about stability because now I have employees who expect to be paid every two weeks or they get a bit grumpy."

In a musty basement, Hilton turned his hobby into an enterprise with a modicum of capital. He was Web designing at age 15 with a computer and free software. He left high school to pursue his venture full-time, then got his GED.

He applied for a credit card at 16 and at 18 had a solid credit history, using that to finance his business, Blaine's Business Services Inc., a Web design company he started in 2002.

The company now has four employees and is located in the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) incubator. This year, Hilton was a co-winner for the SBDC's Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Today, the company does computer consulting and Web-based applications that optimize client search engine traffic which maximizes profits. Monthly sales have increased from $1,200 last year to a projected $15,000 next month.

A new research and development division, Stoplight Tracking, develops real-time tracking systems for manufacturing and logistics industries, but isn't generating revenues yet.

Hilton feels there's an advantage to being a young entrepreneur. Footloose and fancy free, he can take risks more readily. He can trail blaze with fresh insights that aren't spoiled by experience or a "cookie cutter" business degree.

"When you go to MBA type classes you're taught to think a specific way," he said. "I'm learning but not in the classroom. My gut feeling is that this is going to work but the backup plan is I can always go back to school."

His Web site design was profitable working by himself, but he felt his tracking system idea was worth the added risk.

"I have a feeling it's going to payoff later," he added.

He's learning the tools of survival.

"There was no difference between my personal life and my business. It merged together so I'm trying to find balance ... and delegate. Because if do everything myself, I can't grow the company."

One of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur can make is losing focus, so Hilton is staying on track with a business plan that spells out a marketing plan, profit potential and goals.

Being young does have its hurdles, which includes being taken seriously by the older and wiser.

"There's a perception problem," he said. "Sometimes it's hard to go into a consulting role with such an age difference."

Hilton looks to Michael Dell -- the youngest person ever to head a Fortune 500 firm -- as a role model.

"I've read a lot about his success and I know the hardest thing is how you grow," he said.

"Going from one to two employees is a huge jump because you don't have the resources. You can do the research and planning but at the end of the day, it's really just a leap of faith."

Hilton's opted for a daring bow tie over a nose ring.

"People say I have this wild Einstein hairdo and call me the absent-minded professor because I'm always thinking about high-level concepts but don't concern myself with the details," he said.

"The bowtie started out as a joke with my mother and I thought 'why not?' It's branding more than anything. If they associate Blaine with a bowtie and a B, all the better."