Extra Credit

Savvy alum turns a course project into a budding business

While enrolled in an online Business course taught by Robert Cartelli, Business major Hadley Rakowski ’05 was assigned to write a business plan. “I couldn’t figure out what business I wanted to make up,” she says. So she and Cartelli began discussing her interests and soon realized that the skills she had been applying as a “virtual assistant” might be marketable. “As I started writing the business plan, the concept of Alternate Solutions formed,” she recalls.

Alternate Solutions has evolved from a classroom project to a thriving business support service that offers clients a network of experienced professionals, working virtually and on-site, in such areas as administrative support, marketing assistance, and Web site design and development, among others -- without incurring the expenses associated with full-time employees, such as health insurance and 401(k) plans.

In true 21st-century fashion, Rakowski operates without an office per se, managing the business from the home in Essex Junction that she shares with her husband and two daughters. The independent contractors that she connects with clients also, by and large, work out of their homes -- an arrangement that Rakowski says enables Alternate Solutions to maintain low overhead costs and offer competitive pricing. She is also tapping shared knowledge resources to thrive. “My business is doing very well,” she says. “I think it’s our philosophy -- how and why we do the things we do. I am not spending money on marketing right now, which is great. I am a part of three networking groups, and the word-of-mouth business associated with those is incredible. Also, our quality of work, time frame of turnaround, superior customer service, direct customer support, and competitive pricing are unmatched in our competition.”

From the helm as president of the company, Rakowski credits the College and Cartelli with playing a major role in her venture. “Robert also sent me my first official, paying customer,” she says. “I feel so grateful for the way that Champlain College, the entrepreneurial course, and teachers fully encompassed my entrepreneurial nature and goals. Not only was I offered education, I was given guidance, support, and real-life experiences to start my business.”

To show her appreciation, Rakowski has expressed interest in giving back to Champlain by helping student entrepreneurs in the BYOBiz program (see article). “When I originally heard of the BYOBiz program, I was ecstatic … and jealous,” she says. “This program is going to not only help boost Vermont’s economy; it’s going to make Champlain College shine. I will get involved in any way that I can. I would be happy to help mentor, do training sessions, and participate in any talks or seminars.”

As an alum who turned a course assignment into a business enterprise, she’s living proof that some difficult academic challenges may actually be entrepreneurial opportunities in disguise. Visit her company website at www.alternatesolutionsvt.com.

—EE