Georgia Southern student runs business while finishing degree
At nine years old, all Brian Kirkland (pictured left) wanted to do was go to summer camp. Unfortunately, camp cost $300 and Brian’s dad wasn’t about to just give him the money- he wanted Brian to earn it. The neighborhood the Kirkland family lived in at the time actually required all its homeowners to keep their mailbox posts painted the same color. Brian and his dad came up with the idea to get the paint, and have Brian go door to do and ask for $12 if the home owner’s wanted to have their mailbox posts painted. Over a period of four days, Kirkland made almost $600, which was enough to send himself to camp with money left over. “From then on, I realized that entrepreneurship was something that I wanted to do,” Kirkland said.
It was a learning experience for Brian and it actually helped him out more than once. “Even when I came to college, I struggled to find a part time job, and so I went back to the same neighborhood and did the same thing again,” he said.
Originally from Millen, Ga., Kirkland is a general studies major with an emphasis in entrepreneurship, marketing, and management at Georgia Southern University. When he first started his college career he was a kinesiology major, but soon Kirkland changed his focus. “I always have been interested in entrepreneurship, and it all kind of came together when I found out that the Teaching Tree was up for sale,” Kirkland said. “I decided that I needed to take some business classes if I wanted to go into business.”
The Teaching Tree is a full service educational store that provides quality education materials to teachers, families, and organizations. It has been in business for about 21 years in Statesboro, Ga. Kirkland’s parents, who are both previous educators, would shop at the Teaching Tree while he was growing up.
Over the years, the Teaching Tree moved around to several locations, and eventually the owner decided to sell the business. “When I heard [the Teaching Tree] went out of business, I found out that it was actually up for sale,” Kirkland said. “I thought if I could get the store back to the retail side of town, get newer products, and manage it, I could really bring the store back.”
Kirkland and his father purchased the Teaching Tree back in May 2011, but not before an intricate process. First, Kirkland had to contact the previous owner to discover his price. “Then I did extensive research on the company. I called suppliers and asked them questions about their experience with the store,” Kirkland said. He even made a trip out to Mobile, Ala., to meet Educators Resource’s CEO and tour their facility. Educators Resource is the leading wholesale distributor of pre-K through eighth grade learning materials and had been one of the Teaching Trees biggest suppliers.
The next step for Kirkland was evaluating how much the Teaching Tree was actually worth. After talking to several people in the industry and evaluating the store as a whole, Kirkland decided the Teaching Tree wasn’t worth what the owner was trying to sell it for. “So when we went to the bank to apply for a loan to buy the company, one our biggest selling points was that the owner asked for this much, but they were going to sell it to us for this much less.”
After being approved for the loan, Kirkland and his father purchased the Teaching Tree. They looked for a more ideal location for the business and began remodeling the building. Now located on Brannen Street, the Teaching Tree is next to the Statesboro Christian Bookstore. “We are happy to be next to the Statesboro Christian Bookstore. We have a lot of the same customers,” Kirkland said. “It’s really nice to be beside someone that compliments you as well as you do them.”
The last two years have presented a challenge for Kirkland- building back the store’s reputation and letting people know the store moved to a new location. One of the marketing efforts he uses is sending treats to teachers throughout planning periods. “During preplanning I buy all the teachers in the county pizza, and during post planning I buy them all cakes,” Kirkland said. “That way when teachers walk into the break room and see pizza or cake from the Teaching Tree, it’s a reminder, ‘Oh, I need to go there later.’” Kirkland makes sure to note each item is from the Teaching Tree, and lists an address, phone number, and directions to the store’s location. “It really helps people to learn where we are located,” Kirkland said. Every year the Teaching Tree experiences an increase in sales after sending the teachers goodies.
Luckily, Kirkland did have a huge advantage. With both of his parents being previous educators, Kirkland was able to use their expertise to better the Teaching Tree overall. “With their help I understand the ins and outs of being an educator and all the things that go into it,” he said. “I definitely take advantage of their years in the education field, and I always bounce ideas off of them.”
Another marketing effort of Kirkland includes a Teaching Tree Facebook page. “We found out in our type of business, shotgun marketing doesn’t work well because we have a very specific market that sells to specific people,” he said. “We specify details of who we are sending messages too so we have a campaign devoted to teachers and parents who buy our products.”
In addition to the Facebook page, the Teaching Tree also has a website. The website was launched the same time the store was opened. Users can view items available in the store and purchase them online. “Orders came in almost instantly,” Kirkland said. “We have shipped all over the United States and even internationally.”
Above all else the most difficult challenge Kirkland has had to overcome is managing his education and his business at the same time. Because of his classes, he had to hire and manage several employees.
He admits it’s difficult to sit through classes knowing he could be managing his store. “Retail is very time consuming. There are a lot of things that you have to do, and when you’re trying to do a full time school schedule on top of that it can be very challenging,” he said.
Kirkland will graduate in May and has plans on expanding the Teaching Tree. For anyone thinking about starting their own business, he suggests taking the business classes at Georgia Southern. “The classes helped out a lot with writing my business plan,” he said. “It set a good foundation before I got started.”
In April, Kirkland is set to tie the knot with senior middle grades education major Dakota Nessmith. The two are expecting their first baby in September.
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