Alumnus teaches students about the value of entrepreneurship through new series - Mercer University

MACON – Mercer University alumnus Trent Coggins precocious shared with students his travel and successes opening an amusement analyzable successful Valdosta.

A triple Bear who holds his B.A., MBA and J.D. from Mercer, Coggins spoke during the archetypal league of the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business’ caller Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.

During the talk, held Oct. 25 astatine the Mercer Innovation Center, helium told students however helium went from being a existent property lawyer and past prof astatine Valdosta State University to besides an entrepreneur.

After visiting a trampoline parkland with his family, Coggins decided helium wanted to task into opening 1 successful his hometown, and helium named it Recoil Trampoline Park.

“I started contacting franchises, and they weren’t funny successful Valdosta due to the fact that they said we were excessively small,” Coggins said. “So, I started going backmost connected immoderate of the acquisition that I had received, peculiarly the MBA, and doing probe to find whether oregon not I thought it would enactment successful a spot similar Valdosta. I determined what the expenses would be, enactment unneurotic a concern program and yet made the determination that I thought it would work.”

The trampoline parkland opened successful September 2019. Despite having contiguous success, it had to beryllium closed indefinitely 5 months aboriginal owed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While waiting for the pandemic to subside, Coggins knew helium wanted to grow his business. In September 2021, helium opened an country for laser tag and precocious added a virtual world station.

Additionally, Coggins is preparing to unfastened a 5,400-square-foot arcade, which volition beryllium the largest successful South Georgia.

“I went from being an lawyer and a prof to what I telephone an accidental entrepreneur and moving a beauteous palmy trampoline parkland business,” Coggins said.

The information for this travel tin beryllium attributed to Mercer prof Dr. Andrew Diele, who taught Coggins erstwhile helium was pursuing his MBA successful the precocious 1990s.

Dr. Diele urged Coggins to “invest successful things that your children are funny in” and to retrieve that “your concern is either increasing oregon dying,” which are 2 concepts helium shared with students who attended the Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.

Based connected the ideas that his prof near him with, Coggins wanted to complement the trampolines successful a mode that would pull different property groups to his business. Eventually, his superior property radical went from kids astir property 5 to present including preteens owed to the inclusion of laser tag.

“The virtual world presumption that we person is beauteous overmuch marque new, truthful it’s excessively aboriginal to archer immoderate existent numbers arsenic to what it’s doing to our property group. But I deliberation that virtual world tin beryllium geared towards anyone. Teenagers, assemblage students and adjacent adults are attracted to that benignant of stuff,” Coggins said.

In summation to utilizing the cognition from his MBA courses, Coggins was capable to usage the ineligible acquisition helium garnered from Mercer’s School of Law. In particular, helium remembers however prof Reynold Kosek emphasized the value of declaration law, which played a ample relation successful negotiations helium has encountered with his business.

Coggins aims to proceed expanding his concern and has plans for one, three, 5 and 10 years successful the future. The adjacent signifier includes opening different installation that is 12,000 quadrate feet, and helium is looking into adding extracurricular attractions.

The Entrepreneurship Speaker Series volition proceed to item alumni portion simultaneously teaching students applicable applications of entrepreneurial content. Organizers anticipation to physique connections betwixt students and palmy entrepreneurs.

“We don’t person the dates and times and speakers nailed down yet, but we’re going to person 2 oregon 3 successful the outpouring semester,” said Dr. Marko Horn, subordinate prof of selling and management.

Dr. Horn hopes the Entrepreneurship Speaker Series volition proceed to beryllium an inspiration for students and thatch them they don’t person to beryllium acrophobic of venturing into the concern world.

Featured photograph courtesy Marko Horn