Business Boys

Student entrepreneurs trade schoolbooks for bookkeepers

Adam Guy and Brian Laoruangroch were too eager to start their businesses to wait until they’d graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Guy, owner of The Upper Crust and Coldstone Creamery on Elm Street, actually earned his first paycheck at age 7 from a client who saw him performing his magic act on a local television program.

Now, the 22-year-old is reaching into his bag of tricks and launching “Encore,” a wine and dessert bar inside The Upper Crust.

Laoruangroch, 23, a former student body president, started an eBay business selling used cell phones during his senior year in the business school.

In May, Laoruangroch launched Green Mobile and set up shop in the Columbia Mall.

The CBT Business Profile of Guy begins on Page 7, and a profile on Laoruangroch starts on Page 23 in the Special Section on technology.