One student’s experience at Brigham Young University has driven him nuts. Nathan Murray, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Shelley, Idaho, is the founder and president of Nutty Guys, a business selling a variety of nuts at discount prices. Murray is not only a budding entrepreneur but also the 2000 Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Murray received a $5,000 award for his first place finish in the BYU Marriott School’s entrepreneur competition.
“I view myself as an entrepreneur not a business owner,” Murray said. “Entrepreneurs need to beinvolved with a business that is constantly growing. Nutty Guys’ potential to grow is incredible.”
The Student Entrepreneur of the Year contest is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Marriott School chapter of the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE). The contest is open to all BYU students who have been in business for at least one year. Students’ businesses must be generating revenue as well as contributing to growth in their respected market or industry. Businesses are judged according to their growth potential, profitability, uniqueness and ability to grow regionally, nationally or internationally. Center for Entrepreneurship faculty, Entrepreneur Founders Board members and former winners review and select the entrepreneur of the year.
Murray began Nutty Guys in June 1999. Since its inception, the company has grown slightly more than 100 percent in the past year. In addition to wholesaling nuts to businesses such as Good Earth, GreatHarvest, Wild Oats, Allen’s and Kara Chocolates, Nutty Guys sells their products to retail customers through the Internet (www.nuttyguys.com) and by telephone. The company has customers in more than 40 states.
“Our company’s total sales to date are just over $560,000, with more customers being added on a weekly basis,” Murray said. “I am currently working on some big deals that will increase revenues to more than $1 million a year.”
Murray’s entrepreneurial drive began at an early stage. At age 10, he got his first job moving irrigation pipe. By age 12, he began his own business raising cattle. By the time he graduated from high school, Murrayhad saved $25,000. “I guess you could call me a workaholic,” Murray said. “By age 15, I was working 12 to 15 hour days. I once missed a family vacation so I could keep my business running.”
Although nuts are their specialty, Nutty Guys offer a selection of granola, seeds, dried fruit, mixes and candy.
“I’m always amazed to learn about the businesses that BYU students start out of their apartments,”said Craig Earnshaw, a founder at the Marriott School’s Center for Entrepreneurship and adviser to ACE. “Nate is like a lot of us, he’s been running a business ever since he was a kid. The difference is Nate didn’t take time off to go to school, he just started another business here in Provo.”
The Center for Entrepreneurship at BYU’s Marriott School was established in 1989 to encourage and support students’ understanding of how to successfully start and open business ventures and to advance entrepreneurship internationally. Courses in entrepreneur principles, practical experiences and case studies are taught by faculty and practicing entrepreneurs.
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Writer: Carrie Beckstead (801) 378-1512
