Before he had ever set foot on the corporate ladder, Jeff Whitfield knew a slow climb to the top wasn't for him.

The 24-year-old Calera gym owner is among an apparently growing number of young entrepreneurs who are forgoing the traditional career route in favor of being their own bosses.

Whitfield opened Fitness Forever in Calera last month with his college friend, David Comer, who is 25.

"I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my career in a cubicle or on an assembly line working for someone else. I wanted to make my own rules," Whitfield said.

A 2004 survey conducted by the National Association for the Self-Employed showed that 15 percent of the organization's members are 30 and younger.

While the U.S. Small Business Administration doesn't keep national statistics on the number of business owners younger than 30, business professionals in Shelby and Jefferson counties said they've seen a steady increase in the ranks of young owners.

"In the past few years, I have been amazed at the youthfulness of the entrepreneurs I've encountered here and across the state. This generation is very savvy when it comes to business and technology," said Karen Ream, director of the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce.

In a recent workshop to launch a virtual business incubator program at the Shelby chamber, Ream said, at least 65 percent of the participants were younger than 30.

"The entrepreneurs coming up now are equipped with knowledge that it has taken other generations a lifetime to learn - and they're not shy about using that knowledge," Ream said.

Devron Veasley, director of the Bessemer Business Center and the Bessemer Business Incubator System, said he has seen an influx in the number of twentysomethings looking for advice on how to start their own businesses.

"I would say that four out of every five calls we get are from people under 30," he said.

Today's college graduates aren't content to wait long for an entry-level job where they'll have to follow someone else's lead, Veasley said.

That need for independence led 28-year-old Mercedes Tarasovic-Clark to open a yarn shop in Helena two years ago.

"I've always been independent and not really good at taking orders," she said.

Tarasovic-Clark said she feels lucky to earn money by doing something she loves to do.

That passion is the key to business success for the younger set, said Bernard Frei, owner of 365 Incorporated in Birmingham.

Frei started his first business at 23 from a spare room in a Birmingham basement.

Because of his love of rugby and soccer, he said, the now-41-year-old has grown his sports equipment business into a multimillion-dollar company.

"The energy and the enthusiasm of youth is actually an advantage in starting your own business. I don't know if I'd have the energy to start out now," Frei said.

Meg Roebuck, owner of Shoefly in Homewood, said starting a business when you're young is a definite advantage.

The 31-year-old and her friend Jan Rome opened the shoe store when they were 28.

"Now, we are both raising families. Back then, we had more energy and more time to devote to the store. For us, the challenging part has just started," Roebuck said.

Todd Sobel started his own company, Helmets Inc., four years ago at age 27. The Birmingham company imports and designs custom motorcycle helmets.

"I really wish I had started out earlier. In the beginning, it was difficult to come up with the capital, but now I couldn't ask for a better job," he said.

Veasley said a crowded job market is motivating more young people to strike out on their own.

"Everybody's got a bachelor's degree these days, and the people coming out of college now are competing with older, sometimes more experienced workers," he said.

The instability of the corporate world was a major factor in 29-year-old Tiffany Moore's decision to buy a franchise and become her own boss last year.

The Hoover woman and her husband, Mike, own Jani-King, a janitorial franchise serving commercial clients in Birmingham and across Jefferson County.

"While I was going to college, I was working in the banking industry. I had been laid off once and was facing another one when we decided to take more control of what was going on in our lives," Moore said.

She said she and her husband plan to open another business.

"This is only the beginning for us. This experience has really motivated me to look for other business opportunities where I can be my own boss," she said.

But being the boss isn't easy, Moore said.

"It's a lot of pressure, because when it's all said and done, the success or the failure comes down to you," she said.

Young entrepreneurs face many challenges, Ream said, especially finding capital to start a business.

"That's the major problem for a lot of young people, because most of the time they don't have savings to draw from, or even an established credit line," she said.

Whitfield said securing a small business loan was the toughest part of opening Fitness Forever.

"We went to bank after bank. We wiped out both of our checking accounts just to lease the building," he said.

Tarasovic-Clark said coming up with the capital to open her yarn shop was difficult, but she was prepared for that struggle.

"I knew that was going to be hard. I did a lot of research and had a solid business plan, so I knew, eventually, the financing to open would come through," she said.

Moore said she and her husband spent five years planning and saving before they went into business.

"We did a lot of research and opened an IRA account. We saved and saved, knowing one day the opportunity to own our own business would be there," she said.

Veasley said young entrepreneurs who have done their homework are less likely to be surprised if their fledgling businesses aren't moneymakers in the beginning.

"If they've done the research and have made themselves familiar with the business world, they're going to be prepared for those bumps in the road," he said.

Whitfield said he feels prepared for those inevitable bumps and is optimistic about the gym's future.

"I know it's not always going to be easy, but, hey, when you can have the Xbox hooked up in your office - something you're not going to see with a 40-year-old - life is good," he said.
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