Hokie Fone

HOKIE FONE

Hokie Fone

Background

Frank Johnson graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the spring of 1998. All throughout his senior year of college, he could think of nothing better than graduating and starting his own business in the Blacksburg area. Just after his final semester had begun, Frank noticed that more and more students were debating whether or not to purchase cellular telephones. Frank, himself had thought about obtaining one of these handy new gadgets on more than one occasion. Prices were still a little too high for the average college student and on top of that, the calling plans were limited and rather expensive. Frank wondered why no one had seen this opportunity before. If there was a company that could mass-produce these cellular telephones, and in turn sell them to the service providers at a volume discount, calling plans could be lowered to an affordable collegiate rate. This could be a gold mine!

Frank did not have to think about this for very long. He pitched the idea to his father, a well-known businessman and entrepreneur within the community; in no time, Frank was researching any and everything with regards to cellular telephone manufacturing. He knew that he would not be able to produce them in large quantities initially since his beginning capital would be limited; however, Frank knew that it would only be a matter of a few years before he would be on his way to making Hokie Fone a household name.

Frank Johnson, with the assistance from his father, obtained a small business loan from a local bank. The two men could not have been happier: Mr. Johnson got to watch his son follow in his entrepreneurial footsteps, and Frank was taking the first steps to making his dream of Hokie Fone a reality. The week after graduation, while Frank’s friends were heading to the beach, he was busy interviewing people for his manufacturing plant. Within two weeks, enough people were hired to begin...