SectionsBusinessman gives real-world advice
Megan Spears
Issue date: 2/18/05 Section: Features
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Local entrepreneur Lee Coats worked hard to make his music businesses successful, but he said that is not something that he learned in college.
"What I learned that they do not teach in business school is the amount of work it takes to make a business successful" Coats said at a presentation sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise Tuesday.
Coats owns Springfield Music Company and Joplin's Ernie Williamson Music Company, and he is co-owner of Piano Craft Inc.
Coats graduated from high school in Tulsa, Okla., and went to college at Oklahoma University for two years before he dropped out to be a full-time musician.
"Music is my passion," Coats said.
He said he bought an acoustic guitar and taught himself how to play, even though he can't read music.
"You cause yourself to fail," Coats said.
He told SIFE members to "get educated and become knowledgeable" in what they want to do.
When he leaned to play guitar, Coats went on the road playing music in nightclubs for the next three to four years all around the upper Midwest, he said.
After he finished touring, Coats returned to Tulsa and went back to college, 10 years after he dropped out, to get an associate's degree at Tulsa Junior College.
Before he got his degree, he and his wife bought their first business in 1980, a health food store named Earthwonder. Coats said the business was a struggle, and he never got his degree, although he did have a 4.0 grade point average.
He and his wife sold Earthwonder six years later in 1986. Two weeks after they sold the business, they bought Springfield Music.
"Music stays with you all your life," Coats said.
Since 1986, Springfield Music has been growing, and they have moved the location and bought Ernie Williamson Music in Joplin, he said. He then met Greg Murdaugh, and they opened Piano Craft Inc. together.
"Business is a function of desire and time," Coats said. The three stores bring in a total of about $5 million a year.
Along with being a successful business owner, Coats also plays in the band Wiseguise, along with SMS Assistant Dean of Education Dr. Chris Craig.
SIFE President Jill Gumerman, a junior elementary education major, said she believes speakers like Coats benefit SIFE members.
"The speakers range in all different areas," she said. "That way, graduates have background knowledge of everyday business situations that are real life and do not come from a book."
SIFE member Becky Lucas, a junior journalism major, agreed.
"The speakers give students insight on things they don't learn in the classroom," she said.
SIFE is an international organization open to students of any major. It has 800 teams nationwide and more than 1,600 teams worldwide, and it is the largest student organization in the world, Juan Meraz, SIFE adviser, said.
"What I learned that they do not teach in business school is the amount of work it takes to make a business successful" Coats said at a presentation sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise Tuesday.
Coats owns Springfield Music Company and Joplin's Ernie Williamson Music Company, and he is co-owner of Piano Craft Inc.
Coats graduated from high school in Tulsa, Okla., and went to college at Oklahoma University for two years before he dropped out to be a full-time musician.
"Music is my passion," Coats said.
He said he bought an acoustic guitar and taught himself how to play, even though he can't read music.
"You cause yourself to fail," Coats said.
He told SIFE members to "get educated and become knowledgeable" in what they want to do.
When he leaned to play guitar, Coats went on the road playing music in nightclubs for the next three to four years all around the upper Midwest, he said.
After he finished touring, Coats returned to Tulsa and went back to college, 10 years after he dropped out, to get an associate's degree at Tulsa Junior College.
Before he got his degree, he and his wife bought their first business in 1980, a health food store named Earthwonder. Coats said the business was a struggle, and he never got his degree, although he did have a 4.0 grade point average.
He and his wife sold Earthwonder six years later in 1986. Two weeks after they sold the business, they bought Springfield Music.
"Music stays with you all your life," Coats said.
Since 1986, Springfield Music has been growing, and they have moved the location and bought Ernie Williamson Music in Joplin, he said. He then met Greg Murdaugh, and they opened Piano Craft Inc. together.
"Business is a function of desire and time," Coats said. The three stores bring in a total of about $5 million a year.
Along with being a successful business owner, Coats also plays in the band Wiseguise, along with SMS Assistant Dean of Education Dr. Chris Craig.
SIFE President Jill Gumerman, a junior elementary education major, said she believes speakers like Coats benefit SIFE members.
"The speakers range in all different areas," she said. "That way, graduates have background knowledge of everyday business situations that are real life and do not come from a book."
SIFE member Becky Lucas, a junior journalism major, agreed.
"The speakers give students insight on things they don't learn in the classroom," she said.
SIFE is an international organization open to students of any major. It has 800 teams nationwide and more than 1,600 teams worldwide, and it is the largest student organization in the world, Juan Meraz, SIFE adviser, said.