Nate Buchanan has that entrepreneurial persistence
By Tom Ballard, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Initiatives, Pershing Yoakley & Associates, P.C.
Nate Buchanan has the persistence required of an entrepreneur.
The University of Tennessee (UT) graduate founded his first company – Credit Virgin – during his undergraduate years and a second start-up – Movement 52 – last year. As is the case with many new ventures, only time will determine if they will be commercially successful.
We noticed a recent updated profile for Buchanan on LinkedIn, so we asked for more information.
“We ended up shutting down Movement 52 at the end of December due to low sales volume,” he said in citing cash flow as the proverbial challenge. For those who are not familiar with Movement 52, it helped charities raise funds and awareness for their cause by designing and selling custom apparel and donating a large portion of the sales to their charity partners.
“I had never printed a T-shirt before founding the company,” Buchanan told us at the time, adding “that’s our entire business.”
In spite of the setback for Movement 52, it provided a good foundation for Buchanan’s latest start-up.
“We used the knowledge we had gained from the printing industry to start a logoed apparel/promotional products company called Peanut Butter Printing,” he said. “We wanted to keep the giving aspect of Movement 52 alive, so for every $100 someone spends with our company, we donate 10 meals to children who are dying of malnutrition.”
So, what’s the significance of the name of the new entity?
“These meals come in the form of peanut butter packs,” Buchanan says. “These packs look like an over-sized ketchup pack, and they contain peanut butter, powdered milk, and all the necessary vitamins a malnourished child needs to become healthy. We’re able to give the packs to children around the world through a partnership with Mana Nutrition, the producer of the peanut butter packs.”
Buchanan adds that “it’s been a pretty smooth transition, and we’ve already been able to attract a few good clients.”
More information about Buchanan’s latest start-up can be found at http://peanutbutterprinting.com/.
