Senior Eric Gonsher doesn’t flinch when he hears about the bad job market.

While many of Gonsher’s fellow Kansas University graduates scramble to enter corporate America, a job search is the last thing on his mind. He already owns his own business.

“I don’t have to deal with the interviewing process and the rejections,” Gonsher said. “I’ve had friends who have had job offers taken away because of the economy.”

According to a recent national survey, businesses are hiring 36 percent fewer recent college graduates this year compared to last year. But that doesn’t affect student entrepreneurs graduating from KU’s School of Business.

“It’s a different kind of pressure,” said Jeff Morrow, the KU business lecturer who oversees two organizations for entrepreneurs. “These are mature individuals. It’s not that they’re fearless, but they’ve proven in school they can manage a business effectively. They’re making good money and going to school.”

Gonsher, from Overland Park, owns E.L. Bailer, the company he started about 16 months ago that places advertising in rest rooms. With his business administration degree out of the way, he’s planning to almost double the number of billboards in the next year and expand his business to print coupons on wristbands given at bars and clubs.

Though he admits he didn’t need a degree to start a business, he said the business proved to be a lab where he could apply what he learned in books and in the classroom.

“I think the advantage of having the degree is the accomplishment of going through college,” he said. “And as an entrepreneur, you never know what’s going to happen. You might need something to fall back on.”

Sarah Whiston, another business administration graduate, owns 2nd Look Design, which has designed Web sites, logos and brochures for companies since last year. She recently landed work from Aventis Pharmaceuticals in Lenexa and has contracted with several Lawrence companies.

Whiston, Austin, Tex., said though she’s enjoying life without a job search, owning her own business requires a lot of long hours.

“It has its good points and bad points,” she said. “I’ve got a whole lot more pressure because I’m really in control of my own income.”

Brandon Nott, Shawnee Mission, will walk down Campanile Hill on Sunday with a master’s degree in information systems. He owns WorkMade, a software program that helps restaurant managers schedule shifts for their workers.

The program will undergo testing at Teller’s and The Bleujacket beginning later this month. Then, Nott wants to start marketing the software.

And he wants to design another version for temp agencies.

“You’re not at the mercy of someone else,” he said of being an entrepreneur. “Then again, you don’t have anyone to hold your hand for a while. You have to hit the ground running.”