Student skis to success

By Chris Ledermuller
Daily Forty-Niner

When Charles Plouff leaves Cal State Long Beach each day and sets down his books, he assumes the role of running his own business developing a safety device for water skiers.

Plouff, a 23-year-old senior management information systems major, plans on marketing D-Flagger, a mechanical device that holds up warning flags in boats.

"The flags are used as safety devices to let boaters know there's a skier and a rope in the water," he says.

Plouff, who is an avid water skier, says water skiers are required by law to have a boat driver and a spotter who watches the skis. The law also requires the spotter to hold up a flag, often manually, to caution other boaters that a skier is present.

Plouff says the D-Flagger's biggest advantage over holding up a flag is visibility. The D-Flagger has a user-activated motor that raises the bright orange caution flag straight up along a track.

"It's something you don't have to think about," he says. "You just flip a switch."

Plouff envisions D-Flagger as improving safety for water sports activities like water skiing and wakeboarding, an increasingly popular activity of riding the water with a single board, similar to snowboarding.

Plouff's best friend, Mike Reed, also a CSULB student, builds the working model. Plouff says he leaves the engineering to Reed while he works on the equally important "business side," developing the company's plans and seeking investors.

Being a young entrepreneur can be psychologically challenging Plouff says.

"First of all, it's hard just to overcome fear of failure," he says. "When you go out on your own, sometimes you think you're going to fail. It's not my money being invested, but it's my time and effort."

After overcoming his fears, what keeps Plouff going?

"The support from our friends and family has been positive, and that's what pushed us to do this," says Plouff, who also credits his parents for introducing him to water skiing when he was young. "It's been a hobby of mine and Mike's since we were 8 years old."

Although he hopes to sell D-Flagger, Plouff says that dealing with the business is only when he has free time.

"Our source of income is definitely not this," he says.

Besides carrying 12-units at CSULB this semester, Plouff's primary employment is with the United Parcel Service in Long Beach.

Otherwise, Plouff says his business is in the planning stages. Besides business plans and investor relationships, he and Reed still fine-tune the D-Flagger before it goes into production and public sale. He expects it to sell for about $200.
 
After putting in more than a year's worth of time and labor - not to mention an almost lifelong interest in water skiing - the D-Flagger may be a product which improves water safety and makes a CSULB student wealthy.