(CNN) -- Susie Levitt's and Katie Shea's feet had had enough. Walking around Manhattan sidewalks between classes in their high heels was getting unbearable.



Katie Shea and Susie Levitt,  founders of "CitiSoles," said walking around Manhattan in high heels was painful.



Tal Raviv felt frustrated. While studying in Hong Kong in 2007, he found that adjusting to a new city was hard enough. Even more aggravating was trying to  connect with friends on Facebook whose names were common.



Jaun Calle and Adam Berlin were bored. Watching college football on television isn't as exciting as being there in person, they thought.



Instead of just grinning and bearing it, all of these university students did something: They started their own businesses.



Levitt and Shea created "CitiSoles," a shoe company that makes a foldable shoe for when the pain of high heels gets unbearable. Raviv created "DropCard" an e-business card that lets users send more contact information than is commonly found on a business card. Calle and Berlin formed "SEC Excursions" a travel company that provides busing, tailgate parties and hotel accommodations to college football games.



The recession and lack of experience might stop most adults in their tracks, but these students weren't discouraged.



"There is no better time [to start a business]," said Christopher Hanks, director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of Georgia. "During a depression or recession, innovation always increases."



The dorm is the new garage



While the founders of Google built success in their garages, these college students found it in their dorms. In addition to their course work, studying for midterms and balancing extracurricular activities, they wrote business proposals and figured out financing.



"From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., I am in chemical engineering classes, and from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., I work on DropCard, so I don't get much free time," said Raviv, 22.



Levitt and Shea said launching their shoe business was essentially nonstop, and the work didn't end on Friday. And for Calle, the compromises in his academic and social life weren't a burden.



"We enjoy ourselves," said Calle, 21. "We don't see it as a sacrifice."



Hanks said these attitudes are typical of student entrepreneurs. They don't have the pressure of supporting themselves -- their living expenses are usually being paid for -- and they have a wide support system.



"They certainly have their advantages ... their enthusiasm level is really high," Hanks said. "They don't know what they don't know."



Hanks added that the excitement of creating a business revs up the students even more than the chance of getting rich.



"They get excited about 'wouldn't it be cool if we did that' versus the money," said Hanks. "The journey is not as much as about the money as about the challenge."



Figuring it out



None of these students followed a set formula for starting their businesses. Levitt and Shea used Alibaba.com, an online trade portal, to pitch their idea to suppliers and dipped into their savings for start-up money. An investment firm helped Raviv, and Calle and Berlin found investors.



Levitt and Shea, both 22, took "less than $10,000" from their savings to start CitiSoles in 2008. That covered the cost of the shoes and a Web site designer. From there, they worked with suppliers and factories in Asia to scope out which would be the best fit for their company. The pair conducted market research and found nothing similar sold in the United States.



"It was all done online," Levitt said. "We became nocturnal."



The shoes, made of imitation leather, come with a compact carrying case. A patent for the shoe is pending.



When the first order for 1,000 pairs, weighing over 400 pounds, arrived at Shea's Long Island home unexpectedly, Levitt said they were overwhelmed.  A few days later, an article about their company appeared in
Who created SEC Excursions? Who co-founded "DropCard"? Who founded DropCard? Who created "SEC Excursions"? Who created Citisoles? What is a foldable-shoe company called?
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