Javaboi Industries, based in Los Angeles, designs a diverse array of novelty products — fitted hats, dog tags, sandals, etc. — based on the coffee-inspired character Javaboi (think a hypercaffeinated Hello Kitty). Love for coffee, though, is not a prerequisite for becoming a fan of the brand. Think of Johnny Cupcakes — can what he’s doing be done with coffee-inspired novelties? Javaboi founder and CEO Eric Anthony Johnson is “willing to bet my soul that it can.”

HOW MENTORING WILL HELP: “Mentoring from 100 Urban Entrepreneurs will help open my eyes to other options that I never really considered before,” Johnson observes. “I’ll have someone there to hold me accountable for the results I am — or am not — producing. Learning from people who have real-world experience in all areas of business, and learning strategies from those who are involved in the same type of business I am, will help me minimize unnecessary mistakes.”

HOW $10,000 WILL HELP: “Using all free forms of marketing, we’ll now have the funds to build our customer base locally and then globally with an intensive marketing strategy,” Johnson says. “We’ll approach boutiques and stores that fit our brand culture, then invest in an order-fulfillment center such as Shipwire, enabling us to work on the business rather than just in it.”

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ERIC ANTHONY JOHNSON, 32, has burnished his business education mostly by taking courses taught by entrepreneurs — chief among them Robert Kiyosaki, the creator of such concepts as the “B-I Triangle,” a method for organizing your business for maximum efficiency and productivity.

Johnson previously worked as an administrator for a Fortune 500 company; his most recent gig prior to founding Javaboi Industries was as a senior adviser at the insurance giant AIG. Javaboi formally launched in February 2011; Johnson’s ultimate goal is to make the Javaboi character as recognized globally as Hello Kitty.

“Future plans include animation, investing in tangible assets and eventually becoming a global icon following in the footsteps of Starbucks, Sanrio Inc., Paul Frank Industries and Disney,” he says. •