What It Takes To Start A Business

As you are walking through the grocery store,  you pick up your new favorite soda and place it in your cart.  But what you may fail to realize is the long and difficult journey it took for that product to make it on that shelf.

 

For the past three weeks, students taking Econ. and Gov. have been learning about the economy and what it takes to start a business. Through various tasks, students completed several steps from market research all the way up to writing a final business plan and presenting it to investors Shark Tank style. 

 

Mr. Bruscino, a teacher at WHS and a previous small business owner explains, “the project itself is based off of the show [Shark Tank]. However, we have changed it over the years to make it more of a business plan instead of an invention. It is a public policy project for economics in which you are investigating an economic need within your local community.”  Students are asked to think about a piece of this community that is missing and surround their mock business on the solution to the town’s emptiness.

 

For example, students Marquis Frias and Raymond Roa’s plan was to open a bowling alley in the middle of town because they feel like there aren’t many local activities open for teenagers in this town. Frias articulates how, at first daunting, his favorite part of this project was, “coming up with all of the different ideas…to help better the community” because he and Raymond had so many different directions that they could have taken this project. 

 

Although this project is just a mock business plan and students aren’t actually buying leases, a lot of the skills learned through the process of this project can be utilized outside 0f the classroom. Small business owner, Kate Hendricks, mentioned how the assignments done in class were similar to what she has to do for her Esty shop. Hendricks expresses how “the importance of marketing and knowing your competition is important when starting a business,” and these same skills are applied in her real life. 

 

Similarly, before becoming a teacher, Mr. Bruscino ran a lawn sprinkler installation business. Bruscino expresses how, “the budgeting, purchasing and trying to figure out [his] incoming revenue versus the amount of money that [he] was going to spend on parts, travel and labor and trying to turn a profit” are all aspects that are included in the Shark Tank project. It is a “very brief introduction… and there is a lot that goes into it. but it gives you an idea of the difficulties of starting up.”
 

Although this is just a school project, a lot of the skills applied can be used in real life.  So next time you are walking around the grocery store, take the time to stop and think about what it took to get your favorite product on those shelves.