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Vanier students share successes, challenges of running a business

Vanier Collegiate has offered the Entrepreneurship 30 class since 2009, with about $30,000 donated to charities in Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan through the class’ projects

Students from Vanier Collegiate’s Entrepreneurship 30 class who learned how to run their own businesses provided a summary recently of how their projects went and what they learned from the experience.

The two groups presented their final shareholders’ reports on Jan. 22. Members of Moose Jaw’s business and education communities and the students acted as the board of directors — the business and education members could ask questions from the floor — and the youths voted each time to receive all the reports.

One group organized the seventh annual Vanier Christmas Craft and Trade Show, while another group launched a venture called Scrub ‘N’ Scrunch that sold hair scrunchies and body scrub products. Afterward, each group presented a cheque to its chosen charity; trade show students donated $2,500 to Transition House and Scrub ‘N’ Scrunch students donated $162 to the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre.

Students who ran the trade show also earned $340 each based on the event’s profits.

Vanier has offered the Entrepreneurship 30 class since 2009, with the class connecting to the prestigious international Junior Achievement program. About $30,000 has been donated to charities in Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan over the past 11 years through the class’ projects.

Craft and trade show

Helping organize the trade show went well even if there were a few hiccups, said Kendra Rice. She liked that her group chose this type of business since she thought it would be more fun to pursue an established business instead of starting one from scratch.

“I don’t really have that (business) mentality,” she laughed. “I took this class to look good on a résumé and I thought it would be fun. I have never really been interested in business; I’m not really a people person, but I thought it would help with post-secondary and everything.”

Rice managed the event’s social media advertising. She explained that the group used Facebook more than Instagram or Twitter since their main audience — mothers, grandparents and children — used that platform more often. The group had 324 followers on Facebook and only 10 followers on Twitter.

Furthermore, using Facebook allowed Rice to create many messages and then post them throughout the day with the scheduling feature, which she found to be a “cool tool.”

The advertising and attendance of unique vendors both contributed to a successful trade show, she said. For example, a vendor who created woodworking products likely attracted many people. Around 1,000 people attended this year, compared to 950 last year.

Overall, there were 64 vendors this year, an increase of two from last year. During the presentation, the students said they managed to add extra vendors after rearranging the floor plan. They also thought they could increase the number of merchants who attend next year.

One challenge the group faced was with communications, Rice said. The students attempted to keep each other informed about their respective work but experienced some issues since there were 10 of them. However, they kept each other updated as best as possible.

With a laugh, Rice noted she was terrified to speak in front of her class since she doesn’t like public speaking and what she wanted to say didn’t match her notes. However, she thought the presentation went well, even if some groupmates spoke longer than usual.

Choosing Transition House as the main charity was different from past years since students normally choose Riverside Mission, she added. The group thought it would be a nice switch to focus on a women’s shelter instead of a men’s shelter.

Scrub ‘N’ Scrunch

Running Scrub ‘N’ Scrunch went well, especially considering the students started as groups of two and three who didn’t know each other very well, explained Lauren Walcer.

“For the five of us to come together to create something, it’s pretty amazing,” she said. “We did a lot better than you’d think five strangers would do.”

Walcer, who was the head of scrunchie production and head of social media, enjoyed working in a manner different than she’s used to. The group decided not to have a president but gave each other equal roles. With a laugh, she admitted she is a person who wants to control everything. Yet, the experience forced her and some members to calm down and let others take control.

The group’s biggest challenge was working together and combining their ideas, Walcer continued. Furthermore, while they created a product that’s popular, it can also be purchased from known retailers. They also had to work hard to prove their business was better since they were an unknown entity.

In the end, the group sold 356 scrunchies — including 125 premium ones for $3 each and 178 regular ones at $2.50 each — and 68 sugar scrubs.

“I think we turned out really successful,” she said, “considering we’re all balancing school work (and) half of our group is trying to apply to universities. A lot of us had so much going on that being able to make the profit we did and donate to the charity that we did really made it successful.”

The group chose the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre as its charity since one of the students has a sister who goes there while the student also volunteers with the organization. Moreover, some special needs students at Vanier also attend there.

Teacher reaction

The presentations allowed the students to highlight their business ventures from this past semester and also put their knowledge of running a meeting to good use, said teacher Christa LaPointe.

“These 16 students, to start a business from scratch, to be able to work with people they may or may not have worked with before, and then to really work on networking, building relationships and learning what it takes to build a business and follow through goes beyond words,” she continued.

LaPointe added that these students could submit their projects into a provincial awards competition, while they could also apply for national scholarships through the Junior Achievement program.

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