On Friday, November 1, I, along with nine other Medrano Middle School students, had the chance to spend a couple of hours with The Dallas Entrepreneur Center CEO, Trey Bowles. “Our experience with Trey was fun. He taught us how to think creatively about owning our own business,” said one Medrano student.
Mr. Bowles spent time talking with us about how he got to where he is today, his successes and even his failures. He also told us about what it means to be an entrepreneur and how The Dallas Entrepreneur Center helps support the entrepreneurs in our city. Did I mention that he brought us pizza?
So we could better understand what it meant to use an idea to create a business, Mr. Bowles split us into two groups to create a business. Each group was given a bag of goodies (pipe cleaner, Legos, paper cutouts, tape, glow sticks, etc.) and one piece of poster board. We were not required to use all of the materials but were encouraged to think outside of the box when putting together our marketing piece.
The first group created a sports company that offered pre- and post-workout drinks, equipment, clothing and specialized soccer cleats. They wanted to be sure their store offered something for everyone.
Our group created a company called Design Me. Design Me is a company that designs toys, clothes and shoes that you can customize to your preferences. It is kind of like a Build-A-Bear for teens. Young adults were our target market because we love clothes and shoes, especially when they are unique!
Each group was given 20 minutes to come up with an idea and create a sales pitch to present to the panel of judges (other YPC4DISD members). “We had to get up in front of the rest of our classmates and talk about who our target market was and what the purpose of our business was. This taught us a lot about how to entice people to buy our products and come to our store,” one student said.
Our group, Design Me, ended up being selected to win because we showcased actual products. We used the Legosand glow stick to create a toy that kids who are afraid of the dark could use at night while still “looking cool.” The judges loved it!
“Our project won and we are proud because our project was awesome and we all worked together as a team,” said a team member.
At the end, Mr. Bowles had each team give one compliment and one piece of constructive criticism to the opposing team. This was difficult at first, but once he explained the importance, it was actually really helpful.
Overall, we enjoy when YPC4DISD comes to our class. They make the activities fun and teach us a lot of new things. “We want YPC to continue coming back so they can help us to be ready for life!”
The post Medrano middle-schooler recaps crash course in entrepreneurship appeared first on The Dallas Entrepreneur Center.