In just under four weeks, 10 student entrepreneurs at Bacon Academy in Colchester learned the definition of the word success.
The company they founded together, Bacon Bottle Co., sold every single one of their 200 stainless steel water bottles at $10. They even sold the 30 bottles that came back with defects for a reduced price.
“Showing shareholders they get a 500 percent return on investments was the best part,” said Jordan Brown, vice president of finance for Bacon Bottle Co. Brown plans to attend bible school for a year after he graduates and then pursue his passion for business management with an MBA in finance.
For Bacon Bottle Co. president, Natalia Svirshchevsky, the opportunity proved to be life changing.
“One of my life’s goals is to have some kind of business of my own. I’m not sure what yet, but this helped me decide that. I like how you take ideas, put it on paper, write a business plan, and see them come together,” she said.
Brown and Svirshchevsky are no ordinary seniors. Out of a class of 245 students, they’re among 10 who chose to spend part of their senior year working in a real start-up. The students enrolled in a half-year class called Entrepreneurial Economics and that brought them into contact with the Junior Achievement Company Program.
Throughout the fall semester, the students spent 45 minutes, five times a week working for the company. That’s not counting outside work, which often added 2-3 hours a week. Svirshchevsky said the students were compensated at a rate of $1.50 an hour for that extra work.
Bacon Bottle Co. launched in September after Brown and the other student employees surveyed their classmates with business ideas. Mesh shorts were a close runner up, but after a little over 500 votes for the water bottles the students decided to make them their lead product. A major selling point for the bottles: the students liked that they were environmentally friendly and cut down on plastic consumption, Svirshchevsky said.
After a “meeting of the minds,” Svirshchevsky said the team was able to come up with a company name and logo design.
They sold 109 shares of stock at $2 each and accepted donations. That turned out to be enough working capital to make the deposit required by the manufacturer of the bottles, which wholesale for $4.70.
Next, the team focused their efforts on marketing. They created their own Facebook commercial and posted constant status updates on bottles sales, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colchester-CT/Bacon-Bottle-Co/218334395922?ref=ts. Svirshchevsky said the entire team worked hard at selling the bottles during lunch outside of the cafeteria, outside lockers, at sports events and even at their local community bank — the Colchester branch of the Savings Institute Bank & Trust, which supported the effort by waiving fees on a business checking account. She also said parents helped spread the word at their jobs. With help from the group’s teacher — Louise Wessling — at Bacon Academy who served as an advisor for the company, they were able to write press releases to their local newspapers.
“It’s exciting to see the business evolve and the students grow as independent, self-sufficient, and self-motivated workers,” said Wessling. “My role is to guide the students from dependence to independence. This is an authentic, rigorous learning experience whereby students acquire numerous job-ready skills. These include learning to work in a team; to set goals as individuals and team members; to work in both leadership and subordinate roles; to tap into their entrepreneurial creativity; and to develop public speaking, computer, communication, interpersonal, and time management skills.”
One of the most important things Svirshchevsky said she learned from her position as president is an understanding of how to work with a diverse group of people.
“That’s how a real business works. You learn a lot of great communication skills when you have to go from department to department to see how everyone’s doing,” she said.
Brown and Svirshchevsky decided to stay with the company this semester “to carry out the business to liquidation.” That means, in between regular senior activities like prom and college preparation, they’re busy holding meetings with stockholders, who were repaid $10.05 for each $2 investment.
The students are happy to report that their earnings so far have been so good that they were able to donate over $200 back to their school for future start-ups to use.
For the first time in Connecticut, Junior Achievement will also feature a summer internship program. Brown said it’s looking for businesses interested in taking on students for 120-hour commitments starting June 30. Bev Johnson, the program coordinator, is the contact at 860-537-2378 or bjohnson@colchesterct.org .
“It was just so great to see our own product. That’s the biggest motivation. It was our own thing. We really came through for ourselves,” Brown said, glowing with pride.
Joanna Smiley writes the weekly Local Insight column. Reach her at jsmiley@HartfordBusiness.com.