University of Evansville

UE Business Students present Entrepreneurial Business Plans

From the Evansville Courier and Press:

Brandon Patton-Jackson, a University of Evansville sophomore, stands before an audience that includes a bank official, an accountant, a small business consultant and other business and financial experts.

He talks about his plans for a business that creates "a classy, appropriate and affordable Web site" for small businesses.

Patton-Jackson, along with fellow sophomores and business partners Daniel Brunner and Nathan Robison, walks the audience through the business plan for their company, R & B Web Designs. They talk about quality control, pricing, expenses and marketing strategy. They say how much financing they will need to launch their enterprise.

After their presentation, they field questions from the audience - tough questions about how they follow up on sales contacts, who their competitors are and whether they have priced their product too low.

It's a class exercise, but it's real business, too. Many of the students who presented their plans Tuesday indicated they not only expected to pursue their business while in college, they hoped to continue it after graduation.

"There are some (students) out there... who this class is absolutely geared to," said student Bryan Hartman. He counts himself as one of those. "I'm so glad they did this," he said of the class.

The Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship is a new management class at the university. It is designed to give students experience in launching their own business - a knowledge far beyond what they would get from a regular class on the subject, according to Robert Clark, dean of the School of Business Administration.

Pete Sherman, assistant professor of management and the class instructor, said this semester's class is a pilot class. The School of Business intends to make it a requirement of all business school sophomores next semester.

Such an experience should prepare students well for the business world, said Clark. "Our idea is that not every student is going to be an entrepreneur, but every enterprise is going to need entrepreneurial thinking."

Sherman said that students will take this before they receive more accelerated courses in finance, marketing and other important business topics. A key to developing the class was the $15 million Lilly Foundation Grant the Business School received a year ago. Some of that grant will be used to provide the real funding that these student businesses request in presentations like those given Tuesday.

Clark said he has been surprised by the creativity of the student entrepreneurs so far. Among the plans presented by students include a business for a home handyman service, an online stock advice service, an arcade business and a company selling Hungarian chocolates.

Hartman, who presented a plan for King Five, Inc., a business that would sell customer's items on the popular auction Web site, eBay, said that the class is helping him organize a business plan. Tuesday's presentation before an audience of experts helped him with the sales pitch he will not only have to make to investors, but to customers.