Ideation: Where do good ideas come from?

A guest post by Jon Bachura, Director of Curriculum & Training at Youth Entrepreneurs

My definition of what an entrepreneur is goes something like this; solving problems for profit. If a business offers a service or product that solves a problem for the customer in a way that frees up scarce resources for that customer, allowing for those resources to be used in alternative ways, we have created value and will be rewarded by the market through the price system of profit and loss.

A really great example of this is Walmart. Love them or hate them, no other company has done more to improve the quality of life for more people. As a parent of a 2 year old, the money I save on diapers at Walmart can be used to buy more spa treatments for my wife. This creates value for my entire family.

Everyone has problems. A powerful way to start the ideation process is to ask, "Where's the problem?" Identify pain points and bottlenecks and the people who have them. Then we can start working on solutions. With the use of such concepts as scarcity, comparative advantage, and subjective value, we can find out if our solution actually is feasible as a business. If we can solve a problem for more people with less resources in a way that people want, we might be on to something. If we solve the problem for few people with lots of resources in a way that people don't want, we might be destined for failure. Did you know that 95% of patents registered in the US never create any value? That's according to this article by The Economist. What does that tell you about the amount of bad ideas out there?

It's natural to have the desire to avoid failure. But, in order to succeed, we must fail. Failure is how we identify good ideas versus bad ones. How will we know if we have solved the problem if we don't try it? No matter who is writing the business plan, eventually, we have to see what customers say or do when we present the solution to them. That means we have to get product or service to the customer sooner than later.

We have to "Fail fast & fail cheap."

Don't be Bill Gates, on stage, at the launch of "Windows '98".

 

Preferably, students in the YE classroom are thinking about businesses that they could start tomorrow with the resources they have today. If students begin their business while writing their business plan, things go much smoother for them. Instead of trying to find out what to charge for a pair of Nike shoes sold at their multi-million dollar sports complex, they are simply writing down what they actually charged for walking one customer's dog. Or they are writing how they plan to market their lawn mowing business this summer, instead of trying to figure out how much national magazine ads cost.

Students come to us with big dreams and we love that so please don't misinterpret that last paragraph. But if your idea is going to take several million dollars, it doesn't really fit with "fail fast, fail cheap". Another question would be: Can we keep the big dream and start working on a stepping stone in the path to it? How much can we learn in the process? How much can we earn, while we learn?

Just an FYI: This is the first of a series of posts on Ideation, so please let us know if you have suggestions or want us to talk about a specific part of the ideation process. 

ESPN Founder Headlines Global Entrepreneurship Week in Kansas

Be a part of Youth Entrepreneurs Business Breakfast Series with it's final stops in Wichita and Kansas City next week. The founder of ESPN, Bill Rasmussen, will be speaking on Thursday, November 17 and Friday, November 18. For more information and tickets visit yeks.org. Read below to hear a snipit of what Mr. Rasmussen will share with audiences during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

11.11.11

Ever wonder about how big companies got started? Corporate lore talks of Microsoft, Apple, Ford, HP, ESPN and countless others being hatched in a garage or basement or in some obscure lab. While the physical locations vary, the fact is that all companies - big and small - were hatched in the mind of their founder - the entrepreneurs who, against all odds, pursued their dream and passion until their vision became reality.

ESPN is one of those companies. Starting with just three people in June 1978, The Worldwide Leader in Sports has grown into the largest media conglomerate in the world.

Today it's a no-brainer! Let's go back to August 1978 when my son, Scott, and I laid out plans for sports around the clock - 24 hours a day / 7 days a week . . . the skeptics were legion. "Who's going to watch? . . . It will never work . . . There will never be enough interesting sports events . . . There is no advertising on cable . . ." And so it went. Skeptics were everywhere. There were very few believers.

I must admit that we had a few things to learn and many questions to ask, but that's what entrepreneurs do - every day! You don't have to know everything about everything to move forward with your idea. You do have to believe in your idea with all your heart and every fiber of your being . . . in other words sell your idea with passion and perseverance.

We reduced our quest to these simple facts:

                                F - financing

                                A - advertising

                                C - content

                                T - technology

                                S - subscribers

We devoted all of our energy and passion to learning and then implementing action in each of these five critical areas.

From November 1978 through January 1979, we added five more people to our team and by March 1, 1979, the entire framework for ESPN was in place:

- Getty Oil had agreed to finance the project;

- Anheuser-Busch agreed to the largest advertising contract in cable TV history at the time;

- the NCAA had agreed to provide programming content;

- RCA Americom had agreed to provide satellite distribution throughout the United States;

- several major cable systems had agreed to deliver our programming to their subscribers across the country.

ESPN was born and shaped with the efforts and determination of just 8 people - AND it all happened in 9 months. Six months later, on September 7, 1979, ESPN exploded upon the world with 80 people on board. Today, 6,000 full time employees and thousands of contractors and free-lancers deliver ESPN's 52 networks to all seven continents.

It is an amazing story, born from adversity.  I attribute our success to a dedicated team that believed in my vision with passion and pursued it with a determination that was unparalleled.

Bill Rasmussen

ESPN Founder

www.espnfounder.com 

Nov. 11, 2011

Come Rain or Snow, The YE Students Still Sold

The YE students in Garden City didn’t let a little snow get in the way of their Market Day businesses. Outside the school doors no one was out and about due to the weather, but that certainly wasn’t the case inside the doors of GCHS. Once the lunch bell rang, hundreds of students piled into the hallways to see what delicious food the students were selling this year.

I will be honest in saying that I was doubtful that the students would be able to sell the amount of volume they had anticipated in their bids. But I was definitely proven wrong! Many of the groups sold out of all of their products by the end of the second lunch and were forced to go to nearby stores to restock for the third and fourth lunches.

One group in particular, “Puppy Approved Chow,” really blew me away. They had planned to sell 500 bags of puppy chow. Having seen a few Market Days in the past, I thought they had overestimated their sales, so I mentioned they should maybe consider reducing the amount of units they planned to sell. In talking with them, I learned that they had made an agreement with the school cafeteria to allow students to purchase their puppy chow in the lunch line, using their school or “parents” lunch money. This was a great idea because many students don’t carry cash on them at school. In addition, no other groups were using the cafeteria, so they had found a captive market. To capitalize on the several hundred juniors and seniors that go off campus for lunch, Puppy Approved Chow also planned to stand outside the exits and sell puppy chow from their YE bags. Their planning and creativity definitely paid off. They ended up being one of the groups who sold out after second lunch, so they ran to Dillon’s to buy pop. When they got back to school, they reloaded their backpacks with pop and continued to make money. This group of young ladies definitely possesses the entrepreneurial spirit, and it was wonderful to see it shine through on Market Day!

One of my favorite parts of Market Day is seeing the community get involved. Crazy Cupcakes utilized local business owners and BPAs, David and Deann Crase, to refine their cupcakes. I won’t share the secret Mr. and Mr. Crase gave them, but let me tell you, those cupcakes were very moist! I ate three of them yesterday! GCHS’s nutrition coordinator and kitchen manager helped make the event a success by teaching the students about safe food preparation practices. A handful of other parents and BPAs also stopped by the event to see how successful the businesses were and of course to buy lunch.

At the end of the day the students were exhausted. They learned what it can be like to own a business as many of them spent until 9:00pm the night before cooking in the school kitchen, and then they were back at the school cooking at 6:00am. But I know they would all agree that seeing the satisfaction from their customers and making a profit made all that hard work worth it.

-Kylie Z.

Why Market Days are so Great!

I recently had the opportunity to partake in Harmon High School's Market Day.  No small event!  With ten different teams of students there was plenty of food to go around, competition across the board (quality, quantity, price, promotion, and placement) and enough energy in the room to light up the whole school.

Harmon students have been working on setting up this event since the beginning of September and now the big day was finally here.  Had they made the right decision on what products to buy and sell?  Were they wise in their selection of team mates?  Had they purchased enough items to resell and meet the demands of their customers?  The answer to all of these questions and many more would soon be answered with in the next 2 ½ hours.

I must admit I was skeptical of a couple of the teams.  Teams Chilindrinas To Go and The 3 Nacho Bravos were planning to sell chilindrinas; a Mexican dish made from rice/corn shell filled with different vegetables topped with sauces and nachos with a side cup of strawberries in cream.  I’m an adult who loves vegetables and fruit!  But would high school students feel the same way I did?  Would they be willing to spend their money on vegetables and fruit?  Chilindrinas To Go and The 3 Nacho Bravos must have done their market research because they made $93.76 and $87.67 in profits respectably earning the second and third highest profit in take for the day.  

Team Los Muertos De Hambre made the highest profits earning $106.63 selling a two taco rice and beans combo meal.  Proving homemade vs. store bought might be the way to go.  Either way, students were enthusiastic at the end of the day requesting to have a second Market Day so they could improve upon the mistakes and lessons they learned throughout the process.  Some teams like the Rotella’s would do better market research so they could better gage how much product to purchase.  They ran out of food to sell during the middle of third lunch, losing the opportunity to make money during forth lunch period. 

This is why I love Market Days.  Where else can students request a micro loan, create a start up, run a business, make mistakes, apply economic principles and business lessons they have learned and walk away with profits?  NOWHERE!  This is experiential learning at it best!

 -Tiffany S. 

Market Day with the Titans

This week our Youth Entrepreneurs students had the opportunity to attend Wholesale Field Trips at local businesses and to sell products for a profit at their Market Days.  I had the pleasure of attending both the Field Trip and Market Day with the students from Wichita South High School.  

We started off our week with a field trip to The Mojack.  Students learned of an opportunity that two young entrepreneurs saw a market for, and have now grown their business into a well known product line that can be found at Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and Lowe’s among others.  The students were very excited to hear how a simple idea could be turned into a profitable and fast growing business.  Students were able to see the products up close and were shown how the product is used.  Students then went to have a great lunch at Planet Sub and hear one of the owners speak about his experience owning, operating, and franchising a business.  I’m sure the students enjoyed not only the food but also the knowledge that Eric passed along!  And our final stop of the day was to Sam’s where the students were able to buy their products for Market Day!  There were many questions about, should I buy this or should I buy that, and I was looking forward to seeing how it all turned out as I went to their 1^st of two Market Days today.

I left the office hungry and looking for something super yummy on my way to South and as I entered the courtyard I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed!  There were groups with Tacos, hot dogs, BBQ, puppy chow, fried chicken, spaghetti and many many other selections.  As I went around to the groups I was surprised (as they were also) that they sold out of their products within just a few short minutes.  They were faced with the decision of what could they do tomorrow to not only sell more product but how should they adjust their prices.  Would they make more sales, which would equal more profit, or would they keep their prices the same?  I also came across a few groups who weren’t doing as well as they thought they would, and each of the groups were figuring out new ways of how to make their product stand out better tomorrow.  I’m anxiously waiting to hear how the South High Titans end their Market Day tomorrow. I have no doubt that I’ll be hearing about a lot of success stories!   

Chelsey Karlin

YE Program Coordinator

The Market Day Challenge

 

Every fall semester a new round of profit seeking students form partnerships and sole proprietorships with a plan to sell goods and services to students and staff during school lunch.  It’s a project called Market Day. This micro loan program is the first chance Youth Entrepreneurs students have to experiment with entrepreneurship and it’s an opportunity to put real profit into their pockets.

Tantalizing, isn’t it? When you were in high school, wouldn’t you have jumped at the chance to make money leveraged by start-up capital from one of your teachers? Of COURSE you would have!

Over the years, we have seen this project become more and more successful for the students and their teachers with record breaking profits and educational experiences that spur students on to the next phase of the YE program. Nothing compares to the feeling of being validated by the market place. When you have satisfied customers AND put some cash in your pocket, you start to understand the reason why entrepreneurship is so vital to our quality of life and the prosperity we enjoy every day.

Last year, the staff at YE noticed a need that could be filled entrepreneurially. Perhaps, with all of this amazing success, it was time to create a new opportunity.  Maybe it was time to allow those enterprising students the chance to broaden their reach, put a bit more cash on the line, and compete among the other 28 high schools participating in Market Day in Kansas & Missouri. It was time to create a “next level” for the project:  The Market Day Challenge.

It works like this:

Teams across the entire program can elect to submit a video about their Market Day business by Thursday Oct 13, 4pm CST (THAT’S THIS THURSDAY!!!). From those submissions YE will select the top 12 based on their plan of action for Market Day, their creativity and level of team work during the planning process. Those 12 teams selected will be announced via the Youth Entrepreneurs’ Facebook the following day. From there, the team who makes the most profit and has the video with the most “likes” at the end wins $200!

Last year was a great success with the winning video getting 306 “likes” for the Wichita East High team of Stick Yo’Chicken. They received an additional $200 above and beyond their Market Day profits.  You can see how the entire process went by visiting our last years’ Market Day Challenge page on Facebook.

20 years of success and healthy competition and, as always, the process of innovation continues.  We are all looking forward to see what this year’s Market Day Challenge will create. So students:  get those cameras rolling! The rest of us want to see the process and be inspired by your ability to be creative and entrepreneurial. 

“If you change the way you look at things, the things around you will change”

I really never planned on being a cosmetologist.  I was young, in a band and exploring the options for my future.  I was introduced to the salon environment by a friend and was attracted to the fun, upbeat energy so I decided to go to Cosmetology school.  Little did I know where this decision would lead me, and I would one day become a successful entrepreneur.

My wife and I opened our first salon in 1988. As I always say, it took me 15 years to become an overnight success.  Over the last 20 years, our business has evolved and grown into a thriving customer centered establishment.  We now own three Eric Fisher Salons and a little over four years ago, we opened Eric Fisher Academy.  

Being an entrepreneur has allowed me to transform into the person I am today – a cosmetologist, a salon owner, a school owner, a platform artist and an educator.  My career in the cosmetology industry has provided me with the opportunity to travel the world and I’ve had the honor of winning numerous personal awards and awards for the salon and academy.  Some of these awards include:

Eric Fisher

§  NINE time North American Hairstyling Award Finalist

§  TWO time North American Hairstyling Award Winner

§  WINNER Global Business Award UCLA – London, England

§  WINNER Global Business Award UCLA “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award – Barcelona, Spain

§  WINNER Stylist Choice Award – Favorite Education in the Business for Best Selling CD “90 Days to a Lifetime of Big Earnings”

§  Named one of the “Best Educators of the Last 100 years” – Modern Salon Magazine

Eric Fisher Salon

§  “Retail of the Year” – American Salon Magazine

§  “Best Salon Coast to Coast” – Self Magazine

§  Voted “Most Newsworthy Salon in America” – Consumer Press NYC

§  “Top Training Salon in the Nation” – Allure Magazine

§  Repeatedly named in the “Top 200 Salons in America” – Salon Today Magazine

§  Voted Fastest Growing Salon in America – Salon Today Magazine

§  One of the most written about Salons in America – quoted in all major magazines including Vogue, Elle, Seventeen, Teen, Allure, InStyle

§  Winner Best in Business – Wichita Business Journal

§  Finalist Small Business Award – Wichita Chamber of Commerce

Eric Fisher Academy

§  EIGHT time North American Hairstyling Award Finalist in the Student Stylist category

§  WINNER North American Hairstyling Award

§  Named School of the Year by Nuts and Bolts Business Training Program

§  Winner School Excellence in Education Award “Best School Facilities” – Modern Salon Magazine

§  Finalist School Excellence in Education Award “School Culture” – Modern Salon Magazine

§  Finalist School Excellence in Education Award “Marketing Innovation” – Modern Salon Magazine

§  Winner Best in Business – Wichita Business Journal

§  Finalist Small Business Award – Wichita Chamber of Commerce

My father used to tell me, “If you change the way you look at things, the things around your will change”.  I offer this same advice to you regardless of your situation; you too can become a successful entrepreneur.  Look at me - I was a young guy who enjoyed creating some beats on the drums.  One decision lead to inconceivable opportunities which I believe anyone can accomplish with hard work and dedication. 

I look forward to speaking at the YEK Breakfast Series on October 13^th.  See you there.

Eric Fisher

My Overall Experience

Check out this Fox 4 News clip of Danielle Stegall and read below from Danielle herself about her experience that starts TODAY!


Well, tomorrow is the big day! As I prepare to leave for New York tomorrow I’m taking time for last reflections of my experience up to this point. I have learned a great number of things during this whole experience. It has changed my entire outlook on and attitude towards life. I never knew how hard I could really work until I had to prepare for this competition. At times there were late days, late nights, and weekends but I have a sense it was all worth it and will all pay off in the future! I feel I have accomplished a huge goal in my life. Working with YE to prepare for the competition has been a positive experience though at times I had may ups and downs with Mr. Birmingham (two different personalities trying to work together…interesting) but I really appreciated him working with me and putting up with all of my baggage and pushing me to that next level. The process in working and learning how to prepare for the competition has been very hard but I am very proud of how much it has grown. I didn’t understand at first how much I really had to do until it got closer to the competition then everything started to seem so real. I am afraid of making mistakes while I present but with all the different rehearsals and presentations I feel I am prepared. I went home some days mentally exhausted and it still seemed like I wasn’t getting anywhere but I feel I am prepared to do my best. The competition is here!  It’s time to put on a show and show the judges what I have to offer! Regardless of the outcome, I know I worked extremely hard and will do my best come Thursday. Wish me luck!

Danielle Stegall

BizConnect for Alumni & Community Supporters

During my three years of working as the Development Assistant for the Youth Entrepreneurs Program I have spent a great deal of time committed to working with the YE Alumni Advisory Council in Wichita, a small group of alumni, willing to help and eager to connect with other alumni who had the same interests as them—BUSINESS.  Together the council was able to come up with small events that would do just that.

Over and Over again the people who attended these events would tell us that while they enjoyed the speaker, what they enjoyed the most was the opportunity to network with people like themselves. That there was a sense of camaraderie between themselves and others who took the “Youth Entrepreneurs Kansas” class in High School.

And with this, “Biz Connect” was born. On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 5:30 pm, Youth Entrepreneurs will host its biggest alumni event yet. This event is free and open to the public, but most importantly it is unique from all of our other events! Biz Connect will be the first time Youth Entrepreneurs has intermingled our alumni and community supporters on a personal level.

When:  Wednesday, September 21^st from 5:30-7:30 pm

Where: Abode Venue, downtown at 1330 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS

Who: YEK Alumni and business professionals in the community who have a strong passion for business and wish to expand their network are encouraged to attend this free event!

How: Visit https://yeks.org/events/ to RSVP

**Free appetizers and desserts will be provided by: Cocoa Dolce, Palmers Grill and Mike's Wine Dive ** In addition to other great prizes that will be available YEK Alumni will automatically be entered into a drawing for a $50 Bradley Fair gift certificate. **

For more information visit https://yeks.org/events/ or email: lindsay@yeks.org

-Lindsay

The Drive of an Entrepreneur - Danielle S.

One thing many learn after spending a significant amount of time with me is I am a competitor…in just about everything! The past five weeks I’ve had the opportunity to work and mentor YE alum Danielle Stegall (2011 Schlagle High School), to help prepare her for the 2011 Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. Anytime one of our students earn an opportunity to compete at any level I want it so bad for them (sometimes more than they do) due to my competitive nature. It has been such a joy to work with a young lady who I know wants it more than me! I’ve learned from Danielle’s previous competitions that she is a natural public speaker. What I’ve seen from this experience is she has the true drive and motivation of an entrepreneur. I have never in my years as an educator had a student say, “I’m available from after school until whenever” or ask, “Can we get together and work for a few hours on Sunday afternoon?” This is what I believe will allow Ms. Stegall the opportunity to travel to New York and represent YE at the highest level. If I even mention the phrase, “If you make it to the next round” she quickly says, “When I make it to the next round”. The confidence is there! The work ethic is there! The plan is there! I watched her present this evening to the Board of Education and she owned the room. I’ve watched this young lady grow from a student with a good idea to a future business woman! For that reason alone this experience has been well worth the time and efforts! When she travels to New York next month, we have high expectations. If she doesn’t place, yes we will be disappointed but you can’t put a prize on the transformation! I’m proud of Danielle and have been privileged to work with her! Now…regardless of how proud I am of her, let’s go bring this top prize home!

Vernon Birmingham

P.S. Be sure to check out her on-line elevator pitch and vote! http://www.elevatorpitch2011.com/nominees/entry/danielle-s

Photo by: Premier Studios