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Clay Taylor
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Clay Taylor
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Being in the classroom is important to learning — everyone has sat in classes, written notes and powered through exams to test their knowledge of a particular subject. But once students have mastered this information in the classroom, how do they then learn to apply this knowledge to the real world? For some, they may learn through working on the job, but a particular group of students at Texas A&M get the opportunity to learn business by practicing through a hands-on masters of science program called the Integrated Business Experience, or IBE, Program.
Receiving guidance from professors in Mays Business School and the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, the IBE program allows students to get their feet wet while working with a team of five to six students on opening and closing a business in only one semester, says McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship Executive Director Blake Petty.
“This program teaches a lot to students who may not think they can be entrepreneurs. It helps to demystify it a little bit, by putting them into a failsafe environment, where they're going to do things they thought they may not be able to do,” Petty says. “Now they're doing it daily, they're doing the marketing, they are selling, they're actually approaching other human beings and talking to them about their products. It gives them that experience and puts them in a place feeling empowered and having the confidence of being able to survive running a business.”
The process starts long before students begin their businesses with classes which are focused on business and product development, marketing strategies, market research, among others, Petty says. Many of the students involved come from a wide range of majors and interests so at the beginning students are simply learning more about the inner workings of a business.
“We start from scratch with basic business principles,” Petty says. “Students will need to think differently about what their skill set and their knowledge base can be used for in business.”
Each group is then responsible for creating a ‘Shark Tank’ style pitch to present to Aggieland Credit Union to determine the size of their loan and negotiate an appropriate interest rate. Aggieland Credit Union Chief Operating Officer Jason Goodman says the students can ask for what they think they need to start their businesses, but they will also need to pay back the loan balance and accrued interest.
“We developed a program where students visit with a panel to give us presentations where we can ask them questions and go through their product, their plan, challenge them in some areas, and then let them actually apply or ask for their commercial loan,” Goodman says.
After receiving their loans, students are issued debit cards to begin purchasing needed supplies as well as to pay for manufacturing of their products, Petty says. Groups will then begin to sell their products however they deem appropriate — with many who sell at local markets as well as some who get into the online orders with shipping capabilities.
“Students are encouraged to try a variety of avenues, not just doing in person sales here locally,” Petty says. “All of them have a website with activated sales components — we've had a few that actually do more in online sales than in-person.”
Students also have to learn to adapt their sales process to the appropriate means that their product demands. Selling a larger, less-impulse buy product like a spool table was much more marketable to businesses rather than directly to consumers, Wehner Woodworks team member Jorel Decipulo says.
“We knew from the beginning that such a large product would be a difficult sell in smaller, impulse driven markets. We learned over time that the effort for one-toone B2C sales was not worth the revenue we were generating in comparison to the efforts and revenues selling B2B,” Decipulo says. “Another personal appeal for us was having the opportunity to leave our physical mark on establishments in Aggieland as we complete our last year as students.”
After students have paid back their loans with interest, they donate the rest of their money to a charity of their choice varying from local to national entities who all serve different causes, Petty says. Some groups choose charities similar to their product such as Beloved Bands, whose products feature decorative headbands and scrunchies, while raising awareness and funds for their chosen charity, Children With Hair Loss who donates wigs to children experiencing health issues.
“One of our teammates had a grandmother that suffered from hair loss and would have these bandanas/headbands that she would make herself, so that pathos of the product idea really led us to the idea of making headbands,” Beloved Bands team member Brendan Suckley says.
After completing 18 selling events in only two-and-a-half months, the group was able to raise a total of $2,623 to donate to the organization.
“My personal favorite moment was explaining our business idea to customers and telling them that 100% of our profits were going to charity,” Suckley says. “It was very wholesome.”
After closing out their businesses, students have the opportunity to continue to operate their businesses beyond their class. A few of the groups have continued their business beyond the program, sometimes it does not look exactly the same as their business name, product and/or team members change. Whether the students choose to continue their businesses or take their knowledge elsewhere, the purpose is to shed light on the aspects of running a business, Petty says.
“Every business venture includes mistakes and victories. This out-ofthe- classroom experience exposes students to real business challenges that showcase how their actions and decisions truly impact the bottom line,” Petty says. “Our ultimate goal is ensuring every IBE student learns to overcome mistakes and learn a unique entrepreneurial skill set. And that they can apply these lessons toward success in whatever career they choose to pursue.”
For more information about the Texas A&M Integrated Business Program, visit mays.tamu.edu/ms-business/integrated-business-experience
