Students Shine at Entrepreneurship Contest

Story by Brianna Hemel »

On March 2, Senior Emily Hull, Junior Bobby Lounsbury, and Sophomore Benjamin Posch travelled to Baker University and competed in an entrepreneurship contest similar to “Shark Tank.” There were three parts to competition. The first was that participants had to come up with a business plan that included what their business was, how much money they needed to start it, and who their market and competition would be. The second part was a trade show presentation where they made a booth showing off their products/business. The final part was they had two minutes to explain their business plan to a panel of judges – but they couldn’t hand out any information or bring in a prototype of their project.

Lounsbury’s business idea was science/physics kits that would increase STEM education around America. It all started when Mrs. Hartwell bought a $150 kit for the middle school and Lounsbury decided that he could make her a better quality kit from scratch for less.

“I looked at what it offered and told her that I could build them a better quality kit for half the price,” Lounsbury said.

His overall company is called Simplistic Innovations but the company with the cards is called BuiltMyWay. Lounsbury won $1,000 and will compete in the state competition in April. So far, he has spent half of the money investing in a computer and the other half is going back into his savings account.

Hull created a kick guide for beginning martial art students called Kick Assist. Hull didn’t place but plans to submit her executive summary and business plan to an open review to try and make finals on a wild card spot.

Posch created a business concept call Apex Food which focused on custom creation and delivery of hot meals on the go which would eliminate time in the kitchen while providing affordable and nutritious meals. It would also be food sourced locally in order to help the community.

“As a group, they were very supportive of the other and often questioned each other to keep them on task and shared ideas along the way. They are three impressive students with strong convictions to be successful in all activities that they participate in!” said adviser Mrs. Hartwell.