By Nikita Suharu
Mrs. Mauro’s Entrepreneurship classes opened, managed, and closed their class businesses and both were a success! After long hours and many shifts, What’s Poppin (Charities: Pets Alive of WNY & Buffalo Animal Shelter) and Fresh and Fruity (Charity: NY Food Project) successfully earned large sums of donations for their respective charities. Students were able to experience first-hand what it’s like to run a business and learn how different departments operate. “It was very exciting to work in a simulation of a business and I learned a lot of new things,” said Abhinav Sanka, Vice President of What’s Poppin.
The classes were divided into 4 different sectors: Human Resources, Marketing, Public Relations, and Finance, with a President and Vice President overseeing everyone’s contributions. Human Resources’s main focus was to keep tabs on each employee and evaluate their tasks after being completed. Marketing helped with posters and a website to advertise the product being sold. Public Relations’ responsibility was to communicate with the public by promoting the business and handling any complaints that customers may have had. They were in charge of the Instagram account, the Announcements, and the letters being sent out to other businesses for support. Lastly, Finance managed the cash flow, profits, and stocks being received. Jasmine Mantsurov, President of What’s Poppin, exclaimed, “It was a blast! I was so glad to get the opportunity to be elected president of our hard-working class.”
Both classes can agree that the start-up of the businesses was stressful as the demand exceeded the supply and the popcorn and smoothies weren’t being produced fast enough. Both classes eventually learned how to function efficiently while also accommodating the wants of the customers. Students set up stations for each step in making the product and prioritized the flavors that were in high demand. As sales began to slow down, the PR and Marketing departments made sure to continue promoting their products, they both added limited-time flavors and took advantage of a Valentine’s Day special, which was a success.
The classes competed in many different challenges, keeping the students motivated and hard-working throughout. It was refreshing to see both classes supporting the other’s efforts by helping each other when needed; What’s Poppin and Fresh and Fruity celebrated a total profit of just over $3,400. Please see pictures posted on Instagram of items being donated to charities.
