Babson students guide youngsters' business plans
Dorchester grade-schooler DeWayne Walker studied his customer base before heading to Babson College in Wellesley. The 11-year-old knew exactly what would sell: food, cheap and sweet.
"We thought about what college students would want, and we thought, 'College students need to eat fast, and they need junk food, because they don't have that in the cafeteria,' " Walker recalled. "And they don't have much money, so it needs to be cheap."
That marketing strategy paid off last Wednesday, as Walker and a dozen fellow business apprentices from Citizen Schools, a Boston after-school program, peddled food, fashion accessories, and study aids at the college's campus center.
It was the culmination of a 10-week apprenticeship with Babson undergraduates. Students from Paul A. Dever Elementary School in Dorchester and Irving Middle School in Roslindale learned business skills, self-confidence, and responsibility by brainstorming products and bringing them to market.
Once a week, the Babson mentors met with small groups of students at their schools in Boston, teaching business basics like start-up costs, overhead, profit margin, and marketing.
Each group then came up with an idea for a product, bought supplies to make it, and set a price (profits will go to local charities).
Last week, the budding entrepreneurs put their knowledge to the test on their first visit to Babson, attracting collegiate consumers with disarming smiles and well-practiced pitches.
"They recognized the problem with college cafeterias right away," agreed Babson senior Greg Provencal, a marketing major. "Lack of candy."
Founded in 1995, Citizen Schools offers some 80 apprenticeships annually to about 1,200 students ages 9 to 14 in Boston schools. Students choose programs based on their interests. The goal is to teach children real-world skills, help them develop social poise and leadership, and expose them to new experiences and possibilities.
Many of the students are from low-income and working-class families and benefit from the example and guidance of successful adults, organizers say. This is Babson's third year in the program.
Citizen's teachers and the Babson students agree the collaboration is less mentorship than mutual exchange.
"Even though they're together a short time, it's a very deep and meaningful experience," said Citizen Schools' Kristy Krugh. "There's a magic in apprenticeships, that moment when the light bulb clicks for both sides and it all comes together."
Laura Tramontozzi, a Babson junior, watched proudly as the youngsters approached customers and looked them squarely in the eye as they described their products and the charity receiving the proceeds. Two students gave a customer change and a receipt, thanked her profusely, and scrambled to record the transaction in the ledger, working together on the math.
Amisha Patel, a Babson junior majoring in finance, said teaching the kids the tricks of the trade was as rewarding as learning them herself.
"It was great to take what I had learned and pass it along," she said. "Now they know basically what I learned freshman year."
In designing their products, many of which included logos and personalized messages, students demonstrated teamwork, but competition and peer pressure to do well also emerged, volunteers said. And while excited to be on a college campus, the students were also determined to perform professionally. They looked the part as well, wearing sweaters over crisp-collared shirts and patterned blouses.
"They are still at the age where any real-world exposure is thrilling to them," said Alex Dunn, a 28-year-old Citizen Schools teaching associate. "They aren't used to being given responsibility, but if you give them the ball, they'll run with it."
