The next big idea

Bryant students develop ideas for new businesses and pitch them to executives – all before the end of their first year.

Just imagine. You are brainstorming ideas for possible start-up businesses with several classmates in the library. Your assignment: come up with an innovative product or service and a marketing plan for it. You must be creative because in only a few short weeks, you might be one of the lucky groups that have the opportunity to pitch your idea – in 90 second or less – to a panel of high-level executives.

This is a scenario that each Bryant student faces during his or her first year in “Business 101.” The hands-on, trial-by-fire course helps students understand the relationship between building-block concepts such as accounting, marketing, and management and then challenges them to tie it all together in the form of a business plan.

“This course is the cornerstone, the driver, of our curriculum,” says Jack Trifts, dean of the College of Business. “Until someone tries to sell something, it is difficult to understand the complex, interrelated components of creating a business.”

Adam Rubin, management lecturer and Business 101 professor, says the course teaches students to be fluent in the “language of business,” which is essential training for any career.

“We provide them with a tool kit that they will use in all of their future classes at Bryant and their future jobs, regardless of whether they are a liberal arts or business student,” says Rubin.

From the ground up

This spring, each group in Business 101 was charged with coming up with a business idea under the umbrella of “going green.” One of the concepts was a bicycle shop in the heart of Providence called “The Bike Garage,” created by Victoria DiCarlo ’12 (Norton, MA) and her teammates.

DiCarlo remembers her group using the brainstorming of a business idea as an icebreaker of sorts since they were all meeting each other for the first time. The experience they gained working as a team was one of the most valuable takeaways from the project. She also learned critical communication skills in preparing presentations about the business.

Everything began to click as business and marketing plans came together.

“I began to realize that everything I learned in class lectures and the textbooks can be directly applied to real life,” she says.

Two "The Bike Garage" team members (L-R) Matthew Schoenewolf '11 (Wrentham, MA) and Samantha Bobeck '11 (Clifton Park, NY).

Joelle Pagani ’12 (Bolton, CT) says writing a business plan helped her see how elements like marketing, operations, and the financials are interrelated. Most importantly, she encourages students to choose a business they are passionate about.

“It is your job to make consumers enthusiastic about your product,” she says. “Be sure to pick something that you are your teammates are excited about.”

Business 101 provided the spring board that Mike Adams ’10 (Richmond, VT) needed for a business idea he conceived in high school. Recently his company, Eddie’s Energy Bars, received the national recognition of being named one of “100 Brilliant Companies” by Entrepreneur Magazine.

“My favorite part of being an entrepreneur is that I am constantly learning, meeting new people, and building my own business instead of someone else’s,” says Adams, who officially starting producing the all-natural energy bars in 2006. “It is a whirlwind adventure.”

Instilling an entrepreneurial spirit

The Bryant Elevator Pitch (e-pitch) competition – one of the largest of its kind in the country – is perhaps the most anticipated (or feared) aspect of Business 101.

For one night each semester, the campus community comes together to watch the presentations – given in 90 seconds or less – that are designed to excite the judges and impress the crowd.

Each year, first year students take their turns pitching innovative ideas trying to impress the business executives and Bryant faculty who serve as judges for the competition.

During the spring semester e-pitch, one participant in the final round confidently declared to the judges that his product would “put money in your pocket and in ours” as he tossed money at them. And at an e-pitch last year, the presenters were undeterred by the power outage that left them in near darkness.

Dean Trifts acknowledges that it can be quite daunting to present an idea in front of your classmates – or a packed Stepan Grand Hall in the case of the top participants – but this is what makes the experience so profound.

“We don’t make you wait until a senior year capstone project to try this stuff out,” he says. ”Our students are learning to swim in the deep in end their first semester.”

Learn more about the first-of-its-kind project that saw honors "Business 101" students create a business plan for a local nonprofit organization.