Newswise — As part of the College’s required full-year course entitled Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME), teams of first-year students began developing their business plans when they arrived in September 2012. While learning the nuts and bolts of inventing, developing, launching, managing, and liquidating a business, students were then given the opportunity to translate their skills into real world applications.
In January 2013, the students launched 19 ventures which reaped over $16,000 in profits for selected charities. In addition to running their businesses, the students donated their time and resources to local community service agencies of their choice. FME student businesses have donated more than $435,000 in the last eleven years. FME has been recognized by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) as the number one “Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Course” in the country.
This year marked exciting changes for Babson’s FME program. The course that has long been a staple for Babson undergraduates has recently undergone an approved redesign. The redesign features structural changes to the curriculum including smaller team groups, more time for students to conceptualize and finalize their businesses, and an integration of Organizational Behavior into the coursework. The rollout of the refreshed curriculum is set to take place across the board this fall 2013; however this past year Professor James Hunt and Professor Yasuhiro Yamakawa successfully taught a selected pilot version of the new curriculum to their students.
“This should resemble more of an iterative entrepreneurial process, which is similar to how a start-up functions in the real world,” says James Hunt, Associate Professor of Management at Babson and primary faculty member who led the redesign committee.
This year Babson FME businesses had notable successes including Mix it Mug, a top earner, raising over $5,000, followed by Fresh Bites and One Case both earning over $2,000.
Spring 2013 Babson FME Businesses
AUDIRE
Audire is an iPhone accessory business that sells a custom-made kit with five iPhone accessories. These include an iPhone amplifier, headphones, touch gloves, external battery, and a USB cable to connect the iPhone to a computer. Customers choose the color of each product and whether they want the Audire Kit for their iPhone 4/ 4s or iPhone 5.
BABSON MARKETPLACE
Babson Marketplace is an online store where various FME companies list their products for sale. The homepage has the names and logos of different FME businesses and links to their respective personalized online stores, as well as various advertisements and information/events that relate to the Babson Community.
BANDS WITH BENEFITS
Bands with Benefits sells a high-quality, eco-friendly, American-made bracelet. For every purchase, the company will send a cold weather care package to a child in need. One band, one glove, one hat, one scarf, one soul.
BEDSHELF
BedShelf provides a shelf that attaches to any bed post and is a safe and convenient place to store your essentials while you sleep.
BLUCLEAR SOLUTIONS
BluClear Solutions provides a safe, clean, and efficient alternative to water-inefficient methods of container sanitation, thereby encouraging healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyles.
BUZZ BUILDERS
Buzz Builders mission is to help businesses succeed and grow by attracting new customers and developing a community of loyal customers. Buzz Builders creates online as well as traditional offline promotional tactics.
COLLEGE CONNECT
College Connect is a service-based business that creates opportunities for individuals to meet new people by offering two unique services, Event Planning and Event Notification. The Event Planning service will plan five events throughout the course of the business, where our in-house DJ will mix, creating a club-like environment for a small admission fee.
COZI
COZI sells reusable and customized cup sleeves to prevent heat or cold from hurting a person's hands. COZIs have pockets to hold things such as tea bags or packets of sugar.
CREATIFY ME
Creatify Me provides clear iPhone cases with two customized, interchangeable inserts which are vinyl sheets tailored to fit between the phone and the case. The customer has the ability to design their inserts through our website. We also will sell additional inserts to supplement the original purchase.
FRESH BITES
Fresh Bites is a business that works to promote its final event in March. Local, sustainable restaurants will give out samples of their food while promoting their own business. There will be multiple vendors that sell green, eco-friendly products. There also will be a series of interactive events to educate the public on how to implement sustainability into their lives.
LIFE LOOP
Life Loop is a fashionable USB bracelet that can be used as a substitute for a smartphone charger. It is available in 23 styles and is compatible with all smart phones.
MIXITMUG
MixItMug is a self-stirring mug which mixes your beverage with the press of a button. Instantly mix your coffee, tea, or hot chocolate with milk and sugar, or make a quick protein shake.
MYIMPAX
myIMPAX markets the social missions of businesses in order to drive new, loyal customers to their stores. Companies sponsor digital cards stored on passbooks that are distributed to consumers through social media, email, and websites. When consumers complete the social action and share it, they earn rewards to these companies.
NIGHT GLO
Night Glo is a glow in the dark apparel company. We sell T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, and lacrosse pinafores (pinnies) whose ink glow-in-the-dark. We also offer glow in the dark sunglasses.
ONECASE
OneCase sells iPhone cases with drawer-like enclosures that can hold anything from one’s OneCard and room key, to credit cards and money in a practical, protected manner. Cases are sleek and stylish, and offered in three colors to fulfill our consumers’ desires and made of hard, waterproof plastic.
PUNCH IT
Punch It connects small businesses to their customers through a mobile apps-based loyalty program. No more pesky cards in your purse or wallet; Punch It is the replacement for your buy-10-get-1 free punch cards.
REEL 'EM
Reel 'EM provides a product that is a universal spring-loaded head phone winder. This winder allows you to get rid of tangled headphones and to keep up with easily lost headphones.
SMART CHARGER
Smart Charger sells a universal, portable charger that can charge Smartphones, MP3, MP4, PSP, Digital cameras, and GPS devices.
STICKAH
Stickah is a small gel-like sticker that attaches to the front or back of an iPhone. The outer side of each Stickah is made of a soft foam substance that allows users of the product to peel off the Stickah and clean both the front and back screens of the phone.
Organizations that Benefited from This Year’s FME Businesses
• Nativity School
• Community Servings
• Lemonade Day - Boys and Girls Club Dorchester
• MS Society - Greater New England Chapter
• Boston Aids Africa
• Needham Housing Authority
• Wellesley Council on Aging
• Citizens Schools
• Ted Grossman Fund
• America Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Boston Chapter
• Harvard Square Church Meals
• Cor Unum Meal Center and Japan Relief through American Red Cross
• Special Olympics of Mass
• The Charles River Center
• Cradles to Crayons
• Special Olympics of Mass
• Boys and Girls Club
• Friends of the Homeless of the South Shore
About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™. The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society -- while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. For information, visit www.babson.edu.
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