At the beginning of the school year, students taking the class Intro to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 120), were tasked with developing a business plan and executing it. ACU funds this project, and the profits collected are donated to the Philanthropy class to distribute to local nonprofits. The 3rd biannual Venture Out market took place Nov 20.

Mindy Howard, ​​student engagement coordinator at the Griggs Center, assisted with the Venture Out Market. Approximately 250 students and over 60 vendors were present including students from the class as well as students from the Founders Club, who run personal businesses outside of class.

“Venture Out Market is a collection of student-run businesses selling their products at a vendor fair,” Howard said. “Some students participate for a grade, while others are students who run a business outside of school as a real venture.”

Each student from the class came up with a business idea and pitched it to a group of teachers and student mentors. Only 45 pitches were chosen from each ENTR 120 class. The person who came up with the idea was the CEO, and the rest of the students in ear business were given roles such as finance, creative, marketing and operations. 

Abby Deatherage, freshman marketing major from Austin, was the CEO for Wildcat Jewelers, a business selling various jewelry. 

“The people whose idea wasn’t chosen filled out an interest form with their preferred positions and preferred business ideas,” Deatherage said. “We meet once a week for class on Wednesday mornings, and teams additionally also meet weekly outside of class time.”

After this process, the students gave another pitch to ask for money. Once funding was allotted, they ordered supplies and products. The goal of the project was to earn $375 in profit. 

“My biggest takeaway for this process is learning how to deal with money and management,” Deatherage said. “By having to ask for money, receiving money, ordering products and making/designing said products to our liking is a long process that requires lots of trial and error.”

ENTR 120 is offered every semester. Howard works alongside a group of Griggs Center faculty and staff who are passionate about helping students in this experience take away an amazing experience. 

“Our goal for ENTR 120 students is for them to learn the ins and outs of participating in a vendor market of this size,” Howard said. “We believe that experience is often the best curriculum, and we hope students gain valuable knowledge about the time and commitment required to run a booth at a market.”