This spring’s Venture Out market boasted custom shoes, desserts, posters, bracelets and more. The market has been declared a success by students and faculty alike.
Mason Hejl, a junior business management major from Austin, enjoys his role as a teaching assistant for the ENTR 120 course. He encourages participation in the market through taking the course, in which students are assigned group roles of CEO, creative, marketing or finance.
“The market is unique in the sense that it truly brings student’s ideas to life. It also showcases exactly what goes on in the school of business really well,” Hejl said. “There were so many good ideas that students came up with.”
Students from the Founder’s Club are able to run businesses outside of class and participate in the market. The biannual market provides an opportunity for students to gain applicable experience with entrepreneurship in a comfortable and controlled setting.
Those participating through ENTR 120 must pitch an original business idea, as well as a proposed budget to be funded by ACU. If the idea is successful, students will order supplies or assemble products in hopes of making a profit at the market. Profits gained by student’s business ideas are donated and distributed to local non-profit organizations.
Josephine Jackson, freshman finance major from Lexington, is one of many students who gained entrepreneurial experience for the first time during this year’s Venture Out market. She participated in the market as a student in an entrepreneurship class and took on her team’s creative role.
“As a business major, I give my utmost respect to anyone that is a successful entrepreneur because it is very tedious,” Jackson said. “I learned that entrepreneurship isn’t as easy as it sounds. It is actually quite intricate and can be stressful at times.”
Jackson’s group made custom gold-beaded bracelets geared toward ACU sororities. Some bracelets were pre-ordered, and the rest nearly sold out before the market ended.
“I would consider us successful in the aspect that we sold almost every bracelet we had at the market,” Jackson said.
ENTR 120 is offered as a course every semester, providing an opportunity for students to participate in the Venture Out market twice yearly.
