Advisor Spotlight: Mr. Statman, The Beginning of the Future Brandon DECA Starbucks. by VP Morgan!

Although relatively new to the network of Florida DECA advisors, Mr. Statman, at Brandon High School, has cannonballed right into the realm of DECA. His involvement with DECA began when he started teaching classes with the Academy of Finance.

He recently opened a coffee bar selling coffee, tea and lemonade with his student DECA members. The impact the coffee bar has had on his students, he says, “Makes them understand that business is something they can do every day”. (Not only does this help their chapter fundraise for the many events they host throughout the year but, it satisfies a requirement on the Annual Business Plan.)   

 His key points of advice for other advisors looking to open a school based enterprise are summarized into 2 main points:

1)      Consult your students: The target market of your school based enterprise is most likely high school students. With that being said, what’s better than having your high school DECA members involved in the planning process? They know the ins and outs of what the students at your school will be demanding to have. THEY ARE YOUR BEST RESOURCE! So use them! Ultimately your school based enterprise doubles as a way to fundraise but to also set off a spark, inspiring your students with more than weekly vocab words.

I have attached a generic scheduling sheet that you may use to schedule your students in different work slots, ensuring that every student has an equal opportunity to get involved.

2)      Track:  In athletics, track and field competitors keep their stamina up throughout the race and are separated by just a few tenths of a second. Similar to running in a race, when running a school based enterprise, it is imperative that you consistently keep up your records throughout your sprint and are as specific with your inventory counts as possible setting you up for first place in your race to a successful school based enterprise.

I have attached a generic sales sheet that you may customize allowing you to keep track of the quantity of each item being sold, making your inventory counts a little less painful.

 For additional advice and suggestions, please view my Advisor Spotlight Video Blog.

Already have a school based enterprise? I would love to hear about it! Email me at morgan@fldeca.org

Happy Selling!