By Aditi Gaddam, @deca.aditi | Lightridge High School, VA
Every business has a secret recipe that is the answer to its success. With Chipotle, it's their guacamole recipe; with Dunkin’, it's their coffee blend; and with your School Based Enterprise, it's the secret recipe created by a combination of teamwork, data and creativity.
It's important to curate the perfect recipe for your school’s SBE and come up with the most prominent ingredients to make it the best experience for your students.
Here are three tips (“ingredients”) for making your SBE successful!
1. Establish Consistency & Accessibility
Creating a brand for your SBE is important so students can instantly identify your store. Whether they are buying a drink or school merchandise, by having a brand, students can feel a sense of connectivity and loyalty as the store becomes a regular part of their school experience. Connecting the logo, colors and store name can significantly help brand recognition. In addition, having specific spirit day apparel can help build pride and encourage repeated visits and engagement. SBE brands can also be showcased through social media content and other marketing efforts.
To keep accessibility for students, products are priced purposefully to cover costs and maximize sales and participation. Any profits from school store projects are reinvested into the school store and DECA. DECA has recognized that any profit from SBE enhances the experience of conferences, community service projects, leadership projects and more.
2. Understand the Target Market
An important aspect of the SBE is holding apparel and products that the target market, the students, are actually interested in purchasing. To understand this, various methods of market research and consumer behavioral analysis can be used. Data-driven incentives to make decisions can improve product selections, resulting in greater profit, consumer utility and loyalty. For instance, tracking patterns of what products/apparel are being sold can show a greater demand and showcase the overall need for more supply. With this indication, the school store can provide more targeted student options.
Another great way to interpret your target market is by asking SBE workers/marketing students to participate in the apparel and concession selection process. Students can work with sales representatives from suppliers to design and pick merchandise. This experience can be beneficial, as it gives hands-on experience with product development, consumer research and the financial side of business, all of which are crucial for future success.
3. Prioritize Teamwork
It is important to delegate different tasks to different students in order to keep the SBE project operating efficiently. This can be done in leadership terms, and student leaders can be elected based on participation, dedication and hard work. Student leaders can be tasked with working with DECA chapter advisors to complete the annual SBE report, help purchase products, manage inventory, coordinate marketing efforts, track sales and more.
Furthermore, student leaders can help you gain a different perspective from a fellow student that can be used to improve the school store. This specific experience can be practical and advantageous, as leaders can learn the behind-the-scenes of businesses and how they work.
In multiple surveyed schools, around 100+ students work in the school store per quarter as a part of an elective curriculum. Student leaders and previous school store workers can convey their knowledge and tips to new student workers to help ease their new experience. This communication can spark interactions between different ages and levels, building a community for the chapter’s DECA and students.
