We are eight students in Loreto Balbriggan. At the beginning of 4th Year our class was told we would be taking part in the Fingal Student Enterprise Program. This would involve creating our own mini-company and becoming entrepreneurs.
We got together into groups of between 2 and 5 people and set up our companies. We did a lot of research into our target market and our potential products and by October our businesses were in full swing.
To fully experience enterprise, all 4th Year mini-companies were given the chance to market and sell their products at a “Market day” that the school held in December. Here we had a chance to showcase and sell our range of products that our mini companies had created. We were also allowed to sell at lunchtimes in the school or even outside school if we wished.
We then had to write up a business report on everything about our business from the finances and marketing to the meetings we had and the profits we made. We were all judged on various elements throughout the year but especially on our reports and our showcasing of products on market day.
Although all 4th Year Business students were involved in this program our two companies stood out and were chosen as winning mini companies in Loreto Balbriggan. They are ‘Stick It Quick’ and ‘Mae
Five of us created the company ‘Stick It Quick’, a magnetic strip with adhesive at the back to hold magnetic beauty products and three students created ‘Mae’ where they produced a variety of different scented hand sanitizers.
As winners in Loreto Balbriggan we were chosen to go to the “Fingal Student Enterprise Awards Final “in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. There were a huge variety of companies there from boardgames, IT products, clothing and bracelets to name but a few. We put a lot of hard work into presenting our business well and displayed our products at stands for the judges to see. It was a very enjoyable day for everyone involved and even though we didn’t win we would recommend all Business students to take part in future years. There is lots to be learned and money to be made!
Sinead Moran, Eimear Conway, Chelsea Lawless, Sarah Patterson, Therese Ferguson, Aoife Taafe, Niamh Murphy and Emma Fay