Kids In Biz
Demonstrating their sales skills , fifth- and sixth-graders in the Business School's I Have A Dream program sold their entire stock of greeting cards in one week. Under the guidance of MBA students, the kids designed the cards and marketed 10,000 of them on campus and at selected retail stores in the Stanford Shopping Center. They made a profit of almost $6,000 for the I Have A Dream program.
The Stanford Business School chapter of the national I Have A Dream Foundation was formed in 1992 to mentor 58 children at the Flood School in East Palo Alto, tutor them, and provide funds for their post-secondary education.
This year, MBA students tutored the "Dreamers" -- now fifth and sixth graders -- by forming a greeting card company. Dreamers would create and select card designs; research customer preferences; learn about supply and demand, pricing, and record keeping; create promotional materials; and sell the cards at Stanford and in several local retail shops. MBA volunteers would do the planning and production. The students were divided into groups of eight, each with four tutors.
Jennifer Guckel developed and managed the project. She also tutored one of the fifth-grade groups. The following is excerpted from her diary.
October 20, 1993
The first day of tutoring was great! Some of my observations:
- The children absorb the adults' emotions. When we were excited about the cards, they were excited. When we became distracted, they became distracted.
- Their attention is much greater than expected. They actually sat still for ten or twelve minutes and listened to Peter Ashley talk about cards, how they are designed, etc.
- Tala and Kathy were suspicious of selling cards through retailers. "What if they rip us off? What if they don't pay us?" I was surprised at the level of suspicion and mistrust.
November 1
We are designing a logo for Kids In Biz, the new, official name of the greeting card company.
December 6
We worked on market research with the kids. It is difficult, if not impossible, to hold their attention for more than five minutes. Our group has five Dreamers and three tutors, including me. Manuel, our most easily distracted, is a handful. Another kid, Rodney, unfortunately thinks it is cool to imitate Manuel. This really bugs me because Rodney is a really bright kid and has a lot of potential. If he focused his energy on his schoolwork instead of acting up, he would probably be very successful.
The kids tell us that they are bored. They just don't seem to get it. The frustrating thing is that they don't seem to care about this business very much. That makes some sense to me. First of all, a greeting card business to them is really about designing cards and selling the finished product. We have been talking about this idea with them for three months and they have yet to design a card, much less sell a finished product. Kids In Biz just does not seem very real to them yet.
Karen Elsner and I took four Dreamers to see Penny Gallo, the IHAVE attorney, on Thursday. The visit was absolutely hysterical. I never would have guessed the questions that the children would ask. I had told the kids I wanted to discuss four or five issues -- how we can spend our profits, what the issues are with sales tax, how I should fill out the sales permit application, and what the concerns are about intellectual property rights. We arrived at Ms. Gallo's office, she showed us around, and then we sat in her office while the Dreamers asked her questions.
My favorites:
- How many hours do you work?
- How long did you have to go to school to be a lawyer?
- If a union wanted to go on strike, would you give them all the reasons why they couldn't?
- What do you do all day -- just read books and write essays?
- We came here to talk about the greeting cards. When we make money, can we do whatever we want with it? (Ben just spat this out in the middle of the questioning.)
- (Another one from Ben out of left field:) Well, what if we want to put a patent on our pictures or something? Can other people copy our art, or do we have to protect it? Can we just put a "c" on the picture?
- Do you like to argue and fight? Is that why you became a lawyer?
December 9
My group is definitely having trouble with the lessons. They can barely struggle through the first half of the math exercises, much less reach the sections of the work plan on business decisions. They understood some of the results of the market research but not as much as I would have liked. I think most of the kids will know that they created cards and sold them, and they made money. But I am worried they won't remember any of the lesson information and concepts. Maybe that isn't all that terrible.
So, where are the kids in relation to our goals?
Developing team spirit and cooperation: Within our small group, we definitely reinforce the concept of teamwork. They initially wanted to work separately from the sixth grade or have their own company within their small group. We persuaded them that we all have to work as a team if the project is going to be successful.
Learning about the business process: So far, so good. I am not sure if they are retaining a word of what we are saying, but at least we are exposing them to the general concepts.
Applying school concepts of math, reading, writing: In our group, the Dreamers read the instructions out loud to us, and we work through the math drills in the lessons. They will be writing more when we get to marketing and public relations.
Integrating "mega-skills": We have worked on teamwork, common sense, and persistence.
February 2, 1994
I am worried about the decision to order T-shirts for the tutors and Dreamers. I think having the shirts will inch up the enthusiasm of all involved, but I also know that they will cost $300Ð$400. What if we sell only 200 boxes? We could lose $500Ð $1,000. The Dreamers don't get the concept of expenses. They do not have a sense of profit and loss.
February 9
It seems like all of the work for the entire project has been done in the last 30 days.
February 21
We gave the tutors and Dreamers the T-shirts last week. It was great to see all the shirts floating around Flood School that afternoon. During tutoring, we developed ideas for television commercials. The Dreamers were the actresses and actors, in addition to writing the scripts. They talked about the cards, how much they cost, who made them, etc. I talked with them a little about what they should tell customers if they ask how the profits will be spent. They realize that a decision has not yet been made. They are free to tell customers their ideas for how to spend the money, but it is important to tell the truth that the decision has not yet been made. I was pleased when Ashley pointed to the "truthfulness" mega-skill on the bulletin board and told us why it is important.
During the same discussion, the kids started telling us what they have learned in this process:
- We designed and drew cards.
- I learned how to find out what customers want.
- I practiced how to talk to customers and say "please" and "thank you."
- We figured out what prices the cards should be.
- I learned about money and costs and revenues. Now I won't get cheated when I start a business.
- I've decided to start a baby-sitting business when I am 16. We aren't sure what we are going to do with the money, but it will all go to support I Have a Dream.
February 22
Tutoring is going fine. We will learn about sales and marketing skills this Wednesday. We're almost there. Hang on!
February 28
I saw our cards for the first time today. We packed 999 boxes of cards -- that is 9,990 cards -- and there are still 550 cards to go. If I see one more greeting card, I think I will scream.
The kids were lively and happy and animated selling in the GSB courtyard at noontime. "I sold 20 boxes," reported one Dreamer. The numbers kept climbing: 50 boxes, 75 boxes, 102 boxes...the final count stood at 184 boxes at lunchtime. I was really proud of our kids and our team, and of myself.
I had no idea we would be this successful. I was afraid to even hope that we would get this much support and that the kids would be this happy and excited about business. I am afraid to hope that the rest of the week goes as well as today, but I think the GSB has really caught the bug. I am even spreading the word that people should buy early because we are going to sell out (love that scarcity effect). I am hesitant to say it, but we may.
Some more observations:
- I completely underestimated the impact of the T-shirts. Never did I plan or even imagine that they would be a source of real pride for students and tutors and that they would greatly facilitate our promotion and publicity.
- One of the kids said, "Gee, business is easy. I'm going to start a business, too. It's fun." That is what I've been waiting a year to hear.
- The Dreamers have learned they have all of the skills they need to run their own business. They are receiving recognition from the media, their tutors, and Stanford students that what they are doing is great and that they are great people.
Jennifer Guckel
, MBA Class of 1994
"Kids In Biz" logo by Ruth-Anne Siegel
(Photos by Kim Budd)
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