Larkin Business Ventures (A)

The Larkin Street Youth Center had just completed an intensive two year review of its mission, searching for long-term prospects that would help keep youth off the streets and involved in worthwhile, self-esteem building projects. Sharon Wurtzel, a recent business school graduate, was exploring several options for expanding the services provided by the center, including the feasibility of several for profit business ventures which would be operated by employees who had been homeless and runaway youth. She wondered what kind of business venture would be the most successful, both in contributing to building the self-esteem of the agency’s clients, as well as contributing to the bottom line of the organization.