Future business owners vie for money, trip to state competition

Mound City businessman Josh Baldwin gives a $1,000 check to Bree Dawson, left, and Kiera McGrew for their winning entry in the Linn County Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge earlier this month. (Photos by Destiny Fletcher)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

PLEASANTON – Students from Jayhawk-Linn and Pleasanton high schools walked away from this year’s Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge with a total of $1,800 in prize money earlier this month. This was the fourth year for the challenge, which was held on March 3 at Pleasanton High School.

For the challenge, students either working solo or in teams develop a plan to start a new business. Using available resources, the students research market factors, competition, start-up costs, manufacturing requirements

Judges for the challenge on Tuesday, March 3, included Janet Miller from Network Kansas, Sue Vicory, Brianna Nicholas, Janelle Aust, Rodney Wagner, Jeff Goff, and Josh Baldwin.

Pies, cookies and cakes, oh my! McGrew and Dawson's presentation provided general samples of the sweets they proposed to make for KB Confections.

Kiera McGrew and Bree Dawson’s entry, KB Confections, walked away with the top prize, $1,000 and an invitation to participate in the state competition later this spring.

In order to keep start-up costs low the Jayhawk-Linn seniors planned to use The Kitchen Collective, an incubator kitchen, in Fort Scott to make their confections, which will allow them to operate without a storefront investment initially. The pair planned to sell via social media as well as partnering with a Mound City coffee shop for in-store or take out treats. Their revenue projections showed an increase of nearly 250% over the first three years of business.

Pleasanton sophomore Hayden Mell's business, Purely Goat Soap, garnered second place with samples of his products, including what he will use to make the natural scents for the soap.

Second place, and a check for $500 went to Hayden Mell, a sophomore at PHS. Mell’s Purely Goat Soap company planned to sell a variety of fresh-scented soaps at a host of festivals and farmers markets in the area.. “Give your skin the luxury it deserves with soap so natural and nourishing, you’ll notice the glow after just one use,” read the promotion on his storyboard.

Although Mell’s sales projections may have been too modest – particularly since he also planned to sell his $4 bars of soap online as well as at community events – he planned to use other incentives to spur sales. Mail customers who ordered $25 of product would get their orders shipped for free. The entrepreneur planned to make his own soaps – including bars with lavender and lemon, honey and oats, and cucumber and jade scents – selling nearly 1,200 bars in his first year of operation.

Denton White, left, and Clay Nichols plan for their Tall & Small Meat Co. includes retail sales of a variety of beef cuts.

Tall and Small Meat Co. entrepreneurs Clay Nichols and Denton White, Jayhawk-Linn seniors, were all hat and all cattle too, winning the $300 third-place prize with their vertically integrated pasture-to-table marketing plan for their beef operation. Nichols said that their company would raise the animals and then sell the products at retail.

Abbigail Johnson doesn't need a contest to display her entrepreneurial streak. She already delivers meals and desserts to Linn County residents.

MA Delivery is the entry by PHS senior Abbigail Johnson, who business is more than a project. Her business makes local deliveries of everything from mouth-watering desserts to ready to bake meals for customers who are pressed for time. “MA Delivery produces and sells homemade sweet treats, such as deviled strawberries and cheesecake,” Johnson’s poster said.

Morgan Croan's Sunshine Scentz plans to capitalize on scented decorative candles.

Sunshine Scentz was the project entry by Morgan Croan, a junior at PHS. While her primary products are scented candles, she also planned to sell vials of essential oils. Her main outlets included online sales through social media as well as having a kiosk at local events like General Pleasonton Days. A solo entrepreneur, Croan also planned to promote her product with special discount sales. She supported her decision to sell scented candles by quoting projections for the home fragrance and decor industry at nearly 60%.

Gracee Bright's Chocolate Fantasy will hit customers where they will enjoy it the most: in their sweet tooth.

Gracee Bright's business, Chocolate Fantasy, has a broad target customer base: males and females 10 to 85 years old. Her home-based business will make both milk chocolate and dark chocolate candy, including treats with zero sugar. Bright's three-year projections take into account the steadily rising price of cocoa, which she projects to increase by about 20% over the first three years of business. She looks for an uptick of sales of affordable chocolate bars during the end of the year holiday season.

Tony Sousley's content creation company BIGTONE plans to use social media to promote his productions as well as merch like the t-shirt at right.

BIGTONE owner Tony Sousley, a PHS junior, sets his sights on content creation, specifically creation of video game content. Using social media, including YouTube and Tik Tok to promote his products, which have female and male gamers 13 to 45 years of age as BIGTONE target audience. He plans to jump onto the expected 12.4% growth pontential of the content creation market as his business grows from a sole proprietorship to a major company. .

Forge Built's Rayse Dean plans to capitalize on a steadily growing fitness market to sell individualized fitness and diet plans.

“Providing structured workout routines and practical diet plans for gym-goers who want to see better results,” is the plan for Forge Built, a business owned by Rayse Dean. Planning to get a jump on online fitness subscription programs and providing value beyond what free content creators can spin on social media, Forge Built’s customized programs will  sell for $39 to $59 per workout plan, $29 to $49 for a diet plan, and workout-diet bundle packages for as low as $69.

JLHS cattlemen Trevor Brownback, above, and partner Colton Byram plan to use a traditional approach in their black Angus cow-calf operation. However, they also look to develop their own brand of packaged meats.

Jayhawk-Linn students Trevor Brownback and Colton Byram plan to use experience they’ve already gained on the family farms to begin their own black Angus cow-calf operation, T&C Cattle Co. They plan to include packaged beef products sold directly to consumers as well as relying on traditional on-the-hoof sales to markets. Planning to base their operation in Linn County, the partners will be looking to develop a trademark for their packaged beef products.