Ole Miss students are offering their advice and expertise to local businesses free of charge. Top students within management, finance, marketing, and accounting majors are participating in the Student Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development Program funded by a Grant from the Hearin Support Foundation. As Student Business Consultants (SBC), the selected students are hired as student employees of the University, who pays them for their time spent with clients. Reed Bruce, a senior managerial finance and real estate double major, explains the benefits to participating businesses, “The businesses that take advantage of SBC are getting a great return right now. Just by enlisting a team’s help, the company gets three or four, top-notch business students to help with whatever it may be that the business needs. Whether it’s marketing strategy for an existing company, or a feasibility study for a blooming start-up, the fresh perspective of Student Business Consultants, and network that comes with, seems to always come up with competitive advantages compared to businesses that choose not to utilize the service.”

During this past fall semester, the student business consultants worked on three different projects: a feasibility study for an entrepreneur who developed a new durable tennis net technology, a project to refine a business plan and scout investors for an entrepreneur and professor emeritus in the acoustics lab, and a project to outsource production for a small company, Cotton’s Café, the previous winner of the Gillespie Business Plan Competition.

Working over 120 hours, these students achieved real results for their clients. Grady Nutt, a senior marketing major, worked with Cotton Café as a consultant, “After our first meeting with Cotton’s Cafe, we made specific recommendations weeks later based on our findings and extensive research. At our final meeting with Cotton’s Cafe, we were quite pleased to see that our suggestions had been implemented and they were performing much better than before we initially met. Cotton’s Cafe dog treats are now on target to hit the shelves at Whole Foods in Jackson this June and since our initial meeting they have hit the shelves in more than 20 new Hollywood Feed stores.” This is just one of the many success stories that have resulted from the Student Business Consultants’ work.

Not only are the businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs benefitting from this program, but so are the students. They are gaining real world experience and generating verifiable results. This position acts as much more than just a line on a resume. Cole Strandberg, a student consultant majoring in Managerial Finance, points out how the SBC program prepares students for a variety of careers, “If joining the corporate world is your goal following graduation, employers will value the applicable skills and knowledge gained while on consulting projects. If entrepreneurship is your dream, the knowledge, insight, and experience gained on the job will be an incredible asset for any startup venture you choose to pursue.” The SBC program is a highly beneficial experience for all who participate.

For more information on the program visit the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s website at: www.olemissbusiness.com/cie