Smith Undergrads Start Businesses, Earn Money in New Course

College costs money, but entrepreneurship students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business have flipped the script. As part of Business Management 461, an undergraduate elective, classmates form teams and start real-world companies that earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

“Every company made money,” Smith School lecturer David Kressler announced on May 3, 2017, during an awards gala for about 100 participants in three sections. “That is something that nobody can take away from you.”

Kressler taught two sections of the course for business majors in spring 2017, while Smith School professor Brent Goldfarb taught a third section for students pursuing an Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor.

Goldfarb said the course, modeled after the Real Entrepreneurship Competition for Smith MBA students, allows undergraduates to go through the whole cycle of entrepreneurship in a safe environment.

“I have looked at other campuses and spoken with my colleagues across the universities,” Goldfarb said. “This is one of maybe three places where students actually have the freedom to explore and run a business within a semester.”

Goldfarb said the biggest value of the experience is learning what entrepreneurship feels like, so students will know at the start of their careers if they ever want to do it again. “That’s the sort of thing you don’t want to discover after you’ve mortgaged your house and started your first business at age 35,” he told the students.

Smith School alumnus Stephen B. Ferber, a member of the Board of Advisors at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, said students also learned how to execute ideas and pivot when necessary. “A well-executed average idea is much better than a poorly executed great idea,” he told the students.

Ferber, CEO and managing partner of Golden Gate BPO Solutions in Weston, Fla., helped congratulate winners in five categories.

Most Creative Idea: Chill-O, a company that sells jelly ice pops or “gelsicles” with real fruit. Unlike traditional ice pops, the treats do not become a drippy mess at room temperature. “In fact, the flavor of our gelsicles intensifies when they defrost,” the company claims on its Facebook page. “It becomes a bar of jelly.”

Most Likely to Persist after 461: Terp Gear, which sells Maryland-themed iPhone cases. Students sourced their products from China and sold them on Amazon. They hope to expand by selling cases decorated for other universities.

Most Challenging Pivot: Frocket Power, a company that sells T-shirts with bold pocket designs. The original concept was Study Buddy, a tutoring service that failed to generate revenue.

Most Profitable Company: By Accident Photography, a photo services company led by photographer Justin Derato, an environmental science and policy major scheduled to graduate from UMD in 2018.

Most Profitable Individual: Derato, who enlisted 17 classmates to support By Accident Photography. He said the secret to his company’s success has been persistence and flexibility. “Whatever you do in life,” he said, “there are going to be bumps and turns.”

Other student ventures in spring 2017 included:

• Gattina Bakery, which sold Italian pastries.
• Sam’s Scoop Snacks, which sold healthy dog treats.
• Hummus in My Tummus, which sold hummus and pita chips.
• Reppin’ UMD, which sold T-shirts.
• Solid Shift, which provided stick shift driving lessons.
• UMD Custom T’s, which sold T-shirts.
• Pro Res Solution, which provided photography and social media services.
• Terp Photo, which provided photography services
• Snack Attack, which sold healthy snacks.
• Plant Shop UMD, which sold succulent plants.
• Crystal Testudo, which sold turtle mementos on campus and online.
• MUGles, which sold coffee mugs online and also resold high-value thrift store items (mostly books).
• Thrifty, a popup consignment store.
• Tipsy Treats, a snack cart for weekend partygoers.
• U-Wash, a laundry service for college students.