Business Class in Highschool

Hello everyone. I know this is an SEO forum, but I was wondering if anyone would be open to helping me brainstorm.

In my grade 10 business class we have this project where we need to open up a small business that sells one food item, and one non food item. We will be selling our food in our cafeteria to all the kids at our school (approx. 1100 students).

Does anyone have any ideas other than selling something generic such as brownies, cookies etc. Need to find a niche that highschoolers my age will latch onto.

Thanks!

Which country are you in?

What budget for ingredients do you have?

MisterF said:

Which country are you in?

What budget for ingredients do you have?

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Don’t really have a huge budget. Anywhere under $40 is just right. We also live in Canada.

sell one chip to people but market it as the best chip you'll ever eat in your life. say it would make you crave more and sell it relatively cheap

This sounds like an extremely fun business project, which we had opportunities like this in our class when I was at school...

Personally I’d say in Scotland at school cheap was king, energy drinks especially. Emerge etc...

Kwuiek said:

Don’t really have a huge budget. Anywhere under $40 is just right. We also live in Canada.

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There is a site called Allrecipes dot com, you can select there the menu option desserts and find a lot of baking recipes. Find something that fits in your budget and that a lot of people like. I hope that helps with your project.
BC

Item they could use for learning in the class or for playing after school, this is for non food idea. If you want to sell food, you could try some candy snacks.

Power bars maybe? During my university years, I and a couple of friends were making them and selling them at a local cafeteria. There are many different recipes how to make them, but mainly you need some base oats (oatmeal, whatever you can find cheapest and ground as finely as possible), some wet dried fruit paste (either date, grape or something similar, you can blend that yourself with a good blender), a sweetener (honey, or maple syrup) and something to add the different flavors. That might be cocoa powder, some hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios - whatever students love most.
Mix everything together, you should get a very thick dough consistency. Roll it out, cut it into bar shapes and wrap them in some food grade paper or foil.
People loved them, they were very healthy, hand made, a great alternative to usual snacks and were easy to grab on the go.

My high school way back in the day did something similar my sophmore year. Glad to see it being done other places too. I would look into your school's nutrition program and then find something that falls outside it. For example, if they've gone "healthy" and removed stuff like pizza and cookies, I'd bring those in. Pizza is insanely cheap to make and you can usually buy the dough already made (a pinch of flour on the dough makes it easier to roll out). Simple cheese and/or pepperoni pies will go over well.

As to the non food item, I assume your $40 seed money budget is for both items. I would find something with the above logic. Something trendy but easy to produce. How does your school like Trudeau? I've seen some interesting bumper stickers regarding him online. See if any of your classmates have connections to manufacturing and make something for the rear view mirror with the school logo. Good idea to see what assets your classmates have access to in general for the food too.

Can also consider something where proceeds are donated to charity. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month in the states, don't know about Canada, but if it is maybe the Canadian flag or your school's mascot/logo/etc, but in pink that can be a sticker or sewn onto a jacket/backpack/uniform to show support. You could donate one pound per sale to a cancer research charity. Out here in the states we have the "Pink Patch Project" which many law enforcement agencies participate in. They sell pink versions of their uniform patches and donate a portion of proceeds to various breast cancer organizations. Those do need some lead time, so if speed to market is a concern then a pink ribbon attached to a pin is a quick way to go too.

TacoTiger said:

Power bars maybe? During my university years, I and a couple of friends were making them and selling them at a local cafeteria. There are many different recipes how to make them, but mainly you need some base oats (oatmeal, whatever you can find cheapest and ground as finely as possible), some wet dried fruit paste (either date, grape or something similar, you can blend that yourself with a good blender), a sweetener (honey, or maple syrup) and something to add the different flavors. That might be cocoa powder, some hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios - whatever students love most.
Mix everything together, you should get a very thick dough consistency. Roll it out, cut it into bar shapes and wrap them in some food grade paper or foil.
People loved them, they were very healthy, hand made, a great alternative to usual snacks and were easy to grab on the go.

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My group and I have decided to make an energy stand. Selling all types of energy bars, energy drinks, etc. Thanks for the help!!

Kwuiek said:

My group and I have decided to make an energy stand. Selling all types of energy bars, energy drinks, etc. Thanks for the help!!

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Best of luck to you!

Kwuiek said:

My group and I have decided to make an energy stand. Selling all types of energy bars, energy drinks, etc. Thanks for the help!!

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Great decision! It makes it super easy to market also.

I wish you guys the best of luck!