Integrated Business Experience
Date: January 2019 – May 2019
Competencies: Information Literacy lv. 4, Information Synthesis lv. 2,3&4, Original Research lv. 1,2,3&4, Dissemination of Results lv. 1,2&3
Competencies: Information Literacy lv. 4, Information Synthesis lv. 2,3&4, Original Research lv. 1,2,3&4, Dissemination of Results lv. 1,2&3
Summary
In the spring semester of 2019, I participated in MNSU’s Integrated Business Experience. Throughout the semester, students in the IBE program form a company structure and a product, elect officers and source inventory, and then sell their product or service. They also take 3 classes as a cohort, and at the end of the semester, any income the company has raised past their initial loan is donated to a charity of their choice. My company, Riverbend Retailers, sold Maverick flags and wooden Minnesota state signs, and ended up raising over $3,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Mankato. I was elected as the Chief Financial Officer of my company, and throughout the semester learned a great deal about my leadership style and philosophy, working on teams, leading teams, and how my leadership differed from other Officers and leaders in my company.
IBE Website: https://cob.mnsu.edu/real-world-experience/united-prairie-bank-integrated-business-experience/
In the spring semester of 2019, I participated in MNSU’s Integrated Business Experience. Throughout the semester, students in the IBE program form a company structure and a product, elect officers and source inventory, and then sell their product or service. They also take 3 classes as a cohort, and at the end of the semester, any income the company has raised past their initial loan is donated to a charity of their choice. My company, Riverbend Retailers, sold Maverick flags and wooden Minnesota state signs, and ended up raising over $3,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Mankato. I was elected as the Chief Financial Officer of my company, and throughout the semester learned a great deal about my leadership style and philosophy, working on teams, leading teams, and how my leadership differed from other Officers and leaders in my company.
IBE Website: https://cob.mnsu.edu/real-world-experience/united-prairie-bank-integrated-business-experience/
Reflection
When I first started the IBE program, I was a little nervous. After hearing all it entailed, I was worried I would not do well, and wondered if I had made a mistake. However, a couple weeks into the program, I was feeling much better.
After we developed our initial company structure, I was elected to be the Chief Financial Officer. As part of that position, I was spearheading the research and creation of the company’s financial recording system and sales/income analysis scenarios for our upcoming loan presentation (Research lv. 1&2). There was going to be a lot to do! I realized I did not know enough on my own to complete the work, so I began by researching ways companies set up their financial information systems and having a conversation with one of the IBE instructors to get his advice on what would work best (Synthesis lv. 4). After learning about different methods I could use to set up our statements, I was able to formulate what would best serve my company’s purpose (Literacy lv. 4). It was difficult to draft the first excel document, since I had to learn formulas and shortcuts I had never previously used, but eventually the initial spreadsheet and various financial statement structures were complete.
Next, the Finance committee had to create scenarios for our company’s expected, best-case, and worst-case financial outcomes. We worked closely with the other departments – marketing, sales, and operations – to attain information on products costs, expected selling prices, sales expenses, and many other variables. This was primarily learned through research of competitor pricing and a survey our marketing team wrote and distributed to a sample of several hundred people in the Mankato area (Research lv. 3). Looking back after the semester ended, I could see that we were not asking the right questions – mainly because we didn’t know what the correct questions were! I realized that research has such an important, integral role in business development and growth (Synthesis lv. 4).
Finally, my company had to draft our overall business plan and loan presentation to secure a start-up loan from United Prairie Bank (Dissemination lv. 1). We had to touch on the mission and goal of the company, the products we would be selling (as well as their profitability), our marketing strategy, sales plan, operations procedures, and financial documents, as well as sharing why an investment in our company would be beneficial to the bank. Since the work on creating this presentation was spread amongst the entire company’s departments, the executive team and myself had to be diligent to make sure that there were no conflicting statements between the various aspects (Synthesis lv. 3). This took a very long time to tweak and change, although as a company, we were not as efficient as we could have been.
When the loan presentation day came, everybody was frantically running around, nervously making last minute changes and preparing speeches. We had submitted our business plan the week before, but would be able to explain face-to-face – and in a little more detail – our company strategy during the presentation (Dissemination lv. 2). Though we did not get approved for our loan that day, many of the changes that the loan officers wanted were small, and my company was commended for how clear and prepared our presentation and business plan were when compared to previous companies. Once we had made the changes needed, we were given our loan, and were able to begin operating! At this point in the semester, there was not any more major research; we only had to tweak our plan and strategy each week as various factors effected sales numbers and profitability.
At the end of the semester, I was able to reflect on how we’d done as a company. We had made a profit of over $3,000 in a few months after repaying our loan and business costs! Though some things that we had done research on changed throughout the semester and didn’t quite remain constant (particularly interest in our product and our accessibility to consumers when compared to our research surveys), most of the front-end work my company had done had helped us successfully run our company (Research lv. 4). Our final project as a company was to prepare a presentation on how our company did – where we were able to share how sales went, our profitability, and who we donated our profits to – for our loan officers, professors, and classmates (Dissemination lv. 3). Participating in the IBE program has given me a greater insight into all the aspects that go into running a business, as well as how time-intensive good research can be. It also taught me how important research is in business, and has given me many skills I hope to one day build on in the corporate world!
When I first started the IBE program, I was a little nervous. After hearing all it entailed, I was worried I would not do well, and wondered if I had made a mistake. However, a couple weeks into the program, I was feeling much better.
After we developed our initial company structure, I was elected to be the Chief Financial Officer. As part of that position, I was spearheading the research and creation of the company’s financial recording system and sales/income analysis scenarios for our upcoming loan presentation (Research lv. 1&2). There was going to be a lot to do! I realized I did not know enough on my own to complete the work, so I began by researching ways companies set up their financial information systems and having a conversation with one of the IBE instructors to get his advice on what would work best (Synthesis lv. 4). After learning about different methods I could use to set up our statements, I was able to formulate what would best serve my company’s purpose (Literacy lv. 4). It was difficult to draft the first excel document, since I had to learn formulas and shortcuts I had never previously used, but eventually the initial spreadsheet and various financial statement structures were complete.
Next, the Finance committee had to create scenarios for our company’s expected, best-case, and worst-case financial outcomes. We worked closely with the other departments – marketing, sales, and operations – to attain information on products costs, expected selling prices, sales expenses, and many other variables. This was primarily learned through research of competitor pricing and a survey our marketing team wrote and distributed to a sample of several hundred people in the Mankato area (Research lv. 3). Looking back after the semester ended, I could see that we were not asking the right questions – mainly because we didn’t know what the correct questions were! I realized that research has such an important, integral role in business development and growth (Synthesis lv. 4).
Finally, my company had to draft our overall business plan and loan presentation to secure a start-up loan from United Prairie Bank (Dissemination lv. 1). We had to touch on the mission and goal of the company, the products we would be selling (as well as their profitability), our marketing strategy, sales plan, operations procedures, and financial documents, as well as sharing why an investment in our company would be beneficial to the bank. Since the work on creating this presentation was spread amongst the entire company’s departments, the executive team and myself had to be diligent to make sure that there were no conflicting statements between the various aspects (Synthesis lv. 3). This took a very long time to tweak and change, although as a company, we were not as efficient as we could have been.
When the loan presentation day came, everybody was frantically running around, nervously making last minute changes and preparing speeches. We had submitted our business plan the week before, but would be able to explain face-to-face – and in a little more detail – our company strategy during the presentation (Dissemination lv. 2). Though we did not get approved for our loan that day, many of the changes that the loan officers wanted were small, and my company was commended for how clear and prepared our presentation and business plan were when compared to previous companies. Once we had made the changes needed, we were given our loan, and were able to begin operating! At this point in the semester, there was not any more major research; we only had to tweak our plan and strategy each week as various factors effected sales numbers and profitability.
At the end of the semester, I was able to reflect on how we’d done as a company. We had made a profit of over $3,000 in a few months after repaying our loan and business costs! Though some things that we had done research on changed throughout the semester and didn’t quite remain constant (particularly interest in our product and our accessibility to consumers when compared to our research surveys), most of the front-end work my company had done had helped us successfully run our company (Research lv. 4). Our final project as a company was to prepare a presentation on how our company did – where we were able to share how sales went, our profitability, and who we donated our profits to – for our loan officers, professors, and classmates (Dissemination lv. 3). Participating in the IBE program has given me a greater insight into all the aspects that go into running a business, as well as how time-intensive good research can be. It also taught me how important research is in business, and has given me many skills I hope to one day build on in the corporate world!
Artifact
Attached is a reflection paper I wrote at the termination of the IBE program. Also attached are copies of documents my company created throughout the semester, including our business plan, loan presentation visual aid, and a copy of the projected financials.
Attached is a reflection paper I wrote at the termination of the IBE program. Also attached are copies of documents my company created throughout the semester, including our business plan, loan presentation visual aid, and a copy of the projected financials.
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