June 10, 2004
Make Your Case gives youth more than just an opportunity to explore case study methods and entrepreneurship - it also allows students to see into the future giving them firsthand knowledge of what a career in business might actually entail.
Preparation for the Make Your Case workshop began with each secondary school in the London and Middlesex area nominating 3 senior business students to participate. Once the students were chosen they were randomly set up into teams and each team was given a chaperone who took on the role of business leader.
The case study used for last year’s Make Your Case was the task of opening a Shaw’s Ice Cream store. The fact that the real Shaw’s Ice Cream store is actually run by three women in their twenties was inspiring to the students who were involved.
The funding for this day was from a number of organizations who are “people who have an interest in youth,” said Cara Finn, General Manager of Community Futures. A large portion of the money came from Community Futures Development Corporation and there were also donations from IVEY Business School, Fanshawe College, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Pathways, and Junior Achievement.
Cara Finn is responsible for bringing Make Your Case to the London area and she originally worked on a similar project for another Community Futures Development Corporation. The Make Your Case project was part of the London & Middlesex County Entrepreneurial Challenge and it proved to be an excellent day for everyone involved.
Last year’s event brought together roughly 50 students and this year’s is aiming to have 100 students involved. “[The program] actually makes students serious and gives them options,” said Cara Finn. “They were able to learn about the financing of a company, the marketing of a company, and the overall operations of a company.”
At the end of the day the groups were asked to present their business ideas. In doing this, the students gained valuable presentation skills and were given the opportunity to interact with students they had never met before. “Some kids went on to make their own business plans,” said Cara Finn. “This was great to see.”
This year’s case study will be kept a secret until the actual day in order to provide all of the students with an equal opportunity for researching and brainstorming. The Make Your Case will take place on April 22, 2004. Although Cara Finn says that last year’s event was “a ton of work”, she also stated that it was a “ton of fun, too”.
In the end, the students were ultimately given positive reinforcement that there are a lot of opportunities available to them and putting together your own business plan is possible. In the case of the Shaw’s case study, “the students has three really great role models right in front of them saying it was possible,” said Cara Finn. This allowed for the students to see even more clearly how much potential they really had and much opportunity lay before them.