Fowler students empower micro-entrepreneurs through community partnership
The match-ups offer students real-world experience and give small business owners pro bono business support to help them be successful.
For the past five years, 麻豆传媒映画鈥檚 Fowler College of Business and its have partnered with and the to assist San Diego entrepreneurs from underserved communities turn their business ideas into sustainable ventures.
This year, Fowler expanded its role in the program to better serve the need for business resources among program participants. Instead of pairing one student intern with one entrepreneur as in years past, each of the eight entrepreneurs were assigned two student interns from Michael Sloan鈥檚 Management Internship (MGT 401) class who provide hands-on administrative, human resources and technical support.
It was also the first time students from Julie Hansen鈥檚 Intermediate Financial Accounting (ACCTG 326) served as interns to offer each entrepreneur customized financial and accounting support, meaning each entrepreneur had three 麻豆传媒映画 student interns to help them launch their enterprise.
The program not only offers pro bono business assistance to local entrepreneurs, but it also offers valuable real-world experience to Fowler upper-division students as they prepare for their post-graduation careers.
Recent 麻豆传媒映画 graduate Sophia Anthony (鈥�25, management) worked with , a nonprofit restaurant consulting service, to help the owner manage and track the company鈥檚 finances.
鈥淒uring my internship, I felt like I wasn鈥檛 just completing an assignment 鈥� I was building tools Akitso could actually use to make decisions and manage the business more effectively,鈥� said Anthony. 鈥淭he experience allowed me to make a real impact in a company and understand just what it takes to run a successful business.鈥�
Anna Sotto, Akitso鈥檚 owner and founder, said Anthony鈥檚 contributions created a financial structure that was used extensively during the company鈥檚 roll out.
鈥淚 used Sophia鈥檚 financial model to analyze costs and it helped a lot,鈥� said Sotto. 鈥淭he structure she created was a great launch pad for me to build from and I really appreciated her work.鈥�
Another recent Fowler graduate, Jonathan Roehm (鈥�25, management), shared a similar experience while interning with William Marrs at Marrs Solutions.
鈥淲hat I loved most about this internship is the fact that I was able to provide value while learning so much in the process,鈥� said Roehm, who worked on the company鈥檚 website design and accompanied Marrs on a sales call. 鈥淚 still use what I learned from that sales call to this day in my work as a real estate agent. 鈥�
Impactful assistance
Marrs, whose company is in the beta test phase of producing hands-free toilet paper dispensers, noted student interns helped to define his target customer profile and were instrumental in gathering marketing research.
鈥淭heir research helped me to refine my target audience and to tailor my messaging specifically to hotel owners and operators,鈥� said Marrs. 鈥淚鈥檝e incorporated these insights into my outreach strategy, search engine optimization, development of sales materials and early-stage positioning as I ramp up for product launch.鈥�
For other businesses, the interns鈥� work was equally impactful.
鈥淥ur student intern assisted us by creating an HR handbook,鈥� said Lisset Valencia-Pittman, co-founder of LLC. 鈥淭his helped us increase capacity for our business.鈥�
According to Steve Sivitz, a mentor with SCORE San Diego who managed the student interns, this year鈥檚 three-student approach not only provided value for the entrepreneurs but also served as a labor of love for the interns.
鈥淭here was undeniable enthusiasm from the students to be so closely involved helping the delegates launch their businesses,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would estimate that half of the students have their own entrepreneurial drive and all of them appreciated the opportunity to help mold and evolve their role and contributions.鈥�
