I have an interesting assignment for an undergraduate entrepreneurship class of starting a business with a maximum $14 in starting capital and 14 days to make as much as possible.

The assignment was given 4 days ago so I have 10 days left.

Anyone have any clever ideas?

An automatic idea generator that allows one to forego having to think and be clever on their own.

Why not have fun with it, it's an undergrad class project...go nuts.

This is a stupid assignment. Your professor should be ashamed.

Haha, I've thought up some ideas on my own as well, including: doing magic tricks for tips for the people waiting in the long lines in the morning at the campus coffee shop (I used to be a magician), getting free stuff (e.g. couches, firewood) on craig's list and reselling it, buying 2 dozen Krispy Kream doughnuts and selling them at a profit, library valet parking, and doing delivery for the campus take-out food place.


But part of being clever is using a network and taking in ideas from as many sources as possible. Many ideas that people became famous for were taken from someone/somewhere else.

go to a cheap chinese shop. Buy as much as possible cheap "ballet shoes" or those nasty looking slip-on weird footwear things.
Then stand in front of a club at 4 am, when girls´ feet hurt from dancing with high heals.
Sell with an high margin.
Next day buy more and sell more.

Stole the idea from an UK bloke, i think, who made a lot of money with those type of vending machines.

Why?

What does this actually teach you that is in anyway useful?

I think the point of it is to help the students break through the mental barrier of thinking that starting a value-creating entity (i.e. business) is extremely difficult to do. He wants to drill in the point that anyone can get started, anyone can create at least some value and make some money right away, and that entrepreneurship is an iterative process that requires one to start up in the first place.

Our main class project of starting a business is worth half our grade and is not restricted to the $14 dollars/14 days rules. I think he feels that this assignment helps for sort of breaking the students in to the concept of just getting started, and will make starting the larger business for the larger project less daunting of a task.

This isn't true. Most people are are not capable of starting a business.

The problem is the ridiculous restrictions of $14 and 14 days.

buy one pack of cigarettes, go to club/bar late at night, sell each cigarette for $2. rinse repeat

a) Why?

b) perhaps the use of the word "anyone" was wrong. What I meant was that anyone in the class (i.e. anyone who is a senior at a top 10 undergraduate business school) can start a business.


It's obv not supposed to be or even possible for it to be a hugely profitable venture. It's just to "warm up" the class's initiative, creative, hustling, and value-creating "muscles." For someone who's never worked for themselves, making a couple bucks in two weeks with practically no capital is a good baby step to build self-efficacy.

The $14 is basically there to constrain your thinking. Ignore it completely.

That's why he will have a final project worth half his grade that he can ignore it on?

I think the project is interesting. Especially since I've done 2 businesses with around that much money (inflation adjusted, I was a kid).

1.) Bought pixie sticks (those super big ones) from a grocery store and resold them on the school bus/at school.

2.) Lemonade stand

Since your on campus, maybe making really good cookies (like those big ones) and selling them to drunk kids on saturday nights.

Of course anyone can start a business. What Henry means is that most people shouldn't start a business. That definitely includes a class of seniors at top ten B school.

Calling anything a business that you can create within those restrictions is laughable. Yea, anyone can be a street performer but how exactly is that a business.

Guy does pretty well

I would say at least 95% of people that "talk" about investing in real estate, never do. I think the teacher is getting people out of the "talking about it stage" and into the "actually trying" stage.