INcubator class teaches high school students about building a business

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt

Columnist For Green Bay Press-Gazette

Part of the next generation of entrepreneurs may well be the result of INcubator, a course taught by Karen Hoffman, Lynn Fischer, and Tony Schaaf at Kimberly High School. And the ideas coming from students bodes well for the future of innovative business startups.

Hoffman, who spent 18 years in corporate America before turning her passion to teaching, said several of the projects have gained considerable traction. One of those was a result of a student’s experience with a sibling who had cancer.

Hoffman said, “ The student came up with the idea for a pillow that could be attached to a seat belt in a vehicle to cushion the port (a device that is implanted under the skin making it easier to deliver medications). It was called the Wonderful Warrior Pillow. They partnered with cancer groups and many of those groups are still using them.”

A few years later, another sibling took the INcubator class and developed a clothing line that concealed the area where the port was located. Both startups have had backing from Spierings Cancer Foundation, located in Appleton, a grassroots organization dedicated to funding cancer research, helping local families who are battling cancer, and enhancing treatments.

“ To hear the stories behind why the groups made what they did, or just to see the growth, makes me cry,” Hoffman said. “From the first share- back to the final pitch, the kids are stunned at how far they’ve come.”

The curriculum includes eight units: Ideation, Customer Discovery, Customer Connections, Finances, Build Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Legal and MVP Experimentation, Promotion, Company Valuation and Pitch Your Story. As the ideas progress, there are six to eight share- back sessions.

“During the share-backs, students

recap on what they did during that unit to move their business forward,” Hoffman said.

In unit five, students do a business pitch to secure funding to build a prototype. The pitch is given to volunteer community members including bankers, small business owners, and other business mentors. The judges are called “sharks,” borrowing the term from the television show “Shark Tank” and are tasked with determining the amount of seed money each group will receive.

The school district provides $1,000 in funding and the four or five groups presenting ask for a portion of that.

Throughout the course, volunteer mentors work with the groups. One of those mentors is Ryan Kauth, a volunteer with SCORE Northeast Wisconsin, who spends hours working with students. He has been with the program since its inception about five years ago. Hoffman said he has a gift for breaking down topics so the students understand them. He meets with each group one on one throughout the session.

That assistance, and the help of many other community mentors, provides a real-life glimpse into the business world. There is also a competitive aspect as groups compete for the monetary grants. One of the surprises for many of the students is how much it costs to start a business.

Hoffman said, “ The biggest challenge in creating a business plan is understanding finances; especially if they have never taken an accounting or finance class. They are amazed at how much it takes to start a business. Most students don’t consider all of the aspects that go into a business – they only think about the product.”

That changes as they go through the class. Instead of a written business plan, they create a business model canvas that can be modified as their business develops. They identify the potential for their product by determining if there is an addressable market and answering the question, “Are there consumers who are unhappy with current solutions that our product could solve?”

Once they believe they have that product, they delve into costs, websites, financials, and cost of goods sold. They talk to manufacturers to come up with an estimate on production costs based on quantity. One of the biggest challenges is developing a marketing plan.

“Marketing costs surprise the students,” Hoffman noted. “Because of their use of social media, they seem to think it’s free and don’t realize how much it costs to sell a product.”

As Hoffman moves students through the eight units and witnesses their growing understanding of business, she is convinced of its benefits. It is one of only a few offered in Wisconsin schools; an effort brought to fruition by Hoffman and Fischer as they recognized the value found in developing entrepreneurial skills. They visited a school near Chicago that offered something similar before pitching it in Kimberly.

Hoffman said, “We are ahead of most schools. There aren’t many who have a true entrepreneurial curriculum. Kimberly was maybe third or fourth in the state to offer INcubator. More schools are coming on board, though, and Kaukauna just started this year.”

In addition to this program, there are other opportunities for students. In October, 132 business and marketing students at Kimberly High School took part in Mini Business World sponsored by Wisconsin Business World. The one- day event challenges students to build a business from the ground up as they create a product, build a prototype, create a marketing plan, and develop a budget.

At the end of the day, students pitched their ideas and competed for cash prizes. The top team developed Therma Shovel, a battery-heated snow shovel. Second place went to Car Tech, a car garbage disposal system that attaches to a seat belt for easier disposal of garbage.

The program was led by Michelle Grajkowski and Shelby Paradowski from Wisconsin Business World, an organization dedicated to furthering entrepreneurship. In addition to minicamps, they also develop curriculum for schools and have longer, more immersive camps.

Its mission mirrors the objectives of Kimberly High’s course. It says, “Business World is committed to reach, inspire and engage students from every corner of the state and to teach them the importance of business, entrepreneurship and the free market through virtual and in-person events, all while informing them of economic opportunities in their own communities.”

With these experiences, Hoffman is seeing success among students. A few years ago, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh had a pitch contest that one of the student groups went to and pitched their idea for a heated hoodie.

“ They bought battery packs and different sweatshirts and were able to run wires through the hoodie for kids who don’t like to wear coats in the winter. They took home the $3,000 top prize,” she said.

Hoffman concluded, “ The networking that takes place, the stories behind it all, the skills the kids walk away with – you can’t put a value on it and what that will do for their futures. They are finding that this might be something they can do.”

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.