Running a Business for College Credit

Thursday 08th of March 2007 03:43:59 PM

Running a Business for College Credit

Learning how to run a successful business cannot be taught exclusively in the classroom. Being able to put what is learned to practice while still in school allows students to make choices and see the outcome of these choices without having the pressure of financial ruin. University of Central Lancashire, UK multi-media students were given the opportunity to start a t-shirt design business online and run it until the end of term.

Their business is conducted online and allows customers to create their own designs, or upload pictures or symbols, which are then printed onto T-Shirts. Students will also take orders from people and design images for approval. Working with a local printing company, the T-Shirts are shipped to the customers. “We only launched last Thursday night and we have gelled really well and are working well as a team, it is just a question of what everyone wants to do come the end of the module,” said student Olavo D'Silva.

While the business is still new, there have been questions as to who will take over the business once the students have completed their coursework. “If we want to carry on with it we can, or we can sell the business on to another person, if it is proving profitable,” said D’Silva.

In the meantime, students have been busy. Helping customers design their own T-Shirts has allowed students to work on a variety of creative projects while learning more about running a business. “We had one woman who wanted a picture of her baby son in an Andy Warhol-style with some text underneath saying 'that's my boy.' A couple of us did some designs and she picked one of them and we got the t-shirt printed up, she was really happy with it,” said D’Silva. Helping customers while maintaining a business will give these students a strong foundation that they will be able to take with them in any future business venture.

(c)Susanna, www.sxc.hu