BevLaunch: Entrepreneurship in Public Schools
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Machu Picchu’s mission is to help children in underserved communities to have a brighter future. By empowering the future generation and reducing inequity, we believe we can address many of the challenges our society faces today. We started this important work by partnering with Miami Dade County Public Schools on BevLaunch, a hands-on simulator teaching students the fundamentals of entrepreneurship as they launch their own socially-conscious beverage business.
BevLaunch groups students into teams, where they first choose the cause that their business will support. Whether environmental, social, international, or local, all the students identify missions that they are passionate about. When we asked the students “How many of you think it’s important for businesses to give back?” every single one of them raised their hands.
In our next session, a branding expert taught them how to come up with a name, logo, and design for their products, but only after talking through their value proposition and core consumer profile. Students drew their final designs, which our team later turned into can renders.
The students were overjoyed when it came time to formulate their beverage. The teams carefully considered their branding and target audience to come up with a winning product.
With their products in hand, the teams then worked through their sales and marketing strategies, pricing, financials, and then delivered final pitches to local investors. In addition to all receiving certificates of completion, each team won cash prizes.
The impact of Bev-Launch has been enormous. Based on pre- and post-surveys, the program doubled the percent of students “Very Likely” to go to college. Similar effects were observed on the percent Very Likely to pursue Business, Entrepreneurship, and more importantly, on confidence that they will find careers they like and be able to earn a good income.
In 2022, Machu Picchu will continue Bev-Launch in Miami Public Schools, while at the same time, beginning a national expansion, partnering with a leading education organization.
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