Power of the Herd
By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – There are no tests or quizzes in Daniel Chaffin’s MGT 400 class.
He doesn’t require students to buy a textbook either.
The University of Nebraska at Kearney faculty member believes there’s a better way to teach them about entrepreneurship.
“Honestly, the whole class is starting and running a business,” said Chaffin, an associate professor of management in the College of Business and Technology.
“A lot of students think they might want to be an entrepreneur, but it’s hard for them to know for sure without actually experiencing it,” he added. “This class gives them a chance to decide whether they like it or not, without having to quit their job to find out.”
A former business development analyst and strategic marketing manager for a large home construction company, Chaffin is known for connecting his classes to real-world experiences. He calls entrepreneurship an “embodied discipline,” something you need to see and do to truly understand.
“I want students to feel the ups and downs of it – the risk of failure, the joy of success and the need to press forward even in the midst of obstacles,” he said. “Successful entrepreneurs aren’t necessarily the ones who understand business the most. They’re the ones who can embody what entrepreneurship is the most.”
In the MGT 400 class, students get to experience every step of the entrepreneurial process. They work together in teams to develop business ideas, create pitches, coordinate suppliers, identify marketing strategies and execute their plans.
Using startup capital provided by the College of Business and Technology, each business operates for about six weeks before the inventory is liquidated and the initial investment is repaid.
Profits are donated to a campus organization or service selected by the student groups. That’s another important aspect of the project.
“It helps them create a sense of mission,” Chaffin said. “Yeah, it’s a business, but there’s also a cause tied to it and that’s where they get a lot of meaning as far as what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.”
UNK senior Maddie Rose is one of 19 students who took the class this semester. She graduates Friday with a bachelor’s degree in general studies and is considering entrepreneurship as a potential career path.
“I’ve been exploring a lot of different fields,” the Sutton native said. “I’ve thought about possibly starting my own business someday, so it’s good to have that knowledge and experience.”
Rose and her class partners created Timeless Treasures, a permanent jewelry business.
“It’s kind of a trendy thing right now,” she said of the soldered bracelets, necklaces and anklets that are intended to be worn all the time.
The group started with a list of interested customers – UNK sorority members were a key demographic – then expanded their reach by hosting pop-up events on campus. They finished with more than $1,500 in sales, including about $1,000 in profits donated to UNK Student Health and Counseling.
“I definitely learned a lot this semester – a lot more than I would have learned from a textbook, that’s for sure,” Rose said. “It was overwhelming at first – a lot of planning and coordinating went into it – but I gained a lot of valuable information and experience from it.”
Along with the added knowledge, students in the entrepreneurship class have an opportunity to expand their professional networks. They learn from local business owners who share their experiences and provide mentorship throughout the semester while also receiving feedback and advice from Chaffin and other professionals at UNK.
“Making those connections with people in the class, in the business program and in the community has been really helpful for me,” Rose said. “Everyone in my group was complete strangers when we started out, so it’s been a pretty fun experience getting to know them.”
In addition to Timeless Treasures, other student-run businesses sold custom flags for dorm rooms and fraternities and Nebraska- and Kearney-themed trucker hats, with profits supporting the Interfraternity Council and UNK Career Closet.
Elizabeth Vandenberg’s group originally planned to sell international candy, but they couldn’t find a wholesaler with low enough prices. So, they decided to pivot and create the Swing and Save Card, a punch card that offers discounted rates at six area golf courses for college students.
They ended up with about $1,600 in sales, mostly from local businesses that purchased the cards and donated them to UNK Counseling to distribute to students. Their profits also supported counseling services on campus.
A senior from Gretna, Vandenberg is studying business administration with a management emphasis and a minor in entrepreneurship. She enjoyed Chaffin’s class because it’s “tangible and real.”
“Entrepreneurship can seem so ominous and scary, but this class shows us that we have the skills to be successful,” she said.
Those skills – communication, critical-thinking, problem-solving, budgeting and planning – can be applied to almost any career.
“I hope students leave this class with greater confidence and a sense of accomplishment,” Chaffin said. “I think it’s kind of cool that they can go to a job interview and say, ‘Yeah, I was part of a startup and we developed this product.’ That’s a real deliverable that shows future employers what they’re capable of.”
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