Student-owned Businesses on Campus
Launching and operating new ventures as a student-owned business on campus
Objective
The objective of the Student-owned Businesses on Campus (SBC) initiative is to provide students practical experience in launching a business—from ideation and operations to growth. The initiative, therefore, encourages students to explore critical areas such as team formation, product and service design, pricing, customer engagement, marketing, and operations.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the initiative is to offer members of the Bentley community the opportunity to develop, launch, and test business ideas through experiential learning. The program is designed by the E-Hub and relies on sustained collaboration with Bentley Procurement and Division of Student Affairs. It is also possible that a student team may use this initiative to test different ideas such as different business models, different product designs and much more by gathering primary data from potential customers and users. The E-Hub will coordinate to provide student teams access to university resources (such as locations on campus, access to utilities such as electricity, water and internet access) so that the student teams may test different ideas as well as launch and grow their ventures (with the goal of eventually transitioning to off-campus operations).
What is a Student-owned Business on Campus (SBC)?
A student-owned business on campus (SBC) is a venture wholly owned and operated by one or more current Bentley students. Although the primary purpose of the SBC program is experiential learning, it is possible that the venture may generate profit. The student teams are not required to share these profits with the E-Hub or the university. The E-Hub encourages the student teams to consider donating the profits to a charity of their choice.
Before applying to the SBC program, please read through all the details of the program below.
Engagement Options
Flexible Engagement Options
Student-owned businesses on campus can be short-term, occasional setups to more frequent, semester-long operations. The engagement options outlined here are possible anchors along the spectrum from least engagement (short duration, most flexible) to most engagement (long duration, most flexible). If what you are searching for is not specifically listed, please share your desired option with the E-Hub. We will attempt to work with university stakeholders and your team to figure out how we can make it work for your desired option or suggest feasible alternatives. Here are the anchors specified in the spectrum of choices above:
- One-Day Setup: An SBC sets up for a few hours or the whole day - on a single day.
- Weekend Setup: An SBC sets up for a weekend, defined as Friday 8am through Sunday 11pm.
- Week Setup: An SBC sets up for a week, defined as Monday 8am through Sunday 11pm.
- Recurring Days Setup: An SBC sets up for a regular presence every week, such as every Wednesday afternoon.
- Multi-Week Setup: An SBC sets up for 2 to 4 weeks, defined as Monday 8 am through Sunday 11pm of the following week.
- Half-Semester Setup: An SBC sets up for 8 weeks (half the semetser term), from beginning of the term to midway or midway through the end of the semester.
- Special Events Setup: An SBC sets up during an event such as a hockey game or a Falcon weekend or similar.
- Semester-Long Setup: An SBC sets up to operate every day for an entire semester.
To qualify as a Student-owned Business on Campus (SBC), your business and the student (team) must meet the following criteria:
- Student-Founded and Operated: The business must be founded and actively managed by current Bentley University students.
- Independently Run: The business should be self-managed,
- Revenues, Profits and Losses: The student team remains responsible for revenues, profits and losses.
- E-Hub or Bentley Role: The student team does not share profits or losses with the university or the E-Hub.
- Experiential Learning: Given the primary goal of the initiative, the E-Hub recommends donating any profits to a charity of your choice.
- Compliance with University Policies: The business must adhere to all university regulations, including campus facilities, health and safety standards.
- Campus Contribution: The business should offer a product, service, or experience that positively contributes to the Bentley community.
- Student Commitment: The team must demonstrate a strong commitment to running and growing the business throughout the program.
The following are potential locations for student-owned businesses (see Pictures here).
| Location | Description | Facilities |
|---|---|---|
| Falcon Lab (Lower LaCava) | Located on the lower level just before the entrance to the cafe on left | Several shelves, Two tables with wheels, Chairs, Refrigerator, Electricity. |
| natural! Storefront(Student Center) | Located on the second floor at the top of the stairs in the natural! storefront | Tables, Chairs, Access to Electricity |
| Across DD(Student Center) | Located on the lower level near the main entrance, across from Dunkin Donuts | Tables, Chairs, Potential Access to Electricity |
| Third Floor (Smith) | Located on the third floor of Smith alongside the staircase going down | Tables, Chairs, No access to Electricity |
| Other | Additional locations (e.g. Bentey Arena) may be identified and added here. | Depends on the location |
Application
- A member of the Bentley community member or a team made of Bentley community members may apply for access to the SBC initiative by describing the business, preferred location(s), preferred engagement (length of use), and other details.
Approval
- Approval for student requests will be done by a committee made up of: a representative from the E-Hub (nominated by the E-hub Director), a representative from Academic Affairs (nominated by the VP of Student Affairs), a representative from Procurement (nominated by Associate VP, Procurement and Campus Services), a representative from the Faculty Council of the E-Hub, a representative from the Legal Counsel (nominated by the General Counsel), and a representative from the student community (invited by the E-Hub).
- The committee reserves the right to request further details, suggest amendments and refinements, approve or deny an application from the student/student team. The decision of the committee is final. The student/student team may re-apply.
Sunset
- As a part of the application process, the student/student team will need to specify how they will wind down the business operations, including any details necessary for ensuring that the locations being used are left without the need for clean-up.
Seed Funding
- The E-Hub will be able to provide seed funding (max $500) to supplement the funding brought to the venture by the student team.
- This seed funding does not result in any equity in the business for the E-Hub nor does it require any future ownership or return of funds.
- This seed funding does not represent a prize. It represents the commitment from the E-Hub to support this initiative.
- Accepting the seed funding will require that students/student teams to submit reports showing appropriate expenses.
Revenues, Profits and Losses
- The revenues and profits from the SBC (or any losses they may incur) remain the responsibility of the students/student teams.
- While not a requirement of this program, it is recommended that each business consider donating their profits to a charity.
Interplay with the E-Hub Incubator
- The SBC initiative is deigned primarily as a vehicle for experiential learning.
- You may use the SBC opportunity as a precursor to participating in the the E-Hub Incubator Program in the following year.
- You may use the SBC opportunity based on feedback from the judges after participating in the the E-Hub Incubator Program.
The following represent important guidelines for SBC that reflect its status as an approved entity operating on the Bentley campus:
- Your SBC cannot use the Bentley University logo
- Your SBC cannot use the Bentley University name
- Your SBC cannot run aggressive advertising
- Your SBC cannot conduct business from a residence hall
- Your SBC cannot use personal locking mechanisms for a location that has been assigned to you
- Your SBC cannot use Bentley email lists
- Your SBC cannot use Bentley university address as the mailing address
- Your SBC must prominently display a sign to indicate support from the E-Hub SBC initiative at all times
- The E-Hub is responsible for providing this sign.