Simply Water Bottles

Work ethic, organization, collaboration, and communication are skills that senior Emma Yoder is tested on on a daily basis in Intro to Business. Although she isn’t planning on pursuing a career in business, the class allows Emma to have fun helping her passionate, talented group create and launch a business.

Emma’s team created their business, naming it Simply– a glass water bottle company that runs at 13 dollars a bottle along with a protective sleeve for an additional two dollars. The idea behind their company was formulated pretty quickly, so within three weeks they had the logo and the materials they needed. There were a few setbacks, however. The manufacturing company they originally purchased their water bottles raised the price, so Emma’s group had to figure out another place to get them. But it all worked out in the end when they found a cheaper deal on Amazon.

The group was working fast and smoothly without any major troubles. They had made proficient progress and ended up scoring a few locations to sell their product while other groups were still formulating prototypes. At this point, everything was moving quickly, thanks to the cooperation and teamwork of the group.

One of Emma’s group members, senior Olivia Enbody, is an employee at Coney Island and talked to her boss about setting up a shelf to display their water bottles. Olivia is in charge of supply chain and finance, meaning she is responsible for keeping track of the budget and getting the stickers for the water bottles.

“We’re just a bunch of high school students, and we created a water bottle,” Olivia said. “We’re selling them, and it’s just crazy.”

Another place their water bottles will be sold at is Celebration Cinema North. At a premiere event of Coco, Emma’s group has the chance to sell their product to over 500 people. This opportunity is thanks to Intro to Business teacher Jared Lowe observing their notable progress. He noticed that they were working well and fast, so he and their business mentor from Junior Achievement gave them the opportunity to sell at the movie theater.

“I am very pleased with the progress of Emma’s group,” Lowe said. “All members of Simply have gone at it wholeheartedly since day one and are striving to make it a recognized and successful product and brand.”

Everything has gone smoothly so far, including teamwork. Each group member has done their job well, and Emma- the manager of the group- says they all work hard and are good at what they do.

“We have a really amazing group that is working together,” Emma said. “I think we all kind of complement each other.”

Lowe instructs the groups alongside their business mentor, Kelly Ballou, from Junior Achievement, a K-12 program that fosters entrepreneurship and other financial skills. They teach the students everything they need to be successful in that class and other advanced business classes.

Intro to Business is the foundational building block that leads to other classes. There are no pre-requisites and once the course is completed, students can advance to another business class, such as Sports Marketing or Accounting.

By taking the class, students learn a multitude of important skillsets they can apply to future jobs, whether that be in the business field or something completely different. Lowe has watched members of Emma’s group take advantage of the opportunities the class has given and enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm.

“Their energy, creativity, passion, work ethic, and dedication to the process is fun to watch,” Lowe said. “It is exactly how I hoped students would approach this business opportunity.”