First-year Babson College Undergraduates Launch 33 Businesses

WELLESLEY, Mass., April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College students have launched 33 new businesses as part of the Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) course, a 7-credit immersion into the world of business.

All first-year Babson students are given the assignment to develop and run a business during the spring semester.

How It Works

Throughout the year, two dedicated faculty members--industry professionals--teach the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, marketing, accounting, organizational behavior, information systems, and operations, while emphasizing the integrated role these functions have in a business.  Babson provides up to $3,000 per startup which is repaid after liquidation of the business at semester's end.

Donate Profits - Provide Community Service

Teams establish a partnership with a local social services agency, emphasizing the importance of corporate social responsibility. Collectively, each team donates 80 hours of community service, plus all profits from their business, to that organization. Students have supported a variety of organizations, including Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Cradles to Crayons, Boys and Girls Club, and the Greater Boston Food Bank.

Since 1999, FME businesses have donated more than $430,000 to local charities.

"The only way to understand what it takes to run a business is to actually run a business," said Associate Dean Rob Major.  "But the experience is more than just learning how to launch a startup. It's about exploring career options. It's about identifying and creating opportunities, understanding goals, managing team dynamics, and communicating effectively. Above all, it's about turning ideas into action."

2015 FME Businesses

Meet the Class of 2018's FME businesses.  For information, visit http://bit.ly/1bMRYVn  

• Aqua Muse

Speaker Creatures are water resistant, portable, Bluetooth speakers that come in three unique shapes. The speakers are designed with a suction cup on the back and stick to flat surfaces for music that goes where you go-- even the shower!

• Asoar

Asoar is a fleece pullover jacket that combines practicality and fashion. The company is collaborating with Lands' End for their product. The fleece also has a Babson logo on the left side of the chest. 

• Bab Sleeve

Laptop sleeves made out of 3mm neoprene. The cases will be purchased from 4imprint USA. The sleeves include a Babson logo.

• Baboo

Baboo Plant is a company that provides lucky bamboo plants to everyone. People are often sad and frustrated in the dead of winter, part of this due to lack of plants. Baboo provides both nature and luck, and is a specialized product that will make your life lucky!

• Babson Tea Company

Supplying various types of tea bags, customers can custom order in quantities.

• Babson Vines

1/4 zip sweatshirts made by Vineyard Vines with Babson logo.

• B-Charged

iPhone charger that can be worn on your wrist as a bracelet when not charging your phone.

• Bed Buddy

A portable tray that attaches to the side of a bed.

• Box-Os

Selling and delivering personally wrapped and assembled care packages to college students, friends, and family around the nation.

• Branch Bag

Branch Bag offers eco-friendly drawstring backpacks with the Babson Logo that are both environmentally sustainable and biodegradable because they are made out of 100% cotton.  Branch Bag also offers customization on bags with a wide product line of durable, environmentally sustainable products.

• The Cactus Practice

Cactus Practice sells a type of cacti known as succulents, a spike-less and cuter type of cactus, accompanied by a positive or negative message chosen by the customer from a list of messages crafted largely by our marketing and sales team. Our goal is to let out the customers' frustrations and stress through laughter.  

• CarryYoKey

Holds a room key and Babson OneCard and allows strip of ID card to remain in the holder while swiping.

• DeFino

DeFino produces shirts with the words spelled backwards on them in order to force our customer to look in the mirror and define themselves. The company believes that building a personal brand is a large part in understand oneself. We strive to define ourselves while helping to define others.

• EZ Post

High quality polyester posters that can stick to any surface. Customers can upload their own images from their phones or computers to customize their own poster.

• Goldman Socks

Cotton socks that are embroidered with golden thread.

• Health-e

Delivery service of customized healthy food packs (prepared by Volante Farms in Needham, MA).

• I Survived

Providing Babson students with reasonably priced attire and laptop decor that allows students to reflect on their past and present FME experiences. The products will be high quality cotton t-shirts with "I Survived FME" on the front in bold font and 2"x3.5" laptop stickers that say "I Survived FME".

• Just Watch

A smart, silicone bracelet that features a vibrating alarm clock, LED time display, and a smartphone application to allow users to check how far they walked, how many calories they burned, and how well they slept the night before.

• KEYpr

A customizable pocket that sticks to the back of a phone and holds a plastic card and room key. Available in different patterns, custom photos, logos, etc.

• Liquid Sound

Liquid Sound is centered around selling water-resistant, Bluetooth speakers with high quality sound. The portability of our speaker makes the music listening experience accessible in a wide variety of places.

• Mi Drink Buddy

100ml soft squeeze travel bottles.

• Pawkets

Selling customized long sleeve t-shirts. For each shirt sold, the business will donate 5oz of dog or cat food to a local animal shelter, Buddy Dog.

• Pulse Cases

A phone case that charges your phone.

• SIP

Selling reusable cups.

• Stick It

Laptop (and other) functional stickers. The main product is a white board and comes with a pen. The white board will feature the Babson logo.

• Sweet Soles

Scented gel inserts for shoes.

• TBA Fashion

Clothing company working with Babson alumni to design various types of clothes with the Babson logo.

• The iCheck

A small mirror that attaches to the back of your phone in order to check your appearance.

• Toasty Buns

A stadium seat cushion with a pocket to place hand warmer like products in order to keep yourself warm.

• V3LO

3D printed organizational accessory that not only holds your key, card and headphones, but is also a bottle opener.

• WALLi

WALLi is a plastic holder that hooks around the wall adapter end of a phone charger and holds your phone on an attached platform that is perpendicular to the wall. WALLi will be sold in five different colors including red, lime green, blue, white, and black.

• WaterWarp

Selling a water bottle with a compartment in the side of the bottle that holds a credit card, ID card, and money.

• Wear-A-Wire

iPhone lightning charger that can be worn on your wrist as a bracelet when not charging your phone.

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds(r). The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society--while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action(r) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu

CONTACT: Michael Chmura, 781-239-4549, [email protected]

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SOURCE Babson College

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