Undergraduate Student-Run Business Development Services Firms: A New Educational Opportunity and Growth Alternative for Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

This article explores undergraduate-run business development services firms catering to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a new educational opportunity for students as the gig economy expands and as a growth alternative for SMEs. It describes how to structure the firm in the space between students, the university, and the regional community, and why this is an important model moving forward. This approach offers the dual benefit of providing SMEs with high-quality services at affordable rates and provides undergraduates with authentic work experiences that teach students to be flexible, operate on a per-project basis, and prepare themselves for “portfolio careers” of the future. Founded in 2015, Bear Studios has completed 82 projects with 62 different companies, split between health care (49%), education (20%), software (16%), consumer goods (6%), and other industries (9%). Involving 43 student fellows and having generated over $52,000 in billings to date, the company expanded to Baltimore and is expanding into the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. Students can become better prepared for postgraduate careers through this model. We propose how students can gain valuable work experience prior to graduation as a participant in the new workforce, while functioning as a cost-effective alternative for SMEs.

Teacher entrepreneurial ecosystems: How local communities support teacher entrepreneurs

“…However, EE research has begun to examine educational entrepreneurial ecosystems (Miller & Acs, 2017). This research has had several general aims, including understanding how universities play a role in their local EEs (Belitski & Heron, 2017; Brush, 2014; Hechavarria et al, 2016; O’Brien et al, 2019), how university EEs can be designed and strengthened (Gedeon, 2020; Rice et al, 2014), how university students can become more aware of and connected to their local EEs (Delaney et al, 2019; McArdle & Koning, 2021), and how university EEs influence the faculty’s ability to commercialize research (Hayter, 2016; Huang-Saad et al, 2017; for a non-entrepreneurship exception cf. Falkner et al, 2018).…”

An empirical assessment of how the government policies influenced the performance of the SMEs in Zimbabwe

“…Malawi embarked on a programme of promoting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) both public and private that are offering entrepreneurship education and training which are registered by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) with the sole purpose of spurring entrepreneurship development in the country through the provision of Entrepreneurship Education and Training (EET) Delaney, Harrington & Toker (2019). The programme was targeting the improvement of SME performance through entrepreneurial education.…”

Antecedents of entrepreneurship in the career trajectories of junior enterprises alumni

“…Additionally, the results of this study show a profile different from most Brazilian entrepreneurs described in the GEM (2015), which points out that in developing countries, ventures are started more out of necessity. It is believed that because of their entrepreneurial learning in junior enterprises, the subjects of this study are able to develop competencies that expand their employment opportunities and, at the same time, make them visualize the entrepreneurial career as another alternative for putting into practice what they learned at the university (Delaney et al, 2019;Savoie et al, 2018;Zampier & Takahashi, 2011). Corroborating this point of view, we cite case 2 ("The role of the university was to provide internships and participation in the JE in the last year") and case 3 ("The university brought out their aspect as leaders, identified since their time in school").…”

“…Most studies that address university students' entrepreneurial intention use the perspective of future career choice (Linan & Fayole, 2015), without advancing the understanding of individual and contextual factors in the trajectory of those students who put their intention into practice -for example, students egress from junior enterprises (JEs), who usually go through experiences related to entrepreneurship throughout the course, developing skills to open their own businesses (Campos, 2015). Initially located in France and later spread around the world, JEs are characterized by a type of entrepreneurial training in the university environment, which, by enabling the dialogue between theory (academic content) and practice, favors the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors in university students (Campos, 2015;Delaney et al, 2019;Ferreira & Freitas, 2013;Ngan & Khoi, 2020).In other words, it is a space in which the students manage a real business and acts as professional consultants in their area.JEs function as a field of practices seen as entrepreneurial, contribute to the construction of the relationship network, and also promote student contact with other entrepreneurs, who serve as reference models (Reeves et al, 2019;Savoie et al, 2018).…”

“…The experience in junior enterprises tends to be a very strong catalyst for entrepreneurial career intentions in that it: (i) reinforces social relationships, allowing familiarity with models to be followed (Cortez et al, 2019;Varamaki et al, 2015); (ii) favors the development of competencies in running a business, in consulting, and in network development (Delaney et al, 2019;Salusse & Andreassi, 2016); (iii) stimulates reflection on the relationships between society, markets, and universities (Campos, 2015;Palassi et al, 2020); and (iv) is a space for experimentation and learning through mistakes and successes, and through relationships with other people (Zampier & Takahashi, 2011).…”