CEO Business Visits

• Dr. Barger, Dr. Trice & Dr. Porter (Investor)
• David And Chris Brandt, Owners

On Monday, our class went to Lindenwood University.  There, we met Dr. Barger and Dr. Trice.  They gave us very helpful tips about public speaking.  I learned that public speaking comes easier as you do it more and more.  This was interesting to me because I have not had to public speak that often, but if I become a CEO, I will have to learn effective ways to speak to a crowd.  We also got the opportunity to practice speaking and experience what it would be like in a television studio.  I observed several of my classmates in a mock interview where they were the CEO.  This really reiterated that the way you deliver your answers has a powerful impact.  I learned a lot more about speaking styles and techniques to prepare for a public speech through this experience.

On Tuesday, our class was visited by Joe Mayoral.  Mr. Mayoral gave me helpful tips and explained some new business terms to me.  I learned the difference between gross profit, gross sales, and margins.  I also improved my business plan financials by integrating these terms into my spreadsheet.  After Mr. Mayoral helped me, I worked on folding a book for the trade show.  A lot of my classmates did not know how I folded the books, and it was very fun to show them the method I use.  As I am folding more books in preparation for the trade show, my passion for Turn the Page Art is growing.

On Wednesday, we had a work day.  I finished the book I folded on Tuesday and started folding a book with a heart.  Some students also practiced their elevator pitches to prepare for the Elevator Pitch competition on April 6.  From observing the different styles my classmates used, I learned that the most effective way to perform an elevator pitch is by starting off with a story.  This gives a smoother way to fit in other facts about your business like why you started, which shows your passion; how you realized the community has a need for your business, and some of your cost and financial statistics.

Kaitlynn Borik
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Kaitlynn

This week was a hard week. I missed Monday because I was in Indy for volleyball, but I also missed Tuesday. On Tuesday I had a college tour and a meeting with the volleyball coach for St. Louis Community College Meramec and was offered a full ride to play volleyball.

On Wednesday, we met at Artigem for the last day of working on our business plans. We also worked on a balance sheet for our business plan. For our business plan we had to have the actual business plan, a profit and loss statement, a resume, a balance sheet, a 3 year cash flow, a year cash flow, and our start up expenses. The financials were very difficult to figure out how to actually do them. Most of us had trouble with them at first, but after that they weren't as complicated.

On Thursday, we went to Sips n Splatters and visited Chris and David Brandt. It’s funny because they actually live down the street from me and also grew up with my parents. I love their business. I think it was such a great idea and to see how much money they can make in a day is awesome. David started this business in his loft and people started showing up more and more and by less than a year he had enough money to actually start this business in the building he is located in now. They now have 3 different buildings the one by Seven, one in Maryville, and also Splatter Mania down the street from the original one. Splatter Mania is all for kids. They created it for kids 6 and over so the kids did not have to be in the original one with older people. They talked a lot on how much time they put into this business at first. They literally lived there. They had a loft right behind the wall, but also on top of the building. They spent many late nights trying to figure out the best plan to how to run this business and the art parties, while this is going on Chris also had a job. I think it's awesome how much time and effort they put into this business, because most people would have given up.

Claire Randle
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Claire

This week has been a week of learning which isn't too different from every other week, but this specific week has been a lot on being able to present yourself well to others. Starting on Monday the theme for the week quickly fell in line- Learn how to publicly speak. We started off our week at Lindenwood with Dr. Trice, staff and students and they showed us the ins and outs of campus, specifically the Communications department. After speaking briefly with us about the actual university we went on to do several dry run tests on what it feels like to be a CEO and how to manage yourself during an interview. It takes a lot of hard work for CEOs to preserve image and save face after there has been an incident within their company that comes to public knowledge and concern. These incidents often lead to the CEO having to publicly apologize for something he may had absolutely nothing to do with and had no control over. They also have to keep intact their integrity and keep their businesses well liked throughout the country by other businesses, political leaders and the common people.

On Thursday, we met at Sips N Splatters. Most businesses fail after 3 years and they are still surviving which is a testament to their commitment. Most businesses either find a problem and fix it or they make a better innovation to a previous invention that will help the overall business. Sips N Splatters is part of the former of those two. They took an already formed business and reinvented the way they do things which increases overall performance for their own business. Doing this way proves to most effective nowadays due to the rapid change and growth that has developed lately. Their social aspect equals much more than just the art that is painted there. They truly bring to life values such as companionship, valuing others and cherishing precious moments in life. They did all this and worked for their own dream instead of someone else's which is all one truly needs in life

Royce Payne
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Royce

This week of CEO went by fast. This was the 30th week of class. This week we had two business visits, and on presenter. Also we had two work days. In class we worked on our business plan and financials. This week we worked a lot on your business plans. So far I've learned a lot more about how many different types of legal works, and licenses you have to have to operate a business. Before this I was under the impression that most businesses just sold their inventory and had to pay different taxes. But businesses have a lot of expenses that are unrelated to just simply choosing what to sell and how much to it sell for.

This week began with a business visit to Lindenwood University to meet Dr. Barger. When I first arrived to campus it was nice to have someone direct me where to go. I was appreciative of Dr. Barger’s assistant for directing or class where to go. Dr. Barger is the president of Lindenwood. Dr. Barger talked about the elevator pitch, and public speaking. He explained that many people fear public speaking, and everyone has their own way of reaching people, and getting their point across. He also explained that you can be effective by finding your style of speaking, and that will make you feel more confident. He also talked about how the media and public speaking are a big part of his job. Lastly he stressed you cannot take back what you have say and you have to keep calm so you don't say anything out of terms. After the presentation we went on a short tor of the campus news room used by communication students.

On Thursday we went to Sips n Splatters downtown Belleville. We met with the Brandt’s. They talked about how successful businesses are ran using multiple systems. They also spoke about their business ventures and opportunities to expanding sell franchises. One thing that stood out to me was the flywheel example. They explained that to get the flywheel to move you have to get the wheel to turn by momentum, and a lot of time and once it's off the ground it will have its own power to keep the wheel spinning.

Epiphany Smith
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Epiphany

 This week in my CEO experience we visited the art and entertainment business of Sips n splatters and Lindenwood University. We met with Dr. Barger and Dr. Trice at the university. From their lesson, I learned that speaking is an extremely important tool to have as a CEO or anyone in the public eye. When catering to the public as your consumers you have to make sure that your company appeals to the public, maintaining a credible image for your company is key to having a good consumer base. No one will but from a company that is rumored to cause unpleasant or unsatisfactory experiences. During our Lindenwood visit, we also had mock interviews with communications majors to test our ability to think on our feet, the exercise was very eye opening and exposed us to what a blindsided interview may be like so we could prepare for things of this nature in the future.

 While visiting Sips n Splatters with David and Chris Brandt, we were able to see a unique business running successfully in Belleville. As an artist, it was absolutely fascinating to learn how Sips n Splatters provides a fun, one of a kind experience to any customer and maintain that customer base throughout their business career. Many people wonder how art businesses will hold up because art is simply not a vital need, but for the expressionistic people of Belleville Illinois art is celebrated and displayed all throughout the city- giving a wonderful environment for art based businesses like Sips n Splatters to prosper. This is a great contributor to the success of the business, but more than that is the passion and love for art and life that the CEOs share with all of their customers. This business visit taught me so much about how to market creativity, and if I wish to survive in the world of entrepreneurship I must follow all of the advice I can acquire from driven people like them.

Alayna Wells
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Alayna

This was an interesting week at Belleville CEO. We started off with some crazy interviews at Lindenwood University, met with a few bankers, and visited Sips n Splatters. I learned quite a few things this week and had fun while doing it.

We started this week off at Lindenwood University. Here we learned how important a CEO’s job is. Everyone thinks a CEO is in charge of the company, which is true, but they are also in charge of representing their company. The right CEO can completely make or break a company. Everything that CEO says or does can negatively or positively impact their company. To demonstrate this, we worked on mock interviews with Lindenwood students. 3 of us were raised with pretending to be the Uber CEO and wiggle their way out of a bad interview. It was really fun to watch and very impactful. I really understood how important a CEO can be to a company and its employees.

On Tuesday, I met with Joe Mayoral to discuss my financials. He was really helpful with my projections and my pricing. He gave me some ideas to consider, like would I sell more during the holidays. Small tips like that helped me figure out my projections and think ahead about my production. Overall Mr. Mayoral was very helpful in finalizing my business plan.

Lastly, we met with Mr. and Mrs. Brandt from sips in splatters. They have such a creative and unique business it was amazing to sit down and talk with them. They had a lot of great information for us. They told us a lot about their business and how they were thankful for how long it had been running, considering most business fail within 3 year. One thing I found particularly interesting was how they started. They began with simple parties in their apartment with just friends. From there, it kept growing until they had enough money to move out and find a studio to rent. One really important thing I learned from them was the power of systems. All companies need systems in order for their business to succeed. Sips n splatters created systems and perfected them to where they don't even need to work at the studio for it to run. They have systems to create the canvases and run the parties. These systems help them make sure everything runs smoothly and to throw the best party for the customers. Overall they had some crazy stories to share like almost being on shark tank. It was great to hear from them and learn directly from their business.

Tim Donaho
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Tim

Tuesday and Wednesday were both pretty similar days, in the sense that we met at Artigem and worked on our financials each day.  The only difference really being that on Tuesday the banker came back, which like last week was a lot of help considering that I really had no idea what I was doing initially.

Finally on Thursday we went to Sips and Splatters where the owners spoke to us a lot about how the business and how the idea became a reality.  I really enjoyed it because the establishment just had a really nice atmosphere, and it reflected in the idea that the business is based off of art and colors.  Mr. Brandt told our class that the best question to ask yourself is, “Why do you want to do it?”  I really thought that was interesting because the question seems rhetorical, but when you think about it it really applies to many different aspects of starting a business.

Cole Maul
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Cole

 This week we got visit Sips n Splatters and we also got to visit Lindenwood University. We learned a lot about public speaking and knowing what to say it and when to say it.

On Monday we went to Lindenwood University and learned about the importance of public speaking. It's much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what's important to you about your message and speak from the heart. We did an exercise where we had to pretend to be the CEO of Uber after all the scrutiny Uber is dealing with and we had to do an on camera interview and we were given a scenario to speak on.   If you're not comfortable with public speaking - and nobody starts out comfortable; you have to learn how to be comfortable - practice. I cannot overstate the importance of practicing. Get some close friends or family members to help evaluate you, or somebody at work that you trust. I have been always a clown..I'm no good at public speaking, but if I can assume a role and speak as that person, then I'm fine. When I had to give a book report, I always did it in character. Public speaking is scary, I think. I've gotten way better at it. If I have to do a speech then that's easy, but if I have to get up there and pretend I know something in front of adults, it's never fine. In front of adults, it's like, they're going to judge me.

The day after that we visited Sips n Splatters with David and Chris Brandt. They told us about their story and how they went to shark tank to pitch their idea. They basically told us about how there was a point that they were completely out of money and that David had a box of money that he saved behind his bed he counted up and they had close to 10,000 dollars. David told us that with that money he used it to buy a building in downtown Belleville and start their business and live their dream Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learn. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches, but real tools you need, no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path.

Next week we will be pitching for potential “business investors” and the trade show is also coming up soon.

Jaylen Davis
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Jaylen

Another week of CEO has passed, and we have now entered the month of April. This month, we have a full calendar of things to do before the trade show at the end of the month. We have an elevator pitch that we just started to work on. There is a competition to see who has the best pitch. After that we have our trade show at the end of April. I am excited and nervous for this event. I do not know how I will do, but it will be a fun and informative experience. It will help set me up in the future for my career in business. On Monday we went to Lindenwood Belleville, and saw the room in which our trade show will be held. They talked about the importance of public speaking and live broadcasting. I personally need to improve my public speaking. I am okay at it, but it is extremely important in life. I need to feel more comfortable when speaking, and connect with the crowd. I should maintain more eye contact. In live interviews, the interviewer throws difficult questions to get a response that is good enough for a news story. They want to spin something minor into something major. Once you say something, you cannot take it back. It is very important to think before you speak.

Sips n Splatters is an extremely interesting business. I have never heard of it before this class. I really like how they provide a comfortable environment. I like how the business started in his apartment with a few friends. I really enjoyed his method of collecting money in a shoe box, and keeping it underneath his bed as savings. I was absolutely amazed that they money totaled up to ten thousand dollars. When I get older, I would really like to go and paint for a few hours at a party. It is something that I want to experience at some point in my life. I think it is a great way to relieve stress, meet new people, and talk to your friends. The owners showed extreme passion and dedication to their business even when times were hard. They were at the business all day every day to oversee all operations, and everything that happened at the store. It was exciting to see this business blossom from an idea in an apartment to a very good business that has expanded to three locations around the area.

Stephen Waltrip
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Stephen

The art of communication, why is it essential? How does it affect our lives? The business world?  Always taking communication for granted, I have never realized how it important it was and the skills that can come with it. After meeting with Dr. Barger from Lindenwood university, he stressed how essential to get out of your comfort zone and TALK! While we spoke with us about the importance of answering questions, I couldn't help but think about how this affects my personal life. Lately I have taken on a new role and competing in Entrepreneurship events. Ironically my weakness is public speaking. I found myself thinking about how I can use the principles he spoke on my own way.

Later on in our eventful week, we reviewed our financials with our lovely representatives from US bank. Having spoken with Dr. Barger and meeting with them last week, I was mentally and vocally prepared to go over my business financials. I'm happy to get these experiences out of the way now so it can better prepare me for the next stage in my career. But things don't always go accordingly to plans and it was prevalent when speaking with Chris and David from Sips n Splatters.  I learned that life can get in the way of what a business can be. Naturally one starts a business from the ground up, with loans and loads of hard work. A side hustle turned their art Parties into huge events that have expanded our  to 3 locations!

Austin Thurman
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Austin

This week in our CEO class we started it out by visiting Lindenwood. While we were there we got a tour of the place that is soon to be the location of our trade show in a few weeks. Then we talked to some of the staff about enrollment at Lindenwood and basic info that is really impressive with their college. We then went down to their newsroom and faked three scenarios where one of the CEO students had to act as the CEO of Uber and spin a bad story good. It was really interesting as it gave us some media training for if the real thing happens and your company ends up in hot water.

I really enjoyed having a banker come in and look at our financials. I felt really good with it and his tips on what to edit and what I can add were extremely useful. There is so much useful knowledge I have gotten from this class and especially went it comes down to having bankers come in and help us with our business plans. It just feels really good knowing how to do all of this and much more.

On Wednesday we turned in our final business plans into Mrs. Siebers and then we did some elevator pitches. I went and really enjoyed it but two minutes felt kind of weird to me as I thought it would be shorter. I am actually really excited about doing the elevator pitch and am ready for the competition. I am a bit confused on if it is just our class competing for the money or something else.

On Thursday our class met with the owners of Sips n Splatters who are David and Chris Brandt. I always thought their idea and business was an interesting idea and I think it is pretty awesome how they started it and how they have dealt with their business taking off. I also liked their interest in digital products and how and why they are such an easy and cheap money maker.

           

Joe Beussink
Friday, March 31, 2017Learn More About Joe