Overcoming the Elements
Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship
Students Navigate Weather
and Business Challenges at Wolffest
Powering through the forces of nature and typical business challenges, students from the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the C. T. Bauer College of Business put their skills to the test this week during the annual Wolffest competition.
The competition is the capstone project for students in Bauer College's No. 1 ranked entrepreneurship program. Students spend several weeks planning, securing sponsors and promoting the event, where teams launch pop-up businesses during a three-day on-campus festival that raises money for scholarships and student activities. Students this year brought more than just food vendors to attract people to their booths, inviting vendors to sell vintage clothing, shoes, candles and more.
As with any kind of start-up business, the students faced many obstacles to overcome, including a week of rain, thunderstorms and cloudy skies. Team “Legacy” CEO Argentina Guerra was well prepared for the challenges, thanks to her education at the Wolff Center.
“We had weather problems for sure,” she said. “I was here Monday night fixing tents that blew over, making sure they were secure for Tuesday morning. For challenges like this you have to keep a good attitude and remind yourself why you are here to overcome these kinds of adversities.”
Despite the weather’s best efforts to turn people away, waves of University of Houston students and members of the community did their part to support student entrepreneurship. Each booth had a unique marketing plan for attracting customers, ranging from food samples and loudspeakers with music to megaphones and costumes.
For “Backyard Wolves” CEO Alim Maknojia, navigating the day-to-day operations is a key part of running a successful business.
“We had to figure out a lot of details while prepping and after each day,” he said. “Things like what products to sell, timing, estimating sales for backstock and how much goods will cost you. The great thing about this project is that we are making real money and getting real experience.”
Team “WolffBite” CEO Michael Talley had previous Wolffest experience serving as a volunteer for three years before becoming a team leader in his final semester of the program.
“The main thing I learned was how to delegate tasks,” he said. “We have teams working on prep for food, a team for helping vendors and a team that checks in on everyone. We are just trying to make sure we are moving in the same direction to maximize how much we make each day.”
Talley, Guerra and Maknojia are just a few of the many students participating in Wolffest that will be graduating from Bauer College this spring. Armed with this experience and other hands-on learning from the Wolff Center, they are ready to bring their knowledge to the workforce.
“Everything with Wolffest and the Wolff Center has provided me with so many learning experiences, knowledge and resources that I can tap into no matter what career I enter,” Talley added. “Especially being a CEO at Wolffest, there are so many skills I have used that I will be able to plug in to both my personal and professional life going forward.”
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