Notre Dame students make their pitch; National Day of Prayer featured local events

This week I was asked to serve as one of four judges for the Notre Dame Regional High School Dawg Fight. The Dawg Fight is like the TV show “Shark Tank” where five venture capitalists hear from entrepreneurs with business ideas and then compete with each other when there is a business worth pursuing.

The difference between “Shark Tank” and the Dawg Fight is the four-person business panel is not investing but listening and then offering input on how to make the idea better or more feasible.

The students who pitched their business plans were part of the business law class at Notre Dame and the ideas ranged from retail to restaurants to experience-driven concepts.

Group 1 pitched a custom-cookie bakery. Customers could pick and choose the type of cookie and what toppings to add. Think Buddy’s rolled ice cream or Simply Swirled but for cookies.

Group 2’s idea was a bar and grill, but focused on college students.

Group 3 had an interesting concept around building your own bra.

None of the groups were 100% ready to start their business, and that was OK. I wouldn’t have expected it. But each one learned basic principles and were receptive to the input we provided. They left better equipped for their future endeavor.

Group 1, the custom cookie, thought its target market was college students, and they considered themselves to be in the restaurant industry. The judges said college students were not their target audience and they should consider their business an event model.

Instead of focusing on college students, focus on mothers with young children. Hosting birthday parties was a logical fit, especially if they had space that could be rented. We also suggested this group had an opportunity to take the idea beyond a brick and mortar store by producing a “cookie in a box” product that could be purchased online and shipped to moms hosting their own kid parties.

Group 2 was looking to capitalize on the college scene, especially fraternities. Their slogan was “One more drink can’t hurt.” We told the presenters the slogan wasn’t wise and when you’re dealing with alcohol — and especially when dealing with college students — one more drink could be the difference between life and death. Starting any type of restaurant or bar and grill is challenging. You have to know your market. Margins are small. What makes this bar different from the others? For the judges, there wasn’t anything to differentiate their concept from an already crowded field. Our message: Consider what your competitive advantage is and build your concept around it. Is your food lineup different or significantly better than your competitors? Is the dining experience special in some way? What is your value proposition?

Group 3 was the custom bra concept. This group had something. Clearly there is a market for better fitting garments, and the ability to customize the product is good. The company was designed as a brick-and-mortar business with an online component, but most products would have to be ordered and shipped unless a customer was purchasing an interchangeable part at the store. One of the big challenges will be the technology around getting the right fit for customers. When you have the technology, the nature of the business would heighten the concern for data safety. If they could figure out the technology, it’s possible this could be an online-only business, therefore saving a significant amount of money on the retail location.

The judges selected Group 1, the custom-cookie company, based on the viability and how quickly they could go to market.

Hats off to Notre Dame for offering this class. The students are getting real-world experience, dealing with the same questions and challenges entrepreneurs deal with every day in the market.

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On Thursday, a small group met at the Broadway Federal for a noon prayer event held in honor of the National Day of Prayer. Representatives from the community prayed for families, students, educators, businesses, media, veterans and others. Special thanks to Bob and Bonnie Nations who organized the noon event.

An evening prayer service was held Thursday at Lynwood Baptist Church with three large churches — Lynwood, Cape First and LaCroix United Methodist Church — coming together for a night of worship and prayer.

There’s plenty to pray about, and I’m grateful to live in a community that appreciates the power of prayer and turns to Almighty God for discernment.

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.