CASEY TRIMM – Interested in any areas of business, entrepreneurship or marketing? Take a closer look at Denison Enterprises.
Denison Enterprises was founded in 2014 by a group of students who were interested in and wanted to learn more about entrepreneurship and gaining real life business experience. Their aim is to bring student-run business ventures to campus in hopes of bettering the Denison business community.
Students were inspired to create Denison Enterprises because they saw business needs on campus and wanted to improve the current conditions that required students to travel off campus to explore their interests related to business.
From logistics to marketing, they oversee all aspects of the projects they develop. Denison Enterprises prides itself on the incorporation of all aspects of business and seeing students’ ideas come to life.
Alex Hughes ‘21, a global commerce major from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a marketing team member for DE.
“I signed up for DE at the involvement fair in August, was interviewed by HR team member Bennett Kushnick, and then got hired onto the marketing team. We are basically just in charge of marketing and promoting whatever projects we’re working on. Apart from internships, I think it is the best way to get business experience at Denison because you are actually running a company with real money. I think being involved with DE will really help me in the future when I’m looking for jobs and internships in the tech industry. Or if I go the fun way and open my own record store it will just give me a really solid base of knowledge on how to run a business.”
Past DE projects range from involvement with The Bandersnatch, The Nest, Box!T and their most recent program called Book!T.
The Snatch has been around for decades, but has had problems with efficiency and turning a profit. After several weeks of planning and discussion, Denison Enterprises was able to partner with The Snatch and worked to create a plan that would improve their long-term profitability and efficiency.
Although their collaboration with The Snatch is over now, it still holds a special place in the hearts of Denison Enterprise members and taught them many valuable lessons about business.
Another business venture occurred when Denison Enterprise members noticed that the 3rd floor of Slayter was vacant and lonely. They eventually came up with the idea of The Nest. After opening in the spring of 2015, it has quickly become a favorite student late-night spot.
“The Nest is my go to place once 9 p.m. hits. Not only is it a chill spot to get homework done, but it also employs students who make really good late night munchies. I’m thankful that Denison Enterprises followed through and made the Nest actually happen,” said Caroline Shumate ‘20, a psychology major from Charleston, West Virginia.
Recently, Denison Enterprises is most excited about their new service called Book!T. Through this program, members of DE will work closely alongside Denison professors to hopefully alleviate some of the financial stresses students have toward purchasing textbooks.
This program will involve a student-to-student textbook resale business on campus with the intention of setting reasonable prices between both sellers and buyers. A third of the profits will be donated to Denison’s Annual Fund.
To set fair prices, DE has compared their textbook prices to big name sites including Amazon and Ebay. Their calculated prices are up to 64% less than Amazon’s Marketplace and shipping costs won’t need to be paid for since the textbooks ordered will be delivered to the customer’s Slayter mailbox. The seller will additionally receive 60% of the sale price.
As of right now, textbooks that are being accepted are within these majors: economics, biology, psychology, computer science and data analytics. Consignment of textbooks will take place during finals week, most likely in the Burton D. Morgan Center.
A test run of this new program will begin this December, so students should be on the lookout for more information about accepted books and dates in the near future.
For more information, head over to denisonenterprises.com, where you can learn more about DE’s mission, projects and consultation opportunities.