Get the Student-Run Business Going
For the past thirteen years, I’ve had the privilege of helping launch student-run businesses — from coffee shops and cafés to full-blown pizza operations, greenhouses, bakeries, and even fine dining restaurants. And no matter the setting, one thing is always the same: the transformation in students never gets old.
This past week, I saw it firsthand as Greater Atlanta Christian School launched their Spartan Café. The excitement was electric. As soon as students stepped behind the counter to serve real customers in real time, they began to walk taller, stand straighter, and step into true leadership.
Here’s the difference: business principles in a classroom are concepts. Business principles in a café are convictions. I’ll boldly wager that the six students leading the Spartan Café learned more in their first week of operation than they would have in an entire year of concentrated business instruction.
In just a few days, I watched them problem-solve in real time (we’re out of milk, the line is too long, there’s a bottleneck), collaborate as a team (you take this station, I’ll cover that one), and design systems for success (a better schedule, a stronger training process).
And here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter what the business is, as long as students have the chance to run it. It takes trust from administrators and freedom for students, but when the right ingredients are in place, the results are profound.
Toward the end of the week, Dr. Paul Cable, the high school principal, pulled me aside and shared this about one of his students:
“The young lady taking orders today has, in the last thirty minutes, talked and interacted more than she has in the last three years at the school. Seeing her like that — so fully engaged — is worth the entire expense of this program.”
I couldn’t agree more.
If you’re ready to see this kind of transformation at your school, let’s talk about how to get a student-run business started on your campus.