Creative business ventures on display at Innovate Tournament
Challenged to get creative and think outside the box, students in Medicine Hat College’s (MHC) School of Business & Continuing Studies tackled their first assignment of the year: the Innovate Tournament.
Divided into eighteen teams, each were given a single mystery item, which they used to create a unique product. They then branded their product and promoted their venture to judges.
This year, the mystery item was honey, which was collected in a research project through MHC’s Centre for Innovation, in which bee hives are being successfully redesigned to help bees produce more honey during the season.
Judges were given the chance to review each product and the top three teams were announced.
Business Administration – Management student, Rajveer Kaur, and Service Dog & Canine Studies Management student, Mackenzie Walters, were part of the winning team for the assignment, presenting their Honey & Thyme Healing balm, a natural replacement for topical antibiotics.
“All of [the ingredients we used] are naturally antibacterial and anti-microbial, and then we used olive oil to act as an emollient so that everything mixed well and it leaves your skin very soft,” says Walters, who researched the use of honey and tea tree oil to ensure they used skin-safe quantities in their product.
The student adds that the competition provided an opportunity to learn how to effectively advertise products, ensuring clear communication in their final pitch.
For Kaur, she appreciated the opportunity to develop career-ready skills.
“For my personality, I am a leader and I want to start a new business in the future,” says Kaur. “It was really helpful for me to learn how to work with a team.”
Service Dog & Canine Studies Management student, Brianna Meyer, was on the competition’s second-place team, which was praised for their natural candy business, Bee Natural Candies.
“It was fresh, unpasteurized honey, so it had all the properties and the benefits of honey,” says Meyer, who created fall-inspired candies with apple cider and pumpkin spice. “It was kind of fun because creativity was allowed and you didn't really need to stay in too much of a box.”
Leading with value was important to Meyer’s team as they created their product pitch, ensuring that they understood the benefits of honey and communicated the value of their final product.
The tournament is an annual student competition in the course, MGMT 270 – The Entrepreneurial Experience, in which students take part in hands-on activities and competitions to help them develop an understanding of what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
For more information about business programs at MHC, visit www.mhc.ab.ca/school-of-business.
interested in a career in business? check out