By taking RBE, I learned that starting a business can take an immense amount of time yet, is extremely rewarding. In starting college talk, we knew we wanted to form a business around public speaking and helping others. We decided on a business that allowed us to talk with high school age students on what to expect in college life; hence the business name College Talk and its mantra Real Talk.
We hit a roadblock when it came to actually getting into high schools and other groups to speak. Instead of doing nothing, we took an alternate route and gain as much credibility, feedback, and critiques that we could. We spoke with a local radio show host/ lawyer/ education advocate, professionals from the Admissions Office hear at Butler University, and directors at the Indianapolis Department of Education. Meeting with these professionals proved to be the greatest, most beneficial thing we could have done for College Talk.
After meeting with those professionals, we decided that we needed to add to our business. We decided to re-aim our business from live talks to an electronic, digital form. This is where I feel I had an influence. I assisted the team in deciding to use iTunes as the means to distribute our newly, rethought product. By discussing iTunes U, a section that focuses on education, we decided to join this with our previous plan in the end “one product, two methods of distribution”.
By having each person work on a section of the business, it allowed us to be more effective and efficient. This worked because we were able to communicate effectively; a huge asset in the business world. Our ability to communicate was generated by fantastic chemistry within our group. I would without a doubt do it all over again, with the same team.