Virtual business wins competition

After developing a business plan, showcasing their product line and selling their product at a simulated trade show, Samo’s Virtual Business team won first place for their business pitch and placed among the top ten for the Sales Category at the International Long Beach Trade Show.As part of the class, Virtual Business students worked collaboratively to not only develop the product — a fragrance line named Pheressence — but also to market the product effectively. Together they designed a logo as well as a website that assists users in choosing a product while featuring accessible links to social media like Facebook and Instagram.With the help of their teacher Teri Jones, the students entered their business plan into the Virtual Business International Long Beach Trade Show, which operates like a real-life industry show, with booths set up and employees pitching their products.In the competition, the team was responsible for setting up the booth, hanging the banners, making uniforms and providing merchandise, catalogs and business cards required to sell their product. The team then had two hours to garner more virtual sales than their peers, their total earnings amounting to more than $50,000.As a result of their win, members of the team will be competing in the 2015 Youth Business Summit in New York next month, where they will be placed on separate multinational teams, and will have two hours to formulate a 10-minute presentation about a business pitch, among 150 teams competing.“We have had an extremely strong entrepreneurship program for many years, which strives to engage students using modern technology  that channels creative instincts  and application to real life scenarios,” Jones said in an SMMUSD statement. “In addition to this exciting experience in New York, we have sent our students to international competitions in Shanghai and South Africa, where they have performed magnificently. I am extremely proud of these students.”