Glacier High School students have built their own businesses on a foundation of the basics, producing products that will be available for sale during the downtown Holiday Stroll in Kalispell.  

The products they created as the capstone project for Cheré Anderson’s Business Essentials class will be available for sale Dec. 5 at First Interstate Bank, 2 Main St. in Kalispell.  

The business concepts and products, which were vetted through a Shark Tank-style critique, offer a variety of handmade gifts and stocking stuffers such as handmade dog treats, decadent cookies, welded art, felt flowers, Montana-themed stickers, customized mugs, bath bombs, candles and a photo booth with Santa.  

Through the class project, students put to work on what introductory concepts they learned in the areas of marketing, finance, production, management, retailing, wholesaling, advertising, risk, pricing and personnel.  

“Through this project, by the time they’re done, they’re going to have ... the ability to be able to start a business and actually sell,” Anderson said.   

Selling the products will be the final test of their business acumen.  

During a Nov. 18 interview at Glacier, Anderson invited some of "the best of the best" in the class to share about how they came up with their business and product ideas.   

Freshman Knox Darrow of Bandana Barkery pitched the idea of making small batch dog treats, something he had done for a school Christmas market in sixth grade.  

“We’re making homemade, healthy dog treats. We only use five ingredients,” Darrow said. “Whole wheat flour, peanut butter, eggs, water and honey.”  

What sets the treats apart from others is their signature branding, which includes a bandana wrapped around doggie bag-style packaging. 

When cookies are the center of business, as in Crummy Cookies' case, the group members knew they had to take it to the next level in flavor, presentation and marketing.   

“We did a lot of taste testing,” freshman Jamie Murphy said.  

“That was one of the requirements for the class. They did two rounds of testing,” Anderson added, whether it was a baked good or a material good.  

“For my groups that are making food, they are taking a course to be certified in safe food handling,” she noted.    

Don’t think of an average bake sale cookie. Crummy Cookies are more cake-like and come in festive flavors, according to freshman Caitryn Vander Vloedt. 

The menu includes a pumpkin cookie with buttercream frosting and a dusting of pumpkin spice, frosted brownies sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy canes, a sandwich-style cookie with an Oreo flavor, and, of course, the classic chocolate chip cookie with a gluten-free option.  

To help determine what would sell, Crummy Cookie group members took flavor recommendations while surveying consumers and potential customers, asking questions such as:  

“How likely would you be to buy our product, or if you buy our product often?  Vander Vloedt said.  

“Or like the price range they think you should sell it at," freshman Hadley Steen of Crummy Cookies said.   

Steen said one of the challenges of the project was squeezing in time after school — between sports, homework and jobs — to conduct the surveys and make the product.   

Junior Maggie Mitton finds the finance aspect of business most enjoyable, which made being a sole proprietor of her business, Daisies Spascentials, manageable.  

The products she is making are lavender, vanilla and peppermint-scented bath bombs.  

“I went to Hobby Lobby so much and got every single price I needed and then would record it and put it into a spreadsheet and then just kept track of everything I was [buying] to calculate how much I would sell it for,” Mitton said.  

Anderson said that a component of the class is learning how to calculate “cost of goods sold,” which refers to the direct costs of manufacturing a product/service being sold by a business, such as materials and labor.  

“So they had to figure out exactly what the cost was to make their items, and they had to break it down per item. And then that’s what their base point was to determine what their selling price at the market was going to be,” Anderson said.  

Anderson said she told the students that the selling price should be “double what their cost of goods sold is.”   

“And that gives you a profit,” Anderson said, which the students get to keep.  

The students are wholly financing their businesses, she noted.  

“Each individual person is putting forth the financial obligation," she said.   

While these three groups didn’t take out loans to start their businesses, students did have the option through the nonprofit Empowered program sponsored by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, Anderson said.  

To determine how much product to make, Anderson advised them to err on the side of caution.  

“I told them I’d rather they sell out than have a whole bunch leftover,” she said.  

Some groups are still making last-minute changes to refine costs.  

When the class started in August, Dec. 5 seemed far away, the students agreed.  

“Now, we’re down to less than three weeks and now it’s crunch time, isn’t it?” she said to a chorus of, “Yeahs.”  

Darrow said he would like to continue building Bandana Barkery or eventually open his own company. He became interested in business through his parents' encouragement and by watching shows like "Shark Tank." 

“How people, ordinary people, can create big businesses out of nearly nothing,” Darrow said. 

"They [will] have the capability, you know, from start to finish, understanding what is involved in creating a business, even a small business," Anderson added.  

"When they’re done with the market day, I’m hoping that, [with] a lot of my students, it’ll help them in the future on whether it’s something that they want to do beyond high school,” she said.    

IF YOU GO

What: Glacier High School Business Essentials shops at the downtown Kalispell Holiday Stroll.

When: From 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5.

Where: First Interstate Bank, 2 Main St., Kalispell.

Featured shops and gifts for sale: 

BeJeweled bracelets — Keychains and necklaces 

406 Stickers — Montana-themed waterproof stickers 

BCD Designs — Welded art designs 

Flowers & Wick — Handmade felt flowers & candles 

The Most Wonderful Photoshoot — Digital and Polaroid picture booth. Santa will be there!

Crumbs & Cream — Holiday treats and frozen hot chocolate 

Sip & Smile — Customized mugs with hot cocoa bombs 

Stash & Dash — Inexpensive stocking stuffers and handmade ornaments 

Howlin Boards — Wood cutting boards

Comfy as Heck — Fleece blankets and dog beds 

Santa's Scent Shop — Christmas candles 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].