By Emily Clark ′15
You know that “million dollar idea” you have? The one you started tossing around with your roommates in your dorm room, the one that you’ve told your friends and classmates about, the one that stops you in your tracks every few days, as you think, “Man, this could actually work!” Rhodes College’s Entrepreneurship Club wants to hear that idea.
According to president of the club, Shivam Patel, “This year we hope to grow the club’s membership and impact on campus. We want the E.club to be a source of inspiration for innovative thinking as well as a resource for student’s undertaking of entrepreneurial endeavors. We also aim to serve as a hub for students to connect with other students who have similar entrepreneurial aspirations.”
With the motto “inspire.innovate.improve,” the club is open to all Rhodes students with an interest in business or entrepreneurism, regardless of grade or major. The club began last year, when Professor Stevens Samaras approached Shivam and a few other business students—Christine Lee ’14, Demtiri Jerow ’14, Stanton Brown ’14, and Nathaniel Plemons ’17—to see if they would be interested in forming a club. They were soon backed financially by Rhodes alum Eric Matthews, who runs a Memphis-based start-up incubator called Start Co. Joe Barlia ’14, who was interning at Start Co. when the club was founded, quickly became part of the team, and Barlia and Patel spearheaded most of the club’s events last year. Bud Richey joined the team as Rhodes faculty sponsor.
The club’s largest event in their first year was the Business Plan Competition. Twelve student groups on campus entered the competition by submitting a business proposal to the club. Six proposals made it to the next round, where members of the business faculty and Start Co. assessed their proposals. The top three teams all received large monetary awards. This year the club hopes to expand the event to more students, with an even bigger award. In addition to the monetary prize, Rhodes alums will also be in attendance to hear the business pitches, and to possibly invest in student ideas at the end of the competition. Besides potential monetary sponsorship, these alumni can provide advice, insight, and networking opportunities for Rhodes students passionate about pursuing a business plan. Additionally, E.club hopes this year’s event will have even more faculty in the audience, for support as well as guidance. Information and planning for the competition will begin in the next few weeks, and proposals will be due at the beginning of April. The competition will take place on April 17th, and interested students can contact rhodeseclub@gmail.com at any time during the year with questions or concerns.
Shivam says that, through the process of creating this club, he has learned there are many students on Rhodes′ campus “that have ideas, but no place to act on those ideas.” Unlike any other organization on campus, E.club hopes to change that, not just for business majors, but for everyone. Says Shivam, “Every student on Rhodes’ campus can be involved with E.club. Learning the process of starting a business is not limited to any one academic discipline. We want the club to be truly interdisciplinary and team-oriented because these are key elements for the successful business creation.”
This year, meetings will feature guest speakers, entrepreneurship education from Start Co., and group discussion. But more importantly, meetings will serve as a time and place for Rhodes students to collaborate and think creatively about their own business plans. “We want to be a part of the fast growing entrepreneurial fever that is sweeping Memphis,” Shivam explains. For Rhodes students, E.club is the way to start.