We’ve been a little quiet on social media this week, but trust me, it’s not because we haven’t had anything going on. Quite the opposite! We’ve been BUSY working in (and out) of the classroom!

Yesterday was a big day for our Silver Creek Area CEO students. They showed up dressed in their business best and ready to present their class business plan to members of our board of directors. And y’all, they did a phenomenal job!

They walked the board through a 20-slide presentation, delivered an 18-minute pitch and explained the thinking behind their decisions before opening the floor to questions. Our board members weren’t there to hand the students answers. They were there to ask the questions that would help them think through their plan more carefully, and the students rose to that challenge while staying excited about what they’re building. They challenged them to dig a little deeper, look beyond what was right in front of them and consider things they hadn’t necessarily thought about yet.

But let me back up a little, because there’s a lot that went into getting to yesterday.

Over the last two weeks, the students have gone from a room full of ideas to one business they believe they can bring to life. They brainstormed, researched, completed SWOT analyses, debated options and gradually narrowed things down until they landed on their idea.

Next they worked through the Business Model Canvas and the questions started coming. Where will we hold our event? Who is our target market? How will we market it? How do we build community support? Where will the revenue come from? How do we keep costs down? And can we actually pull this off in just a couple of months?

Once they had worked through the planning, they designed their 20-slide deck and started practicing. They practiced their presentations, recorded themselves on video and worked on anticipating questions and explaining their decisions.

But after their practice round on Wednesday, they knew it wasn’t quite where they wanted it to be. So our executive leadership team asked if they could come in early Thursday morning for one more run-through before the board arrived.

By 6:30 AM, all five members of our leadership team were at Wisper in their business best and ready to practice. By 6:45, the rest of the class had arrived in support.

That right there says a lot about this group. They knew they had more work to do, and instead of settling for good enough, they came together as a team and put in the extra effort. And when it was time to stand in front of the board at 7:30, they were ready.

And here’s what I keep coming back to. We are only in week eight of class.

Eight weeks! These students are already researching, making business decisions, working through challenges, building a plan and presenting it to a board of directors. They’re learning by doing, and they’re figuring out that building a business means thinking through a whole lot more than just having a good idea.

As their facilitator, getting to watch this happen is pretty special. Seeing them pull all of this together, support one another and confidently stand in front of the board to share something they’ve worked so hard on made me really proud of them. They have more work ahead, and there are still details to iron out, but they’re excited, determined and off to a great start.

We aren’t quite ready to share what they’ve been working on just yet, but we’re getting closer! And I have a feeling y’all are going to be interested in this one.

Stay tuned!