SheerBliss

Here is a daily dose of SheerBliss.... ice cream that is. Here, you will find a link to the business section of the Sun-Sentinel provided by http://www.pressdisplay.com/. The story is about three entrepreneurs who found themselves sitting at a table together at a Bar Mitvah. Two weeks later, as fate would have it, they sat together again at another Bar Mitvah. The three felt it was more than chance that they met again and quickly became friends.

After these men decided that ice cream would be their "meal ticket," they sat down at the drawing table and hashed out their business plans to break into the dessert industry. They also hired a company to perform focus groups (focus groups are when groups of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement) and less than six month later in 2005.... they were selling ice cream in places like Sam's Club and Whole Foods. Almost three years later, the trio grew $2 million in investment capital into $10 million in sales... and growing.

Some of the barriers the company faced:

Nestle and Unilever has dominated the industry for years
There is only so much room on the store shelves and stores are reluctant to add new product
Statistics say that 90 percent of new companies fail (doubt)

The company's strength areas:

ice cream accounts for 88 percent of the total frozen dessert market
they had capital and a strong partnership
they chose a few flavors that would attract a wide audience
they made the ice cream with pomegranate which is a very hot ingredient right now
they made the ice cream with no trans fat or egg product (allergens)
they also made the ice cream kosher to appeal to the jewish community (very smart)

Branding:

the package design is unique... in a can.. with a very fancy label
the name they chose speaks volumes about the desired effect of the product... SheerBliss
the packaging has a function... to eliminate freezer burn and "gummy" ice cream
they chose Kim Cattrall, Sensual Samantha from Sex in the City, as the company spokesperson (basically riding on the wave of this show's growing popularity)

This company would be an excellent choice for a speaker and/or a visit to Hallandale Beach Blvd.

Senator Jeremy Ring Visits the Entrepreneur Club

In early February, three Keiser University students were selected by the Office of the Chancellor to visit with two of our Florida State Senators, Sen. Jeremy Ring in Margate and Steve Oelrich in Tallahassee. These students were selected to speak on behalf of all Florida students who receive the ABLE Grant and to negotiate a more equitable distribution of available grant funding in the state of Florida. One of those students was Jason Shockey, Founder and CEO of the Entrepreneur Club.

During the visit with Senator Ring, Jason Shockey invited the Senator to be a guest speaker at one of the Entrepreneur Club meetings. As an Entrepreneur, Senator Ring was one of the pioneers of Yahoo!, launching a national sales force from his New York City apartment. The Senator is also one of the principal partners in Collegiate Sports Properties, a company that controls the rights to all archived collegiate sporting events in the country.

On Friday March 21st, Senator Ring visited Keiser University and delivered a speech to the Board of Executives of the Entrepreneur Club: Jason Shockey, CEO; Dicardo Hamilton, President; O’Shane Broady, Vice President; Christian Robinson, VP of Finance; and Keel Russell, SGA President and VP of Entrepreneur Club Development. Bryan Ceglarek, Future Entrepreneur, and Elina Zaychik, Valedictorian, were also in attendance.

Senator Ring has a wealth of experience in the realities of being an Entrepreneur. However, Yahoo!, he admits, did not make him a better Entrepreneur. It only made him think he was smarter than he really was. His real lesson as an Entrepreneur came from his experience with Convizion, his digital technology company.

In no uncertain terms, the Senator admits to Convizion being a failure. It was during a time when the internet bubble had exploded and he had millions in investor money at stake. It was only by being open to new opportunities that he and his partners were able to create a success out of their apparent loss.

The lesson was never give up. Stay open minded and be prepared to fail, as many businesses do. Also, success is not, never failing. Success is being willing to fail and being able to persevere long enough that you can turn any situation into an opportunity for success.

The Entrepreneur Club meets every Thursday at 1:15pm in the 2nd Floor Student Lounge. The Entrepreneur Club exists to provide innovative, entrepreneurial minds with a broader view of the business curriculum which will ultimately encourage their members to establish or expand their own businesses.