Entrepreneur Club Car Wash

On Saturday, July 23rd, Fort Collins Montessori School’s Entrepreneur Club held a car wash.  Entrepreneur Club is an extracurricular activity led by an FCMS parent, Amber Hinds.  New to Fort Collins Montessori for the 2015-2016 school year, the club provided an opportunity for students in kindergarten and above to learn about business ownership and to work together to create their own business which benefits the school.

In the fall, Entrepreneur Club created a product-based business.  The students designed and had greeting cards printed to sell.  In the spring, they planned a service based business – a car wash – but April weather wasn’t cooperative and it had to be postponed.  Entrepreneur club had written a full business plan, with everything from competitor analysis to a budget to marketing strategy – and even took a field trip to a local hardware store to buy supplies, so everyone was disappointed when the planned date turned our rainy and cold.

Last weekend, children and families came together to execute the car wash that Entrepreneur Club had planned, and it turned out to be more than worth the wait.  The weather was perfect for getting fun and soapy, while earning money for the school.

During planning stage, the children decided to charge $10.00 per car.  Their goal was to wash 12 cars for total revenue of $120.

Every car wash requires some necessities like buckets, water, soap, sponges and towels.  The children determined that they could avoid labor costs by doing the work themselves, and that they could borrow many of the supplies from their families or the school, which would help keep expenses down.  They did spend Entrepreneur Club funds on car soap and balloons to help draw attention along Taft Hill Road in addition to the signs that they took turns holding.

We had a great turn out for the event with everyone from the littlest members of the Fort Collins Montessori School family, 3 year olds included, to parents helping out with the big day.

Besides washing cars, there was even a bike or two that got all soaped up!

Everyone worked hard, but Entrepreneur Club especially owes a big thanks to all the moms and dads who brought their kids to the event, danced with signs in the hot sun, and did quality control on the washing and drying.

Overall, the Entrepreneur Club car wash was a great success!  Everyone worked hard, but there was plenty of fun in the sun, raising money for the school.  After the car wash ended, the kids gathered together to count their earnings: $220 dollars over 3 hours from washing a total of 22 cars!

Good job, Entrepreneur Club, and we look forward to seeing what other amazing things your do next fall – now take a much earned break and enjoy the rest of your summer!

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