Steve Craig, one of the partners in the entrepreneurship program with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 Craig School of Business, said that something unexpected has come out of the four-year-old program that now has nine owners of RMCF stores in seven states. 鈥淥ne of the intangibles that we didn鈥檛 calculate was the web of support. The graduates are clearly a resource we didn鈥檛 think about,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are a very closeknit group.鈥�
Leslie Oberg 鈥�11, operated the store in Williamsburg, Iowa for a year before she bought the RMCF and Aspen Leaf Yogurt stores in St. Joseph that had opened in December 2011. They had been owned by RMCF corporate office.
Leslie said students who enroll in 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 applied entrepreneurship classes will now work in her store during the semester. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l learn the entire business 鈥� customer service, ordering, scheduling, keeping up on the books, and hiring and firing.鈥� Three of the four finalists in the 2011 class, which Leslie was in, spent two weeks at stores in Mississippi, Colorado and California staying with the store owners, so it鈥檚 a lot easier with a local store and an owner willing to work with the students.
鈥淵ou can learn the theory in the classroom, but you don鈥檛 know something before you do it. This will make it so much easier on them (the new store owners) in their own store from day one,鈥� Leslie said.
Allison Humphrey 鈥�11, was awarded a store in Omaha, Neb. with the understanding that she and her business partner, Matt Canaday, would open a new store in Lehi, Utah in a shopping center owned by Steve the following year.
Brittany Malone 鈥�12, was awarded Allison鈥檚 Omaha store in July 2012. Since Allison鈥檚 store would not be ready until November, she and Matt spent the interim traveling to stores and helping out their fellow alumni owners.
Allison said in turn, her fellow store owners have also been a great resource for her and Matt. In fact, Triston Jones 鈥�12, was also awarded an Omaha store, and Allison said she and Triston worked very closely together, often combining their supply orders.
Brady Ellis 鈥�10, owner of the Vicksburg store, went over his books with Allison so she could compare them to the way she was operating her books. The Vicksburg store offers products that Allison will carry in her store in Utah, so Brady gave her a lot of advice about that, too. Brady and his fianc茅, TyAnn Williamson 鈥�10, were also able to take some time off to plan their wedding while Allison and Matt managed the store.
Additionally, several alumni store owners offered to travel to Utah and help Allison and Matt open their new store, she said.
鈥淲e are a very closeknit group of franchisees,鈥� said Seth Lyons 鈥�08, owner of an RMCF in Silverthorne, Colo., 鈥渂ecause we all have a common denominator: 大象传媒 Western.鈥�
鈥淲e all learn from each other鈥檚 experience,鈥� Leslie said. 鈥淔or any question we have, someone鈥檚 already been through it.鈥�