More great ideas from students!

I’ve now visited 6 colleges around the country and met over 120 students to talk to them about the Money for Life Challenge.

I’ve heard several excellent pitches with some innovative project ideas.  These included running a stall in the student and reception areas of a college selling products to capture the Valentine’s ‘trade’ in the third week of February.

The students had found a source of wooden red roses where, if they bought in bulk, could buy them at 6p each.  In their market research, they discovered that customers would buy them for £2 each.  A profit margin Alan Sugar or Richard Branson would give their right arms for!  They’ve also got some great ideas for running a raffle in parallel with their Valentine’s products.  I was able to show them how they could cross sell additional products to maximise their profits to the same customer groups.

Another interesting idea I came across was a student team producing an interactive spreadsheet to help fellow students develop their skills of keeping, and using a personal budget.  I promised to keep the details of their project idea under covers, but they had produced some easy to use and clever graphics that were generated from the spreadsheet.  Their ‘product’ could be a real money spinner and make a significant impact into the untapped world of personal budgeting for students.

Remember, you heard about it here first folks if you see it pitched on Dragons Den in a year’s time!

David Fagan, National Skills Academy Financial Services