The Razor’s Edge Shark Cage Scholars program provides resources for its third-year students to open an on-campus business, and this year NSU is welcoming 14 new ventures to campus brining the total of on campus student-run businesses to 19. All of the businesses operate out of the Shark Cage, which functions as a multi-purpose room in front of Mako Hall.
Before students are able to open their business, they must first go through a Shark funding pitch, which requires their business idea to be presented to team of experts consisting of entrepreneurs, faculty and administration to evaluate the pitch. This year, for the first time, students in the Huizinga Business Innovation Academy are also eligible to present a pitch. Students who qualify after the pitch are eligible to receive up to a $5,000 micro loan to start their new venture.
One of the goals of the program is to find a business idea that students on NSU’s campus would personally enjoy. As such, of the 19 businesses, six are related to food such as acai bowls from Moonlight Acai or burgers from Bittner’s Burgers, and four are related to drinks such as Cuban coffee from El Tiburon Latino Café or milkshakes from the Shark Shak. Four businesses are centered around clothing ranging from homemade items like Crochet Swim to thrifted items from Get Thrifty. Some of the new businesses cover other areas of commercial interest such as Natur Ensa which provides creams and body scrubs among other products.
Cheryl Babcock, director of Razors Edge Shark Cage Scholars program, noted her excitement for this academic year.
“We have high hopes that this year will be a great year for all of the student-run businesses. It has just been so great for me this last week as I walked around campus to see so many students. The campus seems vibrant again. Last year it was really hard of the student-run businesses because there just wasn’t a lot of people on campus,” said Babcock
Babcock also mentioned that the program has boosted its advertising and marketing efforts by ordering sidewalk signs for areas around campus and open signs so students can easily identify the Shark Cage room.
“The goal has always been to engage the campus community and show them that these students have that entrepreneurial experience and that were trying to train students how to run business appropriately,” said Babcock.
Aly Torres, senior marketing major in the Razor’s Edge Shark Cage program, is the sole entrepreneur behind Moonlight Acai and was able to share her experience with running an on campus business.
“Personally I have been having a lot of fun with it. There is a lot of logistics that go into opening your own business on campus. It has been a little tough but honestly, I have built so many relationships already with the students on campus. I really love that I have this opportunity and its really not something that you see other schools do,” said Torres.
A few of the Shark Cage business have already had their soft openings, but the grand openings for many of the business begin the week of Sept. 7. Students can find a full schedule of all the Shark Cage businesses on signs outside of Mako Hall and in the University Center, or on social media at their respective accounts or @resharkcage.
