A Des Moines entrepreneur has a better way to achieve flat and level concrete, and a group of University of Iowa students is helping get the word out.
The students are participating in the Entrepreneurial Management Institute in UI’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, a class that gives students the opportunity to help real Iowa businesses overcome real business challenges. Phil Jordan, the instructor, says the students act as consultants, meeting with the business owners and researching their client’s market, their product and their competitors. They present a report at the end of the semester with their suggestions for the client.
Jordan says the services are provided by teams of three to five UI undergraduate students who work under a faculty advisor with business experience. The program not only helps Iowa businesses grow, it also provides real-life business experience for the students and helps them develop their careers.
“The curriculum is designed for maximum performance for the client, and throughout the semester, teams provide clients with weekly progress reports and appraisals and will then complete a full report of the objectives, findings and recommendations,” says Jordan.
He says 25 students are working with ten Iowa businesses this fall, and one of them is MAKOEnterprises, a Des Moines company that sells patented systems that help contractors produce concrete slabs that are flatter and more level, in less time. The original system was developed by Keri Storjohann’s uncle in 1991, and she completely redesigned the tools to launch the second generation of products in 2012. Storjohann has two patents on the new products and was awarded Most Innovative Product at the 2013 World of Concrete expo.
MAKO is adding a two new products this fall and Storjohann was looking for help with new market identification and social marketing for both products.
The student team—nontraditional students Dana Dzick of Des Moines and Dave Dvorsky of Iowa City, who take the class through the online Bachelors of Applied Studies program; and engineering major Douglas Kerr—started working with Storjohann in mid-October. They’re developing a marketing plan to better find new customers for MAKO’s existing product and roll out the new product in the spring, with the students focusing on a social media strategy.
Jordan holds class with the teams every Monday night via the university’s online distance education system, and then the students meet in their own chat rooms on the system or via Skype when needed, or to meet with Storjohann.
The students are currently researching MAKO’s industry and its competition.
“There’s a lot of competition, and it’s a niche product within a niche, so it’s in a complicated position,” says Dvorsky.
Dzick says they’ve also found many businesses with variations on the name “mako,” most of them using a shark as a logo, as Storjohann’s does.
“Our biggest challenge will be to differentiate her company from companies that have the same name, many of which aren’t even in the same industry,” she says.
An extra learning advantage for the students is that before she started MAKO Enterprises, Storjohann owned a creative marketing company and is as much a teacher as a client.
“If we have any questions, she can give us advice based on her own experience,” says Dzick. And for her part, Storjohann is pleased with what she’s seen from the students.
“I’ve been a marketing consultant for 28 years and I’ve been impressed with their work,” says Storjohann. “They’re asking the right questions and looking in the right places.”
The group will present its final proposal to Storjohann in mid-December.