Last month, Hashtagitude had the honor of hosting four aspiring entrepreneurs through the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development (OED) Program, Operation Perfect Beginnings. During the two weeks with our team, the four high school students gained valuable insights into how to run an effective business, the in’s and out’s of how to pitch a business to gain funding, and how to serve clients with the highest level of customer service. Don’t just take my word for it–here’s what each of the students had to say about their time with us:
Katharine C.
My internship with Hashtagitude has helped me grow and learn more. Before the internship, I didn’t know exactly how to go about starting my own business and what it takes to be successful. I have learned about how to create a business plan, manage a budget, improve my presentation skills, and much more. I feel better prepared for my entrepreneurial journey and have trust that when the time comes, I can be successful.
Working as part of the Hashtagitude team has been a fun and wonderful learning experience. I have learned a lot about digital marketing and how Hashagitude works. I also had the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs through my time here [at Modworks, where Hashtagitude coworks out of], and it was great getting their opinions/knowledge on entrepreneurship.
Kevin A.
From my experience at Hashtagitude the most important thing I’ve learned is that in order to start your own a business, you have to have an official business plan. There are many resources out there with business plan templates/outlines that can help you plan out what you require for your company. I got the chance to start on my business plan and I recommend this to anyone to start right now.
Learning this helps me because with a business plan, it can bring me to a better ease when starting my own company. Business plans help you be organized and ready beforehand and it is always good to start early so it is a good component to have. From what I’ve learned, my business plan will be very handy when I am ready to start my own business.
Working with Hashtagitude has been very influential because it gave me the opportunity to work in a real office. Helene was a great boss/host and was very fair and influential. She taught us a lot and I had a great time being an intern at Hashtagitude. I recommend everyone to try to become an intern at this digital marketing business in the future!
Eric S.
Before I began my internship with Hashtagitude, I thought marketing was mainly about buying and selling, but I have learned through my experience that it is so much more complex. I also learned that ‘failure’ in starting a business should be planned for, and that as long as I learn from these lessons, I will succeed a lot better the next time around.
Creating a comprehensive strategy around starting a business will help me be better prepared in the future for any obstacles I may come across. I am thankful for the opportunity I had with Hashtagitude and Operation Perfect Beginnings.
Karley F.
Over the past week and a half with Hashtagitude, I have learned more than I expected I could from this experience. Much of the time was spent on conversing about entrepreneurship, which is something that I am greatly interested in. Interning here has given me the insight I needed in order to know some of the requirements I need in order to start my own small business. This taught me the importance of marketing, and being able to let potential customers know about my business.
I was surprised at how much focus and hard work it took in order to even consider starting a business. Apparently a business plan is highly recommended, and that’s something I would probably never have considered. My previous experience of being a part of the workforce is almost nonexistent. Because of that, working at Hashtagitude has been an extremely valued adventure that I could not thank them enough for, including the Operation Perfect Beginnings “crew” who helped us get to this point in the first place. Thank you!
Thank You to Operation Perfect Beginnings
We enjoyed having these bright individuals with our team during the two weeks and we wish you the best of luck with your high school careers!
Learn more about Operation Perfect Beginnings and other youth programs through the OED’s website.
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