Speedy Snacks Bring International Flavors On Dorm

With faculty sponsor Dr. Erin McHugh and business guidance from Beth Barksdale, director of the entrepreneurship program, its first operation, Speedy Snacks, launched in January 2022 bringing international snacks to the dorms.

“Speedy Snacks is our first project that grew from a proposal from the Global Entrepreneurism class,” noted founding $ Club president Zhaojiayi “Tina” Zhang ‘23. “First, we thought about selling international snacks in the bookstore but realized that the bookstore opened at 10:30 a.m. and closed at 5:00 p.m., which limited our sales time. Many students wanted snacks after dinner or after study hall, so really, what we were selling was ‘late night’ snacks. Moreover, although the carts weren’t out during the daytime, we also offer delivery service throughout the whole day.”

With more than 30 $ Club members as investors, the Speedy Snacks group purchased two wheeled snack carts for use in Pruden and Dabney, as well as an array of international snacks. In addition, the investors and group members organized themselves into a research team, marketing team, and sales team. Those who volunteer for the sales team are able to draw a higher portion of the profits as their return.

"We’ve had a lot of sales of items like choco pies, swiss rolls, and small packs of Pocky,” said Zhang. “Mochi and triangle cake sell well too. Soon we’ll survey the students about what they’d like to see offered in the future.”

Speedy Snacks will continue to operate in the dorm for the rest of the semester, and Zhang expects it to continue for years to come.

“If other students have other business ideas, we want to know,” Zhang said of the $ Club. “The club is focused on providing a platform for boarding school students to create their own business or help them carry out their business plan. I would like them to join us and tell us more. Then, we’ll go through the ideas at a shareholders’/investors meeting and maybe give it a try. If the ideas get approved, we’ll have a new round of investment. Of course, there’s a chance that the board will deny an idea, but it’s okay, and that’s called entrepreneurship. Even though we may not get to the success we’d hoped, and investors may lose some money, we all need to learn how to invest!”