High School Senior Reflects on His Time with Spirit Box
My Journey with Spirit Box
Written by: Tyler Hunter
How I got involved with Spirit Box
My name is Tyler Hunter and I got involved with the Spirit Box at the end of the 2018-2019 school year when the seniors who were in charge of the box were about to graduate. At the time, there was only one box. This box was generating about $40 a day on a variety of different items like snacks, pencils, ear buds, and pretty much anything else you can think of. My partner, Payton Sapp, and I had little to no knowledge about the box walking into school in August. We simply knew where the money went, how to restock, and how to ensure coins were loaded correctly.
Payton and I spent about an hour a day learning new things and playing around with all of the different features the box had to offer. Before too long, we were pros. We knew exactly how to resolve any conflicts customers had and we also knew what they wanted inside the box. With a little of asking around, we quickly realized that snacks were a huge hit for our school. After changing things up a couple times, we found out exactly what works for us which led us to making anywhere from $100-$150 daily.
After being ranked in the top five schools in the nation several months in a row and heavy communication with the Spirit Box team, we were the very first team in the nation to pilot a new concept Spirit Box had called the MicroMarket. With the MicroMarket, we now have a total of three Spirit Boxes. One snack machine, one non-perishable item machine, and one refrigerated drink machine. Our goal with this MicroMarket is to generate up to $300-$400 a day in sales. With the information Spirit Box has provided me with, I hope to go into the field of business.
Being an Officer for our DECA chapter at Camdenton, I was very involved in DECA especially after my career ending concussion in basketball. That injury allowed me to focus my time on one of my true passions in life: Business.
What my experience was getting SBE Certified
It was absolutely amazing. The SBE allowed our team to look at business aspects we have not looked at before. It allowed us to grow not only as a business, but also allowed us to further our knowledge in business and apply it to the real world. On top of that, the SBE will allow our future DECA chapters to get a competitive edge over other chapters when it comes time for competition.
The process of becoming SBE Gold Certified was incredible. At first glance, it may seem very treacherous, but all of the hard work paid off. We started the process fairly early which gave us a huge advantage and allowed us to come up with creative information and spot on numbers. This process gave my team and me the opportunity to look at every aspect a business has to offer.
How the Spirit Box helped us get SBE Certified
The Spirit Box allowed us to essentially one-up everybody. When judges look at these SBE projects, they are expecting a business that is run from inside of a classroom or in the hall. With the Spirit Boxes, your project really stands out to the judges.
Spirit Box was a fantastic option for the SBE project for many reasons. First, the Spirit Box crew gave us assistance whenever we needed it. Second, the Spirit Box projects stand out to the judges and truly ‘wow’ them. Lastly, the Spirit Box allows you to track all of your numbers, including sales on every single day, and allows you to identify what is selling and what is not.
How Spirit Box prepared me for life outside of school
The Spirit Box has allowed me to put a foot in the door for future occupation opportunities. By expanding my knowledge in the field of business, I will be able to stand out in a crowd and thrive at nearly any occupation and accomplish any task I am assigned.
I have learned a little bit of everything in the field of business. The SBE encouraged me to look at every single aspect of business and allowed me to closely look at each of these aspects and how they differ between other businesses. We learned that by first mastering these aspects of our own business, the Spirit Boxes.
Why I recommend Spirit Box to other schools
My favorite part by far has been the people. Getting to talk to new people every day is my favorite thing about it. Our target market involves the entire school, so we get to talk to everybody. Spirit Box has also been more than helpful with our DECA team. They have been there if we have questions or concerns, they always know exactly how to resolve a conflict, they provide our team with ideas that are very creative, and they are very friendly and easy to work with.
I recommend this to other schools because it allows students to gain a competitive edge over other schools with their knowledge and experience of business. With this edge over other schools, this school will stand out not only at DECA or FBLA events, but also to the community.