Achieving the School-Based Enterprise Certification Standards with Spirit Box (Part One)

DECA defines a School-Based Enterprise (SBE) as:

an entrepreneurial operation in a school setting that provides goods/services to meet the needs of the market. SBEs are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that integrate National Curriculum Standards in marketing, finance, hospitality or management.

SBE’s provide opportunities for students to engage in real-world business practices to apply what they learn in the classroom. DECA notes that these SBE’s can sell through internet marketing, a brick-and-mortar location or a mobile kiosk. SBE’s can also offer a variety of products and services. 

SBE certification allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your school store through common guidelines and benchmarks. It also opens additional participation opportunities beyond the doors of your school. 

Spirit Box qualifies as a mobile kiosk and is thus, eligible for the different levels of certification. In fact, 30% of all Spirit Box teams have qualified for Gold level certification in 2020. 

In this article, you’ll learn about the first five standards used to gauge certification and a summary of the activities required for each. You can find the details for each standard and submission requirements in the DECA Chapter Certification document. 

If you want a high-level view of everything needed to complete certification (including links), visit this page and or watch a video. 

Standard One: Display Your Spirit Box Financial Savvy 

GOLD LEVEL: COMPLETE ALL 

SILVER LEVEL: COMPLETE ANY 5 

BRONZE LEVEL: COMPLETE ANY 4

Financial Analysis is a key standard for certification because it demonstrates that your team understands the role of finance in business. It also shows your team understands effective and efficient practices of managing and analyzing financial information on a day-to-day basis. 

The activities you will undergo to achieve certification include:

• Explaining the importance of budgets in an SBE and student practices

• Describing how financial records are kept

• Describing the role of technology in managing the finances

• Describe the need for financial information

• Provide details of how financial decisions are made

• Explain the role of finance in business

To achieve Gold Status, your team will complete all of these activities. To achieve Silver, you will choose five to complete. And to achieve Bronze certification, you will complete any four from the list. 

You will have the opportunity to include any relevant charts, graphs or documents to help describe the financial aspects of your SBE. 

Standard Two: Show Off Your Next-Level Streamlined Operations 

GOLD LEVEL, SILVER LEVEL, BRONZE LEVEL: COMPLETE ALL

There are four required activities to achieve standard for the Operations. In these activities, you will demonstrate your team’s ability to manage the day-to-day operations, including health and safety, handling cash and more. 

The activities your team will need to complete for this standard include:

• Open/Close register terminal (this will be slightly different for a mobile kiosk than a store!)

• Follow instructions for the equipment and how it works

• Describe the health and safety regulations involved in the business

• Explain routine safety operations

To achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold status, each team will need to complete all of the outlined steps. You and your team can show that you understand the ins-and-outs of the Spirit Box as a vending machine and the technology built into it. It will also show you and your team have the knowledge needed to operate a mobile kiosk in a safe and healthy manner. 

Spirit Box is created to help simplify some of the operational challenges school stores face, including staffing, handling cash and more. This will help to streamline your process of achieving this standard. 

Standard Three: Exhibit Your Mobile-Kiosk Marketing Mastery

GOLD LEVEL, SILVER LEVEL, BRONZE LEVEL: COMPLETE ALL

This standard will show that your team is capable of gathering, organizing, managing and using data related to marketing to help your business succeed. 

The activities you will complete to fulfill this requirement include: 

• Describe the need for marketing data

• Identify data monitored for marketing decision-making

• Track trends (social, buying, advertising, etc.) 

• Analyze customer behavior

Your Spirit Box team will be unique in how you choose to advertise the business. Perhaps you incorporated social media or other elements. But you can also use the sales data built into the Spirit Box. 

To achieve Gold, Silver and Bronze certifications your team will need to complete all of the activity descriptions. 

Standard Four: Present Your Year-Round Marketing Game Plan

GOLD LEVEL, SILVER LEVEL, BRONZE LEVEL: COMPLETE ALL

Marketing planning is a key element of any SBE. You and your team will show you understand how to not only track trends and create great marketing plans, but how to use data to forecast what kind of marketing will help your business grow all year long. 

The activities your team will need to complete to achieve this standard include:

• Develop customer profiles and what affects consumer decisions

• Conduct market analysis that helped to determine product offerings

• Explain how you linked performance to financial outcomes (such as product demand)

These activities show how your team adapts to the changes in the market conditions throughout the year. Since your team can always decide what products to sell in your Spirit Box, you have the opportunity to adapt and change the business with the market. 

To achieve Gold, Silver and Bronze status, you will need to complete all of these activities. 

Standard Five: Direct Your Product & Service Efforts Like a Pro 

GOLD LEVEL: COMPLETE ALL 

SILVER LEVEL: COMPLETE ANY 4 

BRONZE LEVEL: COMPLETE ANY 3

Managing the products in your Spirit Box is key to providing a consistent and pleasant experience for customers. In this standard, you will highlight your team’s thought processes and procedures for choosing vendors, products, and more. 

The activities you can complete to achieve this standard include:

• Describing the SBE image and any changes you’ve made

• Discuss how you chose vendors and the selection process 

• Explain how you decide which merchandise assortment to sell throughout the year

• Describing how you determine stock turnover

• Discuss team responsibilities for markdowns, pricing and turnover 

To achieve Gold certification, your team will complete all of these activities. To achieve Silver, you can complete any four activities. And for Bronze certification, you can complete any three. 

What Comes Next

There are nine complete standards you must complete in order to achieve any of the certification levels. So far, we have discussed the first five. Once you complete and compile the information for these standards, you can move on to the next set. Upon completion of all standards, you will submit all of your documentation to a panel of judges who will evaluate each section. These judges will verify all of the information provided as well as determine which certification criteria your team has met. 

Spirit Box simplifies school store operations. Simple operations means streamlined certification! Learn more about Spirit Box here.