Have a small business idea? These Tarrant universities teach students how to develop them

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Have a small business idea? These Tarrant universities teach students how to develop them

When she began at TCU as an undergraduate, Reagan Oates knew she wanted to merge her passions for graphic design and business development. But she needed to define her brand, hone her design skills and develop the noncreative tasks needed to operate a business. A TCU program, CREATE, helped her with this process.

“CREATE helped me identify who I am, what I do, through workshops and then also (mentorship) conversations,” said Oates, a senior graphic design major minoring in entrepreneurship. 

The accelerator program is open to any TCU student seeking to learn how to hone their ideas and then compete in a pitch event at their college. The winners eventually compete for $50,000 in funding. At the University of Texas at Arlington, students compete in MavPitch, a “Shark Tank”-like competition. The universities also offer majors in entrepreneurship. 

Starting in 2025, Tarrant County College will offer continuing education noncredit courses to community members on entrepreneurship-related topics, including marketing, budgeting and finance.

For Oates, the TCU program was invaluable. She learned how to develop and define her target market, figure out what business model was for her and then determine how to adapt as the business moves along.

“It’s a fun experience, being like, ‘I’m ready to learn. I’m ready to evolve. Let’s pivot here. Let’s critique here,’” said Oates, who started Reagan Oates Design. “Being able to take that feedback in a professional manner and continue to grow from that has been so fun.”

She’s not alone in the growth. Some of the other students in the accelerator program worked on their business plans to market vintage sports apparel or develop social networking platforms for studying.

At Tarrant County College, there are courses and certificate programs to aid in starting a business. Xoriunstance Brown teaches entrepreneurship and small business management at the Northwest campus. 

“You can have an entrepreneurial mindset and work for an organization,” said Brown, who is also the program coordinator for TCC’s entrepreneurship and small business program. “It’s really that ability to be able to be resilient, to be able to be adaptable and be able to pivot.”

Brown encourages her students to build their personal brand, develop their public portfolio and network in a way that builds strong relationships, not contacts.

Jeff McGee, a professor of management at UTA, tells his students who are interested in starting a business that they should identify the market and look into the need for their services. One thing he advises is to share ideas in order to develop them.

“It really kills me that so many individuals are reluctant to do that,” McGee said. “You really need that feedback, so you can make sure that your idea is a valid idea and to take the feedback and help improve your idea.”

McGee also stresses that certain personality traits are attached to someone’s success in starting a business: passion about what they have to offer, a clear sense of their strengths and how they can supplement their weaknesses. 

But one big change that he’s noticed over the past three decades that he’s been teaching is the greater accessibility people have to start their own businesses.

“You can use technology to do some pretty cool stuff, whether it’s just content creation for YouTube videos or TikTok or consulting,” said McGee. “Entrepreneurs now can create a side hustle with fewer resources than someone my age trying to start a business 30 years ago.”

Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at [email protected].

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The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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