Starting your own business is something that seems daunting and stressful. Despite that, students here at River Dell have found success in their entrepreneurial endeavors.
In September 2023, Weronika Jastrzebska, a sophomore, her sister Hanna, a senior, and their best friend Kaitlyn Larkin, also a sophomore, launched their Etsy shop, “Sunny Crochet Store,” driven by their entrepreneurial aspirations and shared love for crochet.
Their relationship as co-founders is strong and they have great communication, along with a work environment that is collaborative and fun. Hanna and Kaitlyn focus on creating beautiful crochet pieces while Weronika manages their social media and sales.
Although they’ve had some success, they all acknowledged that their business has room to grow. All three have busy schedules filled with extracurriculars. Weronika shared, “We find it challenging to attract more customers and promote our products to potential customers.”
It’s this desire for growth why the three value customer feedback so greatly. “Any customer feedback we’ve received has helped us improve our offerings and fulfill our customer’s needs,” said Hanna.
Kaitlyn shared, “We’ve had great success with our crocheted cows, and all our customers have rated us 5 stars on Etsy, which we’re thrilled about.”
The girls admitted maintaining the business can be pricey due to yarn, shipping, and packaging costs. Despite these hurdles the girls continue to love crocheting and the beautiful business they’ve built from that love.
Weronika wants to share to other potential RD entrepreneurs that, “persistence is key and the effort you put in will eventually pay off.”
Senior Dina Plotkin is another student entrepreneur who started her business in 2024. She started her origami business, “DinaFolds,” because business management and self-campaigning give her a great sense of pride. She runs her business without any external help and/or collaboration. She thinks she could improve her business by learning how to package more items.
Dina then explained her product type, “Right now I sell origami desk plants on my Etsy store because I have perfectly shaped containers that help to preserve them through the shipping process. It’s really hard to find the right shaped packaging for a job like this.” Presently, Dina is considering new packaging options that will allow her to expand her product line in the future.
Each plant also takes about $3.17 to make, including packaging materials for shipping. Etsy also takes about 15% of her sales per order, so her profit margin is around 48%.
Plotkin was happy to share that all her customers were satisfied and happy with her. “I’ve had nothing but 5-star reviews on my Etsy shop.” Dina’s business is special because she packages each plant very securely and tests for wiggle rooms by shaking the box upside down. Dina believes every plant has arrived intact so far. One customer in particular left 3 five-star reviews at once, which honestly made her a bit uneasy because she was scared people would think she paid for bots.
Dina’s products are high-quality and sold at a lower price than her competitors’. Dina thinks, “Other Etsy shop owners tend to sell products at pretty high prices, probably to honor their artistic skills and such. I completely understand that, I just don’t mind making less of a profit if it means driving in more customers.”
She’s the only business on the market selling this exact origami model. The most similar item to Dina’s on Etsy is a more elaborate plant in a case being sold at $37.
Her one bit of advice for new student entrepreneurs is to probably wait until you turn 18 to open their business because you can’t change the SSN your business is under, as she discovered too late.
Mr. Pavone, a business teacher here at River Dell, was happy to comment on student business owners. He thinks, “It is awesome that we have young people with entrepreneurial spirit here at River Dell. I have spoken with students who have graduated from River Dell in recent years who have started up their own businesses. One graduate started a landscaping business. Another graduate formed a tech consultancy business. Another had started a business selling fresh baked goods. I am confident that what they learned in courses such as Business Management, Marketing or Economics have helped them begin their path to success.”
