Local high school student wins honorable mention for business pitch

SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School junior Hannah Ayers received an honorable mention at the Prospects 2021 High School Business Pitch Competition for her business proposal for the Seeley Swan Sandwich Shop. She won a $250 Visa gift card that she intends to put towards her college fund.

Matthew Olson, network development director for the Montana Chamber of Commerce as well as program manager for the competition, said Ayers was among the top 25 submissions out of 93 total. A total of 171 student entrepreneurs across the state of Montana entered the competition including around 41 teams and 52 solo entrepreneurs.

This is the inaugural year of the competition hosted by the Montana Chamber Foundation. Organizers raised a total of $53,000 in prizes, $36,000 of which was in cash, $15,000 was in scholarships and $2,000 was in technology prizes. Winners were announced Friday, March 12.

There were three main categories: new business idea, existing business and COVID-inspired business. New business and existing business winners received $5,000 cash prizes and the COVID-inspired business received a $1,000 cash prize. There were three runner ups in each category as well as 14 honorable mentions. In total there were 25 prizes and 44 recipients.

Ayers' business plan was for the Seeley Swan Sandwich Shop which would provide "fast, fresh, and affordable" sandwiches for recreationists on the go. As part of the competition, Ayers wrote a business summary as well as produced a two-minute pitch video. 

"The Seeley Swan Valley has always been known for its many outdoor activities, which in turn has brought in outdoor enthusiasts from all over Montana and beyond," Ayers said. "Those outdoor enthusiasts, like myself, are all here for the same reason, the love of their activity. When they arrive here, whether it's for the day or several weeks, they want to spend their entire time doing what they love, not waiting in huge lines for food or sitting down at a restaurant that wastes half their day. These custom lunches are pre-ordered through our website and can be simply picked up on your way to your activity."

According to Olson, the judges selected Ayers for her business plan, idea and the way that she was able to identify a need and subsequently articulate a solution to meet that need. She also did well on the written portion.

"By leveraging her entrepreneurial spirit, and the idea, and then leveraging what she learned through the business plan ... it was a solid submission," Olson said. "Her breakdown of the cost of goods sold and how she would do this without brick and mortar really got [the judges'] attention. She doesn't have all those overhead costs of running a store that's open when nobody's sitting in it and that resonated."

Olson recommended that Ayers join the competition after he saw her submission at the Business Professionals of America (BPA) Regional Conference in February.

Ayers said her favorite aspect of the competition was learning about entrepreneurism and what it takes to not only open a business but also run one. She also enjoyed learning about other people's business ideas and communities.

"The most valuable experience I gained from this was also learning how to open your business and all the behind the scene [aspects] it takes to run one," she said.

The biggest challenge she faced was learning how to make cash flow and projected income statements without prior knowledge. In the future, she would also like to improve her video pitch by spending more time on it since she learned about the competition close to the submission deadline.

Ayers said she is grateful to Michele Holmes, SSHS business teacher and BPA advisor, for her guidance. She was also very happy to have placed in the competition.

"It feels amazing," she said. "I've spent a lot of time on this project and it's nice to see my hard work pay off."