GORE BAY—Hayden Lloyd and Lucas Wright, students at Charles C. McLean Public School in Gore Bay, have won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Rainbow District School Board Entrepreneur Fair. As well, they took second place in the best product division for their wooden barbecue cleaners.
“We had seen on TV on the news about cases where people using (wire) barbecue brushes got sick because the bristles come off the brushes and people swallow them accidentally,” said Hayden. “We wanted to help people from getting sick and decided to make these barbecue brushes.”
Lucas noted the duo sold four of their barbecue brushes at the RDSB Entrepreneur Fair held at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School “And we have sold between 35-40 so far (in total).”
The ‘BBQ Boys’ had to put together a proposal and a business plan. “After someone is finished barbecuing they usually clean their barbecue grill with a wire brush. Over the last few years it has been discovered that the wire bristles from the brush fall out and stick to the grill,” the plan notes.
“The next time the barbecue is used there is a chance that the wire bristle can stick to the food being cooked and then ingested by someone at the barbecue. The wire bristle then can become lodged in the person’s GI system making them very sick.”
It was noted in the plan, that to combat the problem of the wire bristles, companies have now started to manufacture wooden paddles for scraping the barbecue grill. This eliminates the problem of the wire bristles coming off as there are none and provides an all natural method of cleaning the grill. As the product is completely made of wood it provides an all natural way of cleaning the grill and also once the scraper needs to be replaced it can be disposed of in a camp fire, fireplace or recycled in a landfill.
It was explained in the business plan, “Manitoulin Island has an abundance of cedar which can be used to make the barbecue scraper. It also has a large summer tourist population looking to buy things that are unique to Manitoulin Island. The term “Made on Manitoulin” is also attractive to potential consumers of our product.”
“Cedar can be purchased from local sawmills and then that cedar can be customized into barbecue scrapers using tools that our families already own.”
The barbecue scrapers are being mainly sold by the BBQ Boys at farmers’ markets in Gore Bay, Mindemoya and Kagawong. “By selling through farmers’ markets and selling by the BBQ Boys we will maximize profits.” The barbecue scraper is also being offered to local retailers (i.e. Jake’s, Bridal Veil Esso) to sell. As we are now wholesaling the product instead of retailing our profit will be less,” noted the plan.
“Most major retailers such as Costco, Home Hardware and Amazon sell a similar product however, none of these retailers offer a product made from Manitoulin cedar that is made on Manitoulin, the plan noted.
At the RDSB Entrepreneur Fair approximately 45 innovative businesses were on display as students from Rainbow Schools sold their products and services. The event was being hosted in partnership with the Learning Initiative and the Regional Business Centre.
A panel of judges from the business community evaluated the displays. Judges looked at the effectiveness of the presentations to select the winners for Best Presentation, Best Business Plan, Best Product and Best Service. Participants also voted amongst themselves to select the winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award.
“The Rainbow District School Board Entrepreneur Fair gives Grade 7 and 8 students the opportunity to develop and run their very own business,” said Paula Biondi, Entrepreneur Fair Chair. “Students create and implement business plans, and in the process, they foster knowledge of basic marketing strategies and apply a variety of academic skills gained from Rainbow Schools.”
