The Co-Founder of Davids Tea is glad programs like Junior Achievement are available for young entrepreneurs.
David Segal, who created DavidsTea in 2008, attended Junior Achievement’s Evening of Excellence last night in Chatham at the John D. Bradley Centre. He says Junior Achievement programs simulate real-world business situations.
“I wish I had known about it earlier or that they had it when I was in high school. I think it gives some real-world experiences. It really simulates what entrepreneurs go through when they’re starting a business, everything from developing a product, making it, trying to sell it, trying to manage all the people involved in the business. i can’t say enough about how important I think this is”, says Segal.
DavidsTea is a Canadian company that was established in 2008 in Toronto when Segal was in his late 20s, and there are now more than 200 stores across North America.
For budding entrepreneurs, Segal has some advice.
“Don’t marry your ideas. I think that you’re going to have lots of them in life and it’s important to be able to think critically about your ideas and be able to adjust your thinking as you learn more and more things about what you’re doing”, he says. “I think that, and it sounds cheesy, but you have to be able to enjoy what you’re doing every day when you get up in the morning, and when you’re not, it’s time to take a good hard look in the mirror,” says Segal.
Junior Achievement of South Western Ontario runs an after school company program, where high school students create a business plan, advertise their business, and sell their products in the community.
Last night’s event honoured students from Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton, and Windsor-Essex who created companies during the school year.
