A student trio from Hewlett High School’s DECA club won a Retail Track Statewide Virtual Business Challenge, on Oct. 24, accumulating the highest virtual profit among all participating clubs in New York.
DECA, formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, prepares aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs in high schools and colleges around the world for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
Competing against clubs from across the state online, seniors Inon Azour and Aidan Khan and junior George Chikvanaia nearly doubled the profit of their closest competitors.
All three boys have been members of DECA for three years, having joined because they want to succeed in the business world and refine their communication, public speaking and problem-solving skills.
“In this challenge, we had to provide a solution to the problems and find the best results,” Azour said of their business, a simulate sports store in which the products they offered changed month to month depending on the interest of the customers depending on the sports season.
Chikvanaia added that the challenge gave him a feel for managing a business and its various challenges.
Khan echoed those sentiments. “DECA has let me build leadership skills while meeting people of the same wants and aspirations,” he said.
The Retail Track of the Virtual Business Challenge tests participants’ skills in managing a retail operation. They oversee everything from creating products and setting prices to managing staff, inventory and store locations.
“I thought this was something we could definitely accomplish,” Chikvanaia said. “We conducted surveys based on the population of the customers, and we had to abide by what they wanted each season.”
“In a simulated business, you can make decisions about pricing, marketing and inventory management,” Azour explained. “Your goal is to grow profits faster than any other team in a 10-day period. We like to take on challenges even if there’s a thousand different teams we have to beat.”
The trio finished second in the competition last year. “Coming in first was a real hurdle to overcome,” Khan said. “We’ve been really trying to get it done and we did.”
Azour said his favorite part of the competition was seeing the weekly store profits. “It felt like we were running a real business,” he said. “I also really like testing strategies to try and get the best results every week. Watching the numbers improve was really motivating.”
Chikvanaia said the simulation gave him insight into the real world and how every decision has an impact. “I realized how much influence research and learning from your mistakes has on a professional business,” he said.
The teams in the state competition were ranked based on their stores’ cumulative profit after running the simulation for five virtual years, which required both analytical thinking and entrepreneurial creativity, according to Susan Hanlon, a Hewlett High business education teacher who co-advises the 100-member DECA club with another business instructor, Molly Henck.
“They’re all very strong business students,” said Hanlon, who has been teaching at HHS for 20 years and overseeing DECA for eight. “All of them have moved on to regionals, and a couple have made it to nationals.”
Hanlon said that the boys took the initiative in the lead-up to the competition, and asked her to sign them up. “They were the only kids who took us up on it this year,” she said. “They, on their own, went and decided which one they wanted to do. They did all the work on their own.”
“I think it just shows how motivated they are,” she added. “The kids in DECA have to have motivation, because it’s work above and beyond what they do in class. It shows that they do have a good head for business.”
A second round of competition begins in December, she said.
“Inon, Aidan and George demonstrated incredible teamwork and business insight throughout the challenge,” Hanlon said. “Their ability to analyze date, make smart decisions and stay focused on their goals really set them apart. We’re so proud of their achievement and how well they represented Hewlett High School.”
