Ryan Vet is a successful entrepreneur, but he isn’t your average profit-seeking businessman.
Vet, a 2012 Elon University graduate, writes books, creates e-commerce websites and operates a business-related blog. But in his spare time, he also maintains an online, social-good coffee shop called Noble Bean, a business venture that was conceived after an unusual night in the southeastern European country Kosovo.
“Coffee is one of my passions,” Vet said. “I was in the country of Kosovo earlier this year, talking with an American businessman late one night because of jet lag. I said that I really want to roast coffee, but I didn’t have a roaster. He hooked me up with Teen Challenge in Lansing, Mich.”
Teen Challenge is an organization that helps people of all ages who struggle with life-controlling addictions. Individuals have to pay their own way through the 12-month program. Vet partnered with the Teen Challenge in Lansing to assist its patients in paying for their rehabilitation.
"Teen Challenge requires residents to earn their own money to go through the program," Vet said. "The Noble Bean actually provides additional funding toward that goal. I’m taking an organization that doesn’t have any business savvy, and I’m basically labeling and helping it market its products so that it can keep this rehabilitation program up-and-running.”
The business model is simple. Vet handles all financial and marketing functions, while Teen Challenge controls all roasting and shipping operations. The relaxed business model does not require much of Vet’s time, which he said is great since he has to devote many of his resources to other affairs.
[quote] I thought the students could get a lot out of putting themselves in the shoes of a successful entrepreneur that has to market his company. They are learning how to handle customer feedback, deal with rejection, present their ideas and say more with less via email.” — Scott Kelly, marketing instructor at Elon University [/quote]
But to Vet, channeling all of his proceeds through a rehabilitation center isn’t enough.
Vet has partnered with an Elon marketing class to give them a hands-on learning experience with a real business. The class is directing the marketing strategy of Noble Bean, and has been active in promoting the company during the fall semester.
Scott Kelly, a marketing instructor at Elon, is in charge of the class that has been handling Noble Bean’s marketing strategy. He said he believes the partnership has been a great teaching mechanism for his students.
“I thought the students could get a lot out of putting themselves in the shoes of a successful entrepreneur that has to market his company,” Kelly said. “They are learning how to handle customer feedback, deal with rejection, present their ideas and say more with less via email.”
Kelly said the students have already done several activities to market Noble Bean, including a blind taste test similar to the Pepsi Challenge, where participants sampled and compared various unlabeled coffee brands to Noble Bean’s brew. According to Kelly, Noble Bean received favorable critiques from taste-testers.
The students were also assigned to create a blog for Noble Bean and start an email campaign, Kelly said. Many students used the emails they collected from the taste-test to market Noble Bean, analyzing how many recipients clicked on the email links.
Sophomore Liam Davitt, a student in Kelly’s marketing class, said he is relishing the opportunity to market a real company.
“Anyone can teach out of a book,” Davitt said. “But this is a real world experience.”
Davitt said the marketing opportunity has provided him more experience focused and jammed pack into one semester than a typical class.
As for Vet, he will continue to use Noble Bean to benefit others, whether that entails helping a rehabilitation center or giving students marketing experience.
“The Noble Bean is a noble thing,” Vet said. “It’s cool that you can give back while doing something that you really love.”