Just two months into their first year at the DeGroote School of Business, two undergraduate business students have established themselves as masters of “sealing the deal.” Nikolai Mak and Victor Kuntzevitsky took a $5 gift card from Titles bookstore and, through a series of strategic trades, turned it into a $300 gift card from Boston Pizza.

Mak and Kuntzevitsky were two of 40 first year business students who participated in the Let's Do Business challenge at the DeGroote School of Business. The challenge originated from the “red paper clip” trade in 2005 where a man named Kyle MacDonald took a red paper clip and made 14 trades, ultimately ending up with a house in Saskatchewan.

“The competition was demanding, but rewarding. We put in a lot of time and effort planning our transactions and deciding what we would ask in return for our trade. It is a nice feeling to reap the fruits of your labour,” says Kuntzevitsky.

“Students have to use strategy, basic sales skills and good marketing schemes in order to take their starting item and trade up to a higher valued item,” says Mandy Hammond, second year DeGroote commerce student and co-director of the Let's Do Business challenge. “Let's Do Business provides an opportunity for first year students to get more involved in DeGroote and get an introduction to DeGroote's experiential learning methods.”

The competition also connects students with the business community beyond the McMaster campus. Participating businesses included Titles and the MSU Underground Media & Design at McMaster, Bula in Westdale, Pita Pit, Boston Pizza and Fortino's.

To prepare for the challenge, marketing lecturer Peter Vilks delivered a workshop to all teams on how to do a proper sales call. As well, Mark Scattolon, president of DeGroote Marketing Association (DMA), educated the students on how to do a proper presentation.

While increasing the value of their trades was key in the competition, teams were also judged based on presentation skills and strategy. Mak and Kuntzevitsky demonstrated knowledge of their trading partners' businesses by offering other services beyond simply the goods that they had to trade. For example with Bula, they offered their connections and marketing skills to promote the smoothie bar to McMaster men's basketball and rugby teams. Says Hammond, “They applied what they learned in the sales workshop and really went the extra mile. They made an impression with all of the businesses they dealt with.”

“Nikolai and I learnt many priceless lessons,” says Kuntzevitsky. “We enhanced our presentation, entrepreneurial, and marketing skills. But most importantly, we learnt that you get as much as you give and if you work hard, you will see results at the end.”

How they did it:

On Day 1, Mak and Kuntzevitsky took their $5 gift card from Titles and purchased paperclips, thumb tacks, and reinforcements. With these supplies, they went to Bula where they traded for five gift cards valued at $5 each. They then returned to campus and traded the Bula gift cards for 30 $2 printing coupons at MSU Underground Media & Design.

On Day 2 Mak and Kuntzevitsky took their 60 $2 printing coupons from MSU Design & Copy Centre to the Pita Pit, where they traded for a certificate valued at $162. They carried on to Boston Pizza where they traded the $162 Pita Pit gift certificate for gift cards valued at $300.

On Day 3, satisfied with their $300 Boston Pizza gift card, Mak and Kuntzevitsky strategically chose not to trade.