High school

Profits for Purpose

An entrepreneurship program I founded at my high school in junior year, with about 50 students. The profits from the ventures they started in the program went to LLS: over $12,000 in one year.

Role
Founder and lead instructor
Type
Student entrepreneurship program · school club
Period
Junior year of high school · 2024–25

~50

Students, approximately

$12,000+

Donated to LLS in one year

Collectively, from September to May of junior year, from the profits of the ventures students started in the program. All of it went to LLS.

01

One participant: Sean

  1. Step by step

    Sean came to me with no reselling experience. I tutored him step by step: where to find pieces, how to price them, and how to list them.

  2. First sale

    A vintage denim jacket he found for $6 and sold for $34 (before fees and other costs). That's more than five times what he paid.

  3. Later

    After that first sale, he kept sourcing and selling on his own. He still runs his vintage resale business.

The fees, shipping and other costs aren't known, so the difference isn't profit.

02

Teaching, and what I changed

  1. What the feedback showed

    Some students felt uncomfortable struggling publicly.

  2. What I changed

    • Private feedback
    • Smaller milestones

  3. What I saw after

    Retention improved.

03

How the program worked

  1. Step 1: Interests

    Each student's interests were the starting point, and I guided them individually from there.

  2. Step 2: A venture

    Students started their own ventures in the program.

  3. Step 3: Feedback

    Feedback on what they launched, and changes based on it.

  4. Step 4: Profits tracked

    I tracked the profits of the ventures started in the program.

  5. Step 5: To LLS

    Those profits went to LLS: over $12,000 in one year.

What we taughtFrom our welcome deck, slide 4

Business basics
Key entrepreneurial skills
E-commerce & sales
How to set up and run online stores
Marketing and promotion
Effective way to reach customers
Financial literacy
Managing profits, expenses, and donations

MeFounder and lead instructor

  • Founded the program at my high school, as a club, in junior year
  • Taught entrepreneurship
  • Guided students individually, based on their interests
  • Ran the program, and kept teaching outside school when the meeting time at school wasn't enough
  • Tracked the profits of the ventures started in the program

The studentsAbout 50 took part

  • Started and ran the ventures. The businesses, and the work in them, were theirs
  • The profits of the ventures started in the program went to LLS
  • They kept the earnings from ventures they started on their own, outside the program

04

Evidence: the LLS award and our welcome deck

Four students in suits at an evening event. I'm third from left, in a light pinstripe suit, holding the LLS certificate.

Receiving an award from LLS (the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) for the money we raised and donated.

Junior year (2024–25)

How to read the numbers
$12,000+
Donated to LLS in one year (September to May of junior year, 2024–25), collectively, from the profits of the ventures students started in the program. All of it went to LLS. It includes what we raised before the club officially started.
Not counted
Ventures students started on their own, outside the program. They kept those earnings.
~50 students
Approximately how many students took part.
LLS
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which renamed itself Blood Cancer United in 2025.

Millad Afshar