Now Is the Season

for Launching Student-Run Ventures

Stephen Carter
January 20, 2026

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

Across the country, Seed Tree schools are preparing students to launch their first viable, student-run businesses on campus.

In Texas, students are rallying around a dirty soda concept. In Arkansas, teams are building an online marketplace. In New Hampshire, students are serving up wood-fired pizzas. In Virginia, they’re launching a meal-prep business for busy families. In Kentucky, students are preparing a mobile market.

And the ever-popular coffee cart—or full-blown coffee shop—continues to take off, popping up in California, Kansas, Texas, and Virginia.

For schools following the Seed Tree approach to entrepreneurship, this is intentional. A student-run business launches in year one.

That early launch matters. It creates a living laboratory where students practice the real-world skills the program is designed to develop. Proactive problem-solving becomes real when an online marketplace breaks. Communication sharpens when students serve actual customers. Collaboration is no longer theoretical when a team is responsible for launching and running a business together.

Most of these ventures will launch between January and February. From there, students spend the remainder of the school year marketing, refining, and operationalizing their businesses. Seniors graduate. Juniors step into leadership roles. Underclassmen grow into responsibility. And the business continues—stronger than before.

Over time, the impact compounds. After three years, a fully developed entrepreneurship program is shaping culture, building confidence, and forming students across the school.

And it all starts the same way: with a single business launched by a small group of students.

Growth is contagious.

Impact lasts.

Let’s go.

The rolling coffee cart about to launch at Berean Academy in Kansas

Standing out as a Christian school while staying true to your values is more challenging than ever. At Seed Tree Group, we help schools implement a proven entrepreneurship program that empowers students to take ownership of their education, equipping them with life-ready skills and creating a distinguished school with engaged students, inspired parents, and energized donors.

❝

Imagine your culture infused with growth mindset, grit, redefining failure, and opportunity seeking. Imagine your team acting and thinking like entrepreneurs.

Stephen Carter