Max Korth, a University of Minnesota Morris senior majoring in business and management, had often thought about starting a business one day. Little did he know that it would happen while he was still in college.

As part of an upper-level course on entrepreneurship, Korth, who is from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and two classmates started Prairie Paws, a dog treat company.

The class was taught by Morris alumnus Eric Newell, ’96, one of the founders of Stoneridge Software, a Microsoft partner firm. As part of the course, Newell required the students to work in teams to start a business.

Korth was randomly paired with two other students, one of whom had sold dog treats in her hometown to help pay for college. He became the company’s chief financial officer but learned pretty quickly that the title didn’t limit what he could contribute to the business. “I did all the finances, of course, but I also did the baking of all the treats,” he says. “I did the packaging and I made the logo.”

Donors make it possible

Each of the teams received $400 for startup costs, which was provided by donor funds. “That took some of our aversion to risk away,” Korth says. “Right away, we needed to buy 200 dog treat bags, and this gave us a little bit of cushion.” 

He says there were still difficult decisions to make, such as what to charge for the treats.

“That was definitely harder than I anticipated, trying to calculate labor that goes into it, the bag cost, the labels—how much does that cost us? I went through it to figure out what kind of profits we’d be making at different prices. But it came down to: how much labor are we putting into this?”

Korth says another challenge was to select a recipe for the treats. Korth was particularly interested in creating simple treats with quality ingredients, something that he’d feel good about giving to his dog, Oliver, a miniature Australian Shepherd.  

‘A little more confidence’

Korth isn’t sure if he’d have had an opportunity like the entrepreneurship course at another campus.

“It’s so different from my other classes, especially the actual hands-on experience of starting a business. It takes a lot of thought and effort, along with blood, sweat, and tears,” he says. “I think this course made me push to have a little more confidence. I’m very glad that I had this opportunity.”

Korth and another team member will operate Prairie Paws through spring semester. 

Support students like Max Korth through the Morris Academic eXperiences (MAX) Fund.