Sustainable Dog Toy Company Wins Top Award at Student Business Plan Challenge

A line of sustainable dog toys won a team of Dominican University students the top prize in the 2023 Business Plan Challenge hosted by Brennan School of Business.

Judges selected Woof Cycle, a business plan presented by business management majors Jacey Castro and Jennifer Gonzalez, and marketing major Salma Solis, as the winning concept following the annual competition on May 1.

As part of their entrepreneurship course, five teams of business students presented plans for a fictional business to a panel of five judges. Each team described their hypothetical business and presented start-up costs, financial projections, social media proposals, marketing strategies, mission, and even a target location, among other details.

Woof Cycle is a company that specializes in dog toys made of recycled materials: Denim, natural rubber and cotton. The company would avoid using plastic in its products and toys could even be customized for purchasers.

“I have a dog and I wanted to see if there was a way that dog toys could last longer and that the materials were recyclable and sustainable,” Castro explained.

The toys created for Woof Cycle would keep plastics out of landfills and be healthier for dogs because of the materials used, she added.

“We had to consider a lot of factors when we were creating our business plan,” Gonzalez said. “Like location. The judges would ask why you chose a location, so we had to present our reasonings. We chose a spot on a main street located near three parks, one of which is a dog park.”

After presenting their plan, the team spoke with the judges, who have leadership roles with various area businesses.

“They gave us advice about how we could learn about entrepreneurship and how we could run our business,” Solis said.

The team split a grand prize of $2,500. The award is funded by Brennan School of Business, Wintrust Bank, Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, and Guggenheim Partners.

Dr. Yuanqing Li, the students’ professor, called their business idea timely and in response to current consumer demands.

“The pet market is huge in the U.S. and sustainability/recycling/green innovation is a trend,” Li noted. “Combing these two factors made this idea very promising and appealing.”

Taking 2nd Place in the Business Plan Challenge was the team of Isaiah Lyke and Mya Harris for their company Super Cart, and finishing 3rd was the team of Alexis Acosta, Brandon Aguirre, Citlaly Flores and Ryan Gutierrez for their company Candle Hub.

This was the fifth Business Plan Challenge held at Dominican.