Successful innovators and entrepreneurs take risks and never give up. When you take a risk, failure is an option, and often the quickest way to learn and improve. Shift Retail Lab provides an important space for student entrepreneurs to test their ideas through sales and customer feedback. This alternative type of retail offers a lab-type approach for creative thinkers and doers from a wide range of backgrounds to put their ideas into action. Shift customers have the opportunity to take an active part in developing ideas into successful products and services ready to go out to market. This year we are piloting a virtual Shelfie cohort through our Shift Labs partners. Please fill out one application per team, idea, and/or product and we will be in touch about programming and opportunities to collaborate with VCU Shelfies.
What is the Shelfie Program at Shift Retail Lab?
The Shelfie Program is an opportunity for aspiring or established entrepreneurs to test their ideas through customer and peer feedback in a retail environment.
The Shelfie's products, services, and ideas vary from products and services that are ready for market to preliminary ideas in the early stages of development.
Each Shelfie will receive:
- Credly badges and introduction to the topics of each of the micro-credentials: Intro to Design Thinking,The Art of the Pitch, Business Model Canvas, Introduction to Prototyping
- Customer feedback to help you develop your ideas, services, and products
- A strong network with the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
- Opportunity to be featured in Shift Magazine
