WENDELL - Jake Nickola, Zachary Ray and Kelvin Vick aren’t yet out of high school, but they spend part of each weekday learning the ins and outs of running a successful business.

Nickola is chief executive officer of Doughflow Bakery, a company which aims to sell the best-tasting baked goods at a competitive price in an online business ar doughflowbakery.com.

As CEO, he works closely with Doughflow’s chief financial officer, Cody Staricha, and his chief administrative officer, Ailey Jeffreys. All attend East Wake School of Integrated Technology.

Zachary Ray is the chief administrative officer for On Fire Attire, a company that customizes accessories such as shoes, hats, ties, wristbands, lanyards and key chains.

Kelvin Vick is On Fire’s CEO. As such, he oversees all departments.

On Fire Attire and Doughflow Bakery aren’t actual brick-and-mortar companies, and they don’t manufacture real goods. Both companies are virtual – supported by Virtual Enterprises International – but the applications students are learning are real.

The purpose of the class, which is open to sophomores through seniors, is to let students learn about all the aspects of running a business, such as marketing, accounting, purchasing, selling, HR, product development and distribution.

Employees, or students, learn to set reasonable prices for their products, too, said Helen Boykin, one of the course’s instructors. Her students run On Fire Attire.

The class is designed to run for two years as VE I and VE II, Boykin explained. In the first year East Wake School of Integrated Technology is offering the course, students have concentrated on creating their companies and establishing business plans.

But they are also learning about how to market products and the importance of knowing how much money their firm is bringing in, and how much money is being spent.

Virtual Enterprises instructor Artis Stuart oversees students running the day-to-day operations of Doughflow Bakery. A former IRS auditor, she appreciates how the course introduces students to the monetary side of running a business, from learning to file quarterly tax returns to making sure all accounts reconcile on a monthly basis.

Trevor Ray, the CFO for On Fire Attire, has already learned enough about accounting to know that landing a job in that field would not be his first choice.

“I could definitely work in another department,” he said diplomatically. “I’m OK with math, really, but Mrs. Stuart really knows her numbers.”

Because the “money” from investors was not released until November, students spent the majority of this semester creating their companies, their products, and their business plans.

Not so simple

Staricha said overseeing the finances of a company has taught him some lessons.

“There’s a lot more to running a business than meets the eye.” Working with balance sheets, creating a business plan, looking at expenses versus income showed him that what he thought was “simple . . . really isn’t.”

Jeffreys said she has discovered much overseeing HR and marketing. Before they tackled the task, she and her employees thought they could easily create a two- to three-page employee handbook. “It ended up being about 12 pages long,” she said.

And, she added, now she knows marketing is more than just “making a commercial and putting it on TV. You’ve got to know the public and what the public wants.”

In addition to the practical applications the VE course offers, students are also learning lessons about corporate culture and workplace expectations.

Getting things done

During one class period, Stuart said, she told those running Doughflow she needed all the W-4s completed before the end of class so the company could make payroll.

When the leadership hesitated, she said, “You are (in charge). Get other people involved.”

Because of company deadlines, students discover how to be assertive and complete tasks on time, Stuart said. “You can’t expect deadlines (in the workplace) to be extended, and then be extended again.”

Vick, who hopes to run his own company one day, said he is learning about his own management style.

Early on, he was instructed to pull his employees together to explain how things worked.

“I didn’t feel like I could connect that way,” he said. He prefers addressing people in small groups, instead of a crowd. So he holds departmental meetings instead.

Boykin said students are excited about the class. They’ve already participated in a VE competition, although they didn’t place high enough to capture an award. Still, the career and technical education teacher was proud of her students – new to the business world – for trying.

Boykin and Stuart hope to create a VE advisory board made up of local business leaders. Members will be invited to share their expertise.