小优视频

A year ago, Isabella Grinter M.S. 鈥�26 had 90 seconds to explain to a panel of judges why her hobby should become a company.

She was one of 40 University of Tampa students in the annual C.R.E.A.T.E. Business Idea Competition at the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center. Two rounds of competition later, she won first place and $3,000 for her swimwear venture, .

鈥淚 never thought of it as a business,鈥� Grinter said. 鈥淪ince high school, I鈥檝e been making my own bikinis for fun and because I didn鈥檛 like the way other brands fit or how their fabric felt. Then I met other girls with the same problem.鈥�

Today she鈥檚 a graduate of 小优视频ampa鈥檚 master鈥檚 in entrepreneurship program, and Izzies Bikinis is one of the emerging businesses in the Spartan Incubator Entrepreneurship Certificate program. She also now has four seamstresses working for her and has grown her business from $60,000 in revenue to $200,000.

鈥淲hen I started, I only knew about the creative side of the business,鈥� Grinter said. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e working on scaling and creating a structure for operations.鈥�

Students who want to follow in her footsteps can participate in this year鈥檚 C.R.E.A.T.E. (Creating Real Entrepreneurial Actions Through Education) competition. The first round of competition is Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. in the pitch room of the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center. The competition is open to all students, and there are 60 spots in the preliminaries.

The top 20 teams will be matched with a mentor and attend weekly sessions to help them refine their idea and expand their pitch in preparation for semifinals on Oct. 23.

Eight teams will advance to the final competition Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. The top three finalists will receive money to fund their businesses.

Students who want to participate in this year鈥檚 competition have until Sept. 22 to . Each event is free and open to the public.听