West Hartford Student's Animal Art A Successful Business Venture

WEST HARTFORD/WORCESTER, MASS. — The son of parents who are artistically inclined, West Hartford college student Max Schweitzer always had the gift of creativity flowing in his blood.

And Schweitzer's latest creation, "Schweitzer Studios," recently garnered him honors from his school, Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

"Schweitzer Studios" is Schweitzer's drawing business where he sells prints of wild animals, in black and white, to both animal and art lovers.

He even contracts out with pet lovers who can have their beloved friend immortalized in custom art work courtesy of Schweitzer.

But the graduate student's operation is more than just a pet project, it garnered him a winning entry in Clark University's prestigious "Clark Tank" competition.

Named and designed after the popular NBC "Shark Tank" entrepreneurial reality show, Clark Tank was the school's recent entreprenurship and innovation program's competition.

In it, Schweitzer won a $1,000 prize for the marketing component and $2,000 as the competition's overall, second-place finisher out of more than 30 entries initially pitched by students.

The soon-to-be graduate plans to completely commit to his business once he's done with school and is hoping his "Clark Tank" experience will help him.

For Schweitzer, "Clark Tank" forced him to not only embrace his avocation, but employ vocational, business elements to his presentation before a panel of university judges.

In order to do well, participants had to crunch numbers and formulate business plans just as well as creating their product. Then, they had to successfully pitch their product.

For Schweitzer, he did well doing all of the components.

He told Clark University building a credible business model was vital to "Clark Tank," not just being enthusiastic about what you're doing.

"Being excited about your business shouldn’t lead to inflated numbers and outlandish claims," he told Clark in a university-published profile. "Being candid about business analytics goes a long way in establishing credibility."

As for his labor of love, Schweitzer said he's always been a good drawer, something he attributed to his parents' artistically included genes.

He said his father is an architect/musican while hs mother is a potter, so creativity runs in the family.

And now that he's a "Clark Tank" winner, he said he's ready to really get to work.

Said Schweitzer to Clark University: "The experience has helped build confidence, both in my illustration skills and in my knowledge of my business overall."

For more information on Schweitzer Studios, click on this link.

For more information on Schweitzer's Clark Tank experience, click on this link.

For more information on Clark Tank, click on this link.