Business at St Peter´s is not only a theoretical, but also a practical subject – it is often when the students are actually “doing” that they learn most about the varied aspects of business we study in class. Hence, the enterprise project.
So what is the enterprise project? Well, the idea is for the students to work in teams to raise as much money for a charity of their choice, by buying or making snack products and then selling them here at school during patio. To simulate a real business, the groups have limited investment- they are only allowed to invest a maximum of €10 for their initial stock. But, of course, any revenue they make can be reinvested to buy more stock later on.
Before trading, we learn about costs and revenues to be able to calculate a break-even point of production, to make sure each group knows how much they have to sell to start making a profit . And then we get started…
The students´response was AMAZING! On the first day, because of the €10 limit, many of the groups ran out of stock very quickly. But they learnt from this and reinvested their money into much more stock the next day, and even more the next. The range of different products was incredible: some groups sold home-made products, made by themselves in advance (and possible their parents, too??!) – cookies with added predictions, Brazilian chocolate truffles, glorious cupcakes, chocolate cakes, oreo cakes, Venezuelan plaintain fritters etc etc. Other groups made freshly prepared snacks here at school – crepes with nutella, bikinis, ice-cream cones, milkshakes, strawberry and chocolate kebabs… The variety was stunning, and the waistlines of the children, and especially the staff, have unquestionably grown significantly!
But, most importantly, the students have learnt invaluable business skills, including costing, pricing, marketing and production via a fun and enjoyable project. Massive congratulations to them all!
Carol Walter – Business Teacher