Need ideas and tips on how to help students participate? Below is our process for helping student come up with ideas, find resources, and create a booth. These steps have been chosen because they can be easily integrated into the classroom.
Organization:
Lean Business Plan: This business plan template is for fast-development-entrepreneurship. It uses short paragraphs or an electronic presentation to communicate information quickly and concisely.
Step 1: Resources
Conduct a Self-Analysis of what experience they or someone they know has in business (help outside of class that they have access to.)
What characteristics of an Entrepreneur do they have (Persistent, Creative, Responsible, Hardworking, Determined, Curious, Technical Skill, Communication/Sales, Problem Solving, etc.)
Brag List: List of Talents and Skills (it is important to the nature of the assignment that they list at least 10. It may be hard but it will get them really thinking about themselves.)
Passion Pyramid: List of hobbies or interests that filter to one item that they really like to do. (Maybe there is an opportunity here)
Step 2: Ideation
Solution Mindset: Students look for examples of product failures or pain-points that consumers experience.
Trash or Treasure: Look at what people are able to do with trash.
Half Baked: The class genereates four columns of at least 6 random words. Students pick two words and smash them together to form a new product or company name.
Homework: Everyone comes to class with a problem that a high school kid could feasibly solve, they are put on sticky notes on the wall. Then the students can pick a problem from the wall to solve.
Assignment: What Product (Good or Service) are you going to make? What thee problems does it solve? What is it's name? How did you come up with the idea?
Step 3: Customers
Draw a simple picture of your ideal customer (you can have more than one customer for your product but we want to focus on a Target Market). Since a picture is "worth a thousand words" include details about your ideal customer in your drawing (age, how they would use it, clothes they typically wear, etc.).
Step 4: Prototype (Minimum Viable Product)
Create one example of your product. Keep track of the "ingredients" and time it takes you to make it!!
Take a picture of your product for use in Step 7.
Step 5: Costs
Using the Pricing Strategy worksheet or the Expo Finance Worksheet, each student will list the components and time needed to make one product.
It is possible to use less than one of something they buy. For example if I were doing mixed sodas, I might buy 2 liters of a beverage but only need 8 ounces. I can get 8 mixed drinks from one 2 liter soda. So, I only need 1/8th of 2 liter soda.
Remember that time is money so they need to track how long it will take to make a single unit and how much they want to make for that time. (again, this can be less than an hourly rate.)
Add this all together and establish a price for the product.
Step 6: Logo
As part of their "Marketing Strategy" they should create a logo.
Step 7: Advertisement
As part of their "Marketing Strategy" they should create social and print advertisements.
The Expo relies on student using social media to promote their attendance at the Expo starting about two months before each one.
They should also come to the Expo prepared with a menu or sign showing the prices and if applicable the QR code for credit card payments.
We can spotlight a few students on the website. This is also a good way to get started with your own social media posts.
Step 8: Production
Students then need to estimate demand for the product based on any feedback they are receiving from their social media posts.
Step 9: Attendance at the Expo
Look over the Vendor information page on the website for specifics about the event you are attending.
In General, electricity, water, and drains are not available.
If the event is outdoors remember to bring something for shade or rain along with a water bottle.
Practice setting up your booth. Pretend to be a customer and see "what is missing" that will help your customers make a purchase decision.
Your set-up and take-down time is limited so prepare help or wagons to set-up/take-down quickly.
Examples of previous student businesses can be found near the bottom of the Vendor information page.
Examples of easy to duplicate or start businesses:
Fleet vehicle detailing
Lucky Break Wishbone - wooden wishbones.
Examples of teen business from the Lassonde High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge website
