Entrepreneurship requires energy and creativity – two traits that most high school students have in spades. Many students also possess the internal
fire it takes to change the world. By hosting an Entrepreneur Workshop, you can nurture and encourage your students’ passions, while helping them develop
practical business skills.
The workshop consists of five phases, which you can schedule to take place over the course of a day, a week or a month:
- Class discussion on the basic elements of business
- Group brainstorming sessions
- Research
- Preparation of business plans
- Presentation of business plans
For your convenience, we have prepared downloadable, printable supporting materials for this workshop, which include a greater level of detail on each of
these steps.
Download Teacher Materials
Download Student Materials
The Basic Elements of Business
The workshop begins with a general class discussion on business fundamentals. Since this is just a workshop, rather than an entire business course, your
discussion will be an introduction to the concepts, rather than an in-depth study.
As you lead the discussion, be sure to encourage ideas and contributions from all the students. Let them know this is truly their workshop. Start
with an open-ended question, such as: “What goes into making a successful business?” or “Why do some businesses fail while others are wildly successful?”
The basic elements to cover include:
- Meeting a need / solving a problem for the customer
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Determining your product or service
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Conducting research
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Assessing the competition
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Defining the customer
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Setting goals
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Building a team
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Assessing finances
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Operations and production
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Marketing and sales
More detail on each of these elements is provided in the business plan section of our free workshop download.
Group Brainstorming Session
Once your students have a grasp of these basic business concepts, separate them into groups of 4-6 and ask them to start brainstorming their ideas for a
product or service. Now is the time for them to open up their minds and get creative, exploring any avenue that personally interests or excites them.
Remind them that they should focus on meeting a specific customer need.
Regardless of your students’ individual interests, if they bring passion and careful planning to a business, chances are they can find a way to succeed.
Their ideas don’t need to be distinctly unique, or dramatically game-changing. If they have an idea for making an existing product better, or
delivering it faster and cheaper, that can also be the basis for a viable business plan.
Research and the Competition
Once the students have agreed on one or two compelling ideas for their business’ product or service, they will need to conduct research to learn more about
their industry. Their research should cover:
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Companies doing something similar
- What the current market leaders are doing well – or snags that others in the industry have encountered
- Customer information – demographics, needs, trends, etc.
- Opportunities to create their own niche within the industry
- Financial information, such as the rate of industry growth over the last 5-10 years, the pricing structure for similar services, etc.
- Operational/production information, such as where they will get their supplies, how they will deliver to the customer, etc.
- Once they’ve finished their research, they should be able to illustrate the basic market need/demand for their product, as well as describe specific
details of the product or service they’ll offer.
The Team
Selecting the right team is an important aspect of any successful business. In your workshop, the students’ teams have already been selected for them.
Their job now is to determine the specific strengths of each member, so they can effectively divide their responsibilities and collaborate for the optimal
outcome. This “division of labor” should start with the research portion of the project, as each team member focuses on a specific area, such as sales,
marketing, finance, management, operations, etc. Make sure each team member is clear on exactly what their contributions, or “deliverables” will be, before
they conduct the research.
For more on student collaboration, see our earlier articles:
Teaching Students the Art of Collaboration
Demonstrating the Value of Collaboration
The Plan
The students are now ready to enter the planning phase of the workshop. Their ultimate goal is to present a professional business plan to you and their
peers.
In the real world, most businesses need to source financing, usually from banks, venture capital firms, or private investors. Before anyone is willing to
invest, they need to be convinced that there is a viable plan behind the business proposition, supported by reliable data. In addition, the plan helps the
business owners provide a roadmap to their success, answering questions such as: Who wants your product – and why? Who is your competition? How will you
beat them? How much money do you need to get started and how will you become profitable?
Your students’ business plan should contain the following elements:
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Executive Summary
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Key Team Players
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Description of Product/Service
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Market Details
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The Customer
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The Competition
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Product Value Proposition
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Financials
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Operations and Production Details
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Sales and Marketing Plan
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Growth Plan and End Goals
More detail on each of these elements is available in our free workshop download.
Final Presentations
The workshop culminates with each group presenting their business plan to the class. In the planning stage, they will have either selected a presenter to
represent the entire group, or planned for each member to present their own piece of the plan.
The group should also brainstorm on ways to make their presentation compelling and impressive, as if they were presenting to potential investors. They
should memorize their information, and practice presenting it out loud. Props, graphs, tables, outlines, etc. will make good supporting presentation
material.
Businesses commonly use Microsoft’s PowerPoint application for presentations. Encourage use of PowerPoint in your workshop, although it is not mandatory.
Meet with each group in advance to discuss their presentation needs and the equipment available – such as white boards, flip charts, projectors, screens,
etc.
In addition to teaching business basics, your Entrepreneur Workshop will help your students develop several key skills, such as:
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Critical-thinking
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Group collaboration
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Project management
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Leadership
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Communication – both oral and written
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Productive channeling of creative energy
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Sales skills
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Goal-setting
You may find that the workshop has also produced a group of students who are fired up to make their business dreams a reality. Encourage them to move
forward with their ideas and bring their product or service to the public!
We’d love to hear your feedback and additional ideas. Share your thoughts in our Comments section below. If you identify stand-out
students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs, please refer them to Envision’s NYLF Business Innovation – 8 Days to Start-Up program.
Download the printable supporting materials for this workshop here. The download includes both a teacher’s guide and a student hand-out.
Resources:
How to Start a Business – from Business News Daily
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4686-how-to-start-a-business.html
Business Plans: A Step-by-Step Guide – from Entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247574
Sample business plans from BPlans.com:
http://www.bplans.com/?affiliate=entrepreneur_com
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