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Rick Larson
REAL Enterprises, Inc.
National Center for Research in Vocational Education
Graduate School of Education
University of California at Berkeley
2030 Addison Street, Suite 500
Berkeley, CA 94720-1674
Supported by
The Office of Vocational and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Education
June 1999
FUNDING INFORMATION
| Project Title: | National Center for Research in Vocational Education |
|---|---|
| Grant Number: | V051A30003-98A/V051A30004-98A |
| Act under which Funds Administered: | Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act
P.L. 98-524 |
| Source of Grant: | Office of Vocational and Adult Education
U.S. Department of Education Washington, DC 20202 |
| Grantee: | The Regents of the University of California
c/o National Center for Research in Vocational Education 2030 Addison Street, Suite 500 Berkeley, CA 94720 |
| Director: | David Stern |
| Percent of Total Grant Financed by Federal Money: | 100% |
| Dollar Amount of Federal Funds for Grant: | $4,500,000 |
| Disclaimer: | This publication was prepared pursuant to a grant with the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. Grantees undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgement in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official U.S. Department of Education position or policy. |
| Discrimination: | Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Therefore, the National Center for Research in Vocational Education project, like every program or activity receiving financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education, must be operated in compliance with these laws. |
Many dedicated and innovative educators contributed to this guide. Dr. David Stern, Director of NCRVE, has provided the wonderful combination of direction, thoughtful advice and insight, and access to funding that makes a project like this possible. Deborah McKoy, a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley has been exceedingly generous with her time in reading early drafts of this guide and sharing her important perspective on enterprises and education. Deb deserves particular praise for bringing together educators in November 1997 to discuss curriculum integration in school-based enterprises (SBEs). Tammy Bird and Aleyne Larner of Food from the `Hood at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles and Judi Yeager from Oakland High School shared insights at that meeting which have found their way into the guide.
Allie Whitehurst of the Oakland Unified School District and teachers in the AcademiesWork program in Oakland--especially Jackie Begrin (Oakland High School), Michael Jackson (Fremont High School), and Ester Dixon (Castlemont High School) shared their experiences and opened their classrooms as research for this guide was completed.
REAL instructors Jennifer Goos of Maxwell, Nebraska, Cory NeVille of Riverside High School in Chattaroy, Washington, and Ann Smith of the Sno-Isle Skills Center in Everett, Washington, helped lead sessions on SBEs at REAL Institutes which provided a chance to "test drive" components of this guide, as did Gair McCullough of REAL Enterprises. Thanks also to the REAL teachers who attended those sessions and provided useful suggestions.
Finally, Ann Smith has made her excellent formats for business planning and assessment of learning in SBEs available for this guide. Along with her generosity, Ann's hard-won knowledge, enthusiasm for her work, and commitment to helping students grow exemplify what quality education is all about.
The guide was written by Rick Larson of REAL Enterprises. Funding for the development and publication of the guide was provided by the Annenberg Rural Challenge and by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, through award #V051A30003-97 from the U.S. Department of Education to the University of California, Berkeley.
This guide is intended for use by educators who are working with school-based enterprises or contemplating the establishment of an SBE in their school. It seeks to help schools, students, and teachers develop enterprises that
The guide provides tools and strategies that should help teachers answer two essential questions:
| 1. | How can we establish and operate a school-based enterprise (SBE) which provides a context for students to learn a range of academic and career-oriented skills? |
| 2. | How can we provide a meaningful experience for students in an SBE that is already up and running? |
One strategy recommended for creating and operating SBEs that meet these objectives is the utilization of an entrepreneurial approach. Broadly defined, entrepreneurship is the ability to "see and seize opportunities." Entrepreneurial preparation contributes both to the success of the enterprise and the quality of the learning experience for students.
This entrepreneurial preparation is necessary for educators as well as for students. Section I of the guide suggests steps that educators can take to help their enterprise--an SBE integrated with the school's curriculum--succeed within the school setting.
Section II describes ways to incorporate planning into setting up an SBE. The business planning process guides students and teachers through the research and investigation needed to create a viable business which meets a need in the school or surrounding community. The business plan also serves as a "road map" for an enterprise, so that those running it can check--and learn from--their progress. Finally, the business plan, which is essentially a major research project integrating writing, mathematics, social studies, and many critical thinking and life skills, is one important way to ensure that the SBE provides a learning laboratory and not just another job for students.
Keeping the SBE experience fresh for students who are not involved in the initial start-up process is a second major challenge for SBEs. Section III offers a number of strategies that can build student ownership in ongoing SBEs. These approaches are consistent with the business and product "life cycle," which dictates the need for businesses to innovate continually in order to remain successful. Two prominent ideas in Section III are as follows:
In their 1994 book, School-Based Enterprise: Productive Learning in American High Schools,David Stern, James Stone III, Charles Hopkins, Martin McMillion, and Robert Crain detail the proliferation of SBEs in American public high schools. They cite a 1992 national survey of high schools which determined that "18.6% of public secondary schools were sponsoring at least one SBE, defined in the survey as `a class-related activity that engages students in producing goods or services for sale or use to people other than the participating students themselves.'" (p. 5).
In addition, SBEs were listed prominently in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 as a recommended way of providing work-based experiences. Many states have supported the creation of SBEs (Maine and Connecticut are two examples) in their effort to develop STW systems in communities lacking large employers capable of providing work-based learning opportunities.
Yet, despite the growing support for SBEs as a worthwhile strategy for providing hands-on learning through work within the school setting, teachers and schools interested in establishing SBEs have few resources at their disposal to guide them. Creating an enterprise that is both economically viable and truly educational is challenging work. This is particularly true when the individual responsible for setting up and supervising the enterprise is a teacher, and probably one with a full teaching load and other responsibilities.
In an effort to make this task more manageable--and to help teachers avoid "reinventing the wheel," the National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) contracted with REAL Enterprises (REAL), a national nonprofit organization, to create a school-based enterprise curriculum module. NCRVE contracted with REAL (REAL is an acronym for Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) because of its experience working with SBEs and helping schools--predominantly rural schools--develop entrepreneurial programs that utilize experiential learning.
This guide represents an effort to capture the best thinking of a few educators engaged in a continuous process of experimentation with SBEs. Site visits to SBEs based in Oakland Unified School District Academies were conducted in November 1997. At the same time, the author participated in a meeting designed to help teachers who are implementing SBEs in Oakland schools use the business planning process; he also participated in a discussion organized by Deborah McKoy of NCRVE which included Oakland SBE practitioners and representatives from Food from the `Hood in Los Angeles.
In-depth interviews were conducted with two educators working with SBEs--Ann Smith of Sno-Isle Skills Center in Everett, Washington, and Aleyne Larner of Food from the `Hood. This guide draws extensively on Smith's experience with a range of SBEs at Sno-Isle; in fact, Sno-Isle's Business and Management program serves as a case study or laboratory site for the guide's approaches in Section III. Food from the `Hood is also featured in Section III as an example of a site with successful experience in recruiting and retaining students.
Elements appearing in the guide were field-tested with instructors at REAL Enterprises Institutes during the summer of 1998. In addition, REAL's experience working with SBEs for more than a decade and its approaches to experiential teaching and learning form the basis for the strategies outlined in Section II. The activities and teaching methods which appear in Tools 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 are drawn from the REAL Entrepreneurship Curriculum Guide.
When it began in the mid-1980s in Georgia and North Carolina, REAL Enterprises' initial strategy for fostering student entrepreneurship was to help high school students and teachers create "school-incubated enterprises" intended to be started in schools and then "spun off" to become a part of the local economy. They included restaurants, a feeder pig business, screen printing operations, a day care center, a shoe store, and a fabric store. REAL learned some important lessons from this experience.
These enterprises typically were researched, planned, and operated by a whole class of students. More often than not, however, the task of managing the enterprise eventually fell to an adult--either a teacher or an adult manager hired specifically for the purpose of managing the business. It was too complicated and difficult for students with full course loads and limited work experience to find the time and support needed to manage the entire business.
As a result, REAL found that the individuals most likely to have an entrepreneurial experience in an SBE were the adults. At best, students were highly involved employees or assistant managers who learned on the job from some very patient and dedicated adults. Too often, the students' experiences were little different from the kind they would have in a job in a "regular" business; they thought like employees, not owners or entrepreneurs.
In addition to being less entrepreneurial, the students' experiences were usually not as educational as the adults.' Because they were more likely to be making and living with decisions, the adults did the learning and underwent the growth associated with this process.
REAL found that the degree to which a student's experience in an SBE is entrepreneurial and educational also depends a great deal on when that student is involved in the process. Those students who help plan and start an enterprise tend to have the most worthwhile experiences. Students who "cycle into" the enterprise later, once it is up and running, usually do not learn as much or feel as engaged in the enterprise.
One reason for this seems to be that the creators of an enterprise have a higher level of ownership and commitment than those who work there once it is established. This is a natural outcome of being involved in what is often a highly visible undertaking with real consequences. Students expressed sentiments which could be paraphrased as follows:
If we don't set the business up right, it's going to fail, and the school will have wasted money and everyone (our parents, the school board, and the local paper) will know.
In REAL's experience, there seems to be greater incentive to learn when the learning matters to an audience beyond one's teacher and the immediate classroom.
The other lesson REAL learned was that operating a successful business in affiliation with a school or class is a task that taxes even the most energetic, committed, and enthusiastic teacher. At heart, school-based or student-run enterprises--by virtue of their affiliation with a school--should be integrally linked to learning that is going on in the school. The link or conduit for this integration needs to be the teacher working with the SBE.
Yet, too often, the demands of keeping the business running detract from its ability to serve the school as a learning opportunity. This guide is an effort to help teachers manage the dual demands of keeping the business running and drawing the maximum learning from its operations.
Three fundamental assumptions underlie this approach to making SBEs innovative and productive in terms of learning and revenues alike. The first relates to the American economy and the kind of preparation high school graduates need to be "winners" in that economy, the second to teaching and learning, and the third to the unique structural nature of SBEs.
Assumption #1: Entrepreneurship Is Important for Learning and for Success in Life and Work.
In
the preface to School-Based Enterprise(Stern et al., 1994), the authors argue that "School-Based Enterprise (SBE) should be considered a possible means to accomplish the two main missions of American high schools: preparing students for work and for further education" (p. xi). If this is to be true, then SBEs must offer opportunities for students to work in ways that are consistent with the nature of work in American workplaces, which are becoming increasingly entrepreneurial. Consider these indicators:
These trends in the American economy all but ensure that the average high school graduate will spend a significant portion of his or her work life either working as, or for, an entrepreneur or a business with fewer than 20 employees.
Furthermore, entrepreneurial thinking--the ability to "see and seize opportunities"--is valuable in enterprises of all sizes. Large employers increasingly are looking for "intrapreneurial" employees, those capable of seeing and seizing opportunities within the company, department, division, or work team. According to Mr. Edgar Murphy, Manager of Community Relations for Nortel, the Fortune 500 telecommunications equipment manufacturer,
The days of getting a lifetime career and a job in a company are gone. People need to be entrepreneurial about their careers, and they need to pay attention to changes in the marketplace and changes in the needs of their employer.
If schools are to realize their educational goals and serve their students and communities, fostering entrepreneurial thinking and acting is essential. The good news is that SBEs are uniquely positioned to be an effective educational tool for entrepreneurship education. They are, after all, usually small and young enterprises; even better, by definition they are connected to a learning environment. The key is to view SBEs not as a static presence in the school, but to consider them laboratories for creative, entrepreneurial activity.
Assumption #2: Experience Is Critical, But It Is Not Enough by Itself
There
is a commonly held belief that "experience is the best teacher." As an
organization committed to the use of experiential education, REAL agrees that
experience is a necessary component of learning, but that experience alone is
not sufficient for learning to occur. As John Dewey (1938) says in Experience and Education,"The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative" (p. 25).
Take the experience of learning to drive a car. If a young man gets behind the wheel of a car for the first time, starts driving, and ends up hitting a tree, we can say for certain that he has had an experience, probably one that will leave a strong impression! But, has he learned how to drive a car?
If, on the other hand, he goes out driving for the first time with a driver's education teacher, not only will he experience plenty, but he should learn how to drive a car. Even if he ends up hitting the same tree, he is still likely to learn because there is a facilitator of his learning along for the ride, someone who can help him reflect on and apply the lessons of his experience.
What does this have to do with SBEs? Enterprises, like cars, can stay on the road or can veer off course and crash. The experience of working in one does not necessarily mean that learning is occurring, but even if an enterprise fails (hits the proverbial tree!), much learning can occur if there is a process in place to glean the lessons from the experience. In short, "hands-on" needs to be coupled with "minds-on" if learning is to occur.
The educator's role in this process is critical. We do not usually see a driver's education teacher behind the wheel of a car full of students. Rather, one of the learners is behind the wheel, experiencing the act of driving first-hand. The educator is a co-driver who sits next to the learner. (Note that the driver's education teacher does have a brake in case things get out of hand.)
Similarly, the educator working with an SBE needs to be "riding alongside" students, coaching and facilitating their work and their learning, so that the experience is as educational and valuable as possible. If the teacher "drives" the business, the students are left watching. There is no doubt that learning can occur by watching; however, students will learn far more if they do real work with real consequences, reflect on their experience, and apply it.
One reason more learning occurs through direct experience may be that students tend to work harder if their work counts for more than "just a grade." Oakland High School teacher Jackie Begrin reports on how much harder students in the SBE ACORA (A Coalition of Raw Artists) work to develop their designs when there is the possibility of selling their work to the public.
The experiential learning cycle in Figure 1 captures this philosophy of learning. It places experiences in a context that includes reflection, expansion, and application of the learning resulting from these steps. The activities suggested for use in this module are designed for use in this cycle. Above all, SBEs need to strive to provide students with quality experiences. In Dewey's (1938) words,
It is not enough to insist upon the necessity of experience nor even of activity in experience. Everything depends upon the quality of the experience which is had. The quality of any experience has two aspects. There is an immediate aspect of agreeableness or disagreeableness, and there is its influence upon later experiences. (p. 27)
Assumption #3: SBEs Can, and Should, Model Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship
American
schools do more than just prepare young people to enter the workforce. They
also have a responsibility and an opportunity to reinforce the values of
community and accountability that are essential to the effective functioning of
a democratic society. As part of the school, SBEs can and should model
enterprises which operate as good corporate citizens.
Mention the word "entrepreneur" and many Americans will visualize someone who is self-centered, opportunistic, and greedy. Beyond that impression, entrepreneurs include individuals who establish nonprofit organizations to address pressing social needs, as well as for-profit entrepreneurs who operate their enterprises in a socially responsible manner.
The challenge for SBEs is to operate sustainably from an economic perspective while contributing to the greater good. Using an SBE's profits for scholarships to further the education of its employees is one concrete, and widely practiced, strategy to support a school's mission of preparing students for further education. But SBEs can do more. They can be operated sustainably from a social and environmental perspective, too.
What might this look like? An SBE serving food might provide its customers with healthy fare and educate them about the need for good nutrition, while minimizing its environmental impact. An SBE based in the automotive shop of a school that provides oil changes could make sure that the oil is recycled and educate its customers about the environmental advantages of keeping their cars in tune.
Food from the `Hood (FFH) at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles is one excellent example of an SBE that blends good business with good citizenship. Created as a positive response to the riots in South Central Los Angeles in 1992, FFH began as a garden at the high school where students grew organic produce for sale to local residents. This enterprise met an important community need, since many grocery stores had been destroyed in the riots. The SBE has evolved over time. Today, students continue to maintain a garden and in addition create recipes for salad dressings which are produced by a local salad dressing bottler. Students learn horticulture and nutrition along with how to operate a successful business. Profits from the business are used to provide scholarships for its student-owners.
Who's Minding the Store? is meant not as the definitive word in how to develop effective SBEs, but, rather, as a first step on the path to providing educators with useful tools. We hope the guide's materials and strategies prove useful to teachers, administrators, students, and community members as they strive to create and operate SBEs which are productive learning experiences.
As a way to foster dialogue among SBE educators, REAL Enterprises is offering professional development workshops for SBE educators beginning in the summer of 1999. These workshops will offer educators a chance to network with other SBE practitioners and practice approaches introduced in this guide. Furthermore, we hope these workshops can lay the groundwork for developing an active national network of SBE educators. Educators interested in attending a workshop should contact REAL Enterprises (see below).
We welcome your comments on the guide. We'd like to know what did or didn't work for you, which sections or materials were useful, and how we can improve the guide. In future editions of Who's Minding the Store?,we would like to offer examples of successful approaches and strategies from "the field." Please send suggestions, questions, or inquiries about this guide or the SBE workshops to
| Rick Larson, National Director
REAL Enterprises 115 Market Street, Suite 320 Durham, NC 27701 Phone: (800) 798-0643 Fax: (919) 682-7621 E-mail: ricklarson@mindspring.com |
What is the educator's role in the creation and operation of a school-based enterprise (SBE)?
As outlined in Assumption #2 in the Preface, this guide assumes that the educator's primary role is to ensure that students are learning from their SBE experience. To maximize this learning, we encourage teachers to use student-centered learning as the basis for working with students. REAL Enterprises has found the use of the following two related teaching tools to be especially helpful to educators interested in utilizing student-centered learning:
| 1. | The Experiential Learning Cycle (see Figure 1), as described in the REAL Entrepreneurship Curriculum Guide(1994). |
| 2. | Case
Western Reserve University professor David Kolb's FORMAT approach to
understanding learning styles, which maintains that one way to understand how
someone learns is to focus on the learner's preferences for taking in
information (on a continuum of concrete to abstract) and for processing
information (on a continuum of active to passive). For example, a student who
prefers to take in information abstractly and process it passively will be
comfortable in a classroom where lecture is the primary method of teaching.
Conversely, a student who prefers to take in information concretely and process
it actively is likely to learn best in a laboratory environment. Understanding that students prefer a range of learning can help an educator learn to teach "to all learning styles." All students thereby have a chance to learn in the way they prefer for some portion of the class, while being challenged to expand their comfort zone at other times. |
The activities suggested for use in Sections II and III of this guide provide learning opportunities that can complement "traditional" teaching methods and help teachers expand their range of teaching styles. The Learning-Style Inventory Self-Scoring Inventory and Interpretation Booklet,available from Hay/McBer Training Resources Group, Boston, Massachusetts (Phone: [800] 729-8074; website: TRG_McBer@haygroup.com) is an excellent resource for teachers interested in utilizing Kolb's approach to assessing learning styles. The References and Additional Resources section of this guide lists other publications describing how to use Kolb's model.
Figure 1
The Experiential Learning Cycle
Like an employee in a large company, a teacher in a school system--large or small--must operate within the constraints and rules of an existing organization which, in turn, must operate within the constraints of a state department of education. All organizations, and the people who operate them, can be resistant to change; an educator seeking to implement an SBE or change the way one operates is bound to encounter resistance.
In essence, an educator trying to implement a new program is acting as an entrepreneur within a system--that is, as an "intrapreneur." While there are no hard and fast rules for intrapreneurial success, here are three suggestions for making the process of internal innovation easier.
| 1. | Have a plan and clear objectives.
Taking the time to formulate a plan of action upfront and determine your objectives for the SBE can help you prioritize your efforts and articulate what you are trying to achieve. |
| 2. | Know your limitations and find allies who can help.
A myth about entrepreneurs is that they are "loners" who rely only on their own abilities to succeed. In fact, successful entrepreneurs know their strengths and weaknesses and are able to get help with their areas of weakness. Similarly, an educator innovating in a school setting needs help from others to succeed. |
| 3. | Treat other stakeholders as customers.
Ask yourself, "What does my administrator have to gain from an SBE?" "What do parents and community members have to gain?" "How about students?" Helping potential stakeholders of the SBE understand its benefits can assist in overcoming barriers. |
While little has been written about intrapreneurship in secondary school settings, the References and Additional Resources section of this guide contains several suggestions of books about intrapreneurship in the corporate and higher education settings.
Not necessarily. While a driver's education teacher will usually be riding along with student drivers (facilitating the experience), there are aspects of the process that must remain in his or her control. For example, it would be irresponsible of the teacher to let a student keep the keys overnight, and it would be unrealistic to expect the students to take responsibility for maintaining the car's oil level. Furthermore, there are times when the teacher may need to take the wheel (to demonstrate parallel parking) or lecture (to impart information on traffic signs).
Similarly, the educator working with students in an SBE will need to be flexible. In certain situations, it will be important for the educator to retain control. For example, any SBE handling cash requires strict financial and teacher oversight, due to the legal and public relations importance of handling funds correctly. Other aspects of the enterprise may provide opportunities for students to exercise their own judgment once they have gained a basic understanding of the tasks. In these cases, an educator might provide some direct instruction and then take a more facilitative role. In general, it is important that the educator be comfortable with a range of roles and a variety of teaching methods.
If you are a teacher contemplating starting an SBE, we suggest that you pause to consider the following questions:
| 1. | Are you willing to commit time to helping run a business? How much? |
| 2. | Are you willing to try a variety of approaches to teaching? |
| 3. | Are you willing to give up some control of your classroom? |
| 4. | What are you willing to risk? |
There are, of course, no right or wrong answers to these questions. However, because of the demands inherent in any SBE, no matter how small or simple, if a teacher's answers to the first three questions are not positive, then an SBE--at least one that provides quality learning and entrepreneurial experiences--may not be a good choice.
Deciding what you are willing to risk can help you determine how much control you'll need to exert and the questions you'll need to pose to students. For example, are you willing to risk . . .
All of these instances can be rich learning experiences, but you (and your students) must determine the level of risk you are willing to accept.
Teachers working with SBEs face many of the same challenges that a driver's education teacher does. Not only must they help a group of young people with different skills and temperaments "keep the car [SBE] on the road," they must organize and deliver a classroom component which helps students make sense of the experience of driving a car (running an SBE) and avoid costly errors.
Based on REAL's experience working with a number of SBEs and observing and learning about others, Figure 2 summarizes the "7 C's," a list of seven key issues that are critical to creating a profitable SBE from the perspective of both money and learning. Teachers can use these "7 C's"--Commitment, Control, Cash, Continuity/Closure, Community, Cooperation, and Curriculum--as a guide in the design and operation of SBEs.
The activities and strategies suggested in this guide touch on each of the C's in some way; the questions posed in Figure 2 are only intended as a starting point for teachers. Depending on the SBE chosen by a school, certain C's may be more important than others. For example, if an SBE serves a market outside the school, then Community will be a particularly important category to explore.
Figure 2
The Seven C's for Successful Student-Run School-Based Enterprises
| Key Questions | Strategies for Success | ||||||||||||||||
| Commitment |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Control |
|
School-based enterprises (SBEs) get started in many different ways. In a rural community, the only hardware store closes and school administrators and other community members feel the need to start a new one. An urban science teacher may stumble upon the need for an SBE as she experiments with ways to add a hands-on dimension to her classroom. Students may decide a school needs a snack bar.
Regardless of who comes up with the idea, this guide assumes that responsibility for working with students will rest ultimately with a teacher. Furthermore, the teacher will be the primary engine for creating an SBE that blends profitability, learning opportunities, and social responsibility.
This section describes strategies and activities educators can use to involve an SBE's "stakeholders"--those who have a stake in how the SBE is to be set up and operated. In addition to the students and educator (who will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the SBE and therefore have much at stake), stakeholders might include the following individuals:
It is wise to involve stakeholders as early as possible in the process. Most people appreciate being asked for their opinion and input on a project that affects them in some way. Even if a stakeholder does not end up with a large role in the SBE, he or she will have a chance to contribute his or her thoughts.
The steps outlined in this section should be useful even if you already operate an SBE. Indeed, all projects and enterprises can benefit from the steps outlined in this section, regardless of how long they have been underway. These activities can be good "shots in the arm." For example, it can be very useful to clarify goals and objectives for an SBE that has been operating for some time, for it may provide an opportunity for stakeholders to better understand each others' interests and needs. Or, developing a plan for an SBE that has been running for some time without one may help in identifying new products or services.
The following are a series of steps to help educators get the SBE off to a good start:
| 1. | Clarify goals and objectives for the SBE |
| 2. | Build a team |
| 3. | Choose a business idea |
| 4. | Write a business plan |
| 5. | Present the plan |
We emphasize the need to develop a business plan for the SBE. Planning has several benefits:
Even if (and perhaps especially if) an SBE idea is to be pursued regardless of its merit (for example, a teacher is told by the principal that he or she will start an SBE that does not seem feasible), a business plan involving students and other stakeholders is critical. If the idea is a good one, the business plan should confirm its merit. If it isn't, the plan can help the teacher and students argue for a different idea. At the end of this section, you will find a number of "Tools," activities and forms you may wish to use to accomplish the steps outlined in the section.
Unclear or unrealistic expectations can be a major problem for an SBE. In considering the same SBE idea, an administrator might see a chance to raise funds for a department, a teacher might see a way to teach job skills, and students may view it as simply a chance to create an afterschool job. These varying perspectives can lead to misunderstandings and conflict as the SBE moves from an idea to reality.
With a little preparation and forethought, schools can defuse a potentially difficult situation. First, identifying and acknowledging the variety of viewpoints among stakeholders can help them see the SBE in a bigger context and provide an opportunity to create an SBE that is a "win-win" situation. Second, being clear upfront about what an SBE can realistically accomplish--monetarily and educationally--can help the stakeholders in an SBE avoid disappointment and disenchantment down the road.
Here are some suggested steps for clarifying SBE goals and objectives:
| A. | Arrange a meeting to discuss the goals and objectives of the SBE, to be led by the teacher who will be working with the SBE. Invite potential SBE stakeholders (see the list on the previous page for suggestions). Suggested agenda:
|
| B. | Provide participants with a concise, written summary of the goals of the SBE. |
| C. | Create a flow chart describing the roles of administrators, teachers, and students in creating and operating the SBE. (Figure 3 contains the matrix developed by Deborah McKoy, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, to describe key stakeholders' responsibilities in the Oakland Unified School District's [OUSD's] AcademiesWork initiative. OUSD's Career Academies created a broad range of SBEs to provide work-based learning experiences for students. The Media Academy at Fremont High School, for example, operates a radio station, newspaper, and magazine.) |
We offer the OUSD chart as an example of one way to describe the roles of various stakeholders in the process. The stakeholders in another school or school system may be different; for example, the level of participation by the District Office and local community organizations may be unique to OUSD, due to the systemwide nature of the Oakland effort. Nonetheless, this approach to describing the roles of interested parties can be very useful to educators undertaking an SBE. A blank matrix is included as Tool #2 at the end of this section.
Figure 3
OUSD Academies Work Student-Run Enterprise Phase Chart, 1997-1999
| Partners | Phase 1 (Summer)
Prep-Time | Phase 2
Planning | Phase 3
Start-Up | Phase 4
Operating | |||||||||||||||
| Student Owners (SOs) |
|
|
|
SBEs provide an opportunity for students (and other stakeholders) to learn to work together effectively. Not only will a well-working team help ensure the success of the SBE, but developing the ability to work well with a group is an important skill for young people to carry with them as they graduate, enter the workforce, participate in communities, and start families.
Since schools do not always provide opportunities for students to work together (it's often called "cheating"), a teacher may find it useful to help students practice and reflect on the process of working together. The following exercises--or others focusing on group process skills--may be useful.
Selecting the right business idea is an important step in the process of establishing a successful SBE. Figure 4, "Ideas for School-Based Enterprises," a list generated by teachers at the REAL Institute in the summer of 1998, demonstrates the range of ideas that might be chosen for an SBE.
The process outlined below assumes that an interested group of students (along with other stakeholders if necessary) will be involved in this important choice; however, the same process could be undertaken by an individual. In any event, before starting on the process, be sure to share the following information with the group:
Figure 4
Ideas for School-Based Enterprises
(Generated by teachers at the REAL Institute, July 1998)
| Art co-op
Auto repair, detailing Bakery Baseball card (collectibles) shop Bookstore/newsstand Card shop Carpet cleaning Catering CD, audio book resale Coffee shop Comic book shop Community newspaper Computer (and other equipment) repair, resale, technical assistance Concession stand Copying center Crafts Day care Custodial services DJ service Elder care/delivery service Entertainment management Event planning/management Food cart Framing Greenhouse Hair/nail salon Internet cafe | Jewelry making
Laminating Laundry service Maid service Mailing/packaging service Malt shop (after school) Photography Pig breeding chain Printing/publishing Private child care Product construction (industrial arts) Prom services Recycling service Saturday morning business School store Shoe care Shopping service Ski sharpening, repair Snowmobile repair Student credit union Swap shop Tailoring Tutorial service Typing/word processing service Vegetable stand Vintage clothing Wallpapering Wood splitting, delivery |
This last point is especially important. If students can truly choose the type of SBE they wish to plan and operate, they need to know that theymust make this decision. If their role is simply to recommend--to a teacher or to an administrator--the type of business that should be pursued, they need to know that, too. The process can work either way, but it is important that the teacher know ahead of time who is making the decision and communicate this to the group.
Once a promising SBE idea has been chosen, it is time to write a business plan for the idea. The business plan covers the three major components of any business--finances, marketing, and operations--plus a fourth area critical for SBEs: social responsibility. The business plan represents the planners' best educated guesses about how the business will function: how much money will be required at the start, how much money it will make, who will buy its products and services, what it will take to operate the business day-to-day, and how the business will use its resources to serve the school and larger community.
How long should the business plan be? How detailed? The answers to these questions depend on the SBE itself--for example, how complicated it is to run, how many products and services it will sell. One successful framework for developing a business plan for an SBE has been developed by Ann Smith, the instructor for the Business and Management (BAM) program at the Sno-Isle Skills Center in Everett, Washington. The areas addressed in the "BAM Business Mini Business Plan" (Tool #8) should be sufficient for most SBEs.
The business planning process is an excellent opportunity for collaboration between the SBE and academic programs, since there are abundant chances to utilize English, math, and research skills. If the SBE is linked to a particular academic area, the plan may be an opportunity for students to investigate some aspect of that discipline. For example, if the business is to be a photography studio, there are many learning opportunities in the area of science: how a camera works, the chemistry of the developing process, the environmental impact, and methods for safe handling of the chemicals used in the process.
Tool 1 |
GOAL POST
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
20-40 minutes
Procedure:
| 1. | Identify a particular project or period of time for which you want students to set goals (e.g., completing the business plan). | |
| 2. | Discuss the importance of goal setting and some ways to make the process more effective. One way to think about goals is to make them SMART (source unknown): | |
| S | Specific: Decide exactly what it is you want to accomplish, learn, or do and express it in specific terms. | |
| M | Measurable: How will you know when you've accomplished your goal? Figure out a way to measure your success. | |
| A | Attainable: Set yourself up for success; reach high, but not so high that your goal is out of reach. | |
| R | Responsible: Determine who is responsible for accomplishing the goal, and create circumstances that reinforce each person's responsibility. Start by publicizing the goal. | |
| T | Timed: Set a deadline (or several) and stick to it. | |
| 3. | Distribute copies of the "Goal Post" grid. Use one of your own goals to illustrate how to use the grid. In particular, explain that large goals such as completing the business plan should be divided into smaller, more manageable pieces. | |
| 4. | Ask participants to fill in the grid, making it SMART. | |
| 5. | Allow time for participants to post the goals they've set (orally and then on a bulletin board, for instance). Leave the grid sheets posted so that students keep the goals in sight and in mind. | |
| 6. | Frequently revisit the goals and check off those that have been accomplished. Celebrate success! If necessary, revise goals or set new ones to reflect changing needs or circumstances. | |
Reflection:
Discuss with students the effect of setting goals and then the feeling of accomplishing them. Questions such as these may be useful:
| Journal: Review your "Goal Post" grid and make a list of the things you'll need to obtain or do in order to achieve the goals you've set. For example, in order to achieve the goal of writing a mission statement for your business, you might need to collect examples from other businesses first. |
Bridges:
| Name:___________________________________ | Date:____________________ |
Goal Post
| What is your goal? What do you want to achieve? | Who can help you achieve the goal? | When do you hope to complete it? | How will you accomplish the goal? | How will you know you've succeeded? |
| 1. | ||||
| 2. | ||||
| 3. | ||||
| 4. | ||||
| 5. |
Tool 2 |
School-Based Enterprise
Implementation Roles and Responsibilities
| Stakeholder | Phase I Preparation | Phase II Planning | Phase III Approval & Start-up | Phase IV Operating |
| Students | ||||
| Teacher(s) | ||||
| Administrators | ||||
| Community/Business | ||||
| Other: | ||||
| Other: |
Tool 3 |
BROKEN SQUARES
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
45 minutes
Procedure:
| 1. | Prepare sets of broken squares in advance, following the directions attached. |
| 2. | Begin the activity by asking participants to define "cooperation" and to list behaviors and qualities which contribute to it. List responses on the board. |
| 3. | Explain that you would like them to participate in an exercise that will require cooperation. Encourage them to practice the behaviors and qualities they identified in their discussion. |
| 4. | Divide participants into groups of six and ask each group to choose an Observer. Give each Observer a copy of the "Observer Instruction Sheet" and the broken squares envelopes for his or her group. Ask him or her not to distribute the envelopes until you give the signal. |
| 5. | Distribute a "Group Instruction Sheet" to each group. Go over the instructions together, then ask if there are any questions. |
| 6. | Give the signal for groups to begin working. During the exercise, circulate among the groups to enforce the rules established on the instruction sheet. |
| 7. | When all groups have completed the task, proceed with the debrief. |
Reflection:
Lead a discussion of the activity with questions such as these:
Bridges:
Each of you will be given an envelope containing pieces of paper which form squares. Your group's task is to form five squares of equal size, one square in front of each participant (not including the Observer). The rules are as follows:
| 1. | You may not speak, point, write messages, or communicate in any way.
|
| 2. | You may GIVE pieces away but may not TAKE pieces from others.
|
| 3. | You may not put pieces into the center of the table for others to take.
|
| 4. | You may give away pieces even if you have completed a square.
|
| 5. | All pieces must be used.
|
| 6. | Everyone in the group must have a completed square at the end.
|
After you have reviewed the rules above, give this sheet to your group's Observer. He or she will help enforce the rules during the exercise.
As the group's Observer, you have two roles. First, you are to help your instructor enforce the rules on the "Group Instruction Sheet." Second, you should watch carefully and answer the following questions:
| 1. | Who is willing to give away pieces of the puzzle?
|
| 2. | What do participants do when they have completed their squares?
|
| 3. | Does anyone struggle with his or her square but refuse to give pieces away?
|
| 4. | Who is actively engaged in solving the puzzle?
|
| 5. | Describe the emotions of the group. What is the level of frustration?
|
| 6. | Do you notice a turning point at which the group begins to work together?
|
| 7. | Does anyone try to violate the rules? How do they respond when you enforce the rules?
|
| 1. | Determine how many groups you will have (6 participants per group). You will need one set of squares for each group of six. | ||||||
| |||||||
| 2. | Make copies of the diagrams on the following pages on colored card stock. You will need one set of copies for each group. Be sure you don't mark on or cut up the originals. | ||||||
| |||||||
| 3. | Carefully cut the pieces along the lines. | ||||||
| 4. | For each set, scramble the pieces and put them randomly into five envelopes. Vary the number of pieces (2, 3, or 4) in each envelope. Put an elastic band around the five envelopes and keep them separate from the other sets. | ||||||
| |||||||
| 5. | The "solution" to the "Broken Squares" puzzle is illustrated on the following pages. Only share this with class members if no one can solve the puzzle! | ||||||
| 
| 
|
Tool 4 |
STRUCTURES
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
60 minutes
Procedure:
| 1. | Divide participants into groups of three to five people. Choose a variation (1, 2, or 3 above) and distribute materials to each group. Ask them not to touch the materials until you have given instructions. |
| 2. | Give the following instructions:
Variation 1: "As a team, you are to plan and build a free-standing shelter which you can all fit inside, using only the newspapers and the tape. No other supports (such as walls, chairs, or ceiling) may be used, but you may tape your shelter to the floor if you wish. Total time for this task is 30 minutes. You may take as much time as you wish for planning, but once you start building, you may not go back to the planning stage. During planning, you may talk but not touch the materials. During building, you may touch the materials but not talk. Are there any questions?" Variation 2: "As a team, you are to build the tallest tower possible using only the tape and drinking straws. No other supports or materials may be used. Total time for this task is 20 minutes. You may take as much time as you wish for planning, but once you start building, you may not go back to the planning stage. During planning, you may talk but not touch the materials. During building, you may touch the materials but not talk. Are there any questions?" Variation 3: "As a team, you are to build the tallest tower possible using only the spaghetti and gumdrops. No other supports or materials may be used. Total time for this task is 20 minutes. You may take as much time as you wish for planning, but once you start building, you may not go back to the planning stage. During planning, you may talk but not touch the materials. During building, you may touch the materials but not talk. Are there any questions?" |
| 3. | Be sure instructions are clear, then start the clock. |
| 4. | Circulate among the groups while they are planning and building their structures (you may need to enforce the rules). Announce the time remaining periodically. After 30 (20) minutes, call time. Be sure everyone has a chance to show off their structure before the debriefing. Groups may clean up at this point or wait until after the debriefing. |
Reflection:
Use questions such as the following to debrief the exercise:
Bridges:
Tool 5 |
BRAINSTORMING
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
10-30 minutes
Procedure:
The
object of "Brainstorming" is to generate a great number of ideas, data, or
solutions without evaluation. The process promotes divergent thinking, reduces
participants' inhibitions, increases creativity, and involves all group
members. Develop questions or problems to be addressed prior to the
Brainstorming session. The steps for Brainstorming are as follows:
| 1. | Review the rules for Brainstorming with participants:
|
| 2. | Work in groups of not more than about 12 members to encourage individual participation. Instruct each group to choose a recorder. |
| 3. | Present the question or topic to the class. |
| 4. | Allow 5-10 minutes for participants to list ideas or answers in one of two ways:
|
| 5. | Continue the session for a few minutes after the flow of ideas starts to slow. The best ideas often come at the end of a session. |
| 6. | If the class has been divided into groups, ask the recorders to share their group's ideas with the class. |
| 7. | Type the results of the Brainstorming session and distribute them to participants, if appropriate. |
Variations:
Tips:
Tool 6 |
SCHOOL-BASED ENTERPRISE IDEA FEASIBILITY SCAN
| Evaluator:________________________________ | Date:__________________ |
| Business Idea: | |
| 1. | What need(s) in the school or surrounding community does the proposed business meet?
|
| 2. | Would this business compete with other businesses, clubs, or projects inside or outside the school?
|
| 3. | Is the idea an appropriate one for a school to sponsor? Will the school be proud of the business? Why or why not?
|
| 4. | What facilities in the school would the business need to use, and are they available?
|
| 5. | What other classes in the school might provide assistance or help students gain knowledge on topics that would apply to the business?
|
| 6. | What expertise would the students and teacher(s) working in the business need to make the business successful? |
Tool 7 |
BANKER/ENTREPRENEUR
Purpose:
| Note: This activity is useful early in the business planning process, when participants may or may not have any prior knowledge of business plans and the planning process. The instructor should be familiar with the components of the business plan (see the following outline) and share the outline after the activity is over. |
Materials:
Time:
90 minutes
Procedure:
| 1. | Without giving away the "identity" of each group, divide the class into two groups (bankers and entrepreneurs) of no more than six people each. If the class has more than 12 participants, create additional groups. There should be the same number of "banker" groups as "entrepreneur" groups. | |
| 2. | Send the banker groups into a separate room. | |
| 3. | Without letting the groups hear each other's instructions, give each group a copy of the appropriate instructions, review them, and answer any questions about the assigned task. Give each group flip chart paper and a marker, and tell them they have 30 minutes to complete the task. | |
| 4. | Ask groups choose a recorder, facilitator, and presenter. They should then proceed with the task. | |
| ||
| 5. | While groups are working on the task, arrange the chairs in one room into two rows, facing each other across a space (or table) of about six feet. When they have finished working, ask the groups to come back together and sit with all the bankers on one side and all the entrepreneurs on the other. | |
| 6. | Ask the entrepreneurs to present their outlines first. If there is more than one group of entrepreneurs, allow all the groups to report. | |
| 7. | Next, ask the bankers to share their outlines in the same way. | |
| 8. | Encourage participants to suggest additional items for the outline. If they have not already realized it, help participants understand that what they have created is, essentially, a business plan outline. | |
| 9. | Hand out the REAL Business Plan Outline and allow discussion. Explain that business plans come in many forms; this one should work for most microenterprises. |
Reflection:
Facilitate a discussion based on questions such as the following:
Bridges:
You have money that you are willing to lend or invest in a business.
Your group's task is to outline what you would need to know about a potential borrower and his or her business before lending money. Try to create an outline that fits almost any business, not one specific business. Group topics under sections. You may want to use questions to get at the details in each section. For example, in the Management section, you might include the following questions:
At the assigned time, you will present your outline to a group of entrepreneurs (potential borrowers).
Before you start, assign three people in the group to the following roles:
Recorder - to write down the ideas as the group comes up with them
Facilitator - to keep the discussion moving and see that everyone has a chance to participate
Presenter - to share the group's ideas with the class
---------------------------------------------- cut here --------------------------------------
You want to start a business, and you need a substantial loan in order to do so.
Your group's task is to outline the information you would use to convince potential lenders to finance your business. Try to create an outline that fits almost any business, not one specific business. Group topics under sections. You may want to use questions to get at the details in each section. For example, in the Management section, you might include the following questions:
At the assigned time, you will present your outline to a group of bankers (potential lenders).
Before you start, assign three people in the group to the following roles:
Recorder - to write down the ideas as the group comes up with them
Facilitator - to keep the discussion moving and see that everyone has a chance to participate
Presenter - to share the group's ideas with the class
| I. | Executive Summary
One page summary of the plan: purpose, who prepared it, brief description of the business, its products and owners, and form of organization. If you are seeking a loan, include the amount requested, over what period you wish to repay it, the use of the loan proceeds, collateral you are prepared to offer, and your equity investment. | ||
| II. | Product or Service
Detailed description of the product or service (include an example or photo if possible) | ||
|
| A. | If you are selling a product: key suppliers and your terms and arrangements with them | |
|
| B. | If you are selling a service: which services will be provided at the business location and which will be delivered "in the field" | |
| III. | Marketing
| ||
|
| A. | Target market/customer profile: specify age, gender, income, preferences, location, and so on | |
|
| B. | Industry analysis: what the trends are in your industry | |
|
| C. | Market analysis: total market size and the share you will capture, seasonality, unique aspects | |
|
| D. | Describe the "five P's" for your business | |
| 1. | Product: how you will design and package your product/service | ||
| 2. | Price: how you will price your product/service | ||
| 3. | Place: how products (and related services) are distributed to the consumer | ||
| 4. | Promotion: what media and marketing methods you will use to generate awareness and interest about your product/service; include examples of your promotional materials (brochures, print ads, copy for radio ads, calendar of events for special/regular promotions) | ||
| 5. | People: who will be responsible for marketing your product/service | ||
|
| E. | Competition: list of competitors by name, location, and their strengths and weaknesses; how you will succeed against them; how they will react to your entry into the market | |
| IV. | Operations
| ||
|
| A. | Legal structure and why you chose it; include legal/governing documents (articles of incorporation and by-laws for corporation, partnership agreement for partnership) | |
|
| B. | Management and personnel | |
| 1. | Who the key managers/owners are and what relevant experience and background they bring to the business (include résumés) | ||
| 2. | Describe non-management positions, responsibilities/qualifications, personnel policies | ||
|
| C. | Customer service: procedures and policies regarding your work and how you will treat customers | |
|
| D. | Location and operations | |
| 1. | Your facility, including a store layout, description of business image, hours of operation | ||
| 2. | Operations plan: how you will deliver your product/service to the customer, from start to finish (who does what tasks, how long it takes, etc.) | ||
| 3. | Renovations and equipment list (including prices and condition--new or used) | ||
| 4. | Taxes to be paid, licenses required, and insurance needed | ||
|
| E. | Key people: who will provide accounting and legal services, technical assistance and support | |
| V. | Financials
| ||
|
| A. | Cash flow projections for three years | |
| 1. | Loan amortization schedule | ||
| 2. | Detailed assumptions for each line item | ||
|
| B. | Breakeven analysis | |
|
| C. | Personal financial statement for all owners, co-signers | |
|
| D. | Risk factors: identify major risks and describe how business will overcome them | |
Tool 8: |
BAM BUSINESS MINI BUSINESS PLAN
| Executive Summary
|
| Business name:
|
| The purpose or mission of the business:
|
| The image you wish this business to portray:
|
| Form
of ownership of the business will be a partnership. To cover the situations
that may arise with this form of ownership, complete the attached partnership
agreement for your group.
|
Partner Information
| Name | Address | Phone # |
| How will the responsibilities of the business be shared?
| ||
| How will decisions about the business be made?
| ||
| How will the profits of the business be shared?
| ||
| What happens if a partner leaves the business?
| ||
| What other miscellaneous information needs to be recorded?
| ||
| By signing below, all partners indicate their agreement to and will abide by the above specifications. | ||
| Partner signatures: | Date:
| |
| Describe in detail the product(s) or service(s) your business will be providing.
|
| Prepare and attach a sample menu, product list, sample book, or other information on your product(s) or service(s).
|
| What are the benefits of your product(s) or service(s)?
|
| List the suppliers you will be using for the product(s) or service(s) of your business: | ||
| Vendor Name | Address | Phone # |
| Describe your target customer:
|
| Expected age:
|
| Expected gender:
|
| Financial status:
|
| Where will you typically find your target customer?
|
| What need or want will your product(s) or service(s) provide for your target customer?
|
| Complete the attached market research questionnaire and obtain answers from ten potential target customers. |
| 1. What do you think about the name of the business? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
2. How much would you pay for our product(s) or service(s)? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
3. How would you improve our business idea? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
4. What do you think are the main selling points of our business? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
5. How should we promote our business? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
6. What other product(s) or service(s) do you suggest for our business? | |
| #1 _____________________________ | #6 _____________________________ |
| #2 _____________________________ | #7 _____________________________ |
| #3 _____________________________ | #8 _____________________________ |
| #4 _____________________________ | #9 _____________________________ |
| #5 _____________________________ | #10 _____________________________ |
Attach here a sample of your business' logo.
Describe your three main competitors:
| Name | Location | Strength | Weakness |
| 1. | |||
| 2. | |||
| 3. | |||
What is your business' competitive edge over the competition?
Describe the marketing method(s) that will be used to sell to your customers.
What are your projected monthly sales goals for the business?
| Sept. $ __________ | Jan. $__________ | Apr. $ __________ |
| Oct. $ __________ | Feb. $ __________ | May $ __________ |
| Nov. $ __________ | Mar. $ __________ | June $ __________ |
| Dec. $ __________ |
How did you arrive at these projections? Show your calculations.
What are your costs to produce your product(s) or service(s)? Itemize below and total:
What will you be selling the item for?
What will your profit be on each item?
What will your profit % be?
In
the space below (and on additional sheets if necessary), write a step-by-step
description of how your product(s) or service(s) will be ordered and produced.
Set up any forms or notebooks that will be used in your system. Try to be as
detailed as possible so that someone entering the business a month from now
could read this and be able to complete the process.
Complete the "BAM Business Rotation Schedule" for the year.
Determine the "Code of Conduct" your business wishes to follow:
Complete and attach a "Weekly Chores" form or similar schedule to assign cleaning and miscellaneous tasks. This schedule can be for as long a period of time as you wish.
Draw and attach a facility layout of your business, including all equipment,
supplies, and inventory. Complete
the "Weekly Chores List" to assign team members cleaning and miscellaneous
tasks. This schedule can be for as long a period of time as you wish.
Weekly Chores List
Complete
purchase requests for all initial inventory, supplies, and equipment purchases
and attach. Add the request totals together:
Estimate the cashflow of your business on the following page. What
community need would you like to address with a portion of the profits of your
business?
What
percentage of your profits will you allocate to this community need?
In
what other ways will your business practice social responsibility?
DRUMROLL, PLEASE . . .
Purpose:
Time:
Procedure:
Preparing for the Question and Answer Session
Purchasing Request
Date:_________________________
Prepared By:_________________________
Business:__________________________
Vendor:_________________________
Item
Stock # Quantity Unit Price Total
Total
Sales Promotion Plan
Business: _____________________________
Month
October
Theme
Activities
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
Operations Plan
What are your hours of operation?
Complete on the attached "BAM Business Production Schedule" a step-by-step description of how your product(s) or service(s) will be ordered and produced. Set up any forms or notebooks that will be used in your system.
Complete the attached "Monthly Inventory Count" to document all of your start-up inventory. When finished, compare it to last year's final count if available.
List all customer services and policies you will offer in your business:
What environmental issues affect your business and how will you deal with them?
What taxes are applicable to the business? What are their rates or costs?
What permits or licenses apply to the business?
What do they cost?
Who needs to have them?
How are they obtained?
If applicable, list the partners of the business and check them off as they obtain the required permits.
What equipment or production training is required to perform the duties of this business?
Create a training schedule and track completion of the training by each partner.
BAM Business Production Schedule
Monthly Inventory Count
Date
Counted
by
Plu #
Item Description
Start
Inv.
+
Units
Rec.
-
Units
Sold
=
Ending
Inv.
Phys.
Count
Over/
Short
Explanation
BAM Business Training Schedule
Business: _____________________________
List
the training activities that need to take place to be able to complete
production and use all of the equipment in your business. List the names of
each partner across the top and indicate when each of them are "competent" to
perform the activity by entering the date in the appropriate box.
Training
Activity
MANAGEMENT, STAFFING, AND FACILITY PLAN
BAM Business Rotation Schedule
Rotation #1 - October-November
Merchandising
Operations
Team Leader/Personnel
Financial
Marketing
Rotation #2 - December-January
Merchandising
Operations
Team Leader/Personnel
Financial
Marketing
Rotation #3 - February
Merchandising
Operations
Team Leader/Personnel
Financial
Marketing
Rotation #4 - March
Merchandising
Operations
Team Leader/Personnel
Financial
Marketing
Rotation #5 - April
Merchandising
Operations
Team Leader/Personnel
Financial
Marketing
Completed by: ____________________________
Business: ______________________
Dates: ______________ through _______________
Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Financial Plan
$ __________
$ __________
$ __________
Start-Up Month: Month: Month:
Month: Month: Month: Month:
Month: Month: Month:
Beginning Cash Balance
Income= ______%
Increase Over Last Year's
Sales
Expenses
Ending Cash Balance
Social Responsibility
Tool 9:
Activity: Drumroll, Please . . .
Note:
Students are ready for this activity when the final drafts of the business plan
are complete. All participants, not just those who will apply for loans, should
present their plans. As the instructor, you will have to make arrangements in
advance to be sure the equipment, people, and atmosphere are in place to make
"Drumroll, Please . . ." a suitable culmination of the class's accomplishments.
This is an excellent opportunity to involve members of the community.
Materials:
Preparing the Presentation
1.
Distribute
copies of "Preparing Your Presentation" and go over guidelines together. Answer
questions and make it clear that everyone will participate, and that the
presentations are a "big deal." If possible, schedule presentations at this
time (deadlines help!).
2.
In
groups of three to five, students should take turns answering the Ten Topics
questions on the handout. Encourage them to give each other constructive
feedback and to take notes for themselves.
3.
Ask
participants to create an outline of the presentation and then fill in specific
information from their business plans. Encourage students NOT to write a
script, but simply to make notes for each section. Scripted presentations
usually sound stiff and tentative.
4.
Encourage
students to practice their presentations several times for various audiences
(parents, peers, the mirror, and so on) before stepping into the spotlight. If
possible, allow students to videotape their practice sessions in order to
review and critique themselves.
Tip:
Reviewing the videotape on fast-forward emphasizes the speaker's physical
gestures and mannerisms. Physical idiosyncrasies (talking with hands, crossing
arms, excessive body movement) will be apparent on fast-forward.
5.
Ask
participants to trade business plans. Each person reads another person's
business plan, and for each section writes at least one probing question (a
question that seeks new or additional information) about the topic addressed.
Readers switch plans and repeat the process until every plan has been read and
questioned at least three times (plans will take varying amounts of time to
review).
6.
Return
the plan to its author. Students should use the questions to prepare for the
Q&A session of the presentation.
Additional Preparation
| 7. | Distribute copies of the "Observation Record" and use it to go over your expectations for the presentations. If students are earning a grade for the class, be sure the presentation figures significantly in that grade, and explain clearly the criteria. You may prefer to have the class devise its own review instrument and grading scale rather than using the "Observation Record." |
| 8. | Explain that each student presenter will be evaluated by a team of four to six reviewers. At least two of these should be fellow students (allow the student to choose one of his or her peer reviewers). You may need to coach students in advance on how to give honest, specific, constructive criticism (their tendency is to be too easy and "polite" with each other). |
| 9. | Prepare outside reviewers for their role in the presentations. Send them copies of the business plans to be presented at least one week in advance, or allow time before/between presentations to scan the next plan. You may also find it useful to give them copies of "Preparing Your Presentation" and the "Observation Record" so that they know the standards they are to apply. Emphasize that the reviewers' role is to evaluate the plan, the presentation, and the student's readiness to implement the plan. Confirm in writing where and when the presentations are to take place. |
| 10. | Assign
people to each of the following roles for the day of the presentations:
|
| 11. | Be sure expectations, schedule, and responsibilities for the day of presentations are clear to everyone. Visitors to the class should be made to feel welcome and be impressed with the overall organization and "polish" of the event. |
Show Time!
| 12. | Depending on the size of the class, you may decide to spread the presentations out over several sessions, or to highlight only the best three to five plans. However it is done, be sure each presenter is given the same eager attention and amount of time. |
| 13. | If nametags are used, be sure all students and visitors have them. |
| 14. | Hand out the list of presenters/businesses so that everyone knows the order of presentations. |
| 15. | Introduce outside reviewers and other visitors to class. Check that reviewers have the plans and forms they need. |
| 16. | Just before each presentation, choose the peer reviewers for the presentation (see #8 above) and give them copies of the "Observation Record." Be sure they are seated where they can see and hear. |
| 17. | For each presentation, introduce the student by name and business. Remind everyone of the time limit, then proceed with the presentation. |
| 18. | Conduct presentations as follows: up to 10 minutes to speak, and up to 10 minutes for Questions and Answers, no longer than 20 minutes total (many will take less time). The timekeeper should politely but firmly keep things on schedule. |
| 19. | After all the presentations are completed, thank the presenters, reviewers, and guests. Collect copies of business plans and "Observation Records" to keep until grades are assigned or to give directly to presenters. |
Reflection:
| Journal: Using the "Observation Record" or another tool, evaluate your own (videotaped) presentation. Be sure to include positive feedback and constructive criticism. Identify changes or improvements that need to be made before presenting the plan again. |
Bridges:
You will have a total of 20 minutes to present your business plan and to answer questions from the review board. The "speech" segment may be no longer than 10 minutes. The Q&A session will also be limited to 10 minutes. Do not try to cover your entire plan in the speech; select your main points and let the review board ask about the others.
The Ten Topics: Be prepared to address, either in your speech or during the Q&A session, the following topics:
| 1. | Who are you? |
| 2. | What is the name and nature of your business? |
| 3. | How did you get interested in this business? |
| 4. | What relevant experience and qualifications do you have? |
| 5. | How much time does it take to produce one of this product/provide this service for one customer? |
| 6. | How will operating this business fit into your lifestyle? |
| 7. | How much do you expect to pay yourself on an hourly basis? |
| 8. | Who is your competition? How will you compete successfully with them? |
| 9. | On what have you based your financial projections? |
| 10. | Why do you think your business will succeed?
|
Presentation Checklist: You'll know you are ready for your presentation when you can check off all the following items:
______ Final Draft of Business Plan
______ Outline of Main Points
______ Knowledge of the Ten Topics
______ Supporting Evidence/Documentation
______ Props, Samples, Visual Aids
______ Equipment
______ Comfortable, Appropriate Clothes
______ PMA (Positive Mental Attitude)
OBSERVATION RECORD
REAL ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Presentation Skills
| Rating: | /100 | ||
| Notes: | __________ | |||
The Speech
| Rating: | /100 | ||
| Notes: | __________ | |||
Question and Answer Session
| Rating: | /100 | ||
| Notes: | __________ | |||
This section provides strategies teachers and administrators can use to augment the learning students derive from an SBE once it is up and running. These strategies also are designed to have a positive effect on the enterprise's profitability, which in turn determines the SBE's ability to generate revenue for social benefits.
Five strategies are discussed:
| 1. | Periodic replanning: rewriting the business plan each school year so that each group of students has an opportunity to "create" the business. The Sno-Isle Skills Center's Business and Management (BAM) program's approach is examined in detail. |
| 2. | Intrapreneurial ventures: identifying, researching, and implementing specific projects with the potential to improve how the SBE functions. |
| 3. | Setting and assessing learning objectives: SBEs, like any educational experience, can and should be accompanied by clearly stated objectives for student achievement. |
| 4. | Integrating the SBE with academic disciplines: determining how student involvement in the SBE can contribute to learning across the curriculum. |
| 5. | Recruiting and orienting new students: establishing a coherent approach to bringing new students into the SBE can help the business operate smoothly and improve students' acquisition of skills. The recruitment practices of Food from the `Hood at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles serve as an example. |
At the end of this section, you will find more "Tools" useful in accomplishing the above steps.
"Replanning," or periodically rewriting the business plan for an ongoing SBE, is one useful strategy for increasing the understanding and involvement of students who were not involved in the initial start-up of the SBE. What follows is a profile of the process used by Ann Smith, Business and Management Instructor at Sno-Isle Skills Center, Everett, Washington.
Close Up: The Sno-Isle Skills Center Model
The
Sno-Isle Skills Center serves students from 36 high schools in western
Washington state, north of Seattle. Smith has worked with SBEs for 15 years.
Students operate a number of SBEs in the Business and Management (BAM) class as a way to learn in a practical, hands-on setting about business management and operations. Equipment and facilities are in place for a range of enterprises, including an espresso stand, a promotional products business (which produces screen printing, stationery, mugs, and so on), a craft business, and a clothing/gift shop. Over the past few years, the BAM class has also operated other SBEs, including an outlet for sportswear produced by a local company. One idea on the drawing board entails buying and reselling samples and leftover stock from a local kitchen supply company.
Smith, a firm believer in the ability of SBEs to help students develop a wide range of skills (from entrepreneurship to team building and from employability to leadership and communication) says, "The SBEs provide lots of application for their academic work and provide them with motivation to learn more. And, for some, it's a means of income."
Practical and educational reasons led Smith to design the replanning process she uses in the BAM program. Students come to Sno-Isle from their "home" school for either a morning or afternoon session and participate in BAM for 2 1/2 hours per day, 5 days per week. Usually, they come to Sno-Isle for only one school year. For both these reasons, there is little continuity in the students Smith works with from year to year; therefore, she felt it was important to have a mechanism for allowing incoming students each year to develop ownership of the SBE. Plus, the replanning process is an opportunity for students to learn and practice important skills and be creative. Says Smith, "I want them to have a chance to come up with something better, and I want them to struggle with it a little."
Here's how the process works:
| 1. | Students apply to participate in one of the SBEs, using the Application form found in Figure 5. They then interview with Smith. |
| 2. | Once the SBE groups are chosen, the BAM class spends time learning functions that are generic to all the SBEs such as doing deposits correctly and inventory control. Students, who will rotate through different functions in their SBE, learn about each area: Financial, Merchandising, Operations, Marketing, and the Team Leader/Personnel position. |
| 3. | Before students can begin working in their business, they must write a business plan for the SBE. Smith uses a whole day session--drawing both "morning" and "afternoon" students--to kick off the planning process. At this planning session, the SBE groups start working on the BAM Business Mini Business Plan (see Tool #8 in Section II) for their enterprises, beginning with the enterprise's mission. Morning and afternoon groups work separately and develop different businesses that will be operated out of the same facilities. |
| 4. | Students typically work on their plans in class for two to three weeks (roughly 15 to 22 hours) before submitting a rough draft to Smith. She marks them up ("I play devil's advocate") and returns them to students for reworking, which usually takes another week (7.5 hours). Since they cannot open the business until their plan is finished and approved, they have an incentive to work diligently on the plan. Being open for business on "Family Night" at the end of October is also a prime objective, since it is a good opportunity to make sales and to advertise their business. |
Smith does not show them the plans from previous years. Students do, however, analyze the previous year's financial figures and determine a percentage increase in sales that they challenge themselves to reach. Their sales projections in the plan are based on these figures. If their business is successful in achieving their goal, they receive a bonus in their evaluation at the end of the semester. If they are more than 10% below their projections, their evaluations are affected negatively: "Just like the real world," notes Smith.
The quality of the plans varies, but in general, students learn a great deal from the process. Says Smith,
If I were to give the business plan back to them at the end of the year, they'd find a lot of changes. For example, usually at the beginning of the year, they want to share revenue evenly; at the end of the year, this doesn't seem fair because some have worked harder than others.
Once the business is operating, students rotate among the different functional areas of the business. This helps students develop an overall understanding of the business and the different skills required in each area. Each student also serves as Team Leader for a time, with responsibility for facilitating weekly business meetings and assessing employee performance.
Profits from the Sno-Isle businesses are awarded to students in the form of scholarships. Distribution is based on the profit sharing agreements they create as part of the mini business plan. If they don't complete the semester, they don't get the scholarship. Smith notes that this system provides students "motivation to work hard, to value profit, and it also prevents security problems." Students also usually vote to return a percentage of their profits to the schools (typically 8%).
Once students have learned the basic skills they need (inventory management, cash control, and so on), Smith is committed to preserving the SBE as a learning experience:
I don't tell them how to do anything. For example, sometimes the morning kids complain about the afternoon kids, how they're not cleaning up or leaving the espresso stand a mess. They have to communicate and figure out a way to get the issue resolved. Besides, I don't have the time to, even if I wanted to solve all the problems.
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The fact that an SBE is already established does not preclude the opportunity for innovative activity. As noted in the Preface to this guide, enterprises of all sizes rely on continuous innovation and improvement to remain viable. Intrapreneurial ventures (IVs)--short-term, discrete projects designed to improve some aspect of the SBE--can help students and teachers learn to act entrepreneurially, to "see and seize opportunities" without creating a whole new business.
IVs have the additional advantage of providing students who were not involved in planning or starting the SBE a chance to innovate and act creatively. This increases the chance that the student will be committed to the SBE and will benefit educationally from his or her experience in the business.
One suggested approach to incorporating IVs into the fabric of an SBE is to set the expectation that, in addition to ongoing job responsibilities, each student will identify, research, and implement one IV that improves the business. Adding the IV requirement can keep the SBE experience from becoming "just a job":
| A. | Once student responsibilities in the business are established, students and teacher together analyze the business and identify possible IVs. Two tools to assist with this process are the activity "SWOT Your Business Idea" and use of an Affinity Diagram (Tools #10 and #11, which can be found at the end of SECTION III.) | |
| B. | Introduce the concept of the IV using the handouts "Creating an Intrapreneurial Venture?" (Tool #12) and the handout "School-Based Enterprises: Questions to Consider" (Tool #13). | |
| C. | Students choose an IV to pursue, either individually or in groups. An IV should incorporate several phases: | |
| 1. | Choosing and clearly defining a problem or opportunity facing the business | |
| 2. | Researching and writing a proposal to undertake a project to address the problem | |
| 3. | Presenting that proposal orally and in written form to the body responsible for deciding which projects to undertake (This might be the student-owners as a whole, or "senior management," or a group of advisors or Directors.) | |
| 4. | Implementing the project | |
| 5. | Evaluating the project's outcome and preparing a report of its results | |
| D. | IVs will typically involve one of the two following options: | |
| 1. | Reviewing
a section(s) of the original business plan, analyzing the business to see how
it is actually functioning, and researching and writing a proposal for
improving some aspect of the business. Revisions to the plan would most likely
come in one (or all) of four basic areas: (1) finances, (2) operations, (3)
marketing, or (4) social responsibility. For example, a student or group of
students might do the following projects:
| |
| 2. | Identifying
and developing a new product or service to be offered by the business.
The process of introducing a new product or service should incorporate roughly the same steps identified above. The student(s) proposing the new product/service should be required to
| |
In conventional workplaces, employees and owners are motivated to work hard and contribute to the success of the enterprise by a variety of factors. A few of these are job satisfaction, compensation, fear of being fired, and profit-sharing. In school-based enterprises, some of these motivational factors may be missing. It may be difficult or impossible, for example, to "fire" a student. Local or state school district regulations may prohibit students from earning direct compensation.
At the same time, SBEs can make use of one incentive for employees to perform well that conventional businesses may not be able to use: grading and assessment of a student's performance. Teachers have an obligation to identify and hold students accountable for learning objectives. Indeed, conducting effective assessment of student learning is a critical aspect of the educator's role in the SBE. The following case study describes one approach.
The Sno-Isle Skills Center Business and Management (BAM) Program
To
help her assess students, Ann Smith (see "Close Up: The Sno-Isle Skills Center
Model" in this section for a description of the SBE process at Sno-Isle) has
developed competencies measuring what students are expected to learn in their
SBE. The competencies cover a wide range of skills and abilities. Some focus on
specific business skills (e.g., "Completes daily cash balancing records");
others assess student demonstration of higher-order thinking abilities (e.g.,
"Provides leadership in maintaining positive and professional atmosphere in
business") or work readiness (e.g., "Manages time productively"). Appendix 1
contains BAM competencies in the following areas:
Smith uses a combination of performance review based on the profiles listed above and knowledge testing to assess students in the BAM program. The BAM Profile Assessment Instructions in Figure 6 describe what students must do to prepare for their assessment. The process begins with making an appointment, to which they bring a notebook containing documentation of their work in a particular area (e.g., finances). Using the notebook, students evaluate themselves first, and then a discussion follows between the student and Smith. She notes, "They are usually harder on themselves than I am." Figure 7 shows the scale used for this component of the assessment. A knowledge assessment (ten questions about the area in which they have been working) follows. A student's grade is a combination of the assessment of his or her on-the-job skills (as demonstrated by the competencies) and the content knowledge he or she demonstrates.
Students also are responsible for evaluating each other and their Team Leader, who in turn prepares assessments of student-employees. Because students are rotating through different jobs throughout the semester, assessment happens frequently.
To create effective assessment for an SBE, teachers may wish to follow the following steps:
| 1. | List the tasks involved in running the SBE. |
| 2. | Group these tasks by functional area. |
| 3. | Identify
other learning objectives by reviewing state content standards, the SCANS
report, or other measures of achievement. |
| 4. | Adopt an evaluation scale. |
| 5. | Design a process by which students can provide feedback to each other. |
| 6. | Utilize, evaluate, and revise the process. |
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Integration--making explicit links between (or combining) different disciplines taught in schools--is one of today's educational reform priorities. It makes sense; after all, the world graduates must operate in is not organized into neat categories. Our actions are not called English, math, or social studies; work, participating in communities, interacting with families and friends, all these draw on a mixture of the "subjects" we study in school.
Achieving integration is harder than recognizing its value. Fortunately, SBEs--because they are multidimensional learning experiences--provide important opportunities to involve a range of disciplines that normally stand apart. The business plan process recommended in this guide is a major research and writing project that incorporates English, math, social studies, and technology. SBEs themselves offer innumerable opportunities to make learning relevant and interesting. Several interesting examples follow:
Teachers working with SBEs can make integration a reality in the following ways:
Meeting social needs in the community may be important for another reason. As the authors of School-Based Enterprisenote, "Avoiding competition with local suppliers is important because a school enterprise operates under the legal authority of the local school governing board, which is accountable to the local electorate" (p. 123). Practicing social entrepreneurship may help an SBE overcome concerns in the private sector by demonstrating the uniqueness of the SBE's mission.
It is a truism that a business' greatest asset is its people. If a business' employees are well-trained, understand the business' mission, and are committed to creating a quality product or service for its customers, the business has a good chance of surviving the stresses and strains of a competitive environment.
The same is true for an SBE. SBEs, whether they serve the school community or the broader community, have the same need for employees who can perform at a high level. However, because SBE employees tend to be younger and to work at the business for relatively shorter periods of time than employees in the economy at large, effective recruitment and orientation of students is especially critical.
The following recommendations can help SBEs recruit and orient students effectively. Following these is an in-depth look at the importance of recruitment and orientation for the SBE Food from the `Hood at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles:
Close Up: Food from the `Hood
Conceived
as a positive response to the riots in South Central Los Angeles in 1992, Food
from the `Hood (FFH) has remained true to a mission of socially responsible
entrepreneurship. Today, students continue to maintain a garden which provides
organic produce for local residents, while creating recipes for salad dressings
which are produced by a local salad dressing bottler. Students learn
horticulture and nutrition along with how to operate a successful business. The
business has provided more than $93,000 in scholarships to its "student-owners."
At the heart of FFH's success is a rigorous process for identifying and developing students who "have what it takes" to carry on the SBE's work. According to Aleyne Larner, FFH's adult advisor, this focus on recruitment and training has come about for two primary reasons. First, as a business in a competitive industry, FFH must attract and retain the best student-owners possible. Second, the business is determined to help its employees develop what Larner calls "thriving skills," those needed for success in business and life. FFH is committed to involving students as much as possible in personnel matters as a way to help them develop these skills.
The SBE seeks to recruit ninth graders (Says Larner, "If we get them for three years, they are more successful in college"), and basic training starts with filling out an application. The application, modeled on those used by McDonald's and Sears, includes space for listing current school activities. This allows FFH to determine whether a student is likely to be able to devote the time necessary to learn the business. Ten hours/week of work is expected, including garden training, office training, and a mandatory weekly meeting. Too many other school activities may mean that a student will not be able to contribute enough. The application also includes an essay.
Existing FFH employees help prospective employees with the application process. The recruitment team comprises fully half of the existing student-owners. Part of the application process is a group interview with three of the student-owners. Applicants must have at least a 2.0 grade point average and cannot be a member of a gang, use drugs, or smoke. Any illegal activity disqualifies a prospective applicant. Larner stresses that this is critical, since each student-owner in FFH reflects on the quality and reputation of the business.
Once accepted, a student becomes an intern for eight weeks. During this period, students work in the garden, learn the history of the business, learn to answer the telephone correctly, and are instructed on the proper ways to interact with clients. Only upon the successful completion of the internship do students become student-owners; about one half of the applicants do not make it through. Once the internship is completed, says Larner, "The real learning begins. Committing time and knowledge to people who aren't going to stick with it is a fool's errand." Students who don't make it through the internship period are permitted to try again; one student finally earned the status of student-owner after three tries.
1996 was the first year that the recruitment process was turned over to the student-owners, with Larner and Tammy Bird (FFH's founder) only providing guidance. Larner relates that she and Tammy were very nervous when they saw the names in the applicant pool. "Four or five were really good friends with the kids on the recruitment team," she recalls. "Some were football players and cheerleaders who already had substantial time commitments."
Larner and Bird were skeptical of the student-owners' ability to make good decisions, but they were determined to let the process run its course. They were startled to find that the students' selections matched their own picks, and that the students declined to accept those individuals they would have avoided. The key, says Larner, was setting clear expectations and making sure that the student-owners understood and agreed with the expectations.
FFH has used this model of turning over authority for key business decisions in other areas as well. As seniors, student-owners serve as mentors and supervisors of younger students and provide up to five hours per week of training. They may have responsibility for key financial tasks such as deposits and managing accounts receivable. (Larner notes that an adult is always involved in accounting for all moneys.) Student-owners can be fired if they endanger themselves or someone else or damage equipment belonging to the business.
Clarity about who makes which decisions is critical to making this delegation of responsibility effective. The rule of thumb is that the advisors hold on to the authority to make decisions that will exceed the students' tenure in the business. Larner and Bird try to evaluate situations on a case-by-case basis. "The hardest part," says Larner, "is telling the difference between when we're being a parachute and when we're just saving our egos! If [a particular decision] is about, say, safety or the long-term profitability of the company, we'll step in. If not, we let the chips fall where they may. Missing a demonstration of the product usually isn't the end of the world, but we might step in if the meeting is with a broker for a major grocery chain."
Tool 10: |
SWOT YOUR BUSINESS IDEA
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
60 minutes
Procedure:
SWOT
is a method of analysis. The letters in SWOT stand for Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats. In this case, the method will be applied to a
proposed business idea.
|
| 1. | Think
of a familiar business (a franchise business works well) that is not
represented in the local area. We'll use Pizza Hut® as an example, but you
should use an example appropriate to your community. Assume that there are
similar, privately owned businesses of the same type in the area. In our
example, there are 3 independent pizza restaurants in town. |
| 2. | Divide
the class evenly into 5 groups and give each group a SWOT grid. Tell
participants that Pizza Hut® is considering locating in town and that the
class has been hired to assess the proposal for them. Explain to participants
how to complete the SWOT grid, then give them 10-15 minutes to do so. |
| 3. | Ask
for a volunteer group to share the Strengths it identified. After this group
has finished reporting, invite other groups to add to the Strengths. Repeat the
process for Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, asking a different group go
first for each section. (The remaining group will have an opportunity to lead
the discussion in step 5.) |
| 4. | Next,
announce that Pizza Hut® has made its decision to locate in town. They now
want the class to develop strategies or plans of action for the restaurant
based on the SWOT analysis just completed. Allow 10-15 minutes for this step. |
| 5. | Group 5 leads the discussion of strategies, with other groups adding their ideas. |
Reflection:
At the completion of the activity, facilitate a discussion based on questions such as:
| JOURNAL: Give a fresh copy of the grid to each participant and make the following assignment: "Conduct a SWOT analysis of your own business idea. Don't forget the step of listing strategies and plans of action!" |
Bridges:
SWOT
| Proposed Idea: |
| Strengths
| Weaknesses |
| Opportunities
| Threats |
Tool 11: |
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
Purpose:
Materials:
Time:
60 minutes
Procedure:
Making
an Affinity Diagram starts with brainstorming but goes a step further by
organizing the ideas generated into "like" groups. All participants play an
equal role in the process. The technique is especially useful for organizing
complex issues or looking at them in new ways. Follow these steps to construct
an Affinity Diagram:
| 1. | Choose
a complex issue and phrase it in the form of a question. For example:
|
| 2. | Divide
the class into groups of 4 to 6 members, giving each participant part of a pad
of sticky notes or stack of cards. Review the following rules:
|
| 3. | Present the question to the group. Allow the group 10-20 minutes to generate ideas. |
| 4. | At the end of the brainstorming time, ask participants to arrange the ideas into like groups without talking. Allow participants to keep moving the ideas around until everyone is satisfied with the groupings, of which there may be any number. |
| 5. | Then ask participants to discuss and choose a heading for each group of ideas, using a word or phrase from one of the notes in the group, if possible. |
| 6. | Ask a group member to read aloud the headings and the sticky notes in each grouping. Add an "other" or "miscellaneous" group if necessary. |
| 7. | Draw a line around the boundaries of each grouping to designate affinity among the ideas. You may ask group members to sign and date the diagram, signaling their "affinity" or agreement about the results, if having a record of such agreement is desirable. |
If the ideas (or groups of ideas) generated also need to be prioritized (ranked, ordered, or valued), the following are three equitable methods of ranking:
| 1. | Each participant ranks his or her top five groupings in order, giving 5 points to his/her top priority, 4 points to the next most important, etc.. The results are totaled, and the grouping with the most points receives top priority. |
| 2. | Each participant receives a set number of votes (10-15), and then votes for any number of groups in any amount. A person may cast all his/her votes for one item, or distribute them among many items. Tally votes. |
| 3. | Each participant rates each grouping on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Total the results. |
Tool 12: |
CREATING AN INTRAPRENEURIAL VENTURE
One definition of an entrepreneur is "one who sees and seizes opportunities." Typically, an entrepreneur is someone who comes up with an idea and starts a business or enterprise to capitalize on that idea.
So, what's an "intrapreneur?" Think of it as an entrepreneur who works in an existing business or organization and sees and seizes an opportunity to make some part of business operate more effectively and efficiently. More and more, businesses and organizations of all kinds are looking for employees who can act intrapreneurially. Learning to be an "intrapreneur" can be a great skill in the workplace.
In addition to your on-going responsibilities in your student-run enterprise, you are being asked to develop a plan for an "intrapreneurial venture," or IV. The IV has two main purposes:
| 1. | To help your enterprise run more effectively or efficiently |
| 2. | To help you practice important skills and learn about small business and entrepreneurship. |
Your IV can be either a project to improve the way your business currently functions in one of three basic areas--finances, marketing or operations--or a new product or service to be offered by your business. You can work on an IV individually or with a partner(s). Here are guidelines for developing your IV:
| 1. | Your first job is to narrow your focus and figure out what part of the business you want to try to improve or what kind of product or service you wish to offer. There are three basic areas you may choose from: finances, marketing or operations. The handout "Questions to Consider" poses some questions that may help you identify a topic that interests you. |
| 2. | Set a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Responsible and Timely) goal for your IV. Once you've decided on an area, the next step is to narrow your focus so that you can prepare a plan for your IV that can be carried out within 2-3 months. Suppose that you want to create an IV to make your business more profitable. A focus of "Increase the business' profits" is too broad to be realistic. "Increase the business' profits by increasing profit margins" is better, but if your business has 10 products, it will take a long time to complete this project. "Increase the business' profits by increasing profit margins on products 1 and 2" is even better: more specific, attainable and realistic. |
| 3. | Write
a complete plan for your IV, containing the following components:
|
| 4. | You will present your IV to the other students in the business or class and/or to a panel of "experts." Practice your presentation and be ready to respond to questions about your recommendation. The more specific and thorough your presentation is, the better the decision the panel can make. |
| 5. | If your IV is accepted by the panel, you'll have a chance to implement the change, and your business will benefit from your suggestion. |
| 6. | Keep in mind that your IV might involve more than one area. Marketing or operations changes will have financial implications. A financial project may affect the operations of the business. For example, let's say you are interested in tackling a Marketing IV. You decide that your business needs new advertising to reach different customers. While your IV focuses on creating new ads, you'll also need to calculate the cost to the business and determine who will do the work. |
| 7. | Your IV proposal should be as long (or as short!) as is needed to make your case convincingly. Remember, you must convince the panel that your proposed project is a good one. Do your homework! |
| 8. | Ideally, you should be able to carry out your IV relatively quickly, so that you can observe, learn from, and document the results before the end of the school year. |
Read the sample IV below prepared by Kit Green and Kelly Carson. Their school store at Kancamangus HS uses its profits to buy books for a hospital school (for students who can't attend regular school because they are in the hospital). Consider these questions:
IV Title: Increase our school store's profits by increasing profit on pencils and buttons.
What's the problem?
Our
business is not as profitable as it could be. If we are going to purchase the
books we want for the hospital school, we need to make more profit.
What is our recommended solution?
Increase
the profit margins on pencils and buttons, the products we sell the most of.
What research have we done?
What costs are associated with our recommendation?
Pencils:
We'll have to print a new price list for the store to reflect the new sales
price. That would cost $5.00. Raising the price of pencils may reduce sales.
However, even if sales decrease some (by 20%, for example), we'll still earn
more money:
| |||||||||||||||
What are the benefits associated with our recommendation?
Even
if the sales of pencils drop by 20%, we'll make $23.42 more in the 1st month
(after deducting the $5.00 to reprint the price list) and $28.42/mo. after
that. On buttons, we'd make $ .10 more on each one we sell. We're selling about
200/month now, so we'll make an additional $ .10 X 200 = $20.00/mo. The $7.50
shipping charge would come in the 1st month only, so we'd make an extra $12.50
in the 1st month and $20.00/mo. for the next four months. (We'd have to reorder
in month 6.)
Together, these 2 steps can increase our profit (and the # of books we can buy) for the next 5 months by: $229.60. Calculation: $35.92($23.42 + 12.50) in the 1st mo. and $48.42 ($28.42 + $20) for the next 4 mos.
Who would carry out the recommendation?
The
Finance committee will need to decide whether we have the cash we'd need to buy
buttons in bulk, and will keep track of our financial performance. The new
price list should be handled by the Advertising committee, and the
production/sales department will need to order the buttons.
Tool 13: |
SCHOOL-BASED ENTERPRISES
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Finances
| 1. | Is
your business performing financially the way the business plan projected it
would? What differences do you see? |
| 2. | How
much cash has been generated by your business? How have the profits been used?
Are there other ways to use the profits? |
| 3. | How
much profit is generated by each of the products your business sells? What
could you do to increase the profit margin of each product? |
| 4. | Are
there products that should be discontinued because they are unprofitable? |
| 5. | Can
you project how much cash will be generated by the business? |
| 6. | Are
the business' finances being accounted for accurately on a regular basis? |
Marketing
| 1. | Is
the business following the marketing plan outlined in the original business
plan? If not, why not? |
| 2. | Who
is buying from your business? What are the demographics of your current
customers? |
| 3. | Are
there other potential customers for your business? What kinds of products or
services would appeal to them? Where do they purchase those products/services
now? How could you find out? |
| 4. | How
does your business advertise? Are there other forms of advertising or promotion
that could result in increased sales and profits for your business? |
Operations
| 1. | Is
your business operating as the business plan described that it would? If not,
why not? |
| 2. | What
are the roles and responsibilities necessary to the smooth functioning of the
business? Are there accurate descriptions for the positions? |
| 3. | Is
there a different way to organize the work and/or the workers? |
| 4. | Are
there ways to reduce overhead expenses so that the business can operate more
profitably? |
| 5. | How
will you ensure that the business will have the personnel to operate
effectively in the future? |
Cognetics, Inc. Who's Creating Jobs? Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995.
Dewey, J. Experience & Education. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1938.
REAL Enterprises. REAL Entrepreneurship Curriculum Guide. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1994.
Stern, D., Stone, J. R., III, Hopkins, C., McMillon, M, and Crain, R. School-Based Enterprise: Productive Learning in American High Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.
Larner, Aleyne. Advisor, Food from the `Hood, Crenshaw High School, Los Angeles, CA. September 23, 1998.
Smith, Ann. Business and Management Instructor, Sno-Isle Skills Center, Everett, WA. Multiple conversations in 1998.
Kolb, David A. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984.
Perlman, B., Gueths, J., Weber, D. Academic Intrapreneur: Strategy, Innovation, and Management in Higher Education. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1988.
Pinchot III, Gifford. Intrapreneuring: Why You Don't Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur. Out of Print, 1985.
Smith, D., and Kolb, David A. User Guide for the Learning Style Inventory. Boston: McBer & Company, 1985.
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills Center |
| School:__________________________________ |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write company description section of proposal. |
| ___ Establishes business mission, policies, and behavior standards. | |
| ___ Creates profit sharing agreement. | |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write product/service section of proposal. |
| ___ Describes in detail product or service of business. | |
| ___ Creates menu, product samples or related sales tools. | |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write marketing section of proposal. |
| ___ Determines and describes characteristics of target market. | |
| ___ Chooses business name. | |
| ___ Designs business logo. | |
| ___ Selects selling and distribution methods. | |
| ___ Describes customer service policies. | |
| ___ Determines costs to produce product or service. | |
| ___ Calculates break-even analysis. | |
| ___ Projects monthly sales goals. | |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write operations section of proposal. |
| ___ Creates procedures for how all products or services will be produced. | |
| ___ Determines procedures for maintaining inventory. | |
| ___ Determines equipment, supply and initial inventory needs including quantities, prices, and suppliers. | |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write administrative section of proposal. |
| ___ Creates job descriptions listing all duties. | |
| ___ Creates work schedule for monthly rotations for school year. | |
| _______ | Participates with a team to create and write financial section of proposal. |
| ___ Creates budget of start-up needs for loan proposal. | |
| ___ Develops cashflow projections for school year. | |
| ______ | Completes business training providing evidence of skill. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Determines purchasing needs for business. |
| ______ Completes purchasing paperwork. |
| ______ Orders/purchases from vendor. |
| ______ Sells to customers. |
| ______ Completes sales slips/register ringing for business sales activities. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Maintains and cleans business storage, files, and work areas. |
| ______ Maintains, counts, and balances inventory monthly. |
| ______ Maintains inventory records. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Using a theme, plans and executes a multimedia marketing event for the class business. |
| ______ Describes specific, measurable goals for event. |
| ______ Describes target market for event. |
| ______ Uses a variety of promotional activities to publicize event to target market. |
| ______ Evaluates success of event in terms of how it met goals. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Logs all daily deposits. |
| ______ Logs all expenses. |
| ______ Calculates "Year-to-Date" comparison with last year's records. |
| ______ Tracks financial records utilizing "Quicken." |
| ______ Completes daily cash balancing records. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Maintains schedule to make sure all business responsibilities are completed by team. |
| ______ Creates agenda and conducts team meetings. |
| ______ Completes daily evaluation score for all team members. |
| ______ Maintains classroom bulletin board section for business. |
| ______ Presents team report at class meetings. |
| ______ Professionally communicates with instructor and other businesses as needed. |
| ______ Provides leadership in maintaining positive and professional atmosphere in business. |
| ______ Maintains Team Leader's notebook. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Exhibits punctuality and meets deadlines. |
| ______ Follows policies. |
| ______ Is prepared for class. |
| ______ Manages time productively. |
| ______ Interacts effectively with team. |
| ______ Exhibits mutual respect. |
| ______ Uses appropriate verbal and nonverbal language. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
| Name:__________________________________ | Date:____________ Sno-Isle Skills School:__________________________________ | |
| ______ Uses computer spreadsheets to complete financial projections. |
| ______ Uses word processing software to complete business plan. |
| ______ Uses desktop publishing software to produce publicity. |
| ______ Uses accounting software to track finances. |
| ______ Uses résumé software to create résumé. |
| ______ Uses scanner to scan images. |
| ______ Uses electronic cash register to track inventory and calculate sales. |
| ______ Uses modem to communicate on network system. |
| ______ Uses fax machine to transmit correspondence. |
| 4 Excellent potential for success
3 Good potential for success 2 Moderate potential for success 1 Low potential for success 0 Did not attempt |
