Encouraging Young Entrepreneurs

Our Heroes have been studying economics and business, and having so much fun in the process. They have been working on their entrepreneurship quest this session and will continue through next session as they prepare for the Children's Business Fair, an annual event in the Acton curriculum. Our learners are laying the ground work on what it takes to become CEOs of their own businesses. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.

There are 3 goals with this quest:

1. To learn more about themselves and what they love.

2. To learn as much about entrepreneurship as possible

3. To create a business for the Children’s Business Fair!

The Entrepreneurship Quest has 6 stages.

Each of which is an island. First, is Motivation Island where learners are finding what would motivate them in their own business-

1. helping people,

2. making money,

3. having more freedom or

4. all 3

After watching a few inspirational videos about young entrepreneurs, our learners dove right into their challenges for "Market Island." This part of the E-ship Quest is finding the right market for their businesses by creating, distributing, and analyzing customer surveys. Our Spark Learners joined in on the fun by exploring what types of stores and restaurants they like and why - as well as brainstorming the types of businesses they would like to start. Bravo learners!

Our young entrepreneurs have:

Explored the costs of doing business - the world of expenses and profits.
Learned about different types of entrepreneurs by participating in presentations from several local business owners. Some were their parents!
Enjoyed exploring the concepts of fixed, variable, and sunk costs by owning a store - as well as shopping at one.
Created logos for their businesses. They explored how colors and design can influence prospective customers.

Experiential Learning

Recently, our Heroes have been working on Hiring Island as our Spark learners are done with Unit Economics Island. We watched a funny, short clip from I Love Lucy Show in a Chocolate Factory. They were new hires who knew nothing about the job and did not care about contamination nor quality control. We next had a sandwich assembly line. We asked them if it would be more efficient for one person to put together a sandwich or if a team of people with a specific role or ingredient who would work together to put together a sandwich. They were timed and it was discovered that an assembly line took less time but the problem that emerged was the quality of the sandwich. When everyone was in a rush to get their work done without any thought to quality, the sandwich was sloppy and unpalatable. They were all asked to imagine they were eating out in a restaurant and were served this same sandwich, would they eat it? They all said NO!

Chaos and lack of quality made this activity seem like a fail but there were AHA moments that made everyone realize that they weren’t just working to get things done but doing them well as a team. They were asked to imagine if this were their own business, what kind of employees would they like to hire? Those who just want to get the job done without thought of excellence or weren’t team players or someone who works well with others who does high quality work. After all, this is what their customers are going to experience with their company reputation hanging on the line.

I think we all know what they unanimously chose and they also realized that slow and smooth is better when it comes to working.

From our Head of School

I love this phrase which originated from the U.S. Navy Seals. It's a reminder that the best way to move fast in almost any setting is to take your time, slow down, and do the job right. “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”