Running a Business - Oregon Career Information System

[Pages:6]What does it take to run a business?

Running a Business

SUMMARY Students participate in the running of a small business (simulated or real).

OBJECTIVES

Students will . . . ? Research the needed aspects to run a business. ? Participate in running a small business venture. ? Evaluate the process that was undertaken to run the small business.

PREPARATION

This activity can last over several weeks. Decide how much time can be allocated and how it will integrate with other curriculum activities. Decide on the type of business appropriate for your students: ? creating and selling a product (chocolate cookies) ? providing a service (car wash) ? a one day sale activity (special event cake, drink, used book sale) ? an ongoing one (running a coffee cart or a classroom bank) ? a community service project could also be used (see Variations)

Career teachers, school to work coordinators, and high school business teachers may have useful contacts and ideas.

Make overheads of the All Aspects of an Industry fill-in sheet and the completed version for a student store.

Decide the process for assigning roles to students for the class business. If students are to choose their directors, plan how this will be done. Decide whether you wish to provide some position descriptions or whether student directors will devise their own from a set of generic guidelines.

MATERIALS

All Aspects of an Industry (blank and completed) overheads All Aspects of an Industry worksheets - 1 per team All Aspects of an Industry Investigative Questions worksheets - 1 per team Chart paper Materials for the operation of the business will vary with type of business selected. Optional: Materials for a set of role cards or badges if roles in Step 4 are being drawn by

or allocated to students.

COMPUTER USE Optional: CIS Occupations and Self-Employment for initial research

SUBJECT AREAS Business, Economics, Family Consumer Science

TIME REQUIRED Flexible

GROUP SIZE Class, group, individual

Running a Business

DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

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STEPS

1. Explain to students that they will be running a class business. (See preparation notes and variation notes for ideas about the type of business.) If appropriate, facilitate student selection of the type of business they will operate; if not, explain the business and reasons for the choice.

2. Organize students individually, in pairs, or small groups and assign students to identify the various business aspects they will need to learn about. Have students review the CIS Self- Employment file for further information. Project the blank All Aspects of an Industry overhead. Demonstrate how to fill out the worksheet by picking a random project such as a school fund-raiser. Use the questions from the All Aspects of an Industry Investigative Questions sheet to guide your discussion.

3. Distribute the All Aspects of an Industry worksheet and All Aspects of an Industry Investigative Questions. Have groups research the eight aspects for their business and record their findings on the worksheet. Students may want to use the CIS Occupations and Self-Employment files for more information. Outside sources may be needed as well.

4. Ask groups to share their research with the class. Discuss and summarize for display. Show the overhead of the All Aspects of an Industry worksheet completed for Student Store and compare its details with the students' findings. Remind students that there are many organizations that operate in similar ways to commercial business, but without the emphasis on profit, such as voluntary organizations, nonprofit agencies, government departments.

5. Assist students to select a group of three to act as the directors of the business. Tell the directors that they are to choose a name for the business and select key employees with titles such as General Manager, Sales Manager, Production Manager, Human Resources Manager, and Accountant until all students have a role.

Optional: The roles from director to clerk are randomly drawn by, or allocated to, students. Optional: Assign the role of "Observer" to two students so that they can observe and record the process of running a business and report back to the class.

6. When roles have been assigned, ask students to make a card or badge with their role title, for use in meetings and as identification when on tasks such as marketing or sales.

7. Ask students to establish the aim of their business, organize it, and start to run it with meetings, records of key decisions, production trials, to full production. The business runs for an allocated time.

8. Ask students individually to evaluate the process of running a business and record their ideas in a report about the class business, the role they played in it, and a summary of what they learned from this activity.

9. Ask students to share their evaluations. Discuss.

VARIATIONS

1. Run a similar activity but with several small groups each operating a small business. 2. Invite a mentor to work with the class as they organize, run, and evaluate their business. 3. If your school has a community service program use it to teach some of the principles of business

procedures such as setting objectives, identifying customers and needs, job descriptions and hiring

continued

Running a Business

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DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

process, performance evaluation, marketing, customer satisfaction, etc. Projects in school such as library services or external ones such as neighborhood cleanup or newspaper collection can be approached as a business operation. The All Aspects of an Industry worksheet can be used as a model. 4. Use a business approach to recycling activities in the school. Students devise and sell a product to be made from "waste" material such as scrap colored paper, foil etc. (For example, make origami to then make into mobiles or plant herb seedlings in cardboard egg cartons.) Students could monitor the collection of recyclable materials for efficiency and devise ways to improve on current procedures.

ALLIED ACTIVITIES

Running the Community Industries Be Your Own Boss Priorities

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students will: ? Complete a report on the operation of the business

Observe participation in group activity

STUDENT WORKSHEETS

All Aspects of an Industry - 1 per team All Aspects of an Industry Investigative Questions - 1 per team

OVERHEADS

All Aspects of an Industry (blank and completed)

PORTFOLIO

Report on the operation of the student store

SORTING

Subject: Social Science, Career-Related Learning Grade Levels: 9 CIS Components: Occupations, Self-Employment

STANDARDS

Career-Related Learning Standards: Communication, Employment Foundations, Personal Management, Problem Solving, Teamwork

SCANS: Resources, Information, Basic Skills, Systems

NCDG: Skills to interact positively with others, Skills to locate, understand, and use career information

ASCA: Academic Development, Career Development, Personal and Social Development

EDUCATIONAL GOALS

Bloom's Taxonomy: Evaluation Intellectual Operation: Reiteration, Summarization

Running a Business

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DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

All Aspects of an Industry

Running a Business

DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

Planning

Management

Community Issues

Health, Safety, and Environment

Project: Purpose: Site:

Labor Issues

Finance

adapted with permission from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory

Principles of Technology

Technical/ Production Skills

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? Where in the school will sotre be located?office, old janitor's closet, classroom?

Planning

Management

All Aspects of an Industry

Sample

Running a Business

DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

? What will we sell?

? How will we advertise?

? How will we ? What will be the hours document our of operation?

learning?

? How will we connect

? Who is responsible for store operation?students, teachers, parents?

? Daily balancing of books.

? How much money does it

Community Issues

what we are learning about operating a business to the

? How will the student store be managed? Explore different management

take to operate a student store?

? How can we get the larger community

classroom?

options.

? How

Finance

involved?

? How do we know we will be selling things students want?

All Aspects

Project: Student Store

much will

items cost?

? Where will we get startup funds?

? Do we have teacher

? How much profit can we make?

and parent support?

Purpose: To create an ongoing

? How will we spend our profits?

student fundraiser and

Health, Safety, and Environment

? Are there any safety regulations to consider when planning our space?fire, etc.?

? Is the store space

work-based learning site

Site: Somewhere in our school

adapted with permission from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory

? We can explore the history/benefits of labor organizations.

Principles of Technology

Technical/ Production Skills

? Cash register/calculator

? Marketing

? Product ordering

? Merchandising/display

? Customer service

we are considering safe?

Labor Issues

? Who will work in store?all students, only upper grade students, parents, teachers?

? Graphic design/art/writing: for flyers,

posters about store, press release to

media. etc.

? Basic math skills: adding up prices for a sale, making change.

? Basic communication skills (speaking, listening) for customer service.

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Aspect: When studying . . . You might ask . . .

adapted with permission from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory

All Aspects of an Industry

Investigative Questions

Running a Business

DISCOVERY & PASSAGE ?2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOR THE OREGON CAREER INFORMATION SYSTEM

Planning Management Finance

? What are the business and/or industry mission and goals? ? What activities are needed to meet those goals? ? What is the timeframe for reaching the goals? ?

? How many people are involved? ? Who is in charge of the business? ? How are people, materialss, and money managed? ?

? How much money is needed? (monthly? yearly? To remain competitive?) ? How is money raised? ? How are funds managed? ?

Technical/Production Skills

? What basic skills are needed to get the job done? (For example, what levels of math, reading, writing, thinking?)

? What technical skills are needed to get the job done? (For example, operating machinery, using tools, using computers?)

? What personal qualities are needed to get the job done? ?

Underlying Principles of Technology

? What academic background or technical training is needed to perform the technical/production skills?

? What technology is needed in this business or industry? ? How might the technology change over the next 10 years? ?

Labor Issues

? What are workers' rights and responsibilities? Management's? ? What labor organizations are involved? ?

Health, Safety, and Environment

? What are the health and safety concerns within the business or industry? ? What regulatory agencies are involved? ? What impact does the business have on the environment? ?

Community Issues

? Who are the customers/clients? ? How does the business impact and interact with the community? ?

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