In November 2012, 7 North Shore Academy students from Year 9, 10 and 11 joined together and took part in Enterprise-in-a-Box programme to encourage awareness around social enterprise.
The students from a behavioural referral unit known as I-Space took up a challenge to sell as many ethical products as they could in the run-up to Christmas.
So what was the challenge? Well first of all of the students learnt the difference between a charity, a business and a social enterprise. Get it, Do it, Use it…is the simple model used in the Enterprise-in-a-Box programme.
Over 5 weeks the company devised a pricing strategy, identified their target audience and improved their confidence in selling exclusive ethical products to staff and students at North Shore Academy. The items that the company sold were Guerrilla Gardening SeedBoms and an African Prison Project CD called Freedom Cry. The story behind each product really helped the company sell as they took on board all of the important questions that potential customers were likely to ask.
The company soon excelled in ideas generation and it was their super smart marketing ideas that helped the company and they managed to SELL OUT of their items making a healthy profit of £64! The profits will be used as seed-funding in 2013 to start a business of their own and carry on their enterprising attitudes and amazing selling techniques.
Not only did the young social-entrepreneurs sell out but they gained very important skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving and managing a real social enterprise. Here’s how they did over 5 weeks…
Percentage of participants reporting good or better: Before the programme: After the programme:
- Understanding of what social enterprise is 14% 100%
- Ability to identify a target market for a product or service 29% 50%
- Ability to work out expected profit for a business 29% 100%
- Confidence in their ability to talk to people they don’t know 57% 67%
- Understanding of the importance of teamwork 17% 100%
- Confidence in using enterprise skills in the future 17% 100%
- Confidence in taking on responsibility 17% 67%
- Intention to set up their own business in the future 33% 83%
2013 will be another exciting year for the students as they have loads of fresh new ideas to generate an income and share their success with the rest of North Shore Academy. Here’s what the company thought of the Enterprise-in-a-Box programme:
“It was very good and makes you feel everyone can do it”
“Good, we kept communication and seen us regular so it was good”
“Great, explained very well and a good opportunity”
James Mellon, Teacher of the Student Behavioural referral Unit known as I-Space noticed a huge improvement in the learner’s skills confidence and understanding and commented on the programme and said:
“An excellent programme, expert delivery and perfect concept. Pupils engaged in every task and were given the opportunity to be successful. I would highly recommend the Enterprise-in-a-Box programme”