Enterprise Project: Start a Company
Enterprise Project: Start a Company
Items in this lesson
Enterprise Project: Start a Company
This opening frames the lesson as a practical enterprise challenge. The class will develop a small business idea in groups of two or three and keep records throughout the process.
Learning goal
Plan a simple business project, choose what kind of company it will be, and keep clear records of the process and spending.
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What makes a business idea work well in school?
Use the word cloud to surface prior ideas such as simple, useful, affordable, organised, creative, or realistic. Link student responses to the learning goal before moving on.
What is this project?
The project includes:
choosing a product or service
deciding what kind of company, it will be
creating a business name
making an action plan
keeping records from start to finish
Keep the focus on enterprise planning rather than legal detail. Students do not need advanced business structures; they need a realistic, manageable company idea.
Working in small teams
Groups should have 2 or 3 students maximum.
Small teams make it easier to:
share jobs clearly
make decisions faster
track who completed each task
keep the project organised
You can suggest simple team roles such as planner, finance lead, and records lead, but keep flexibility if groups prefer to rotate responsibilities.
Choosing a project idea
A strong idea should be:
clear and easy to explain
useful or appealing to customers
realistic for a school project
affordable to plan and organise
Encourage ideas that are small enough to manage in class time, such as food, crafts, services, events, or school-based products.
What kind of company?
Your group needs to decide what the company will do.
Examples include:
selling a product
a service
combining product and service
This choice affects costs, materials, and planning.
Use this slide to help students distinguish between what the business offers and how it will operate. Keep examples concrete and school-appropriate.
Turning an idea into a plan
An action plan breaks the project into steps.
Include:
what needs to be done
who will do it
when it should be finished
what resources are needed
A clear plan helps the group stay on track.
This is a key enterprise habit: planning before spending. Encourage students to think in sequence rather than jumping straight to making or buying.
Keeping a process log
You must keep a log of the whole process.
Record:
ideas and changes
decisions your group makes
tasks completed
problems and solutions
dates for important steps
Explain that the log is evidence of planning and progress, not just a diary. Students should be able to show how their idea developed over time.
Why records matter
Good records show how the business project was managed.
They help you:
prove what your group has done
explain decisions
check progress
avoid confusion between team members
review what worked well
Link this to real enterprise practice: businesses rely on records for planning, finance, and accountability.
Tracking spending
Every cost should be written down.
Keep a spending record with:
item bought
date
cost
reason for the purchase
total spent so far
You may want to model a simple spending table on the board or in a workbook. Stress accuracy and neatness.
Keep every receipt
Receipts are proof of spending.
They help your group:
check that records are correct
avoid missing costs
show evidence of purchases
organise the final project file
Some students may not realise that a written list is not enough on its own. Emphasise that receipts support the spending record.
Glossary
enterprise - creating and developing an idea into a business or project
company - a business that sells a product or service
product - an item made or sold to customers
service - work done for a customer
action plan - a list of tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines
process log - a record of how the project develops over time
receipt - proof that a payment has been made
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Examples .....
Bake Sale
-Buy Ingredients
-Bake at home
-posters around the school
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Jewelry
Slide text
Slide text
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Cookies In A Jar
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Key Tag s
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Glossary
spending record - a written list of all project costs
budget - the amount of money available to spend
customer - the person or group the business wants to sell to
evidence - information or documents that prove something
team role - a specific job given to a group member
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