University Challenge

Year 9 GCSE Business Studies students enjoyed a visit to Plymouth University to take part in a marketing workshop run by staff and students from the University's Business School. The full-day visit was part of an outreach event designed to give our youngsters an insight in to university life and some of the courses on offer. After a guided tour of the campus the students worked in teams on an interactive marketing project which focused on the leisure industry. The students then enjoyed an excellent lunch, concluded their workshop with some outstanding presentations and listened to a fascinating talk on student life from one of the University's Student Ambassadors. Here are the thoughts of Charlie Bartlett on the day:

Charlie Bartlett makes his point

How would you summarise the visit Charlie?

I really liked the event. It helped me understand what marketing means and helped me to see how to apply it  to a particular situation.

Did it give you a useful insight to the opportunities available at university?

It helped me understand what I might be able to do in the future and to see what life is like in a university.

Is university an option you would consider in the future?

I would like to be a vet, doctor or a dentist so I would need to go to a university to study. Plymouth has a School of Dentistry so it might be somewhere I would consider when the time comes. I would like to set up a chain of dental practices where I can use my business studies knowledge.

Lucy Cullum, Megan Selley & Mel Bastow present their marketing plan

Interview with an Entrepreneur

by Melis Blackford

Introduction

Melis Blackford interviews Paul Brealey of Lemon Jelli

Paul Brealey is the manager of Lemon Jelli. His business sells juices, milkshakes, teas, coffees, pizzas, crêpes, cakes, salads and breakfasts. Lemon Jelli is located in Newton Abbot and operates from a market stall in the Indoor Market, a mobile Citroën H Van and a café in Queen Street.

 

How long have you been running Lemon Jelli? 

Lemon Jelli has been running since 2007. It started off as a small café in Totnes selling juices, smoothies, coffees and sandwiches but it wasn’t very successful. I had the idea of selling our produce such as crêpes and drinks, at festivals using our French Citroën H Van and it worked! People liked this unique idea a lot and the business has been successful to this very day. 7 months ago, after owning a stall in the market for a while, I decided to expand the business to a café/bistro/bar in Queen Street.

 

What motivated you to start Lemon Jelli rather than work for an existing company?

I am motivated by a few things. The first is making sure that I am the best I can be. The next is creating employment for people; this is very important to me. Another thing is simply to be successful.

 

How have you made Lemon Jelli so successful?

I have made Lemon Jelli successful by focusing on what our customers think is attractive and desirable and also by being conscious of the point-of-sale and structure. For me, it is important to be moral and buy local and Fairtrade produce. It's also important for the ethics to be correct and to have an appropriate theme for Lemon Jelli; a French theme. Another key factor is to be prepared to work really hard and I have learnt to embrace technology and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, to advertise Lemon Jelli.

 

What top 5 tips do you have for people wanting to start their own business?

In my opinion, these are probably the things I say would be the most important to consider:

1. You need to establish the need and market for your product/business.
2. You need to ensure that you are profitable and can afford to enter the business world.
3. You must stay focused on your original goal and don’t lose sight of it.
4. You must be prepared to adapt to your customers' needs and preferences.
5. I think it is very important to choose your key staff carefully as they must be reliable and responsible.

And now a question for Melis:
Is starting a business something you would like to do, after talking to the entrepreneur? 
I think that starting a business would be very difficult and challenging because you would need to be able to cope with criticism and adapt well. Although this sounds tough, I think that creating my own business sounds like a possible career option for me because I enjoy Business Studies and I think I would enjoy the challenge.

Interview with an Entrepreneur

As one of their Extended Learning Tasks, Year 9 students were asked to carry out an interview with a local entrepreneur. This proved quite a challenge for some but we have had some great responses which I've really enjoyed reading. Over the next few posts we'll publish some of them. First up: Stephanie Robson-Close and her interview with Janette Harbron of Formcrete Ventures ...

Janette Harbron - Formcrete Ventures

 

Introduction: Who is the entrepreneur? What does your business sell? Where is it located? How long have you been running for?

The entrepreneurs of the business are the directors and they are Mark and Janette Harbron. Mark, the main director of the business is the person who drives the business forward. This business Formcrete Ventures sells expertise and knowledge for in-situ-concrete structures for newly produced buildings or alterations to existing buildings.  The office for Formcrete Ventures is located in Newton Abbot, but their structures are built all over Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset. Formcrete Ventures has been running for almost twenty years.

What motivated the entrepreneur to start up their business?

The directors started the business by chance. A family member secured a contract for the business and needed help to complete it so he offered the directors a partnership. By starting their own business the directors were hoping for a good income rather than working for another business. One of the directors said: "I had no experience before I started the business, but as the business has developed I have learnt more about it each day that I work."

How has the entrepreneur made the business a success?

The business has been a success by competing successsfully against other businesses which also produce in-situ-concrete structures. Having fought-off the competition, the owners of Formcrete Ventures continued to make use of specific skills to make the business even better; determination, being committed to the business at all times through thick and thin and hard work. Also a little luck has helped to make the business a success.

What top 5 tips does the entrepreneur have for people who want to start up their own business? 

 

1.  To know their target market that the business is aiming at. Don’t avoid the target market - attract attention.
2. Employ a good accountant who has a working knowledge of your business and knows what they are doing. 
3. Hire competent staff who are always on time and want to drive the business further. Employ staff who have a good work ethic. 
4. Start and encourage a close relationship with your bank, meaning that you get to know the bank manager so if you get stuck you can get help
5. Every now and then take a leap of faith. Take some risks when times are tough. If you don’t take risks you will never know what could happen!

Is starting a business something you would like to do, after talking to the entrepreneur?

After talking to the entrepreneurs I would like to start my own business as I could make the decisions. I would hope that the business will drive forward into something special. There would be no set hours of when to work and where, so days off could be taken whenever needed. Once the business has been set up, the commitment that I would give my business will be the best as I would want to drive the business forward to become something that people will know and recognise. Talking to the entrepreneur made me think deeper about what actually would happen owning a business and that there is more than just being the entrepreneur of the business. There are also many other aspects that are involved, so being the owner is harder than it seems.  Starting my own business would mean that I would hopefully earn a good living from my own ideas rather than working for someone else.

We were pleased to welcome local entrepreneur Laura Kemp to the college last week for our Enrichment Day enterprise activity. Laura, who set up Holistix Herbal Products - creating and selling a range of natural handmade health & bodycare products - ran a workshop for our Year 9 GCSE Business Studies students. During a fascinating day, students were given an insight into running a small business from home and some of the challenges involved in creating, manufacturing and selling natural healthcare products. After considering the various properties of the natural ingredients and essential oils and calculating the required quantities required to produce small-scale batches of peppermint lip balm and lavender hand balm, the students got involved in producing their own personal tins of balm. They then worked on designs for the packaging and labelling required to complete the finished product.

Our thanks go to Laura for an excellent day and the workshop has clearly inspired a number of our students to consider ideas for running their own mini-enterprises from home. We look forward to seeing them come to fruition over the next few months.