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Enterprise and Entrepreneurs

With the new AS Specifications now covering enterprise, I figured that my copies of the usual biographies (Branson, Dyson and the late Roddick) needed to be retired, and replaced with some of the new kids on the block. So, armed with recent books including "Cat Flaps and Mouse Traps" by Harry Oliver, "How They Started" by David Lester, "Fail Better" by Stephen Brown, not to mention one or two biographies of certain Dragon's Den stars (in the hope that having their face on TV might make them recognisable to students), I began to think about how best to inspire my students.

What better way to start a new AS course than with a topic that is difficult to define? A topic that has no right answers? A topic that is just as likely to lead to a discussion on how someone made their fortune by accident as it is to discussing the brilliant business skills that may have been shown. At least there's a chance of convincing them that they can all be successful if I can illustrate that ideas are just as vital as skills in the business world.

So where to start? I've always believed that success in the classroom is created by sticking to two principles:

1. grab their interest and
2. get them to do the work!

So it seems logical that students should be encouraged to find out for themselves about entrepreneurs that interest them. As such, I have found the following approaches to be effective, depending upon the resources available (i.e. computers), and the ability of the students presenting themselves before me:

1. A "Top Trumps" approach, using a worksheet which can be found at: www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/AsA2BusinessStudies/Activities/Unit1/RichPickings.pdf. Students are given the freedom to find out about entrepreneurs of their choice (I usually restrict it to the Times Rich List for those that might be a little fazed by a completely free choice, but you don't have to). This introduces a bit of a competitive element, and can be used to lead on to a discussion about the various entrepreneurs, what has made them successful, and whether success should be judged by just wealth.
2. Where a gentler introduction to AS level might be needed, simple mix and match activities could be used to introduce students to a range of entrepreneurs, some more familiar than others. This can be done using prepared cards, or if a projector/interactive whiteboard are available then it can be done interactively using the following weblinks:
   1. Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses
      This requires students to match entrepreneurs to the business they are best known for. It gets progressively more difficult through the three levels.
   2. Entrepreneurs
      This builds on the previous activity by using the same entrepreneurs, but this time students need to match the name to the picture. Students, perhaps working in groups, could then be allocated two or three of these eighteen entrepreneurs to research in more detail. This could take the form of a presentation, or use of the above-mentioned "Top trumps" idea.
3. A completely different approach can lead to some lively discussions if students spend their evenings glued to the TV. Simply ask students to identify the entrepreneurs that they are familiar with from programmes they watch. The soaps work particularly well here, with a number of characters in both Coronation Street and Eastenders running their own small businesses. Students could be asked to write a newspaper-style report on how these characters made their businesses a success.

Resource created by Adrian Murray, August 2008.