Facilitator’s Guide
These activities will help your team to develop a business idea over four sessions. They are guidelines only,
and have been written with a teacher or group leader in mind, to provide a structure that finishes with the
group not only considering the business idea or concept but also the skills they have used or needed to
submit their entry online.
The aim is to:
1. Provide you with a suggested structure for four sessions, of up to one hour each, allowing for
groups starting from scratch.
2. Give you a chance to consider the skills the students used to develop the product, idea or concept
relevant to business or employment, potentially linking to work they have done as part of an
Enterprise Education Initiative or transferring skills developed during lessons or activity sessions.
Note:
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Young Chamber has produced a useful document for schools – Work for you – which should be read
and used with these sessions.
We have assumed you have already looked at the entry form online and that roles have been
allocated within the team.
There may be tasks between sessions.
There is a grid for your group to summarise the skills needed to complete each session - do not use
it simply for the session. Get them to think about the skills required to complete tasks between
each session as well.
This document has been produced in Microsoft Word so that you can either print the Session
sheets for students to write on, or else let them edit the Session sheets directly.
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Summary of sessions
Session 1
Step 1: Product definition
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Define the product or services the team is producing.
Step 2: Understand the customer’s needs
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Define the market that is currently or would be interested in buying the product(s) or service(s)
they will sell.
Before the next session, the team should do some of the research.
Session 2
Step 3: Create a comprehensive project plan
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Create a complete worked example of a project schedule.
Step 4: Marketing strategies
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Create a market or space in the market for the service or product.
Between sessions, the team should test some of their ideas.
Session 3
Step 5: Costing and development of a resource plan
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Create a budget and resource list for the business.
Step 6: People and recruiting
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Who will implement the project and marketing plan?
What staff will be needed?
How will they be recruited?
Think about the skills required within the team.
Between sessions, the team should research the costs, and try out recruitment ideas and
interviewing.
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Session 4
Step 7: Fill in the entry form
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Review the team’s progress and look at our skills factors – how can the team prove that they have
them?
The team should work through the on- screen entry form in draft form.
Step 8: Send in the entry form
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Fill and complete the form.
Get the ‘auditor’ to sign off the work.
The group will have to research and develop ideas before entering the Skills Factor. Young Chamber
produce a very useful guidance book – ‘Work for You’ that can be downloaded from the Skills Factor web
site.
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Session 1
The first session should get you to define your product, its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Then
define your market. Who wants what you are going to produce and why?
Step 1 - Product definition
Start defining your product using the “brainstorming” technique.
Brainstorming
The rules:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
List all the ideas – at this stage no idea is a wrong one
Do not be judgmental – no laughing!
Discuss to make sure any idea is fully understood
Allow repetition and similarity of concepts
Let everyone take part
Explore avenues as they appear
Once you have ideas think about which are likely to be more practical and have a potential market.
Now might be a good time to think about market research. Consider a SWOT analysis for each product
– it might help.
SWOT analysis means you will look at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Brainstorm
all the strengths and write them down on one quarter of a sheet of paper. Think of all the weaknesses
or problems and write them in another quarter. Follow this by listing the opportunities and finally the
threats. This will give you a clearer picture of your product or service.
Step 2 – Defining your market
Who might want your product and why? It is important to work out why your target group believes your
product or service to be worthwhile. Put this another way – why should they buy?
What does your market need, what do they currently use, why do they need your product?
Describe your competition. What is your "unique selling point?" What makes you stand apart from your
competition?
How can you define the market that is currently buying the product(s) or service(s) you will sell? Who might
want your product and why?
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Consider key questions such as:
 Who will buy?
 How will you find this out?
 Who is competing with you?
 Why should they buy?
 What should you ask them?
Who?
How will you ask
them?
What should you ask them?
Skills grid for this session
What skills did you need?
Why were they useful?
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How did you learn these skills?
Session 2
This session should build on your market definition. How are you going to develop your product and how
you are going to market (sell) it?
Step 3: Create a comprehensive product development plan
Once you have decided upon the subject your project is going to focus on then you need objectives.
An objective is “a purpose that is clearly defined and measurable”.
An objective needs to be:
 Specific
 Measurable
 Achievable
 Realistic
 Timely
Use the table to identify objectives to establish your business. Specific objectives are:
No.
Objectives
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Choose an action
Think about the actions needed to achieve each objective. What will you need to do to achieve it? Use the
following tables for each of your objectives.
The objective
How will it be achieved?
When will these things be done?
Now combine the actions and the times together into a project timetable. This is when you have to move
the actions and change them so it all fits together.
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Defining success criteria
These are the ways you measure your success. List the success criteria for each of your objectives:
The objective
Action
Success criteria - how will you know you have been
successful?
Now think about your actions to develop the project – consider when you will do them. Try placing them on
different pieces of paper and moving them around in the order they need to be achieved. A calendar grid
divided into weeks can also help. Once you have an idea of product development start thinking about
marketing.
Skills grid for this session
What skills did you need?
Why were they useful?
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How did you learn these skills?
Step 4 - Marketing strategies
Now you can decide on your method of reaching your target customer. Who is interested in your product?
Think about your market research.
Everyone can be creative and know how to contact different audiences so think – how will you get ideas for
communicating? Try brainstorming again. Here is a starting list of different ways to communicate or contact
people to get support or information:
Direct/personal selling
Reports
Trade shows
Cartoons
Oral
Role play/ Simulations
Articles
Drawings
Interviews
Practical
Give
advice,
become
known as an expert
Advertising
Questionnaires
Photographs
Debate
Direct marketing
Letters
Posters
‘Radio programme’
Co-marketing
Publicity/press releases
Presentations
Referrals
Networking
Web site marketing
Videos
Communication strategy
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Now consider the communication strategy as part of your project plan. What tasks are needed to
implement your communication strategy?
Define your communication and marketing objectives, using the grids from previous steps.
How do these fit into your timetable?
Who is responsible for each task?
Skills grid for this session
What skills did you need?
Why were they useful?
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How did you learn these skills?
Session 3
Now you have to think about costs and resources you need and of course staff.
Step 5 - Costing and development of resource plan
First of all think about the resources you need, including time. You need to think about a resource plan.
1. Look at your project plan and your communication strategy. List the types of resources (labour,
equipment and materials) required. Use the brainstorming activity to begin this process. Then look
at your project plan and the tasks. Write down on Post-it notes everything that each task needs and
place it next to each task. Use this to create an inventory of what you need to put your plan into
operation.
2. You can stick Post-it notes on your project plan timeline so that resources coincide with tasks. From
this you can write a schedule of when resources are required. Then you can work out when they
will need to be ordered.
3. Use your inventory to create a budget, including costs and budget for all aspects of the project.
Start by thinking about:
Cash flow – money coming in
 Payment for goods or services from your customers.
 Receipt of a bank loan.
 Interest on savings and investments.
 Shareholder investments.
 Increased bank overdrafts or loans.
Cash flow – money going out
 Purchase of stock, raw materials or tools.
 Wages, rents and daily operating expenses.
 Purchase of fixed assets - PCs, machinery, office furniture, etc.
 Payments
4. Identify when each of the costs will be incurred by completing a cash flow statement – showing
costs over the first 12 months.
5. How does this affect the unit price of your product or service - how will you make money, break
even or go broke?
6. Now repeat this thinking about the risks and how you might avoid them
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Step 6 - Recruiting
Look at the project plan – who is responsible for each task? Do you have enough people? If not, can you
afford any more? Decide on a sensible and cost effective level of staffing and cost.
Then think about the following:
Supporting and motivating
Once staff are recruited or identified, you have to maintain their interest. Consider the following questions
as a group:
Group support
 How will you establish ground rules about what is expected of staff?
 How will you encourage everyone who participates to feel part of the process?
 How will you deal with disagreements?
 What is the management structure – how will you run the company?
Individual support
 What goals do individuals have?
 How can an individual discuss problems and issues with the managing group?
 How can everyone gain understanding and support?
Skills grid for this session
What skills did you need?
Why were they useful?
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How did you learn these skills?
Session 4
Step 7: Fill in your entry form
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Review progress and look at our skills factors – how can you prove you have them?
Work through the on-screen entry form.
Remember you can return to and edit your entry until you choose the “Submit” option and then no
further amendments are possible.
Step 8: Send in your entry form
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Fill and complete the form.
Get your ‘Auditor’ to sign off the work.
Choose the “Submit” option on the website. This emails a copy of the completed entry to your
Auditor, so that they can approve it.
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