At Landmark we run three one hour key stage three (11-14 years) option blocks. These option blocks enable our students to enrich their curriculum with a range of different activities than those seen in a traditional curriculum, the options are diverse and include creative writing, the John Muir environmental award and a running group. One of our blocks is called ASDAN and it helps to develop personal and social skills through student led projects. This blog shares the student experiences of setting up a business.

Candy Carousel by Giulia, Eva, Laila, Lili, Rinko, Haruko, Keke

For ASDAN, we took part in the Enterprise Challenge, where we made a small business and, with a budget of £20, attempted to make a profit which is going to be split equally between Cancer Research and Landmark Student Council. This, in our case, meant setting up a sweet-shop of sorts, which we called Candy Carousel. We had three purchasable goods- a pick 'n mix, a mystery box, and a lucky dip.

We found the activity to be interesting, and involved skills such as economic ability, 3D design, and customer service. I found that this was a stimulating and challenging activity, and I'm sure my teammates agree. It was a wonderful opportunity/experience, and I would recommend it to all.

While planning, we completed many activities to build up to the final day. We did market research, by sending a Google Form to everyone asking what sweets they would prefer that we sell. As well as this, we assigned job roles to each member of the team, where they all had different responsibilities. We also made up a shopping list for Mrs V to buy the sweets & stock we needed.

It was a difficult process to set the prices of our products. To sell portions of sweets at a reasonable price, we needed to make our products creative and appealing. For the lucky dip, we created a box with decorations and drawings of sweets which was very popular among primary children.

There was a Chief Operating Officer, who was the group's leader and brought the group together. They were trusted by everyone and were a key person in the progression of the activities.

Primary students buying sweets from the Candy Carousel

Also, there was a Project Manager, whose role was to check what people were doing and help them. She helped the Chief Operating Officer, and helped others with their work and did the various tasks needed to move the project forward.

There was a Finance Manager. In this job, there were computer skills involved, and high intelligence to calculate costs, for example.

The Creative Media & Communications Manager was a position that included external dealings. They worked with their colleagues on communication skills and were an important part of the team.

There was a Purchase and Sales Manager; this role was responsible for calculating sales and profits. They not only used their maths skills to do the calculations, but also designed the team logo. She also worked with their assistant, who showed us some great skills.

WE RAISED £40.00 FOR STUDENT COUNCIL AND CANCER RESEARCH!

Milk Ahoy by Charlie, Camilo and Jonathan

We are delighted to say that this project was very successful. The students were very keen to buy our products, and we made a reasonable profit for the school student council.

For our business, Milk Ahoy, we were assigned roles, which we agreed on as a team, these included marketing and media manager, chief operating officer, etc.

As we set up the business, we learnt many skills around running a business and business responsibilities. During the project We created a business plan to help make sure our business would be successful.

A big part of our team working was deciding what business we were going to have, what we were going to sell or do to make money. We conducted market research by sending out a survey asking if people wanted milkshakes, slime or food/sweets, the people who answered wanted milkshakes.

We made posters for advertising and spoke to our friends about our stall. Our team researched different suppliers for things our business needed, like disposable cups, milk and oreos. Charlie and family donated the milkshake syrups from his uncle’s farm, Stamfrey Farms. There were lots of different and unusual flavours, they were very popular with primary and secondary students.