Start Your First Business - Seniors (Grades 6 to 8)

Ten parts from an unsolved problem to a business your teenager can cost, price, brand and defend under questioning. The same arc as the Juniors edition, with real numbers and the scaffolding removed.

Who it is for

Grades 6 to 8. Students who want to make their own money, or who are ready to be asked harder questions than a school project usually asks.

The ten parts

• Problems Are Everywhere Hunting for problems, then scoring them for how badly people want them fixed
• Choosing The One Includes finding who is already solving it and what they miss
• Who Is It For? Customer profiling, and the interview question that always works
• Making It Real Drawing it, labelling it, and building a rough prototype
• What Does It Cost? Fixed versus variable costs, sorted properly
• Setting A Price Floor, ceiling, profit per unit and a break even calculation
• Name It And Brand It Ten names, four tests, and a tagline under eight words
• Telling People Finding the customer, and a fifteen second script
• Building The Pitch Six pieces plus the three questions they are dreading, answered honestly
• Pitch Day A real audience and a real question period

What makes this the harder edition

Break even is the calculation that kills unrealistic ideas, and it is in here. So is competitor pricing, margin per unit, and a page where students write out the hardest question somebody could ask and an honest answer to it. Reflection prompts expect a real answer rather than a tidy one.

How it works

No schedule and no start date. Each part takes about 45 minutes. Most students at this age work through a part on their own and then talk it over with an adult afterwards.

The details

• 47 pages, instant PDF download
• Letter size, prints clearly in black and white
• Works on a tablet with a stylus if you would rather not print
• A one page business plan they fill in as they go, plus a certificate