Link Teacher - Initial Meeting

I am just back from an initial meeting as a Link Teacher for Young Enterprise at Forrester High School tonight. There is a further meeting on the evening of Monday 13 September specifically for pupils and I will be looking for around 5-6 of the group to attend.

I was really impressed with the enthusiasm and drive shown by the Young Enterprise representatives, the Business Advisors and the teachers from other schools. Young Enterprise is a great way of enhancing your CV or University application, particularly at a tough time in the Higher Education and employment markets. You will get a certificate for participating and have the chance to sit an exam through the University of Strathclyde.

To summarise the Young Enterprise project:

• First of all, you need to come up with a team name and roles and responsibilities for each person.
• You then need to sell shares in the company to raise money to get the business going.
• During the course of the year, you can raise further funds through discos, washing cars etc.
• You need to come up with a product or service which you can sell.
• You have to market research this product/service, source it, arrange delivery, find routes to market, promote it and sell it.
• You will sell the product/service at the Christmas market organised by Young Enterprise Scotland in early December (although you can continue to sell it after then).
• Early next year, you need to compile a report and your accounts (profit & loss account and balance sheet).
• You have the opportunity to attend an interview and take part in a presentation.
• As well as an overall winner who will go forward to represent the Lothians at the Scottish Finals in Glasgow and ultimately the UK and European finals, there will be various different individual and team prizes.
• I took 10 pages of notes but have tried to summarise the important parts for you underneath.

Mrs Burt and I will have to register the company. It costs £100 and we will speak to you about that on Wednesday.

• At Wednesdays meeting, we need to look at possible roles and responsibilities for each person in the team. Can you have a think about what you think you can bring to the team before Wednesdays meeting please?
• To make the meetings more professional, it might be an idea for us to book an official meeting room each week rather than just using the classroom.
• We have been allocated a Business Advisor who will work closely with the team during the course of the project.
• We need to get a bank account opened up for the group as soon as possible - Mrs Burt and I will talk to you about that on Wednesday. You will be expected to arrange the meeting although we may need to open it for you. The account will used to pay bills, pay for supplies, deposit sales money etc.
• We can't make food products or toys.

While we are waiting for the registration material to come through, we need to get the team name, roles and responsibilities and the possible product decided upon. We then need to do some quality market research to find out if there is a genuine market. Time is tight so we need to get a move on to maximise our chances of getting a good product or service organised in time for the Christmas market.

Let's be creative! Let's come up with something original! But let's keep it simple! We have a potentially huge parental market to tap into but what about the local community? Profit is not the ultimate goal here - Young Enterprise rarely look at that as being the winning factor. It will take a big commitment on your part and Mrs Burt and I need to know you are up for the challenge! Attendance will be a must and you need to be prepared to work between meetings to maximise our chance of success.

Let's do it.....!