Introduction

For a year, students plan, create, produce, and sell a product or service. They are therefore required to:

• Choose the product or service
• Conduct feasibility studies, surveys, and polls
• Choose a name and logo
• Define a minimum capital, find shareholders
• Open a bank account
• Create a business plan together as a team
• Market the product/service
• Sell the product/service to the public
• Manage finances
• Participate in joint sales and competitions
• …

The concerned teacher acts more as an advisor, while the student becomes the actor/actress of their project. Students pursue a specific goal: to manage their mini-enterprise effectively. In this way, they feel valued, can measure and savor the fruits of their efforts, are motivated, have more confidence in themselves, and learn better.

Here, the young entrepreneur has the right to make mistakes, and it is through making mistakes that they will learn. Students are responsible for their business. The members of the mini-enterprise create an organizational chart and define the responsibilities of each department.

To ensure efficient work and a fair distribution of tasks, it is advisable that a mini-enterprise consists of 4 to 8 students at most.

Role and Tasks of the Teacher

• The teacher acts as an advisor and provides guidance to the students.
• At the beginning, it is the teacher who gives the orders and assigns the tasks. As the project progresses, students become more and more independent: the teacher will therefore delegate and supervise the groups.
• It is not the teacher’s project, but that of the students (idea, management, project success, …).
• The teacher will review the documents, correct them, and assist if needed.
• The teacher does not need to be present at all mini-enterprise events (sales, extracurricular activities, …).
• During events, the teacher can assist the students but should not do everything themselves.
• The message for the students is: learning by doing!