Building Business Ideas

Overview

Students use a planning template to design the key features of their own small business and justify how choices create a competitive advantage. They investigate what resources are needed, estimate startup costs, plan location and suppliers, and consider labour requirements and potential funding (loan or alternatives).

Learning intentions

• Students will identify strategies and tactics businesses use to create and maintain a competitive advantage.
• Students will design a feasible business plan outline using resources, costs, location, suppliers, funding and workforce needs.
• Students will generate and refine investigation questions to improve their business plan.
• Students will use information to explain cause-and-effect links in their plan (e.g. staffing choices and costs; location and supplier access).

Success criteria

• I can describe my business idea and explain the competitive advantage I will aim for.
• I can list the resources I need (natural, capital, labour) and match them to my business operations.
• I can estimate startup costs and explain how I will source products/equipment and set up my location.
• I can justify my staffing approach and whether I need a loan.

Curriculum links

• VC2HE10K05: Students understand strategies and tactics businesses use to create and maintain competitive advantage, including entrepreneurship, marketing and public relations.
• VC2HE10S01: Students develop and modify questions suitable for investigation of contemporary economic and business issues.
• VC2HE10S02: Students locate, select, organise and analyse relevant information and data from a range of sources to support decisions.
• VC2HE10S03: Students evaluate and use information to address business issues by recognising trends and cause-and-effect relationships.

Lesson structure (100 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook: “Why would customers choose you?” Teacher displays 3 short business scenarios (e.g. a new school snack stall, a local bike repair, a handmade candle pop-up) and asks: “What makes these businesses stand out?” Students turn-and-talk, then contribute one standout feature to a class list (e.g. price, quality, speed, uniqueness, local service).

2. 8–20 min · Quick teach: competitive advantage + planning links Teacher introduces a simple competitive advantage framing: value (what customers get), differentiation (what’s unique), and evidence (how you’ll deliver it). Connect it to marketing/public relations at a basic level (e.g. social media, signage, partnerships, reviews). Students highlight where in the planning sheet they will show evidence of their advantage.

3. 20–35 min · Planning Sheet Step 1: business concept + resources Teacher models how to complete the planning sheet sections for resources: natural, capital and labour, and prompts: “What do you need and why?” Students complete: business idea, target customers, and a resource table (natural/capital/labour) for their plan.

4. 35–55 min · Planning Sheet Step 2: startup costs + research questions Teacher teaches “good investigation questions” and gives examples: “How much does X cost in bulk?”, “What are delivery fees?”, “What are opening requirements?”, “Do prices vary by season?” Students write 2–4 research questions and then fill a “startup cost estimate” section using provided categories (equipment/products, packaging/consumables, transport/delivery, permits/insurance if relevant). If data is not available, they make reasonable estimates and label assumptions.

5. 55–70 min · Planning Sheet Step 3: location, suppliers, and logistics Teacher explains decision-making for location and supplier strategies (local suppliers, online wholesalers, direct-to-manufacturer, community partnerships) and how logistics affects costs and reliability. Students choose a location (brief justification) and write how they will find suppliers (where, how, and what they will compare: price, reliability, delivery time).

6. 70–85 min · Planning Sheet Step 4: labour, wages/rights basics, and funding Teacher prompts: “Will you work alone, or employ others?” Discuss high-level considerations: having enough labour for tasks, training and supervision, and planning costs. Briefly introduce that hiring involves rights and responsibilities, and students must check official sources in future research if their idea includes employees. Students decide staffing needs (owner-only vs employees) and record: roles, estimated number of workers, and a basic cost allowance for wages. They also decide if they need a loan and explain why (startup cost gap, cashflow, or equipment purchase).

7. 85–98 min · Pitch time (share ideas) Teacher explains pitch structure: 30–45 seconds per student, covering: idea, competitive advantage, resources + costs (one key figure), supplier/location approach, labour/funding decision. Students present using a “one key reason” sentence and listen for one question they can answer or improve.

8. 98–100 min · Exit ticket: one improvement question Teacher collects exit tickets with one sentence starter: “To improve my business plan, I will investigate…” Students submit their investigation question to refine next lesson planning.

Resources

• Business planning sheet template (one per student, including resource table and cost estimate sections)
• Scenario cards for the hook (3–5 short prompts)
• Printed cost category list (equipment/products, consumables, transport/delivery, packaging, permits/insurance allowance)
• Sentence starters for pitch and research questions
• Access to classroom devices for quick research (optional) and a list of safe, teacher-provided sources (if available)
• Timers for pitch rotation
• Exit ticket slips

Assessment

• Teacher observation during planning: check that resources, costs, suppliers, location, labour and funding are addressed and connected to the business concept.
• Formative check: review students’ research questions for clarity and investigability.
• Exit ticket: evaluate whether students can identify a specific next investigation to improve feasibility (VC2HE10S02/VC2HE10S03).

Differentiation

• Support: provide completed example snippets (one model resource table and one model “investigation question”) and a word bank for competitive advantage (quality, convenience, uniqueness, affordability, reliability).
• Support: sentence starters for each section (e.g. “My competitive advantage is… because…”, “I need capital resources such as…”, “I will source suppliers by…”).
• Extension: students add a simple “risk and response” note (e.g. “If delivery times increase, I will…”) and link it to cause-and-effect.
• EAL/SEN: allow drafting in dot points first; offer a pitch script card and reduce the required number of startup cost items (must still include at least one key cost and one labour decision).