Business Entrepreneurship | Create WebQuest

Introduction

This WebQuest was created by María Josefa Ashenden Bey for her Master's Degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education, Upper Secondary Education, Vocational Training and Language Teaching. It is intended for students of Advanced Vocational Training in International Commerce. However, anybody interested in starting a business might find it interesting.

It will help students review some of the concepts and processes learned during the cycle, and apply them to an imaginary business.

Have you ever thought of opening your own business?

Here you will be able to use your own creative and innovative ideas to start your own business.

This WebQuest is recommended to be done in small groups (max. 4 students). however, individual work is also possible.

Objectives:

Through research, students discover the challenges of opening a business.
Students compare successful and failed business attempts to determine what type of business they would like to open.
Students think creatively about ideas for a business and create a marketing and business plan to persuade potential investors that their plan will work.
By sharing their presentations with the class, students learn from one another.

Task

Before our first session you need to watch this short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1rEHiuDtuc&feature=youtu.be

Pre-task: Class discussion.

What makes a business successful?

What makes a successful entrepreneur?

How is failure described?

How is experience described?

Task:

Design a business and marketing plan for a business.

Process

Step 1:

Create a Google Drive document to keep detailed notes on the information you find throughout the project. You will also need a record of all the interesting resources consulted, the steps followed and any other further information you find interesting.

Consider what talents and interests you have and what business you would like to create. (If you are doing this project in a group, make a list of all the options considered)

Brainstorm and do some research on businesses of the same kind.

You can use mind map makers online such as bubbl.us or www.canva.com

Remember keeping a record.

At this step you might want to answer questions like:

- Is my product already in the market?

- Where can I find this product?

- Is it successful? Why?/Why not?

Decide which of the former ideas you are going to develop for your project.

To help you decide, you can read about entrepreneurship on specialized magazines such as,

https://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine

http://thestartupmag.com/

https://www.inc.com/

https://www.businessownersideacafe.com/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/business-ideas

Or find out how some organizations can help you, as for example in Europe,

https://eit.europa.eu/our-activities/entrepreneurship

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/supporting-entrepreneurship_en

Step 2:

Once you have decided on what kind of business you want to do your project about, it's time to get into detail.

Where will it be located? Research the area and find information for businesses looking to locate there and demographic data, or anything you think is of interest for your business' success.

If your business is going to be online based, research online consumers and policies to open up a business.

Here are some webpages with which you can start:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/index_en.htm

https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en

Remember keeping a record of all your findings.

Step 3:

Use what you have learned in this International Commerce cycle to design a business and marketing plan.

Your business plan should explain:

- Who you are and why you are in business.

- What you do and how you do it.

- Where you operate.

- How you will generate profits.

- Who your target customers are.

- Why your business is important.

Your marketing plan should consider all or some of the following: Community involvement, Customer support, Distribution, Market research, Media planning, Product pricing, Public relations, Sales strategy, and Advertising.

Some help on how to write a business and marketing plan can be found in https://learn.sba.gov/learning-center-plan/learning-center-how-to-write-a-business-plan

Step 4:

Once you have a comprehensive and effective business and marketing plan is time to prepare your presentation.

Imagine you're preparing the presentation to persuade investors to invest in your idea. Be creative and do a professional presentation.

You can use Power Point, Google Presentation, Genialy, etc

Step 5:

Give your presentation in front of the class.

Evaluation

GoogleDrive Document (25%)

	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory	Needs to improve	Score
Process record	Detailed notes with all the information gathered. Uses a wide variety of resources. Straight content focus.	Detailed notes with all the information gathered. Uses a wide variety of resources. Mos t content related information.	Little information gathered. Few resources. Not all the information included is directly related to the project.	There's no GoogleDrive document.	10%
Structure	Everything is well organized and easy to understand. Logical arrangement of ideas. Cohesive devices correctly used.	Not everything well-organized, which makes it difficult to follow at times. Uses a range of cohesive devices but looks mechanical.	Less attention given to organization. Difficult to understand in general. Few transition devices.	Begins abruptly. No logical arrangement of ideas.	5%
Spelling, grammar and vocabulary	Very few spelling mistakes or grammar errors. Uses a variety of grammatically correct sentence structures. Uses a wide range of precise vocabulary.	More then three misspellings or grammar errors. Uses mostly correct sentence structures. Occasional errors in word choice. Use of accurate vocabulary with a mixture of precise and general words.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Basic sentence structures. Uses a fair range of vocabulary to express ideas. May be inappropriate for the purpose at some occasions.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Texts have been copied from the Internet.	5%
Participation (for group members)	Proactively contributes throughout the project. Works consistently in group project the entire time. Projects done individually get 5% in this section.	Proactively contributes to the project by asking questions, offering opinion and suggesting. However, doesn't work consistently.	Rarely contributes in the process.	Never contributes.	5%

Business and marketing plan (40%)

	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory	Needs to improve	Score
Business idea	Clearly outlines the idea for business.	The idea for the business is clear enough.	The action plan may not be realistic. It lacks supporting research.	Vague and unrealistic. Not supported by research.	5%
Innovation and community consideration	Business idea is innovative, inventive, and shows consideration for the needs of the community where business will be located.	Idea might not be unique nor innovative, but the community needs are considered.	Business idea is not innovative. Attempt to consider the community needs.	Business idea is not innovative. The community needs are not considered.	5%
Content	Includes all relevant information.	Includes most of the information.	Includes some relevant information, but not clearly focused.	Content is confusing and lacks cohesion. It's difficult to understand.	10%
Structure	Includes all the relevant sections. Logical arrangement. Cohesive devices correctly used.	One relevant section missing. Uses a range of cohesive devices but looks mechanical.	Attempts to include the different parts, but not clearly differentiated. Some relevant sections are not included. Less attention given to organization. Few transition devices.	Doesn't include some relevant sections. Begins abruptly. No logical arrangement of ideas.	5%
Vocabulary	Uses a wide range of precise vocabulary.	Occasional errors in word choice. Use of accurate vocabulary with a mixture of precise and general words.	Uses a fair range of vocabulary to express ideas. May be inappropriate for the purpose at some occasions.	Uses a limited range of vocabulary which might be inappropriate and inaccurate.	5%
Support	Supports ideas with enough examples. Includes a number of images, graphics, and other visuals. Proficient use of ICTs with carefully planned font formats, backgrounds, graphics, etc.	Gives some examples. Good use of ICTs. Includes some graphics and images. Font formats, backgrounds, graphics, etc. might not be attractive, but all support the content.	Few examples given. At times difficult to read because of the font format and background. Not all visuals support the content or are not well adjusted.	No examples offered. Difficult to read because of the font format and background. Most visuals are not relevant or related to the content.	5%
Spelling and grammar	Very few spelling mistakes or grammar errors. Uses a variety of grammatically correct sentence structures.	More then three misspelings or grammar errors. Uses mostly correct sentence structures.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Basic sentence structures.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Texts have been copied from the Internet.	5%

Presentation (35%)

	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory	Needs to improve	Score
Content	Includes all relevant information.	Includes most of the information.	Includes some relevant information, but not clearly focused.	Content is confusing and lacks cohesion. It's difficult to understand.	5%
Structure	Includes an inviting introduction and a satisfactory conclusion. Logical arrangement of ideas. Cohesive devices correctly used.	Includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Uses a range of cohesive devices but looks mechanical.	Attempts to include the different parts, but not clearly differentiated. Less attention given to organization. Few transition devices.	No attempt to introduce or give a conclusion. Begins abruptly. No logical arrangement of ideas.	5%
Support	Supports ideas with enough examples. Presentation supported by visuals, audios, videos, etc. when relevant. The presentation is appealing and convincing.	Gives some examples. Includes relevant visuals. Interesting presentation, could convince investors.	Few examples given. Visuals are basic. The presentation is not convincing.	No examples offered. There is no visual support.	10%
Visuals	Proficient use of ICTs with carefully planned font formats, backgrounds, graphics, etc. which directly support the theme of the presentation.	Good use of ICTs. Font formats, backgrounds, graphics, etc. might not be attractive, but all support the content.	At times difficult to read because of the font format and background. Not all visuals support the content of the presentation.	Difficult to read because of the font format and background. Most visuals are not relevant or related to the content.	5%
Spelling, grammar and vocabulary	Very few spelling mistakes or grammar errors. Uses a variety of grammatically correct sentence structures. Uses a wide range of precise vocabulary.	More than three misspellings or grammar errors. Uses mostly correct sentence structures. Occasional errors in word choice.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Basic sentence structures. Uses a fair range of vocabulary to express ideas. May be inappropriate for the purpose at some occasions.	Recurring misspellings and grammatical errors. Texts have been copied from the Internet.	5%
Delivery	Maintains good eye contact. Speaks with appropriate volume and pace. Uses appropriate gestures.	Maintains eye contact. Audible. Appropriate use of gestures.	Little eye contact. Constant nervousness signs. Audible.	Lots of pausing and hesitating. Constant nervousness signs. Difficult to understand.	5%

Conclusion

Would you invest in any of the business ideas presented? What made it interesting?

I hope you have enjoyed doing this project and you have found it useful in your learning process.

By the time you complete it you should know the basic skills and have a better idea of what creating a business is, as well as have acquired and put into practice a wide range of vocabulary related or not to business.

Credits

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/e1rEHiuDtuc

Help to write a business and marketing plan: https://learn.sba.gov/learning-center-plan/learning-center-how-to-write-a-business-plan

Teacher Page

This WebQuest is intended for students of Advanced Vocational Training in International Commerce. However, anybody interested in starting a business might find it interesting.

It will help students review some of the concepts and processes learned during the cycle, and apply them to an imaginary business.

Students can use their own creative and innovative ideas and at the same time improve their English language skills using the language in a real context when reading, listening to Podcasts, watching videos, etc. in their research, when writing their plan and designing their presentation, when checking for spelling and pronunciation, etc.