Posted by Tien
From economics lesson to the real business world ...
In our modern 21st century, business and economics are very popular. Millions of people are keen to study them. At Bellerbys College, we can see that a lot of students are taking Economics or Business as their A Level subject. I don’t want to be a businesswomen or a great economist in the future but I am still choosing Economics as my A level subject just because it’s very practical and of course it’s really interesting. However, the theory I study at school does not always reflect the real business world. Bellerbys Cambridge, therefore, supports a group of students to run small business – called ‘Young Enterprise’.
What is Young Enterprise?
Young Enterprise, usually called YE, is a national charity movement which has a vision to promote and develop entrepreneurship of young people in the UK. In other word, it is a group of students who work together, found a company, and run it during school year. Throughout the year, they create business plan, have directors meetings, import or manufacture handmade products, join Trade Fairs and expeditions, sell their products and finally make profit! They even raise share capitals to finance the company!
I joined YE in October and now I am a member of “Winspire” company. Our link teacher is Chris Woolley. I am Art and IT Director but in reality I am doing other things including sales ...
I believe that it is a great opportunity for students to gain business experience out of their books! In other words Young Enterprise is a good way to apply theory on real practical. Because in reality, there are always unexpected problems you may encounter. By the way it’s really helpful in micro-economics lessons. I always use examples from my real work.
On the other hand, Young Enterprise also helps me to see the way a real company works. All members are able to play a business role such as providing employment and creating prosperity. We also deal with the same problem as what real company faces such as interpersonal communication problem; and try to work together, listen to each other and try to find best solution.
It also not only teaches me how to apply my study in economics to reality, but it also how to value the money I earn by myself. For example, in our first Trade Fair, we had to go to Stamford which is about one hour by train from Cambridge. The journey starts at 6 a.m. in the morning and finished at about 5:30 p.m. We had to carry a really big board for the decorations and all our products.
It was my first time selling something to people. WOW!!! I was standing for 4 hours trying to talk and smile to everyone. Simply say “Good morning” to everyone.
To be honest it was not easy to smile all the time and to repeat information about our products for nearly 100 times! But ... I promised myself that from that moment I will be nice to all shop assistance even if they are talking too much.
At the end we made 47 pound of profit. I think we all felt that 47 pounds where something special. It was a really really really hard working day but for me it was full of memories and experiences!!!
As a member of Young Enterprise, I highly recommend fellow students of Bellerbys to participate! Because YE is from economics lesson to the real business world! :D
Tien is studying A Levels at Bellerbys Cambridge
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