Reading: Lesson 3: Discovering an Opportunity, Serving a Need

 

Description:

Entrepreneurship is fundamentally about discovering an opportunity to meet a need. By solving a problem or filling a need in society, entrepreneurs not only enjoy profits, they also set the stage for economic growth and prosperity by creating more jobs and encouraging more entrepreneurship.

In this lesson, students are shown an example of entrepreneurship through the brief animated video of a young girl's journey in starting her own business to serve a need in her community. A guided discussion and an activity follows the video in which students will be asked to brainstorm ideas for starting a business to serve an unmet need in their own community. To conclude this lesson, students will watch and discuss a video which tells the story of how two students used entrepreneurship to build a better life. 

 

Time Required:

45 min

 

Required Materials:

Internet connection, writing instrument 

 

Prerequisites:

None

1.3.A - Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [15 min]:

Video:(Council for Economic Education, 2:50 min)

"This brief video highlights just a few of the benefits of being an entrepreneur. In this video a young woman starts her own business cleaning garages and does so well that she is able to expand her business.”

Discussion Questions: The Entrepreneur

1.  At the end of the video, the girl says that they are calling her an entrepreneur. What kinds of things does she do in the video that are entrepreneurial?

1. She discovers an unmet profit opportunity by identifying the need in her community for the cleaning of messy and cluttered garages. She starts a business cleaning garages during the summer.
2. Through hard work, she creates value for herself and her customers.
3. She uses judgmental decision-making to lower her prices to attract more customers.
4. She innovates by adding additional services such as organizing to better serve her customer.
5. She finds a creative way to advertise to potential customers by sponsoring a little league baseball team.

 

2.  What happened when a competitor discovers that she was making money by cleaning garages in her community? How does she respond to the new competition?

1. The competitor started his own business cleaning garages.
2. In order to retain her customers, the girl in the video lowers her prices and offers additional services to better serve her customers.

 

3.  Do you have ideas of any businesses you can start right now?

 

 

1.3.B - Complete the following activity and share your ideas with the group [15 min]:

Activity: Serving Others in Your Community

Entrepreneurship is about identifying ways to better satisfy an unmet need. It is about discovering an opportunity, innovating new solutions to solve problems, and creating value. In short, entrepreneurs make money when they serve other people well. Take a few minutes to brainstorm ways you can be entrepreneurial and serve people in your community.  Make a list of 3-5 opportunities for starting a business to help meet a need in your community today.

Tip: Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking your idea has to be "ground breaking”. Some of the best ideas are the simplest. Does a neighbor need help with his or her lawn mowing? Or, cleaning the garage? Is a family friend looking for babysitting services? Are there ways you can help someone save time or bring enjoyment to their life? Can you help teach others how to use new technology? Be creative and think of other ways you might be able to provide a product or service to others.  If you feel stuck, here are a few ideas: 20 Small Business Ideas for Teenagers to Start from Home

Tip: When thinking of ideas for how your business can serve people, ask yourself: "Will there be a need for this service? Are people going to pay for this product or service? Can this need be met in an economical way?” It does no good if you have a great idea but are unable to actually bring it to life because it costs too much to produce.

 

My Business Ideas for Serving Others (People or Businesses):

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

 

 

1.3.C - Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [10 min]:

Video: Stossel - Poverty and Entrepreneurship (ABC News, 3:27 min)

"By using Steve Mariotti, a teacher in one of New York City's worst high schools, as an example the clip addresses the entrepreneurship process. Two of his students went on to become entrepreneurs. One student opened a sporting goods manufacturing company while another started a music business and Bulldog Bicycles. The video ends explaining how capitalism opens up opportunities to everyone to make a better life, especially those who don't have much.”

Discussion Questions: Poverty and Entrepreneurship

1.  How was Mr. Mariotti finally able to get the students' attention in the classroom?

1. He discovered that the students were most interested in his stories from his past business experience dealing with imports and exports.
2. He was able to get the students' attention by explaining the practical applications of his lessons associated with enterprise and making money.

 

2.  Mr. Mariotti gets the students thinking by telling them to listen to what people are complaining about. Why is this useful for an entrepreneur?

1. According to Mr. Mariotti, "When you hear people complain- that's where the money is!”
2. When you hear people complain, that is where there is a need. Entrepreneurs identify opportunities to serve an unmet need for people. There are also opportunities to serve an unmet need when people don't even know they have a problem.

 

3.  What does Mr. Mariotti believe about the abilities of children born into poverty?

1. He believes that they have "very unique abilities in business and entrepreneurship.”
2. They have many of the natural characteristics he calls "chutzpa,” street-smarts, as well as the fact they are generally comfortable with risk and ambiguity.

 

4.  How does the video portray the idea of capitalism with regard to opportunities for people to climb the economic ladder?

1. Most people think of capitalism as something practiced only by the rich and privileged, but the video suggests that "capitalism is the big equalizer.”
2. David Kelley says, "It's the people at the bottom who need capitalism the most, who need the system in which everyone is free to trade and free to pursue money.”
3. Capitalism "opens up opportunities to climb the economic ladder.”

 

 

Lesson Recap

• Entrepreneurship is:

ü  Serving yourself by serving others well

ü  Creating value by moving resources into more productive areas

ü  Innovating new products or processes to replace old ones

ü  Discovering unnoticed opportunities to profit and acting on those opportunities

 

• You can be an entrepreneur and start your own business today with little startup expense.

ü  Be alert to discovering opportunities where you can use your ingenuity, talents, work ethic to serve a need.

 

Additional Resources

Article: From Kleenex to Zippers: The Unpredictable Results of Entrepreneurs by Burton Folsom (FEE.org)

"When entrepreneurs are turned loose and their property rights are protected, what they eventually produce can't be predicted--even by them. I want to describe four products that became part of American life in the 1920s--Kleenex tissues, the zipper, air conditioning, and Scotch tape.”

 

Article: The Marvel of American Resilience  by Bret Stephens (The Wall Street Journal)

"Here, then, is the larger lesson...: Innovation depends less on developing specific ideas than it does on creating broad spaces. Autocracies can always cultivate their chess champions, piano prodigies and nuclear engineers; they can always mobilize their top 1% to accomplish some task. The autocrats' quandary is what to do with the remaining 99%. They have no real answer, other than to administer, dictate and repress.

A free society that is willing to place millions of small bets on persons unknown and things unseen doesn't have this problem. Flexibility, not hardness is its true test of strength. Success is a result of experiment, not design. Failure is tolerable to the extent that adaptation is possible.”

Article: 6 Stories of Super Successes Who Overcame Failure by Jason Demers (Entrepreneur.com)

"Failure is not the alternative to success. It's something to be avoided, but it's also only a temporary setback on a bigger, more significant course. Everybody encounters failure at one point or another. What truly matters is how you react and learn from that failure. Take the stories of these six entrepreneurs. Their stories end in massive success, but all of them are rooted in failure. They're perfect examples of why failure should never stop you from following your vision”

Article: The Kellogg story by Lawrence W. Reed (times-herald.com)

"In 1906 at the age of 46, the man who was known as "J.H.'s flunky” finally became his own boss and went into business for himself. Within two decades, he became one of America's 20 wealthiest individuals. The next time you eat something with the name "Kellogg” on the box, think of what a great country it must be if a man can mix an idea with a few bucks and turn it into a great enterprise.”