« Alleged? | Main | Huh? Us on M-net? Cool. »
October 03, 2004
Our nation of entrepreneurs
Why are more people not talking about this initiative?
| All across South Africa - in every elementary and middle school - kids are crafting business plans, doing market research, balancing budgets, and hawking everything from hot dogs at 50 cents a pop to car washes for $7 each. |
Kind of embarrassing when we hear about it via the States. I commented on Dane's site (well worth a visit) that it's a great initiative, but poorly implemented. Have any of you had any good experience with this yet?
Here's hoping...!
Posted by Rich...! at 08:40 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83452464069e200d8346d6c5f69e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Our nation of entrepreneurs:
Comments
My son's school gives each grade a chance to hold "entrepreneur's day" once a year. The kids get to plan, make posters, send out ads to parents, whatever it takes - and then sell their products to the public at stalls. All part of the new "Life Orientation/Skills" subject included in the curriculum.
Kids learn pretty quickly what sells from year to year, and which stuff they should rather leave out. They find out what happens if everyone sells hot chips on a cold day (market saturation), or if only one person sells cold drinks on a hot day (major profit-making!). They learn about target markets (in primary school it's for things like stink bombs, or syringes filled with condensed milk), and what happens when your cost exceeds your profit. They rent their tables, and if there's any profit it goes home in their pockets.
If they can carry these lessons with them after school, then things are looking up for self-employment in South Africa!
Posted by: Michelle | Oct 6, 2004 11:36:43 AM
