Micro-Enterprise Project

Objective: To gain an overview of how a business operates and the market within which it operates through the setting up and conducting of a micro-business activity.

Procedure: The following are a checklist of activities through which each group must work through to successfully conduct their businesses.

• Write up a proposal for what kind of business you would like to operate, and include information about what resources you will require to run it.
• Get permission to conduct the business from Mr Hanna and/or Mr Bonner. Inform them of the date(s) that you intend to conduct your business.
  
• Get permission to use any equipment that is required.
• Design a market survey to gauge interest from your potential market.
• Conduct your market survey.
• Collate/Compile your market survey results. Interpret them in order to understand the level of demand for your product or service. Adjust your business plan if necessary.
• Devise a budget. Find out what your input costs will be, and how much you will need to sell to reach your break-even point.
• Organise to loan equipment (if necessary).
• Tally up income and donate profits to charity. :)
• Devise a profit & loss statement.
• Write up a report detailing your findings and submit.

Report:

• Explain why your group initially chose your business activity.
• With reference to your market surveys, discuss your anticipated levels of demand. What other kinds of information did you discover from your surveys.
  
• Explain the operation of your business.
  
• How was what you expected about sales different from how sales turned out in reality.
  
• What did you learn about operating a business from this process?
• Did you learn any generic lessons about supply and demand, or about marketing through this process?
• If you were to run a micro-business again, what would you do differently? Why?
  

Final Submission:

1. Business proposal.
2. Profit & loss statement.
3. Any advertising (or details thereof) that you did.
4. An example of your survey sheets.
5. Your collated survey data.
   
6. Report.

Assessment Criteria:
Resources level 4

• Understands that people can make decisions about efficient use of resources.
• Understand that people make decisions in order to be efficient and enterprising in their use of resources.
• Understands that people act in various ways to make workplaces more effective.

Resources level 5

• Understands that people's ability to make efficient use of resources is affected by their access to, and ownership of, various resources.
• Understands that people's ability to manage resources in enterprising ways is affected by their access to, and ownership of, various resources.
• Understands that the structure of workplaces influences the extent to which people can improve their effectiveness.

Resources level 6

• Understands that the extent to which people are able to meet their needs and wants is influenced by their level of access to, and ownership of, resources.
• Understands that the quality of management decisions impacts on people's ability to satisfy their needs and wants.
• Understands that a variety of circumstances affect the opportunities for, and ability of, people to participate effectively in workplaces.

Investigation of International Economies

The economies of the nations of the world are very different. There are developed and developing countries. Some countries have a lot of natural resources which they use in their primary industries, others have a large pool of labour and use this in their manufacturing and service industries.

Your task shall be to investigate the economy of one nation and to report on it in the following ways:

1. What natural resources does this nation have?
2. What sectors of the economy are the biggest employers?
3. How are economic decisions made? Who makes them?
4. Find out what the most important (largest) industry is in this nation. Is it more labour-intensive or capital intensive? Explain.
5. Does this nation use advanced technology in its economy? If so, provide an example.
6. What is one of the major economic problems faced by this nation (e.g.: unemployment, poverty, inflation, debt)? Explain how this problem effects this economy and what the government and/or businesses are doing to solve it.
7. In what ways is this nation's economy similar to and/or different to Australia's economy?