Teach Gen Z Students 5 Entrepreneurship Skills With This New Program

Realityworks’ Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program is the perfect tool for introducing students to entrepreneurship skills and the idea of having their own business. This program gives students the opportunity to come up with and pitch their own business idea, an activity today’s business-minded students are sure to love. In fact, a recent survey shows that Gen Z is considered the most entrepreneurial generation ever. This program teaches students the four steps of the entrepreneurial process, common traits of successful entrepreneurs, and more. Read on to learn more about what this hands-on program can do for your students’ entrepreneurship development. 

What Is the Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program?

Whether you’re a trades career and technical education (CTE) teacher who wants students to learn how to set up their own electrician business or a family and consumer sciences educator looking to teach your class how to open their own restaurant, the Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program is for you. This is a 10-lesson entrepreneurship development program that’s easy to implement as it comes with everything you need including student workbooks, printable vocabulary cards, slide presentations, lecture notes, handouts, assessments, and rubrics. It will take approximately two to three weeks to complete, and it works well with all CTE pathways.  

This entrepreneurship program can be used as a standalone course, or it can supplement any current programs you have. The student workbooks provide a great resource for students to keep after completing the program, using it for reference or graduation portfolios. The program aligns with the National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education and can be used by Career and Technical Student Organizations to prepare for competitive events involving business, marketing, and entrepreneurship. 

What comes with this comprehensive program? Get details on the lessons, standard alignments, and all the parts and pieces of our Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program in this review from Realityworks Program Manager Denise DuBois:

What Will Students Learn?

The program starts with a lesson on the entrepreneurial process in which students will learn the definition of “entrepreneur,” how to describe contemporary entrepreneurship, and the four steps of the entrepreneurial process. Next, they discover the eight common traits of successful entrepreneurs and see if they have any of the characteristics mentioned. From there, the program becomes very hands-on as students come up with their own business idea and learn everything it takes to get that idea off the ground. 

Conducting Market Research

Once students have an idea, they must do their own market research to identify their target audience. Then, they must define their customer and identify competitors. After gathering all their data using both primary and secondary research methods, students analyze their data and summarize the findings before determining if their idea could grow into a successful business. 

Funding the Business

After market research, students investigate funding options. They’ll consider savings, investors, and crowdfunding. Then students must research requirements for obtaining a small business loan and business bank account.  

Handling Legal Issues

In this lesson, students determine what business structure applies to their idea and research the documentation needed for that structure in their state and county. Then they get to pick a name and logo, making sure they haven’t already been taken. Students must also research how to register their business name and obtain a federal EIN. 

Writing a Business Plan

Writing the business plan is the longest part of the program, taking up four lessons. For this portion of the project students must: 

• Calculate startup costs
• Create an executive summary
• Describe their business
• Write a market analysis and strategy
• Come up with a marketing and sales plan
• Craft a competitive analysis
• Draft descriptions of the management and organization as well as products and services
• Write an operating plan
• Come up with their financial projection and needs
• Draft their exhibits and appendices

Pitching a Product

At the end of the unit, students must pitch their product to their class and a panel of judges. Students will prepare their own pitch deck for their presentation which will include their target customers’ “problem,” the student’s solution, and more. Instructors are encouraged to invite local professionals to be the judges so students can get feedback from real entrepreneurs. 

Additional Resources

Looking for more information on helping your students hone entrepreneurship skills and other soft skills? We suggest these resources: 

• Read our blog posts, 10 useful tools to prepare your FCS students for FCCLA competitions and 10 MORE Tools to Prepare FCS Students for FCCLA Competitions
• Access our other interactive learning aids for soft skill development 
• Check out our free infographics on soft skills  
• Download our free guide, “5 Ideas for Incorporating Soft Skills Into Any Classroom,” to get lessons and ideas, plus 5 unique posters focused on the most desired soft skills in the workforce today 
• Encourage career exploration with these free lesson plans 
• Take a closer look at this comprehensive program with the Realityworks Program Manager who helped create it: