If you’re looking for a lesson in business visit a market stall

Nothing represents the essence of enterprise better to me than the (not so) humble market stall. At London’s Spitalfields Market a trader can rent a stall for just £10 a day (weekday rate). Here he or she can sell their products, whether home-made bags or second hand records. At the end of the day, they have a simple cash return for their efforts. Think about it: just ten quid, some homemade ‘stuff’ and you can try your hand at business!

Let’s not forget: ‘Business’ is not a complicated science – it’s just about taking an idea, and turning it into a reality.

Recently I have been acting as a mentor for a bunch of sixth form students at The English Martyrs School in Hartlepool. This is all part of Global Entrepreneurship Week’s Education Challenge where school students develop business ideas of their own. I was pleased to hear my students’ idea was all about selling Christmas kits on a local market stall. I’ve really enjoyed the process: the students’ questions about their business idea are refreshingly straight forward, simple yet also important. You can check out some videos where I captured answers to their questions here.

So if you’re looking to explore the basics of business, forget The City, Wall Street, business plans, board rooms, and big corporations – just check out the goings on at your local market. 

Getting students fired up about business

Robert-Jon Eckhardt (@Eckie) follows me on Twitter. He’s an industrial design student in the Netherlands and posted a video question to me about how business planning can be alienating and does not engage students interested in entrepreneurship. His video references a entrepreneurial website from his university that fails to engage interest. Here’s his question:

And here’s my response below:

Business success does not have to be about long term planning; it’s about making ideas happen. Yesterday a prospectus for a business school landed in my in-tray. It’s full of courses on business planning, strategic planning, management and leadership. But where’s the course on implementation? Isn’t getting your idea out there the important bit? However sexy your five year plan may look like, your business will succeed or fail out in the real world.