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| Creating a Green Youth Business Excerpted from Growing Ventures: Starting a School Garden Business Inspired to cultivate commerce in your classroom? The following excerpt from NGA's Growing Ventures book suggests strategies — based on authentic business practices — for involving youngsters in planning, creating, and sustaining a green business venture. Pondering Product Ideas Core Questions: What plant- or garden-related products or services could we offer that people might want? What do we already know how to do? Who could help us? The first challenge student entrepreneurs face is identifying what they can sell or do that's likely to be a hit. If your youngsters don't already have a product or service in mind, consider conducting one or more of the following activities to identify moneymaking options. Unleashing Ideas Get students' creative juices flowing by inviting them to brainstorm plant- or garden-based products or services they might produce or provide. Tell them to try to accept all ideas without evaluation. (They'll have opportunities to conduct market research and assess feasibility later.) Your budding entrepreneurs might begin by asking, What plant- or garden-related product or service would make my life or others' lives easier or more enjoyable? (Perhaps a self-watering pot or a quick way to compost.) You can help organize and extend students' thinking by exploring different categories of products. Ask, for instance, Should we produce something tangible, such as potted plants or herb vinegars, or a service, such as designing theme gardens? A product idea chart might feature subcategories such as "raw" products (cut flowers or produce, for instance), value-added items (garlic braids or canned pickles), and nonplant products manufactured from scratch (worm farms or herb racks). Introduce the idea that products can be garden-inspired (flower paintings) rather than derived directly from the garden or natural world. If students are coming up short on ideas, encourage them to seek inspiration. They might reflect on their own needs and those of their classmates (e.g., considering what is missing in the school cafeteria or store), browse print or online catalogs, study area gardens, talk with neighbors, visit gift shops, or survey local chefs about products they wish they could buy fresh. Assessing Possibilities Once they've had an unfettered brainstorm, it's time for your young entrepreneurs to get practical. They'll need to identify their strengths and interests so they can focus on businesses that capitalize on their collective skills and talents. Pose the following types of questions to the group: What do we know about? What do we know how to do? What do we like to do (e.g., create bird habitats, grow herbs, make paper)? What resources can we bring to a plant- or garden-based business (e.g., a greenhouse, a thriving perennial garden)? A related question is, What do we have the capacity to do? Do we have the space, time, and resources to carry out some of our business ideas? For instance, if you have a small garden plot, it may be more feasible to collect and package vegetable seeds for sale than to try to raise enough produce for a weekly farmers' market. As students review potential product ideas, encourage them to assess each one by probing a bit deeper and asking the following types of questions: Who might buy this product (children, adults, parents, food stores)? Why would someone buy it? How will it meet their needs? Why might they buy our product rather than a similar one? Who are our competitors? What would distinguish our product or service from those of competitors? Let the group know they'll have many opportunities to adapt and hone their business ideas as they uncover more information. This excerpt is taken from Part II of Growing Ventures: Starting a School Garden Business. |
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