Social Enterprise Challenge Assessment

Social Enterprise contest AssessmentI was one of several students who volunteered to grade a number of bank line plans that had made it to the third and lowest stage in the determine a Man to Fish Social Enterprise Challenge (SEC). put three involved each school running of an enterprise for at least one term based on their original production line idea, backed up by stock and financial plan. Final reports were order on the narrative final reports submitted and marked on Business Implementation, Challenges and Solutions, Outcomes, People, Planet, Profit, evolution and Sustain expertness, Financial Reporting. In addition, we had discretion to award a maximum of 10 Bonus Points where schools had demonstrated a high take aim of student interestingness or a high level on innovation. In total, in that location were 100 points to award to each school.Of the nine schools I was given, all were from India chuck out for one New Zealand school. Enterprises included tree hangers, plants and crafts, jewellery and food products. It was decease students and teachers had invested considerable time and effort in pickings part in the challenge. The SEC allowed students develop practical business skills and helped schools spawn extra income for their school, or a brotherly cause of their alternative.I chose this POD because I promise to lecture in business or invoiceing in the upcoming and enterprise schooling is relevant in both disciplines. I was as well intrigued to see what school children in different and often underdeveloped countries would chose to do when given the support and opportunity to develop an enterprise. Enterprise development in particular in the curriculum provides students with a great way to develop thorny and soft skills equivalent critical-thinking, communication and teamwork skills and could potentially help them invent their get career in the future.Support for entrepreneurship such as that given by the SEC is important, it has the potential to abide a positive impact on the entrepreneurial dynamism of our economies. Not only does it piddle business start-ups and social enterprises resembling the micro enterprises in each school reaching the final but it also makes students more employable by underdeveloped grueling and soft skills.Economic harvest is at the heart of addressing societal issues like unemployment, gender equality, poverty and other health related issues worldwide, and enterprise development (ED) is a underlying tool to enable growth. Enterprise development is delimitate as the act of investing time and capital in constituent lot establish, expand or break businesses. Enterprise development helps people to earn a living it helps them out of poverty and it covers to long-term frugal growth for themselves, their families and their communities (Miemiec, 2013). Entrepreneurship and innovation are considered to be crucial to sustainable frugal development and competitive profit (EC , 2012).The objective of ED is to help create a possible business that has the ability to grow, this leads to job creation and promotes frugal growth. It is much easier to develop and grow a small business than it is to select in a large company to a community, therefore, small businesses often lead to economical growth inside the communities they operate in. The significance of micro firms, outlined as businesses with less than ten employees by European Union (EC, 2009) has been widely recognised. These firms from the backbone of homophiley countries economies, as they represent the large majority of active businesses (Heshmati, 2001). Micro businesses employ topical anaesthetics and this in turn causes cash to move finished the communitys economy. Successful local businesses allow owners to remain in place and generate more opportunities for other entrepreneurs (Muske et al., 2007).Small enterprises make substantial contributions to employment, income and output within t he world economy. Within OECD member countries over 95% of organisations are SMEs and micro-enterprises, they account for 55% of GDP. In developing countries, with the exception of agriculture over 90% of organisations are SMEs or micro-enterprises, making significant contributions to GDP (Edinburgh Group, 2013).Small enterprises melt down to be labour intensive, this in turn leads to job creation, which can advantage developing economies and economies where unemployment levels are high. In addition, smaller enterprises tend to be in rural areas, thus providing much-needed local employment. SMEs are considered an engine for economic growth as well as for economic development especially in the developing countries (Subhan, Mehmood, and Sattar, 2013). As growth strengthens, smaller enterprises assume a key role in development and restructuring. They can satisfy the increasing local demand for services, which allows increasing specialisation, and come onmore support larger enterpris es with services and inputs (Fjose et al. 2010). small enterprises elevate healthy contention in competitive markets. They shall encourage competition in terms of price, product design and efficiency (Johnson and Soenen, 2003).Larger enterprises would have a monopoly in some areas but for their existence. Small and medium enterprises represent a factor of balance at the micro and macroeconomic level. Having as printer the middle class in the society, the small and medium enterprises counter-balance the monopoles and oligopolies, reducing the contentedness of the big companies of controlling the market (Savlovsch and Robu, 2011). Every young person should have a practical entrepreneurial experience before leaving overbearing gentility (EU Commission).The modern global economic business environment requires flexible, elastic and innovative graduates. Now more than ever there should be more emphasis placed on enterprise development and entrepreneurship in bringing up at all leve ls. Enterprise education is defined as the serve well of equipping students (or graduates) with an enhanced capacity to generate ideas and the skills, in addition to enterprise capability supported by let on financial capability and economic and business understanding (DCFS, 2010 and QAA, 2012). Entrepreneurship education equips students with the additional knowledge, attributes and capabilities required to apply these abilities in the context of setting up a new venture or business (QAA, 2012).Enterprise education and the skills gained with it can offer students further skills to deal with bearings challenges and uncertain future prospects. Skills like problem solving, self-reliance, creativity and the ability to adapt to change. In addition, it open students minds to the idea of self-employment as a viable career option. Garavan et al. (1997) concluded that enterprise education in third level universities and colleges in Ireland encouraged graduates to look creatively at their future opportunities and resulted in higher levels of entrepreneurial activity.A business plan is a jeopardize management instrument, through which both intrinsic and external benefits can be derived (Barringer, 2009). Externally, it provides potential investors with an overview of the business opportunity and potential ways to exploit it. From the internal perspective, it provides the entrepreneur with a road map to follow. To quote Confucius A man who does not plan long ahead will find turn over at his door. By writing business plans entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs improve their chances of getting there. By participating in the SEC challenge I have amend my knowledge of business planning from a exit perspective, having previously compiled a business plan as a student during my undergraduate studies.Participating in the SEC challenge has raised my consciousness of the benefits of enterprise education for both the student and society as a whole. Students develop hard and soft skills in addition to a better understanding and knowledge of business and working life. Society gains due to improved competitiveness of the businesses developed by entrepreneurs.Without exception, each final report I corrected showed that students had gained an understanding of the followingGenerating new ideasGathering and managing resourcesTaking advantage of local opportunitiesIdentifying, assessing and managing riskInterpersonal communication and influencing skillsMonitoring and evaluating personal transactionUsing initiativeThe benefits of enterprise education includeImproved education outcomes for students through experiential learningIncreases co-operation between academic institutions, local business and the communityImproved career and business awareness among studentsHighlights more careers pathways for studentsIn the future I hope to put the knowledge learned from taking part in this POD to use in teaching. I chance programmes like the Teach a Man to Fish SE C and others like it provide students with a better understanding of business and entrepreneurship as they bring a taste of real life business into the schoolroom through experiential learning. Students get to experience the reality of entrepreneurship. It encompasses all aspects of starting a business from coming up with a viable business idea, developing a business plan, producing a product, carrying out the necessary market research, promoting the business and the financial aspects like bookkeeping and calculating ROI.As previously stated the objectives of enterprise education areTo give students practical real life experience of setting up and running their own businessTo encourage students to think about entrepreneurship and self-employment as a viable career choiceTo enhance the teaching of business and entrepreneurship in schools by combining classroom learning with real life experience.ReferencesBarringer, B.R. (2009), Preparing Effective Business Plans An Entrepreneurial Approach, Pearson Education, London.Fjose, S., Grnfeld, L. A. and Green, C. (2010), SMEs and offset in Sub-Saharan Africa Identifying SME Roles and Obstacles to SME Growth, MENON Business Economics publication no. 14/2010.Garavan, T., Fleming, P. and Cinnide, B. (1997), Entrepreneurship and Business Startups in Ireland, Oak Tree Press, Dublin.