TEEN TYCOONS

PROGRAMME 5: KENTCHURCH COURT

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

The programme can be used as the focus of a stand-alone lesson, or as a starter for learning about aspects of the business and working world, whether through direct or indirect experience.

These activities support a variety of individual, paired and group work and can be chosen and adapted to suit the needs of the students involved.

The questions and discussion points in 'Before viewing' might better come after viewing if the group is very new to business and enterprise concepts.

Before viewing

Points for discussion and research:

What do these business terms mean?

• Entrepreneur
• Marketing
• Promotion
• Turnover
• USP
• PR

What is the difference between: marketing and promotion; costs and prices?

If you don't know, watch out for them while you're watching and try to define them afterwards. Look them up if you still don't know.

What do you already know about running a business? Have you every tried? What happened? Does anyone among your family and friends run a business? What do you think are the main advantages of running your own business? What are some of the disadvantages?

After viewing

To view 4Learning video clips you will need Windows XP/2000 and Windows Media Player 9, 10 or 11. Unfortunately, the clips are not supported on Macintosh computers.

The video clips may contain a few seconds of extra material at the beginning and end. We have therefore included opening and closing descriptions to help identify the intended scene.

What makes an entrepreneur?
Clip one: 02.40 – 04.22

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'With no time to lose, Michael and Adam are straight on the case and head off to Herefordshire.'
• Closes with the narrator saying, 'How will the lady of the manor feel, taking advice from teenagers younger than her own kids?'

What personal qualities and skills do Michael, Adam and Sarah possess which make them successful entrepreneurs? Think of some key words that describe an entrepreneur. Do they need any formal qualifications? How might qualifications help someone run a successful business?

[If students have watched other programmes in the Teen Tycoons series, as well as revisiting some of these questions, they could consider whether additional qualities and skills are revealed in this programme.]

Attitudes to business activity
Clip two: 06.57 – 08.14

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Finally, Michael's doing a quick recce for the photo shoot.'
• Closes with Michael saying, 'It's quite a bit of a switch, a life swap.'

Were the tycoons wasting their time with Jan? List some indicators that show that they were and some that show they weren't. Do you think Jan has the makings of an entrepreneur? What could Michael have done before he proposed his ideas to Jan to make her more amenable to them? Why was Jan happier about doing the tours than she was about advertising the B&B?

If you owned Kentchurch, what other ways could you use to increase your income? What kinds of legal activity do you consider should not be engaged in for the purpose of making money?

Promotion
Clip three: 12.31 – 14.35

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Thrilled with the news, Michael calls Jan right away.'
• Closes with Michael saying, 'Does she want us to turn around her business or not?'

Michael despairs of Jan's attitude to building up her B&B business. Imagine that Jan is different; she is keen to go ahead with Michael's promotion ideas. Write a script for the radio interview, or role-play it. What would Jan say to persuade people to stay at Kentchurch? Don't forget the competition and the prize.

Unique selling point
Clip four: 18.21 – 19.26

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Sarah feeds the information back to Adam.'
• Closes with Jan saying, 'You got there eventually.'

What was Kentchurch's USP? How did Jan enhance the attractions of the house? The tycoons explored two different kinds of tour; do you think that Jan might eventually provide recorded headsets for her visitors? Think of the business reasons for your answer as well as Jan's personal reasons.

When the first coach-load of people arrive for the tour we're told that Jan's turnover is £400 for just one-and-a-half hour's work. The price she charges is £14 per head. What costs will she have to incur in order to provide the tour and tea?

Think of a stately home or another tourist attraction that you have visited or seen portrayed on TV. Use the internet to find out how it attracts visitors. Identify its USP. What methods of promotion does it use? Many tourist attractions concentrate on one age group of visitors. Could this attraction be promoted to a different age group than the one at which it's aimed? Come up with some ideas for how that could be done.