Students in Year 9 Commerce initially thought working in groups to create and run their own small businesses sounded simple. But as they prepared to sell their homemade products to the school, they began to realise that the process was far more time consuming than they had expected.

Georgie S from Sweet Scoops Ice Cream said, “It was really hard to find environmentally friendly ice cream spoons that didn’t go over budget. It took us a while. We also had to make all the ice cream for our stall ourselves, which took a really long time.”

“I definitely learned how to manage setbacks and how not everything has always been exactly as you hope and imagine it to be. There’s quite a lot that goes into running a business behind the scenes.”

Georgie S (Year 9)

Other groups had different challenges to overcome. The Year 9 Commerce stalls have typically always sold food, so when Grace B, Maxine M and Hannah W decided to do something different and offer a service instead, they knew it wasn’t going to be easy. With no blueprint to follow, the girls challenged themselves by setting up a photo booth company, Oh Snap, which allowed students to create custom Polaroids. “We wanted to be the first group to succeed with a service, and we did – we made a profit!” Maxine said.

They were far from the only group to run a successful business. As Saskia Y from Sugar Cloud Confectionary revealed, “We actually sold out our entire stall in 10 minutes and had to shut down early. We weren’t expecting that at all. It was amazing.”

But success aside, it was the process that helped our students learn. “I definitely learned how to manage setbacks and how not everything has always been exactly as you hope and imagine it to be. There’s quite a lot that goes into running a business behind the scenes,” Georgie S said.

Rather than being the one buying the product, I loved understanding what creating a business is actually about. — Hannah W (Year 9)

Her classmate Hannah W agreed, noting that the project was an insight into the world of commerce. “I loved experiencing the other side and understanding what creating a business is actually about, rather than simply being the one buying the product,” she explained.