Business Fair

Susan Pardy

Teacher - Year 10 Commerce

At lunchtime on May 4, our Year 10 Commerce students ran stalls in the A Block courtyard to raise money for charity. 

They had produced a range of goods to sell by putting into practice all the knowledge they had learned in the Business Management portion of theie Commerce studies. Students worked in small teams to come up with ideas about what to sell, the cost involved in the production of their products as well as how to advertise to the school community.

The students were all well organised on the day. Each group set up their goods together with lists of ingredients for each product and had a float of change and receipt book for their customers. They cooked sausages, sold cakes, biscuits, meringues, brownies, sweets and drinks. One group made wrist bands which were very popular!

The Year 10s worked very hard to keep up with customer demand! Each student had a particular job to do to ensure the success of their business-serving customers, giving change, receipts and making sure the stall was well stocked and organised. It was hectic work but lots of fun!! All the stalls were sold out well before the bell. Then of course the cleaning up began.

At the next class each group counted their takings, deducted their production costs and calculated the profit they had made which was to be donated. The grand total raised for charity was $398.55! The group that raised the most money for charity-Tara Kasmai, Indi Brown and Maisie Maguire-still have to decide the charity they would like to donate the funds to.

There were some surprises once costs were deducted. While most stalls sold out, not everyone made the profit they expected and yet some groups made more profit than they had expected! I asked students to sum up their advice for the next set of stall holders in fourth term and here is what some students want you to know:

• Make sure you focus on budget!
• Make something that you know will sell well to your audience
• Try to use your time wisely and work with your group to plan everything
• Pay attention to every lesson, you need 100% focus to understand whats going on
• I recommend doing a sausage sizzle because everyone likes sausages
• Use ingredients from home so you get big profits!
• I enjoyed [participating] in the business fair [as it] taught me life lessons