Entrepreneurial mindset at Ecole South Pointe

Through the Power Play Young Entrepreneurs program, grades 4 to 8 students were introduced to three types of business: manufacturing, service, and retail. Students brainstormed business ideas and set personal goals for their start-up companies. Students conducted market research to learn what is important to customers. Using their market research, students developed personal business plans and budgets to secure a micro loan for their start-up costs. As students established their entrepreneurial mindset, they explored various marketing approaches to reach their customer base such as advertisements, posters, invitations, and brochures.

Continuing to craft their prototypes, students honed their products, taking the feedback gained through market research into consideration. All 166 entrepreneurs attended a final event at the school, the Young Entrepreneur Show, where they sold their products to attendees from the community.

Principal of Ecole South Pointe, Shannon Tipping shared, “Some classes made close to $900 and will be sending about $100 to charities. That is just for one class!” 

With teacher feedback indicating increased student engagement, the Power Play Young Entrepreneurs program provides real world application of the skills and business knowledge the students assembled throughout their business venture.

With attendees including the elected MLA and representatives from CIBC, the event was an enormous success.

 “I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely impressed with the students’ level of preparedness,” said CIBC representative Karam Lee. “I had the opportunity to view several business plans and interview a number of young entrepreneurs. They clearly understood the concepts and, in many cases, were confidently engaging with their “customers”, advocating for their products, and explaining their marketing strategies. One student shared with me how she had secured a small loan from her parents to launch her business and calculated exactly how many products she needed to sell to break even and start making a profit!”

Congratulations to the young entrepreneurs at Ecole South Pointe for their hard work, creativity, commitment and follow-through. They are one step closer to becoming our future business leaders in Manitoba.