2010 Entrepreneurship

Artist: Katherine Santiago, 5th Grade
Teacher: Patricia Liebler

School: Hodges Manor Elementary School
School Division: Portsmouth
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs are individuals who take risks to
develop new products and start new businesses.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Definition/Background
Entrepreneurs are people who are willing to take the financial risk of starting, running and managing a
business. Often, entrepreneurs bring new goods or services to the marketplace. Starting a new business
such as a “drive thru” that sells fruit-freezes is difficult and risky. Challenges abound: hiring and managing
the workers to make and serve the freezes, ordering supplies and making sure they arrive on time, giving
VCEE is a nonprofit organization providing Virginia’s K-12 teachers with professional
prompt and courteous service so customers will return, and earning enough money to pay workers, taxes,
development, quality curriculum and other resources to promote economic and
suppliers and everyone else involved in the production and sales process, while still leaving something for
financial education. Visit www.vcee.org or contact VCEE or one of its affiliated
the owner.
centers for economic education to learn about specific opportunities.
Spending money and using resources to supply a product is risky because costs are incurred before
consumers decide whether they will purchase the product at a price sufficiently high to cover the costs. VCEE Network Contacts
Starting a new business or producing an entirely new product is especially risky because, in the case of a
new product, producers know even less about how consumers will react. Entrepreneurs accept the risks VCEE Old Dominion University
and organize productive resources to get products produced. The financial incentive for taking on a risk Sarah Hopkins Finley Ruth Cookson
is profit, which is the income that entrepreneurs receive for their effort. Losses are the financial incen- (804) 827-1211 (757) 683-5570
tives that tell entrepreneurs to stop using resources as they have been using them. In addition to profits, [email protected] [email protected]
entrepreneurs respond to other incentives, including the opportunity to be their own boss, the chance to
achieve recognition, and the satisfaction of creating new products or improving existing ones. In addition Christopher Newport University Radford University
to financial losses, other disincentives to which entrepreneurs respond include the responsibility, long Gemma Kotula Ermie W. Wade
hours, and stress of running a business. (757) 594-7404 (540) 831-5890
[email protected] [email protected]
Understanding the roles of entrepreneurs, profits and losses is important to workers, business owners,
and consumers. Wages and employment opportunities at a business depend on the business’ success George Mason University University of Virginia’s College at Wise
in earning profits and avoiding losses. Similarly, public policies that affect the profitability of a business Rachel Powell Gary Stratton
will influence not only the owners and employees of the business, but also the consumers who buy the (703) 314-0226 (276) 328-0223
products produced by the business. [email protected] [email protected]
James Madison University Virginia Commonwealth University

Teaching Ideas
Lynne F. Stover Suzanne Gallagher
1. The names of many entrepreneurs are familiar to students and the business practices of these famous
(540) 568-3248 (804) 828-1628
men and women illustrate the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship. Encourage students to read
biographies of Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Maggie Walker and Sam Walton among others. Ask the students
to describe the ways in which their book’s subject became and succeeded as an entrepreneur.
Lynchburg College Virginia Tech
2. Discuss the difference between an inventor and an entrepreneur. An inventor can develop a new
Cheryl Ayers Barbara Taylor
product in his or her basement but will become an entrepreneur only upon moving the product from
(434) 544-8791 (540) 231-1147
the basement to the marketplace. What characteristics separate the inventor from the entrepreneur?
Can someone be both?
3. Invite an entrepreneur to speak to your students. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce
for speakers.
Lessons and Resources

Print Lessons
Financial Fitness for Life: Pocket Power - Grades K-2, Lesson 2 - Working for Income
Resources A to Z, Lesson 4: Entrepreneurs Exist Everywhere (upper elementary)
Choices & Changes: In Life, School, & Work - Grades 5-6, Lesson 7 - Can I Produce Something
People Want?
Adventures in Economics and US History: Volume 2 A Young Nation, Lesson 7: Inventors: Dreaming Up
New Ideas (upper elementary/middle) The Virginia Council on Economic Education, in cooperation with The Federal
Reserve Bank of Richmond, is pleased to provide this poster featuring a winning
entry from the 2009-2010 Color the Economic Concepts Contest.
Online Lessons
Arthur’s Funny Money (elementary)
Teachers in Grades K-8: Give your students the opportunity to illustrate their
http://www.powellcenter.org/uploads/1ArthurFunnyMoneyU.pdf
knowledge of economic concepts in a creative and fun way. They may be selected
I Can Be an Entrepreneur (elementary, middle)
for a poster next year! Winning students also receive a $50 U.S. Savings Bond.
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=EM396&page=teacher
US History: Inventors and Entrepreneurs (elementary, middle)
Entries must be received by April 29, 2011. See www.vcee.org for more details.
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?page=teacher&lid=62&comment=1
Economics of Freedom (middle)
http://www.powellcenter.org/uploads/Economics_of_FreedomU.pdf
For more resources on teaching economics and the Federal Reserve System go
Fed Resources to www.richmondfed.org/educational_info. You’ll find free and easy to use
Entrepreneurs and the Economy resources such as lesson plans, workshop information and publications.
http://www.dallasfed.org/educate/everyday/ev3.html
Free Enterprise - The Economics of Cooperation Lis Turner
http://dallasfed.org/educate/free/index.html Economic Education Specialist
Maggie Walker [email protected]
http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/education/maggie_walker/index.cfm (800)526-2031
(804)697-8135
Literature
• A Basket of Bangles: How a Business Begins by Ginger Paul Howard. Millbrook Press, 2002. A young
woman from Bangladesh borrows money and starts her own business. [Grades K-3]
Lesson available at http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/lesson_plans_k-5.cfm
• One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway. Kojo, a boy from
Africa, takes one hen and creates a thriving business. [Grades K-5]
• Lunch Money by Andrew Clements. Simon and Schuster, 2005. Young Greg Kenton has a gift for mak-
ing money and he is working hard to make sure his school allows him to do it. [Grades 3-7]

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2010 Entrepreneurship

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Artist: Katherine Santiago, 5th Grade

Teacher: Patricia Liebler

James Madison University Virginia Commonwealth University

Lessons and Resources

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