Basket Weaving 101
David Shamah, The
Back in the day, there were two distinct groups
attending college – the kids who were studying practical subjects, like
accounting and computers, and the kids who were taking the "other" stuff
– like basket weaving, jazz, and political science. And
sociology.
Oh, how we laughed, especially at the basket weavers.
Tuition money doesn't grow on trees, after all; the kids who weren't studying
practical things, like computer programming, were not only wasting their time.
They were being irresponsible, wasting their parent's money, and ours too;
sooner or later, they were going to end up as public charges, with the rest of
us funding their sub-par roach-infested Section 8 welfare apartment drug-ridden hippie
lifestyles.
Instead, it's the basket weavers who have ended up
subsidizing those with professional degrees! As too many computer industry
folks can tell you, 2004 is not 1999, and although the computer business seems
to be "coming back," as they say, it's still a far cry from the
halcyon days of the Internet era. Unless you're really good at what you do and
really lucky to be able to work for a company that is making money, you might
find that, the computer industry may in the long run turn out to be far less
secure than other industries, as far as you personally are concerned.
But the basket weavers and allied artisans, like
ceramics makers and glass artists are doing OK, as it turns out. A visit to any
of the manifold street fairs or public events we are blessed with, especially
around holiday time, is all the evidence you need – there are dozens, if not
hundreds of stands selling crafts at each event. And people are buying this
stuff; at least some of the folks making and/or marketing these crafts are
doing quite well. Ditto for people who know how to sell their skills
effectively, whether they write, speak, organize, consult or even program for a
living; those who are in business for themselves, whether as full-time work or
as a part-time gig, often make more money than employees who work for a regular
paycheck, even for the same work!
So why doesn't everyone go into business for
themselves? Why isn't there a shingle on every house on the street, heralding
the product or service supplied by the resident within? Because as anyone who
does run their own business will tell you, being an entrepreneur is a
challenging, difficult project. True, it can be very rewarding, both
financially and personally, but being in charge means never having anyone,
other than yourself, to blame if things go wrong. Working for someone else
usually automatically means that you are going to get rewarded for your efforts
during the hours you work, unless your boss is a real jerk; but when you're on
your own, it's all about you, your successes and your failures.
Going into business requires a lot of optimism and
confidence; you have to believe in yourself and your ability to succeed. And
the only way you can be optimistic about the success of your endeavors is when
you believe you have what it takes to make it.
Although many of us would like to go into business
for ourselves, the learning curve, we feel, is steep; for many of us it's too
late. Try telling friends that you are seriously thinking about quitting your still-secure
job and going into business selling a product or service; if they are really
your friends, these people will tell you to think very seriously before you
proceed. And you would most likely feel the same, even if you have a business
plan that makes sense and enough cast to tide you over until you start making
sales. You may have the book smarts and the money, but you don't have the
confidence – deep down, you're not really sure you can do it, because you've
never really learned how.
If only they had taught the Bizworld
curriculum when we were in elementary school! With Bizworld,
we would have received the skills and training we would have needed to become a
success in business. If we can't be big business moguls, at least our kids can,
and when they learn business the Bizworld way, they
may have a fighting chance in the jungle of the marketplace.
Bizworld is a program designed for students in third
through eighth grades that will give kids the complete lowdown on how business
works. Bizworld is an extremely detailed curriculum
that lays out for students exactly what needs to be done, when and how, in
order to succeed in business - the friendship bracelet business, to be exact.
Bizworld is meant to be taught to groups of at least
10, in school or as part of an informal educational setting, like a youth
group. That the authors of the program are extremely serious about making sure
that the program is taught effectively is the stipulation
you must agree to in order to download the free materials that you promise to
file a full report about the effectiveness of Bizworld
after the program ends. Bizworld is the brainchild of
Tim Draper, a
Part of a good business plan is not leaving anything
to chance, ensuring that there are procedures in place for every likely
scenario. The Bizworld curriculum is similar; the
teacher's guide is very detailed and has provisions for all the steps involved.
Covering all the bases is the first lesson of business planning, after all. The
four day program is split into specific modules, each running in two-hour
sessions; the modules include Design Day, Manufacturing Day, Marketing Day and
Finance Day. Students apply for their jobs (a twenty minute activity) before
the first activities in Design Day begin; jobs include president of the company
and an assortment of vice-presidents, such as one for design, finance, etc. The
program tries to emulate every aspect of business the way it is conducted in
the real world; for example, each team is supposed to come up with internal
corporate cheerleading devices, like slogans, in order to get the troops
excited about the product.
A big part of business is getting hold of some
startup money to get things going, regardless of the business. A visit to the
VC (venture capitalist) is important, whether it's for money for bracelets or
voice over IP software development. VC funding is an integral part of Bizworld, and part of the training students get is in
convincing a possibly reluctant VC to pony up in exchange for stock! During the
product development stage, students have to convince a bank to give them a loan
for manufacturing – and they go back to the VC for a second round of funding.
The VC, the bank, the design team and the administrators are all made up of
students, not all of whom, you can imagine, always get along. So, along with
the market aspect of business, you get the personality side of it as well; and
as too many of us know, a company's future can hinge
on which side of the bed the bank's chief loan officer woke up on.
The ideal setting for Bizworld
is in a multi-class setting, where different groups can compete against each
other. The highlight of the program, what will make or break the company, is
Marketing Day, where other students and even parents can come in and bargain
for the bracelets manufactured by the various competitors. That's where the
buying public – ultimately the last word on whether or not a product is going
to make it – has its say, and makes sure that students learn their marketplace
lessons the hard way. With Bizworld, you'll feel more
comfortable with that basket weaving course your kid wants to sign up for – in
fact, you might even insist that the go into the field full time!
Bizworld is meant for groups in schools or informal
education settings. When you use it, you are expected to fill out an evaluation
report on a provided form. All the Bizworld materials
are free to download (registration required) in PDF format, and are available
at http://www.bizworld.org
ds@newzgeek.com