Business Summer School | Ages 12 -18

For Ages 12 to 15 | Explore Business

Module One: All About Entrepreneurship

You’ll begin by learning the basics of entrepreneurship, from exploring the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs to the importance of clear objectives when founding and operating a business. Along the way, you’ll discover the difference between invention and innovation; learn about the different kinds of people and job roles involved in any business; and master the art of making strategic goals for a company.

Module Two: Master Marketing

Marketing is crucial to the success of any organisation. In this module, you’ll study the ‘marketing mix’, a framework used to develop and execute effective marketing strategies. You’ll learn to gather and analyse information about a market, including its competitors, trends,  and customer demographics. Next, you’ll delve into the life cycle of a typical product, before moving on to pricing strategy, where to sell your products, and the key differences between advertising and promotion.

Module Three: The Business Environment

The business environment is the external factors influencing a company’s operations, strategy, and performance. In this skills-based module, you’ll use real-world case studies to carry out your own ‘SWOT’ analysis – aka how to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a business or project – followed by a PEST analysis, exploring the political, economic, social and technological factors that can impact an organisation. 

Module Four: People Power

Discover why HR is a vital department in any business. You’ll master the basics of  recruitment, training, and development, including the selection process companies use to find the best candidates and how to best motivate employees. Finally, you’ll explore the interview process from both sides of the desk, learning invaluable tips for acing your future interviews (and how to interview people yourself!)

Module Five: Managing Money

Finance: possibly the most important part of any business. In this exciting module, you’ll learn about effective financial management; the different finance sources businesses can use, like investments and loans, and the benefits and drawbacks of each. You’ll learn the definitions of the words revenue, cost, and profit, and discover how to forecast cash flow.

Module Six: Operations

This module will walk you through the factors that can lead to business success or failure in the area of operations and product. You’ll explore the fundamentals of production – including product development, manufacturing and distribution – and the financial side of operations, from cash flow to pricing strategies. Supported by several case studies featuring real-life organisations, you’ll consider the factors that go into choosing a company’s physical location, and how to optimise operational efficiency.

Module Seven: The Macroenvironment

The macroenvironment in business refers to the external factors that can impact a company. By analysing their macroenvironment, businesses can identify opportunities for growth, anticipate potential threats, and adapt their strategy. Your first topic? Globalisation, examining imports and exports, followed by environmental and ethical issues, including how to do business in a morally responsible way. Finally, you’ll discover the trends set to shape the future of enterprise, with a special focus on the impact of AI. 

For Ages 16 to 18 | Business, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Module One: Operational Strategy

You’ll discover why having a clear organisational structure is essential to your business’ success, the secret to building successful teams, and how to create a thriving company culture. This module also covers potential career paths related to this field, such as consultancy and operations management. 

Module Two: How To Be An Effective Leader

Using real-life examples of famous entrepreneurs, you’ll explore different approaches to successful leadership, strategies for cross-cultural communication, and effective decision making. You’ll then put theory into practice with hands-on activities, like designing an operational strategy for a company looking to expand its operations into a new country.

Module Three: People Power

Discover why HR is a vital department in any business. You’ll master the basics of  recruitment, how to stand out in interviews, employment law, and the growing role of AI in HR. Using a case study on organisational recruitment as a starting point, you’ll learn how to strategically approach a range of different job positions, and how to critically examine applications.

Module Four: Operations and Product

This module will walk you through the factors that can lead to business success or failure in the area of operations and product. You’ll explore the fundamentals of production – including product development, manufacturing and distribution – and the financial side of operations, from cash flow to pricing strategies. Supported by several case studies featuring real-life organisations, you’ll consider the factors that go into choosing a company’s physical location, and how to optimise operational efficiency.

Module Five: Investment and Economics

A sound understanding of investment and economics = essential to success in the modern business world. You’ll discover the key differences between the two, before scrutinising the principles of both micro and macroeconomics, including the impact of investment on the global economy. You’ll then explore the dynamics of supply and demand, before deep-diving into the booming financial technology (fintech) industry and the colossal impact it’s having.  

Module Six: Master Marketing

Learn how to craft your own impactful marketing campaign, including market research, navigating socioeconomic factors and using different marketing channels. You’ll gain a thorough understanding of the different types of marketing, from the traditional to the digital, before examining the most successful marketing campaigns and adverts in history. This module also touches on the increasingly powerful trend of influencer marketing.

Module Seven: Entrepreneurship

Future Richard Bransons, take note. Throughout this module, you’ll receive practical instruction in how to start your own business and all the factors that must be taken into account. You’ll delve deep in how to master the entrepreneurial mindset, critical for preparing for what’s in store should you decide to start your own venture.

Module Eight: Technology for Business

The last module will walk you through how a new wave of tech is unlocking businesses’ potential in the digital age, enhancing their efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. You’ll discover how companies are harnessing AI to streamline operations, weighing up the benefits of the technology with the ethical challenges it can have. You’ll then put theory into practice as you take part in project management simulations. Finally, you’ll examine the risk factors of using technology in business, including cybersecurity threats and how to prevent attacks.