Every year, over 40,000 secondary students in Britain run a business. "Each business runs for one year," said Ben,one of the group of students visiting Shanghai. "When we started our business, we borrowed money from parents and friends. At the end ofthe year,these people will receive some of the profits(利润) ."I asked Ben if running a business was difficult.He said that it was no problem. He said that they always received a lot of advice from teachersand business people. Another member of the group,Regina,told methe four questions they always asked themselves. The questions are: l. What do people want to buy? 2. Where is a good place to sell the product? 3. How is our product better than other product? 4. How much is the product? I was also very interested in how the group was organized.Regina said that there were usually abou five to seven students in each business and among them were one manager and one accountant (会计). I asked them who was the manager."l am,of course,"said Regina. "It was my idea to produce picture books,"she said. "They have been very popular withthe other students." I also asked the students what other people sold. "Other groups in our school sellthings like T-shirts, videos and computer games,"said Ben. "How much money do the businesses usually make?" I asked."Some businesses make a small profit of about $ 1,000一 $ 3,000," said Regina.I asked them what they did with the profits. "We can do what we like with the profits."However,Regina told me that it was important not to waste the money. She always told the other groups to give the money to charity. Most students enjoyed running a business and allthe students said that they had learnt a lot. |