Unit 4 - What's it Worth?

Everyone's favorite unit.

Okay, this is the class. The class that, by the end, everyone in the room is vibrating with excitement.

Why?

Because they can see in real numbers how much money their idea could make them at the fair.

They have:

1. Defined the simplest version of their idea

2. Identified their ideal customer

3. With consideration decided how much they can and should make

4. Determined the base cost of each product or base service

5. Come up with a solution for how they are going to pay for those costs

Now they are going to take all that information and project their profits.

Net profits.

How much at the end of the day, for their specific idea, they will have in their pocket. Yes, after covering all their costs and pay back investors.

Exciting stuff.

From here the rest of the course is filled with minutia. The bits and pieces, the ‘getting-it-done’, the prep, the presentation - and boy are they motivated now!

Let’s walk through the essentials you’ll find in this unit:

First we walk through a tough aspect of starting any business: setting their price. This has a simple formula, but it also requires from consideration. These first two exercises are why I stress knowing their customer avatar like they are their very best friend. An intimate knowledge of this ‘person’ will make the exercise of setting price… easier? No, not quite. More so I think it provides a sense of confidence in the price they land on.

After the important stuff is sorted, we dive into imposter syndrome (yes kids have this too) and the ultimate Greatest Of All Time topic - how much can I make?

We end the unit exploring all the fancy vocab like Cost of Goods Sold (COGs), net versus gross, and the simplest calculation I could create for such a determination.

I offer some add-on concepts in the event you have unique ideas in the mix, including a question I get pretty much every class, “but isn’t my time worth money”? Tricky. But I have an answer you can use.

By the end of this class you have reached the technical midpoint of the program by unit, but I would say it is over 80% done in weight of content from a learning point of view.

Having said that, it likely is just the beginning for some children in workload, especially if their idea requires intense manual labor or high volume production.

Now’s also a good time visually show them the date of the fair in relation to the current date, and remind them to get to work.