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Day 1: Business Cluster Tour + Defining Entrepreneurship

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Tour the Business, Marketing & Finance cluster in H&L; define entrepreneurship in your own words; identify entrepreneurial opportunities in 5 different career clusters
TEKS d(3)(I)
Deliverable Cross-cluster entrepreneurship list (5 examples) + 1-sentence personal definition of entrepreneurship
Materials Chromebooks, H&L accounts, H&L Workbook Ch 5 (pp. 75-76), notebook, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: If you could start any business tomorrow with $0, what would it be? Be specific, name it, describe what it sells, and who buys it.

Take 4-5 student responses. Capture them on the board. The class should see a wide range, food, art, tech, services, products. Bridge: every one of these is entrepreneurship in action.

Activity 1: H&L Business Cluster Tour (12 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 5: Business, Marketing, and Finance, p. 75, "Exploring the World of Business, Marketing, and Finance"

Direct students to open Hats & Ladders and navigate to the Business, Marketing, and Finance cluster. The H&L workbook (Ch 5, p. 75) lists six pathways:

  • Accounting and Financial Services
  • Business Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Marketing and Sales
  • Real Estate
  • Retail Management

[H&L PLATFORM] The workbook (Ch 5) instructs: "Go to the Hats & Ladders app and click on the Business, Marketing, and Finance Cluster. Spend some time exploring the cluster and pathways." Students click the cluster, watch any embedded videos, and skim the six pathway cards. Direct them to focus specifically on the Entrepreneurship pathway today.

Show 3 example Hats from the Entrepreneurship pathway: Small Business Owner, Marketing Manager, Operations Manager. Each has different skills but all share one thing: they make decisions that affect the whole business.

Activity 2: Defining Entrepreneurship (15 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 5, p. 76, Entrepreneurship pathway intro

Project the workbook definition (Ch 5): "Entrepreneurship: Starting and running your own business as an entrepreneur. What kind of business would you start? What would be exciting about being an entrepreneur? What would be challenging?"

Lead a 5-minute class discussion using these prompts:

  • What does an entrepreneur DO that an employee doesn't do?
  • What kind of person becomes an entrepreneur? Are they born or made?
  • What's the difference between owning a business and HAVING a business idea?

After the discussion, each student writes their OWN definition of entrepreneurship in 1 sentence in their notebook. Examples:

  • "An entrepreneur is someone who turns an idea into a real business that customers pay for."
  • "Entrepreneurship is taking the risk of running your own company in exchange for the chance to build something you love."

Take 3-4 student definitions and write them on the board. Discuss: which definition is strongest? Why?

Facilitation Tip

Some students will define entrepreneurship as "rich people who own companies." Push back: entrepreneurs include lawn-mowing teenagers, food truck owners, Etsy sellers, and freelance graphic designers. Most are not rich. Most are people who saw a problem and built a solution.

Activity 3: Cross-Cluster Entrepreneurship List (15 min)

Source: Connecting all 8 clusters explored this year

Students create a list of 5 entrepreneurial opportunities, one in each of FIVE different clusters they've explored this year. The clusters covered so far:

  • Manufacturing (1SW)
  • IT (1SW)
  • Law & Public Service (2SW)
  • Health Science (2SW)
  • Agriculture (3SW Wks 1-3)
  • Hospitality & Tourism (3SW Wk 4)
  • Human Services (3SW Wk 5)
  • Business (3SW Wk 6, current)

Each entry needs:

  • Cluster name
  • Entrepreneurial opportunity (specific business idea, not vague)
  • One business skill needed (not a technical skill, a BUSINESS skill like marketing, accounting, customer service)

Example list:

Cluster Opportunity Business Skill Needed
Health Science Mobile dental hygienist serving rural areas Scheduling and billing
Agriculture Drone-based crop scouting service Sales prospecting
Hospitality Food truck for office workers downtown Daily revenue tracking
Human Services Mobile barber for elderly clients in care facilities Insurance and licensing
Business Marketing agency for local Irving small businesses Client communication

DOK 4: Look at your list. Which entrepreneurial opportunity is the EASIEST to start with little money? Which is the HARDEST? Defend your answer with at least one specific reason.

Exit Ticket (3 min)

EXIT TICKET (Mini-Case / Scenario Application) · Printable PDF:

Scenario: My older cousin has $3,000 saved up and wants to start a small business in one of the clusters we've explored (Manufacturing, IT, Law, Health Science, Agriculture, Hospitality, Human Services, or Business).

  1. Which cluster would I recommend for a low-budget ($3,000) startup, and why?

My pick: _____

Why: ____________

  1. What is ONE specific entrepreneurial business my cousin could start in that cluster?

Business idea: _____

  1. What is ONE business skill (NOT technical skill) my cousin needs to succeed?

Business skill: _____

My 1-sentence definition of entrepreneurship: "Entrepreneurship is _____________."

(d(3)(I))

Submit your cross-cluster list with this ticket.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a partial list with 3 cluster names and 1 opportunity already filled in. Students fill in the remaining 2 clusters.
  • Extension: Add a 6th cluster to your list and explain why it's the BEST cluster for entrepreneurship in Texas right now.
  • ELL: Pre-teach: Entrepreneur = Emprendedor/a, Opportunity = Oportunidad, Skill = Habilidad. Bilingual cross-cluster list template.