Will you take on the BiG Challenge?

“As a team take £25 and create a sustainable business” The Opportunity “As a team take £25 and create a sustainable business” Focus Points This is an established business competitions that allows students aged 11 - 19 in Sheffield the opportunity to have a go at running a real business. The challenge is now in its 12th year and is recognised by Sheffield 6th forms, colleges, universities and employers. It looks great on a CV or application Teams are given an investment of £25.00 to invest in their business idea and see if they can create a sustainable business The Key word is sustainable, this is not about fund raising, it is about creating a business that will last past the competition. In the past 11 years we have only ever had 1 team who made the most profit also win the top prize. This challenge is open to anyone - If students are worried about competing on such a large scale mention that there has never been post 16 winner but there has been several year 7 winners, we have also only ever had 1 private school team win the challenge, Entrepreneurship is a true leveller and absolutely anyone with drive and passion could win this challenge if they are willing to put the work in.

The Challenge Pick a Team Come up with a business idea Spend 5 months running the business Repay the initial investment Submit a report Pitch Your Idea Win an award Focus Points Go through the process of the competition. If your school will be running an internal selection process, add that information here Step 1 - Get a team and come up with an idea Step 2 - Go through school selection process Step 3 - Register online Step 4 - Receive £25.00 investment (if your school is making this investment, even if they re some teams choose not to take it so they don't have to pay it back) Step 5 - Attend the allocated support sessions and spend 5 months (Sept - Feb) working on the business and entering the interim awards, support is provided for students and the school Step 6 - Submit final report (a format is provided it is very simple, the teams are just telling the judges about their business, we encourage the use of images and photographs so it does not have to be a lot of writing) Step 7 - If shortlisted, pitch idea to panel of business judges Step 8 - Winners invited to attend awards dinner, where prizes including an international business trip are awarded Image Notes: All photos are winning products from the Big Challenge 11 flying start awards.

Categories and Prizes Overall Best Business 1st & 2nd Runner Up Highly Commended x 3 Best Returning Business Highest Profit Best Presentation Best Website Best Final Report Best Use of Digital Resources Made in Sheffield Focus Points Overall Prize Winner - Trip to an international business city, in the past this has included Paris, Madrid, Moscow and Dubai. The 2018 Winners went to Copenhagen Runner up and Category Prizes all receive Meadowhall vouchers. There are 2 interim competitions along the way: The Flying Start - A prize for the team that has quickly got their business off the ground entered in November Marking and Media - A prize for the best suite of marketing materials submitted in January Additional point - In the past teams have made over £4000.00 in profit and the average team tends to make a figure some where in the hundreds. Even if a team does not win they still get to keep their profit after they have paid back their business loan of course Image notes: - Winners of BiG Challenge 11 - Weasel Hosting from Silverdale school sold hosting space, for other winners go to www.bigchallenge.biz PLUS INTERIM PRIZES FOR FLYING START AND MARKING & MEDIA

Registration Opens 24th September - Trading Starts NOW! How to Register www.bigchallenge.biz Information Sales/promotional offers Photos/Videos Trading updates Check out the competition Collaboration A chance to show off! Focus Points Registration opens on 24th September 2018 and closes on 27th October but teams do not have to wait, they can get moving with their business as soon as they have school approval. If your schools is running an internal selection process it is worth letting pupils know that your school staff representative has to activate all teams before there registration on the website is valid. As well as the registration form there are also lots of resources on the website including how to guides, information on past winners and links to sources of advice. Information will also be published on facebook on instagram Every week we will be forwarding on an email with hints and tips on what to tackle Registration Opens 24th September - Trading Starts NOW!

Key Dates 24/09/18 - Website Open for Registration 26/10/18 - Deadline for registration 16/11/18 - Deadline for Flying Start entries 14/12/18 - Deadline for Marketing & Media Entries 01/01/19 - Deadline for final reports Focus Points Final slide of presentation, re state what the next steps are at your school to take part in the BiG Challenge Encourage students to look for inspiration but not copy existing businesses, if they submit the same idea as something that won last year the judges will expect them to either put their own twist on it or do twice as well Image Notes All images are finalists form BiG Challenge 11 and were produced by students not purchased and resold From Left to Right Ecclesfield School - Hand made paper Christmas trees and home decor items made with recycles sheet music Notre Dame - Hand made silver jewellery Bradfield School - Gift in a jar - gift packs packed in glass jars - THIS TEAM CAME SECOND Sheffield High School - Calligraphy cards and calendars, drawn by hand, scanned and then printed

Will you take on the BiG Challenge? The BiG Challenge in Brief The original model of the BiG Challenge is that teams of students are given £25 to invest in a business idea. If they make a profit they pay back £30.00 but the rest of their profit is their own. If they break even they pay back £25.00, if they make a loss the school writes off the original investment. Step 1 - Go through school selection process Step 2 - Register online Step 3 - Receive £25.00 investment Step 4 - Spend 6 months (Sept - Feb) working on the business and entering the interim awards, support is provided for students and the school Step 5 - Submit final report (a format is provided) Step 6 - If shortlisted pitch idea to panel of business judges Step 7 - Winners invited to attend awards dinner, where prizes including an international business trip are awarded Points to clarify in school before launching the BiG Challenge Will the school provide the initial investment of £25.00 or will the students have to provide this themselves. Many schools run a mixture of both models as some students go through a selection process and still turn down the money. Will there be a selection process within school? Supporting a large number of teams can be difficult so some schools choose to limit numbers using a mini dragons den pitch competition or an application form to choose which teams they will put forward. Will there be a set time or place that students can get support for the BiG Challenge or will they have to do it all in their own time?