Undertaking an Enterprise Project — King's Trust Other Life Skills Qualification Foundations for Learning Revision
This element develops learners' ability to initiate and manage a small-scale enterprise project, from identifying a viable idea suited to a defined target
Topic Synopsis
This element develops learners' ability to initiate and manage a small-scale enterprise project, from identifying a viable idea suited to a defined target market, through costing and pricing, to marketing and reflective review. It integrates essential employability skills such as planning, communication, and numeracy, and provides a practical context for personal development and teamwork.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- Personal Development Planning: Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals and creating an action plan to achieve them, while regularly reviewing progress.
- Teamwork: Understanding group dynamics, your role within a team, and how to contribute effectively by listening, sharing ideas, and supporting others.
- Communication: Using verbal and non-verbal communication skills appropriately, including active listening, questioning, and giving constructive feedback.
- Self-Reflection: Analysing your own strengths and weaknesses, learning from experiences, and identifying areas for improvement to enhance personal growth.
- Problem-Solving: Applying a structured approach to identify problems, generate solutions, and implement them, often working with others to achieve the best outcome.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- For the enterprise project selection, provide evidence of research into the target market (e.g., surveys, observations, secondary data) and explicitly state how the project meets their needs.
- In pricing tasks, show all workings: list every cost item, calculate total production cost for a batch, then divide by quantity to get unit cost. Justify your final selling price with a clear method.
- When planning marketing, explain ‘why’ each promotional method suits your audience; link features of the method (e.g., visual appeal, location, timing) directly to the target market’s characteristics.
- Keep a detailed project diary or log throughout the planning, action, and review phases – assessors value contemporaneous evidence of monitoring and reflection.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Learners often select an enterprise project without adequately considering the target market, leading to a mismatch between product/service and customer needs.
- Many learners underestimate or omit indirect costs (e.g., travel, packaging, their own time) when calculating unit cost, resulting in unrealistic pricing.
- Marketing is frequently reduced to creating a poster or social media post without a strategic rationale, failing to address how these methods reach the intended audience.
- Monitoring and review are often treated as an afterthought, with learners simply describing what happened rather than critically analysing performance against the plan.
Examiner Marking Points
- Award credit for demonstrating a clear rationale linking the chosen enterprise project to the identified target market, supported by basic market research or persona development.
- Expect evidence of accurate unit cost calculation, including direct and indirect costs, and a justified pricing strategy (e.g., cost-plus or competitive pricing) that considers the target market's ability to pay.
- Credit should be given for a coherent marketing plan that includes promotional methods appropriate to the target market, with justification of chosen channels and materials.
- Assessors must see a structured project plan with measurable objectives, a timeline, resource allocation, and a log of monitoring activities. Review must include evaluation against initial objectives, lessons learned, and recommendations for improvement.