Prime selling spots went under the auction hammer this week as the NCEA Level 1 Business Studies students vied for prime locations in Elliot Quad to peddle their wares at the first Business Fair!

As part of the first year of offering the NCEA Level 1 Business Studies course at the College, the inaugural Business Fair was an opportunity for the Level 1 students to plan, carry out and review a ‘product-based’ activity. This aligned with their 6 credit Internal Assessment AS90842 (1.6). 

To add depth to the curriculum, NCEA Business Studies is designed to expose students to New Zealand’s culture of enterprise and encourage them to develop business knowledge and decision making skills to contribute towards New Zealand’s economic future. The course leads onto NCEA Level 2 Business Studies or IB Business Management in Year 12. 

With weeks of planning under their belts, 19 business groups set up for business in an outdoor lunch time market for fellow senior students and staff. As part of the assessment, they were required to  sell a product, demonstrating the concept of ‘adding value’ after ‘conducting market research’ with their Year 11-13 target market. 

They had the option of either producing an entirely new product or modifying an existing product for sale. Having determined their product and purpose, they set about pre-market day promotion to drive sales, determining their price point and likely profit. 

Products for sale included customised t-shirts, decorative candles, slime, jewellery, office accessories, designer slides and bath bombs. Whilst sales were vigorous at some tables, some groups rued not bidding more vigorously on prime locations, or were left wondering whether a little more market research would have increased their sales! Some found themselves in a competitive market – in particular the three ‘bath bomb groups’ who experienced the real dynamics of competition, having all bid for stalls that were in close proximity to each other! It took only a little while for one of those groups to realise that to gain the advantage, they needed to work harder, taking their product for a walk to drum up sales! 

With the market packed down, students returned to class to reflect on their experience in relation to the goals that they set in their business plans. The most comprehensive business plan from each class shared the funds from the initial stall auctions as extra income. 

Once the costs and sales are tallied, the students will donate 30% of their profits from the day to a local charity of their choice.

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