TRICKY BUSINESS

PROGRAMME 4: NICK WILLOUGHBY

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

These activities support a mix of individual, paired and group work.

Before viewing

Share your experiences of buying food from street vendors and food carts. Would you describe the food that they serve as gourmet food?

What are crêpes, where do they come from, and how are they made?

Generate a list of words and phrases that can be used to describe the best of something. Select your favourites and use them to make a business name for a crêperie or sandwich bar.

Discuss the qualifications and experience that people need before they can set up a mobile catering business.

After viewing

To view 4Learning video clips you will need Windows XP/2000 and Windows Media Player 9, 10 or 11. Unfortunately, the clips are not supported on Macintosh computers.

The video clips may contain a few seconds of extra material at the beginning and end. We have therefore included opening and closing descriptions to help identify the intended scene.

Entrepreneurial characteristics
Clip one: 01:59 – 03:22

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Nick hasn't always been crêpe mad.'
• Closes with Joanna saying, 'He believes in himself, and he believes in his product, and he believes in everything about Crème de la Crêpe.'

List the characteristics that successful entrepreneurs possess. How well does Nick fit the picture that you have created? Discuss whether Nick's dyslexia means that he has had to work harder at becoming an entrepreneur than most people. Using the internet and other resources, complete one of the following tasks. Display, share and discuss your findings.

• Identify a famous entrepreneur who is dyslexic, and find out as much as you can about the effects this had on the entrepreneur's education and career development.
• The Disability Discrimination Act recognises dyslexia as a disability. Find out as much as you can about how dyslexia can affect people's career opportunities and their working lives.

Business basics
Clip two: 04:47 – 06:05

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'The crêpes sell for around £3.'
• Closes with Nick saying, 'A good day, definitely a good day.'

Answer these questions.

• Why is St Andrews a good place to run a crêpe stand?
• On average, how much profit does Nick make on one crêpe?
• Why is Nick determined to use good quality ingredients in his crêpes?
• How do university terms affect Nick's sales?
• Why does Nick want to expand his business and start catering for large events and parties?

University terms affect the demand for Nick's crêpes. Make a list of other foods that are in more demand at some times of the year than at others. For each item on your list, say what causes the seasonal change in demand and how food producers and retailers respond to it.

Commercial catering
Clip three: 08:01 – 09:36

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Nick's had a lucky break.'
• Closes with Nick saying, 'I'm kind of looking forward to it in a sick and twisted kind of way.'

Discuss these questions:

• Why is it a lucky break for Nick that he has been asked to cater for the St Andrews University Fashion Show?
• Why will catering for this event put Nick's reputation on the line?
• What is the difference between a sole trader and a head chef?
• Is there such a thing as 'an unforeseeable problem' or are all problems the result of poor planning and preparation?

In pairs, make a list of the pros and cons of being a sole trader and a head chef. Review your list. Would you advise Nick to remain as a sole trader or should he pursue his plans to expand his business and cater for large events?

Being organised
Clip four: 16:52 – 18:38

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'A few days later and Nick's website has struck gold.'
• Closes with Joanna saying, 'And all these sort of things which are really important if you're running a business.'

Describe the problems that Nick has in organising and dealing with the administrative side of his business. For each of the problems that you identify, suggest one thing that Nick could do to solve the problem. Share and review your ideas with others. Could you use any of the strategies to help you improve your personal organisation?

Reality check
Clip five: 20:21 – 22:45

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'The key to Gordon's success was keeping his coffee cart running for a further three years after establishing his first high-street coffee shop.'
• Closes with the narrator saying, 'Gordon's advice may be tough to accept but Nick knows that, for the time being, the cart is the cash cow.'

Identify and discuss the similarities and differences between Crème de la Crêpe and Beanscene. Is Gordon right to encourage Nick to make the crêpe stand his main business activity? What are the advantages and disadvantages for Nick of doing this?