TRICKY BUSINESS 2

PROGRAMME 8: RENTAHEDGE

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

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

Before viewing

Using examples, explain the difference between:

• a product and a service
• renting something and buying something
• a planned activity and a contingency
• a seasonal business and a non-seasonal business
• a market and a niche market
• something portable and something immovable
• something that is speculative and something that is definite.

Discuss where good business ideas come from. Is exam coursework likely to be a source of good business ideas?

Is working long hours under pressure good for people?

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.

RentaHedge basics
Clip one: 01:55 – 03:48

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'Today we're in rural Northamptonshire where John will be meeting Gareth Harca and his business, RentaHedge.'
• Closes with the narrator saying, 'With most of his money tied up in stock, the success of the oncoming season will be crucial for RentaHedge's future.'

Discuss and answer the following questions.

• What does RentaHedge do and how does it work?
• Where did Gareth get the idea for RentaHedge and how long did it take him to set it up?
• Why is RentaHedge a seasonal business?
• Do you agree with John that it is risky to set up in business when you are still a full time student?

Pricing policy
Clip two: 10:29 – 12:57

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'The night before his first big contract at Kelmarsh Hall, Gareth is nervous.'
• Closes with the narrator saying, 'As night starts to fall, Gareth and his dad finally succeed in bringing the last hedges on site.'

Gareth charged Kelmarsh Hall £10,000 to rent his hedges. Create a spidergram of the business costs that this rent will cover. (Think about labour, stock, transport, overheads and profit.) Use a different colour and add the extra costs that Gareth has to pay because of the bad weather. Explain why the agreed rent does not cover these. Decide if Gareth should include a contingency charge in future contracts.

Public relations
Clip three: 14:44 – 16:05

• Opens with the narrator saying, 'It's an eye-opener for Gareth as he meets up with a Manchester-based PR agency.'
• Closes with the narrator saying, 'However, he wants to think it over before spending nearly £5,000.'

Explain the term 'public relations' and give examples of how PR agencies can help businesses. Discuss and answer the following questions:

• What did the PR people dislike about Gareth's brochure? Were these valid criticisms?
• Were the PR people right to say that a business's reputation is only as strong as the weakest part of its business?
• Is £5,000 a reasonable sum for a start-up business to pay a PR agency?
• Should Gareth continue to do his own PR or employ an agency to help him?
• If Gareth continues to do his own PR he must improve his brochure. What does he need to think about when he is doing this?

Negotiating sales
Clip four: 17:01 – 18:12

• Opens with Gareth saying, 'Hi Dave.'
• Closes with Gareth shaking hands and saying, 'Thanks ever so much Dave.'

Use the SWOT chart (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to review Gareth's meeting with Dave.

Download printable version of the SWOT chart [PDF, 28KB]

Use the completed chart to identify how Gareth could have improved the way he handled the meeting. Discuss how Gareth could use a SWOT chart to help him improve other aspects of his business and how you might be able to use a SWOT chart to help you with your learning and career plans.

Learning from mistakes
Clip five: 19:35 – 20:15

• Opens with John Boyle saying, 'Sometimes it's easy for enthusiasm to overtake common business sense.'
• Closes with John Boyle saying, 'Sometimes a deal that is too good to be true is just that.'

Share your experiences of making mistakes and the effects that they have had on your feelings, attitudes and behaviour. Discuss whether entrepreneurs can afford to let their mistakes stop them from chasing their business goals. Read the following statements and say if you agree or disagree with them.

• Everybody makes mistakes sometimes.
• People should not give up because they have made one or two mistakes.
• Mistakes are an opportunity to learn something new.
• People should always be ready to learn from their mistakes.
• People who make the same mistake twice are setting themselves up to fail.
• Worrying about making mistakes can stop people from achieving their business ambitions and other goals.

How close is the match between what you think about mistakes and how you behave when you make one? Could you be an entrepreneur?