Business Plan for a Green Team Farmers’s Market at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber

 Inquiry 🌎 Research 🌎 Collaboration 🌎 Presentation 🌎 Reflection

Prepared by:

Miki Huang

Class of 2019

Phone: 267-xxx-xxxx

Email: Mhuang19@slabeeber.org

Table of contents

Summary        3

Description        6

Management        8

Key planning Assumptions        10

Marketing Strategy        12

Financial Strategy and Projected Income        13

Side Notes        15

Summary 

Science Leadership Academy at Beeber is an inquiry-driven, project-based public school focused on 21st century learning. With the opening of this school in 2013, we have been providing students a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on science, technology, mathematics and entrepreneurship. Unlike many magnet schools in the Philadelphia area, our students learn in a project-based environment where the core values (inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection) are emphasized in all classes and students are encouraged to make real life connections in their studies.

As an attempt to expand on our school’s efforts, we the Green Team are seeking to establish a farmers market in the near future; for students, parents, and nearby residents to support their local community. This will also offer students the advantage of having first hand experience in engaging in a meaningful project that enables real-life challenges.

The three vital purposes for establishing a school farmers’ market are:

Student Academic Development 

Students will be able to develop general skills needed for future careers and be introduced to careers in horticulture. For example, students will be using their math and accounting skill to price produce, keep records, and figure out expenses and revenues. Budding artists will be able to display their abilities as they design logos and marketing materials. While all students will be able to continue working on our core value of collaboration. As there are several other different components to this project and it will need a variety of skills including but not limited to: communication, decision making, problem solving, ethical dilemmas, and maintaining relations with customers (public relations).

Involvement with the community

Students will be able to engage with their community, throughout this entire process of this project. As I have said before this will also help students develop communication skills, but it will also allow them to foster relationships with the public. For example, during the visit of a prospective student’s mom, she saw the vegetables in the Tower Garden and shared a recipe for rainbow chard chips. The farmers market would be a great place of learning and socializing.

Funding for student projects 

Learning is not free and being that we are a public Philadelphia school, it is not something we can always afford. In order to participate in some activities or carry out certain projects a bit of money is always needed. In the past, there were several of our seniors who had to pay out of pocket for their capstone materials. However, sometimes students are not always able to do so and this could make them stray away from the projects they actually want to do. That is why we wanted to use the earnings from the farmers market to help fund capstone projects relating to the environment. This year we were able to take part of the “2018 Greater Philadelphia High School Environmental Sculpture Contest” with the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion, but had costed our school $7,500 to participate. Not to mention another two thousand in which we fulfilled through donations, including out-of-pocket money from teachers’/students’ and Donorschoose. We were able to get the funding for it this time, but we cannot always expect that we will have the money for our activities, so the farmers market is a great way to help subsidize the cost of future projects.

Description 

Mission 

Our mission for establishing a farmers market at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber is to help students develop essential life skills, apply core values to real life instances and to let them inspire others within the SLA@Beeber community to take initiative. Students will be involved with the entire process of this project, since the purpose of it is to learn from experience and working together. They will have to do everything from farming to selling to research. This will teach them what it is like to work in a small business and in horticulture.

Vision and goal

Our vision for the Green Team’s Farmers market is for it to essentially become a staple part of our school’s culture that attracts students and encourages them to take part of it. The first few years will be a bit of an experiment as we are still figuring out how to maintain our plant and produce them in the quantity and quality needed to sell. Due to this, our farmers market is most likely not going to be open often, but we hope to open it at least once a month in the starting phases.

Location 

The farmers market stand will be set up in front of the school. However, the garden where the produce is grown, is located in the back of the school and the Tower Garden in room 310 (Ms. Sasso classroom). The front of the school is a good place to set up the farmer’s market stand because it is the place in which the most people enter and leave the building. This makes our stand more noticeable, although we would have to set up the stand closer to the gates so that we do not cause any traffic on the stairs. Another reason this would make a great location is because we would not need to have a vender license to set up a farmers market here.

Ownership

The farmer market will be owned by SLA@Beeber and the Green Team. However, it will be under the direction and management of the student body of the Green Team. while all financial transaction for the Farmers’ market will be run by the club’s supervisor.  

Management

The club’s supervisor will be the person in charge, who will oversee the work being done. However, the members of the Green Team will be the ones carrying out the tasks of gardening and managing the business; with the help from students in the Botany elective and Environmental science course if the lesson plan allows.

Skills and Qualifications

The farmers’ market managers will need a variety of interpersonal and technical skill to work effectively. It is crucial that the market managers have the following skills or are willing to actively develop these skills to perform the job effectively:

Of course it is not required that they have all of these skills, as they will have one another to rely on but it is important that all members try to contribute to the project.

Responsibilities

As stated before, students will be able to develop and use a variety of their skills in real life situations. The roles they will play but are not limited to include:

Key planning Assumptions

Size of market

Our market size will be relatively small since we are limited to the student body and the residents of the area. This will be a good start for us since will only be able to accommodate to a small scale of the supply and demand chain.

Competition

Our competition will be the other grocery stores in the area that offer a larger variety and quantity of produce. However, many parents (hopefully) are willing to support the hard-work of students. Below I have included a short list of competitors within a 5 mile radius that do not belong to a supermarket chain, but would still be considered a threat.

Name

Day of week

Times

Duration

West Phillie Produce

Sunday - Saturday

8 AM - 8 PM

All year round

R & R Produce & Fish

Tuesday - Friday and Sunday

7 AM - 5 PM

All year round

The Fresh Grocer of Monument Ave

Sunday - Saturday

7 AM - 11 PM

All year round

We have a large variety and group of competition since we are located in an area near other grocery markets and the parents who are coming to pick up their kids most likely pass a supermarket much closer to home on their way here. However, all produce that are sold at our farmers market will be grown from the hard work of students and there is a guarantee that there was no chemical products used while growing them

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Marketing Strategy

Target Market 

Our target market are those apart of our SLA community since we most likely won’t be able to produce a large quantity or a great variety of produce.

Strategy

At the beginning of the school year we will be taking survey to see what students and parents would like to have at the farmers market. From the gathered information we will determine what items will be grown. To avoid gaining a bad reputation from the start, we will avoid setting a date for the opening of the market until it is certain that there is enough produce to be sold. From there we will be advertising our stand weeks prior to the opening through advisory memos, the SLA@Beeber News channel, our social media platforms, and flyers. I believe the biggest incentive we can give them for buying our produce over those of supermarkets, is that we are reinvesting the money back into our student’s education.

Pricing produce

Pricing our produce, will require students to consider several things which includes and is not limited to:

Production cost

Observing local prices

Considering the ‘type of season’

Referring to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service

Supply and Demand

Financial Strategy and Projected Income 

Initial investment 

While the aim would be to make the market self sustaining, there are various materials needed for our start up. To get these materials, we will be using resources such as Downerschose and Gofundme. This is something we have previously done to get materials for our Eco-sculpture and materials for our gardens, and it has proven to work out exceptionally. This way we can keep cost down and reap profitable benefits.

Supplies needed:

Side Notes

Products to be sold

Students will need to send out a survey for this at the beginning of the school year so that they can begin planning and preparing the rest of the process.

‘Online’ farmers market for holidays

I propose that we also have an ‘online’ farmers market as well. This is where people will have to pre-order their items for different events, since they will not be in the actual farmers market. (I.e Flower bouquets for Mother's day)

Income statement chart students will be filling out 

I think it would be a good idea for students to estimate their amount of profit at the beginning of the year so that they can reflect on the process at the end. Somethings they could think about are: