WASCZ Summer School丨Business Academy

A journalist once asked Buffett, “When is the best time to teach children about financial literacy?” Buffett replied, "The earlier, the better!"

Bill Gates once said, "My business education began the moment I first met Buffett."

Even someone as intelligent as Bill Gates benefited from having an experienced guide like Buffett in the business world, which set the stage for his remarkable business journey. From Buffett, he learned how to think logically and with foresight, and how to develop a comprehensive business mindset.

We aim to provide the student’s enrolled in this term’s Summer School Business Academy with a comprehensive financial literacy education and professional guidance to address their concerns.

Business Academy

Which field of study should I choose at university given the vast array of business disciplines?

What is the real work environment like for a stock analyst?

What is it like to start a business, just like Elon Musk?

WASCZ 2024 Summer School Business Academy provides an opportunity for upper school students in their exploratory phase to interact directly with experts in various fields and to engage in a realistic entrepreneurial experience.

Real-life Monopoly: Simulated Entrepreneurship

In interactive classes, students acquire foundational knowledge through a one-stop approach that covers everything including the “four Ps of marketing,” market research and pricing strategies, information about financial affairs, branding and marketing strategies, business operations, management, production, sales, and presentation.?

However, the most noteworthy aspect of this extraordinary journey into the business world is that students learn by doing. Over two weeks, they will establish an aromatherapy candle company in teams, competing against each other and enjoying the process immensely.

Within the teams, some students act as CEOs, others as product development managers, and others as visual design directors. These talented students showcase their skills, designing company logos, promotional brochures, posters, and market research questionnaires. They carefully formulate questions regarding the fragrance, size, packaging, and burning time of the candles. They then survey potential customers around the school to understand their preferences.

The Business Academy specifically designates one classroom for market transactions. Each team starts with 100,000 tokens to purchase production tools and raw materials.

Materials available in the "market" include wax melting pots, soybean wax, white beeswax, essential oils, dried flowers, candle dyes and molds, wicks, acrylic paints, pigments, and decorative ribbons.

Without any provided instructions for producing aromatherapy candles, students must use their own ingenuity and research to purchase raw materials and produce their candles. They head to the art classroom, learning through trial and error, and adjust as they go. During their second market transaction, students address flaws from their first day of production, iterating and improving their products. Some even consider monopolising certain materials to gain a cost advantage.

The process from R&D and production to packaging and shelving takes three and a half days in total.

During the afternoon selling sessions, students welcome enthusiastic visits from summer school teachers and students, even introducing trendy blind box sales tactics to heighten the exciting atmosphere.

This summer, Candly Company earned 2,038.55 yuan, and Candie Candle Company earned 1,770.5 yuan, concluding their two weeks of effort with impressive sales figures.

Direct Dialogues with Industry Elites

Through interactions with business leaders and entrepreneurs, students enhance their real-world observation and understanding, gaining valuable career guidance and inspiration. This term, we arranged visits to HSBC in Suzhou and Star Charge, a leading company in the "new energy capital" of Changzhou.

At the showroom of Star Charge, a leader and unicorn in Asia's digital energy sector, students learned about the company's development history, culture, product range, employee benefits, annual sales, and global strategy since its founding in 2014. The company's pioneering of the “mobile energy network" concept and the “cloud management terminal" business model —which combines hardware, software, and services—left a deep impression on the students.

In the back-end control display area, the smart charging setups and real-time display of charging support operations and user charging conditions amazed the students. They then visited the automated factory workshop and had the opportunity to interview employees from various departments, asking questions about the electrical industry, big data collection and management, receiving professional insights and guidance. The visit was highly fruitful.

For students, a bank is the best place to explore the mysteries of wealth. Through the HSBC Open Day, students transformed into little bankers, experiencing a day in the life of a banker.

In the HSBC career classroom, lecturers combined Chinese and Western financial features with real-life cases to deliver an in-depth and accessible financial investment course.

Additionally, students explored HSBC's development history in a real financial setting, delving into the functions of various departments and gaining knowledge about finance, banking philosophy, and career planning.

The Summer School Business Academy is a cradle for future entrepreneurs that bears witness to the aspirations of young minds. We hope that students will apply the cutting-edge business and accounting insights, along with excellent communication and leadership skills acquired here, to future challenges in life and learning. We look forward to welcoming more future entrepreneurs to WASCZ Summer School next year!