The business tradeshow is the final phase of an Independent Business Simulation in which all grade 9 business students participate. The trade show is a public display of entrepreneurial ventures which the students have explored and developed. The purpose of the fair is to expose these simulated entrepreneurial ventures to the public, and to receive feedback from business educators and members of the business community. Students are expected to demonstrate enterprising concepts that are well thought out, well researched, and would have a reasonable expectation of success if they were to be operated in reality.

Requirements:

As participants in the tradeshow, each student proprietor or partnership is to create a display promoting the business concept they have developed over the term. The display is to be informative, convincing and interesting. The fundamental objectives for each display are:

1. to explain the need or want that the business is responding to;

2. to explain and demonstrate the product or service which the business will provide. (Naturally, actual samples or demonstrations are a plus.); and

3. to prove that the business can produce this good or service at a profit.

   
   

The only limits on the displays are those imposed by spatial considerations. The display should be contained within approximately two square metres (1 metre by 2 metres).

The left panel of the board should contain information regarding your market. This should include a description of your target market, an estimate of your market's size, and an indication of how willing your market is to purchase the good or service you are proposing to sell. Naturally, this information is based on primary and secondary research, so the results of such research is well communicated in the form of graphs, tables, and pie charts.		The right panel of your display should contain information regarding the economic viability of your proposed business. This should include a Projected Income Statement and a Projected Balance Sheet, as well as any key facts or figures that you feel are critical to the success of your proposed business venture. However, the bulk of your research and source documents (which prove the accuracy of your figures) should be kept within your project binder.
	The middle panel is dedicated to examining the product or service which your business is proposing to provide. You have the greatest latitude with respect to what you place on this panel. Suffice to say, you should make this panel both attractive to the eye as well as appealing to the mind. Naturally, the name of your business should appear (in large print) at the top of this panel, and your differential advantage should be discussed.

Not only will each display be graded (please see the project marking scheme), but each display will be inspected by a number of invited judges, also know as investors. Investors are asked to examine the various entrepreneurial presentations and to invest a set amount of hypothetical investment capital into as many, or as few, businesses as they wish. An award will acknowledge the achievements of the three business simulations which collect the greatest amount of investment capital from the tradeshow.

If you would like to get an idea of the what this event is like, take a tour of the Tradeshow web site.

Suggested Resources:

To gain some insight into typical business trade show displays, students are encouraged to examine the following sites:

Barrett Displays page.

Display Makers page.

Impact Displays page.

Gropen's Trade Show Display page.

Prodisplays page.

Sign-A-Rama's display page.

Students who are planning a manufacturing business for their entrepreneurial venture might want to check out these links regarding packaging and sealing equipment:

• Traco
• Doboy
• Canadian Packaging
• Wu-Hsing

Due Date and Marking Scheme:

Please refer to the term evaluation summary for this year's due date. Members of the H.T.S. community are invited to drop in to explore the displays and discuss the entrepreneuial proposals with the students who created them.

Students should consult the marking scheme while preparing their displays.