Dragons Den at The Beacon!

This week, we were delighted to welcome four Beacon parents into the Old Barn for our Year 8 Dragons Den Competition. The initiative was created for our Leavers’ Programme, tasking fifteen of our Year 8 boys with the challenge of creating their very own business idea, in preparation to pitch it to our panel of Beacon parent judges. A big thank you to Christhl Scharing, Emily McCart, Ben King and Nick Lawson who very kindly transformed into (very kind and supportive) Dragons for the afternoon.

Our boys experienced how to create a business plan; looking at financial costs of their business and how they can make a profit. They also delved into how they would market their business and tailor it to a specific audience as well as how to pitch their business to a group of investors.

Lastly, they got to work on figuring out their brand image and how to get creative with it. They had to consider the branding itself, including logos and brand colours. They worked hard on what their adverts would look like and what the key messages would be.

Our boys delivered an excellent array of business ideas, ranging from 3d printing companies, non-profit initiatives for reducing plastic in the seas, charitable basketball events to bamboo paper planes.

The event itself took place in the Old Barn at The Beacon, where the Dragons hypothetically had £100k to invest into the businesses. Our boys learned some incredible insight into the world of business and what a start up company requires. The Dragons shared their knowledge on how they would grow the specific business that the boys were proposing. Our boys received invaluable knowledge into the corporate world and gained some excellent advice on how they can improve their ideas.

The event was such a success, the Dragons have agreed to continue this initiative in 2022/23! If there are any young and budding entrepreneurs in Year 7 now, please make a visit to Mr Privett to to register your interest.