Young Entrepreneurs Lab with PPIS: Building Creativity, Confidence, and Business Skills

At Make The Change, we believe entrepreneurship is about much more than starting a business. It is about developing confidence, creativity, resilience, communication and the ability to solve real-world problems.

We were delighted to partner with PPIS to deliver the Young Entrepreneurs Lab for children across two of its centres. Established in 1952, PPIS is a Singapore non-profit organization that supports women, children, and families through community-based programs and services.

Across two engaging sessions, participants stepped into the role of young entrepreneurs. They explored how to transform an idea into a business while developing valuable skills that can support them in school, future careers, and everyday life.

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

The programme began by introducing participants to one of the most important entrepreneurial mindsets: understanding people.

Instead of immediately creating products, the children first learned how successful businesses observe customers, ask thoughtful questions, and identify what people genuinely want.

Through interactive discussions and visual comparisons of different business booths, participants considered questions such as:

• What makes someone stop and look at a booth?

• Why might customers choose one business over another?

• What makes a booth feel attractive, friendly and trustworthy?

• How can businesses create value for customers?

They discovered that successful booths are not only visually appealing. They are also clear, organised, welcoming, creative and easy for customers to understand.

The key lesson was simple:

Successful businesses are not only about making things. They are about understanding people.

Discovering What Customers Want

Participants were then introduced to market research.

They learned that businesses do not need to guess what customers want. Instead, entrepreneurs can observe people, ask questions, listen carefully, and use feedback to improve their ideas.

Working with their teammates and classmates, the children explored:

• The types of craft products customers preferred

• How much customers might be willing to pay

• Which colours were most attractive

• Whether customers preferred cute, colourful or sporty designs

This helped them understand that strong business ideas are shaped by customers, trends, needs, and value.

Turning a Group into a Company

After completing their market research, participants formed small companies.

Each group worked together to decide:

• A company name

• A company logo

• Their product idea

• Their target customer

• Their preferred price range

• The responsibilities of each team member

Participants took on roles such as designer, maker, promoter, manager and cashier. Although each person had a specific responsibility, every team member needed to communicate, contribute, and support the group.

Through this process, the children learned that entrepreneurship is rarely an individual effort. Successful businesses depend on collaboration, shared responsibility and people using their different strengths.

Learning About Marketing and Branding

The young entrepreneurs also explored how marketing and branding help customers recognize and remember a business.

Using familiar brands such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, and LEGO as examples, participants examined how companies use consistent logos, colors, products, and experiences to create a strong identity.

They then applied these ideas by developing their own:

• Company names

• Logos

• Product displays

• Posters

• Signs

• Booth themes

This encouraged participants to consider not only what they were selling, but also how they wanted customers to feel when seeing their business.

Understanding Cost, Price and Profit

Financial literacy was introduced through simple, visual, and age-appropriate examples.

Participants learned the difference between three important concepts:

Cost is the amount of money required to make a product.

Price is how much the business charges the customer.

Profit is the money left after paying the cost.

For example, if a bracelet costs $2 to make and is sold for $5, the business earns a profit of $3.

Participants also took part in pricing games using products such as popcorn cups and friendship bracelets. They compared different selling prices and discussed whether each option was too cheap, fair, or too expensive.

These activities helped them understand that a successful price must work for both the business and its customers.

A price that is too low may not cover the cost of making the product. A price that is too high may discourage customers from buying it.

Earning and Managing Resources

To make the experience even more immersive, the programme introduced a token-based resource system.

Participants completed games and challenges to earn tokens, which they could then use to obtain materials for their products and booths. They needed to think carefully about how to use limited resources, which materials were most important, and how their choices would affect the final product.

This added an engaging layer of strategy and decision-making while reinforcing the idea that entrepreneurs must manage time, money, and resources responsibly.

Preparing the Mini Business Booths

During the second session, the children transformed their ideas into physical business booths.

They explored how items such as tablecloths, baskets, display racks, posters, products, and decorations could help create an attractive and welcoming setup.

Each team worked together to:

• Arrange its products

• Display its company name and logo

• Create signs and promotional materials

• Organise the booth clearly

• Prepare a customer-friendly presentation

The classroom gradually became a lively mini marketplace filled with colour, creativity and excitement.

Communicating with Customers

Before opening their booths, participants learned to pitch and present their products confidently.

They practised a simple three-part approach:

1. Welcome the customer

Participants learned to greet customers warmly and introduce their booth.

For example:

“Hi! Welcome to our booth. Please take a look at our handmade products.”

2. Explain what makes the product special

They practiced sharing the story, creativity, or effort behind their products.

3. Close with a gentle invitation

Rather than pressuring customers, participants learned to ask friendly questions and guide interested customers towards a decision.

This gave them opportunities to practice speaking clearly, listening carefully, and presenting their ideas with confidence.

Opening the Mini Marketplace

The programme culminated in the opening of the children’s mini business booths.

Participants became sellers, promoters, cashiers, and customers. They showcased their products, explained their ideas, made decisions, and experienced the excitement of running a small business.

A particularly memorable highlight was the opening of a special booth, which created additional excitement and became one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience.

This final activity brought all the programme’s learning together. Participants applied customer understanding, creativity, branding, teamwork, communication, pricing and decision-making in a realistic but supportive environment.

Developing Skills Beyond Business

Although the children were building companies and operating booths, the programme outcomes extended far beyond entrepreneurship.

Throughout the Young Entrepreneurs Lab, participants developed:

• Creative thinking

• Problem-solving

• Teamwork

• Communication

• Customer empathy

• Leadership

• Financial literacy

• Resource management

• Decision-making

• Confidence in presenting ideas

These transferable skills can support children in school, relationships, future careers and everyday life.

What PPIS Shared About the Programme

Positive energy and engagement shown by the children were also reflected in the feedback received after the programme:

“Thank you for the incredible entrepreneurship programme. Thank you, Make The Change, for conducting the programme for both centres.The Young Entrepreneurship Programme was a resounding success. It met our expectations. The whole team brought so much energy, warmth and creativity, which made a truly positive impact on our children.It was wonderful to see them so actively engaged, smiling and learning throughout the entire session, especially when the ‘special booth’ opened.We truly appreciate the time, effort and resources you dedicated to creating such a meaningful and memorable experience for them. Programmes like yours are vital in bringing joy and valuable growth opportunities to the children in our care.Thank you once again for your kindness, generosity and wonderful support. We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you again on future initiatives.”

We are grateful to PPIS for its trust and partnership, and to Ashley and the supporting interns for bringing such enthusiasm, warmth, and encouragement to both centers.

A Meaningful Collaboration with PPIS

The programme reflected the shared commitment of PPIS and Make The Change to providing meaningful growth opportunities for children.

By combining PPIS’s work supporting women, children and families with Make The Change’s hands-on educational approach, the workshop created an environment where participants could experiment, collaborate, solve problems and grow in confidence.

The children were not simply listening to lessons about entrepreneurship. They were actively experiencing what it means to build something together, understand customers, make decisions, and bring an idea to life.

Empowering the Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

The Young Entrepreneurs Lab is more than a business workshop.

It is a learning experience that empowers children to become confident communicators, creative thinkers, responsible teammates, and resourceful problem-solvers.

By combining entrepreneurship, financial literacy, communication, and teamwork in an engaging hands-on environment, we hope to inspire the next generation of innovators and changemakers.

We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate with PPIS and other community partners to create meaningful learning experiences for young people.

Bring Young Entrepreneurs Lab to Your Community

Looking for an engaging entrepreneurship program that combines creativity, teamwork, communication, and financial literacy?

The Young Entrepreneurs Lab can be adapted for primary school students, community groups, and youth organizations. Participants learn through practical activities as they research customers, create companies, develop products, build brands, and run their own mini business booths.

Contact Make The Change to explore how the program can be customized for your school or organization.