LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• talk about business start-ups and their difficulties;
• explore start-up vocabulary;
• watch a short video on how to fund a business.

In this lesson, students discuss the challenges start-ups face, practise useful collocations (e.g., give up equity, rely on venture capital, secure funding), and discuss solutions for various start-up obstacles. They watch a video about start-up financing, imagine they have an idea for a start-up and decide how they would finance it. Students also talk about start-up funding in their country.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up. Students list five challenges that business start-ups commonly face. They then match the halves of sentences about obstacles for new businesses. Afterwards, students practise start-up vocabulary. They match collocations related to start-ups (e.g. create a pitch, develop expertise, exercise due diligence) with their definitions. Moving on, students discuss feasible solutions for different start-up challenges. They use the collocations from the previous task. 

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students watch a video about start-up financing. First, they try to complete sentences about ways to fund a start-up. Then, students watch the video and check their ideas. Next, they revise start-up vocabulary by imagining they have an idea for a start-up. Students examine options related to financing methods, decide which ones they prefer and explain their reasoning. Finally, they discuss questions about start-up funding in their country.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete the gaps in statements about business with start-up vocabulary. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.