Innovators enterprise kits for ages 12-14
Find a real problem. Test it. Pitch with proof.
In short
Ready-to-teach KS3 enterprise kits for ages 12-14. Teams of 3-4 meet real UK founders, interview people about a real problem, build and test a prototype, work out costs, price and break-even, plan honest marketing and pitch with evidence. In the Enterprise Week and the club they sell at a real market, on a start-up loan an adult holds, so nobody uses their own money.
Years 7-9 (S1-S3 in Scotland)
Four formats, one story
Choose your Innovators kit
Start with the free hour, then carry on with the same teams and the same Venture Canvas into a day, a week or a club.
Free taster lesson
60 minutes
Real founders who started small, a sticky-note wall of what pupils bring, and one real problem to take further.
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Enterprise Day
09:00-15:15
A real problem by break, a tested prototype by lunch and an evidence-based pitch by quarter past three.
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Enterprise Week
5 days
Interviews on Monday, a tested product by Wednesday, pre-orders on Thursday and a real market on Friday.
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Enterprise Club
12 x 55-60 minutes
Twelve weeks from a problem to a real market day, with a catch-up card for anyone who misses a week.
See inside and downloadWhat changes at this age
How the kits work for 12-14 year olds
- Founder stories
- A founder story card with a photo, read and discussed in teams
- Teams
- Teams of 3-4, with four jobs that rotate
- Finding a problem
- A problem hunt, then interviews with real people
- Worked business
- A worked keyring business, then their own product, service or event
- Money
- Costs, price, break-even and cash, with a real market in the Week and the club
- Writing load
- One A3 Venture Canvas per team, with short optional worksheets
- Screens, AI and social
- Paper first. The teacher runs any AI tool, and social media is planned on paper, never posted from pupils' own accounts
- The pitch
- 90 seconds and one question from the panel, backed by evidence
Eight stages, one Venture Canvas
Real UK founders
Founders your pupils will meet
Real people who started with a simple idea, shown with photos. Every fact is checked against a published source.
Omari McQueen
Dipalicious
His own vegan dips.
Avye Couloute
Girls Into Coding
Hands-on coding and robotics workshops for girls.
Ben Francis
Gymshark
Gym clothes, first made in his parents' garage.
Lucie Macleod
Hair Syrup
Hair oils, first mixed in her student kitchen.
Fraser Doherty
SuperJam
Jam from his gran's recipes, sweetened with fruit juice.
Honor & Cat Black
Maiden Cricket
Cricket kit designed for girls and women.
Ali Abdaal
YouTube creator and author
Study and productivity videos, made while he trained as a doctor.
Pip Murray
Pip & Nut
Nut butters, first blitzed in her own kitchen.
Segun Akinwoleola
The Gym Kitchen
High-protein versions of familiar ready meals.
Charlotte Liebling
Loved Before
Rescued soft toys, cleaned, repaired and rehomed.
Mark Rushmore & Gyve Safavi
SURI
A repairable electric toothbrush with plant-based heads.
Cassandra Stavrou
PROPERCORN
PROPERCORN popcorn.
Tessa Clarke & Saasha Celestial-One
Olio
An app where neighbours share spare food.
Kim Innes
Humble Crumble
Crumbles, from a market stall to bakeries.
Rob Law
Trunki
A children's suitcase they can ride on.
Nick D'Aloisio
Summly
An app that summed up news stories for your phone.
Victoria Jenkins
Unhidden
An adaptive fashion brand.
Solveiga Pakštaitė
Mimica
A food label that turns bumpy when food has gone off.
Rikke Rosenlund
BorrowMyDoggy
Matches dog owners with dog lovers nearby.
AI · Kit Add-on Studio
Make any session fit your group
Ask for a warm-up, an adaptation or a themed version, drafted inside the kit's rules.
AI · Kit Add-on Studio
Ask for exactly what your group needs
A warm-up, an adaptation, a themed version or an extension. It's drafted inside the kit's rules: teams of 3-4, adults hold any money, the teacher runs any AI tool, low-ink printables, UK English.
Free account: 3 a day. Never include pupils' names.
What you'll get
- Where it fits in the kit, and how long it takes
- Timed steps with words to say
- What to gather, and a low-ink printable if it helps
- Ways to support and stretch, and what success looks like
Print it, or copy it straight into your plan.
Answers
Innovators kit questions
Four: a free one-hour taster, an Enterprise Day (09:00-15:15), an Enterprise Week of fifteen sessions and a twelve-week club or lesson series. Teams of 3-4 keep one A3 Venture Canvas from the first session to the pitch.
Only in the Enterprise Week and the club, and only with your head teacher's agreement. Teams sell at a real market on a start-up loan from the school or PTA, which an adult holds, along with all takings. Nobody uses their own money. The Taster and the Day work the money out on paper, and both longer kits have a no-trading route.
The teacher runs any AI tool on their own account, with no pupil names or personal details typed in. Pupils plan posts on paper and never post from their own accounts. The guide explains the age limits on social media and AI tools, and the UK rules for under-16s announced for spring 2027.
They learn to find evidence before they decide, to test an idea and change it (or keep it) for a reason, and to work out whether a business makes money. Every pupil has a part in a pitch to a panel, and each team leaves with results it earned.
Real UK founders, including Omari McQueen, Avye Couloute, Honor and Cat Black, Victoria Jenkins, Pip Murray and Rob Law, each with a photo and facts checked against a published source.
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