Introduction

Introduction

A building construction business can take various forms from small to large scale projects. Before starting the business, be certain to what area of specialization in which you would like to offer work. Building construction is composed of the electrical, plumbing, structural and mechanical systems. You can choose the general building system or you can choose in which line of work you would like to prefer.

Building construction is the process of preparing for and forming buildings including its building systems. It may be a form of renovation and new construction. Types of procurement are Design-Bid-Build and Design-Build. Products and Services are offered and included in the contract. With careful planning, starting your own company can be a profitable venture.

In this WebQuest, you will be working with a group of classmates to look at how construction businesses work. You will learn about organizing your own company, how you find clients to spend money at your company. Of course, it takes more than just learning about opening a business to be successful. You have to know how much money you have to start your business, and consider a limited liability company in which it will protect your personal asset in the event of a claim or lawsuit against your company.

For this WebQuest, here is what happened. You have an initial capital of Php 500,000.00 . So, what steps and process will your group start, how should you decide and utilize the money, and on what should you take in consideration first? What kind of Specialization are you good at? That is what you will find out and decide in this WebQuest.

Proceed to the Task section for more details about the WebQuest.

Task

Task

We, have a Php 500,000.00 initial capital. ! Awesome !Now, what to do? we have to start a small building construction business. Where do we begin? And, more importantly, how do we utilize and organize our company with an initial capital of Php 500,000.00 . What we need is a business plan. Yes, a business plan that helps us choose the right process and execution in the business, spend our money on the right things, and get people to find our services. You will work through this WebQuest and complete a business plan to share with the class, and some sample advertisements, as well.

Businesses are more likely to work if the owners are doing something they like and something they are good at doing. The first part of the decision process is to figure this out.
Now that we know what like to do and what we can do well, are there any businesses out there we can start with our Php 500,000.00 that match our likes and skills?
We should use this information to inform a plan to share with others. Use the Business Starter worksheet to help you achieve this step.
Finally, we are getting ready to open our business, and we need to let people know we are getting down to business and what are the services we are capable of doing. You will create an advertising plan and a sample advertisement, or two, to convince classmates to pay for services and products.

Process

Process

Okay, now you know what you are supposed to do, but how do you go about doing it? That is what the process page is for. Below you will find information you need to complete the four steps for this WebQuest.

Think !. What do we like to do, and what are we good at?
Identify ! . Identify the kind/s of specialization in starting a small building construction business: What specialization is best for us?
Write a business plan ! : What is a business without plan? What are the requirements in this kind of business? What are the processes?
Advertise ! : If no one knows we are there, who will be our clients in this business?

Think

Starting a business should be easy, right? how hard could it be? Well, running a business takes energy, commitment, strength of character, and lots of hard work. What often makes for a successful business is understanding what you like to do and what you are good at, and starting a business that fits with those skills.

Identify

Now that you have thought about what you like to do and what you are good at, it is important to think about the kind of specialization of work you could choose to start with your money to make profit for every transaction / services rendered. Of course, the amount of money you have can limit what business you can start, but, more importantly, the business has to be something you believe in and something you look forward to doing every day! Check out these Web sites to get some ideas for different business concepts. Remember, these are just ideas. You can choose to which specialty you would like to prefer before starting the business.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2352252_start-painting-business.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5139517_start-own-plumbing-business.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4911897_start-electrical-service-business.html/
http://www.ehow.com/how_2306711_start-interior-design-business.html

Write a Business Plan

Even the best idea for a business is bound to fail if you do not plan well what you want to do. It is not enough to choose something you want to do, or something you are good at. More important is to work on a plan that sets you up for the best chance to make money from what you invest in your idea. What are some of the things you need to consider when making your plan? There are a set of questions you have to answer, some which you already have begun to think about in the first two parts of the process.

Services: Are you doing something for people?
Market: Who is the customer (the person you are dealing with) and what businesses are you competing against?
Supplies and Equipments: What do you need to start your business and make your product or perform your construction services for customers?
Price – Cost = Profit: How much will it cost for you to build your project or perform your construction services for each customer? How much do you need to charge (price) to make money (profit)?

Use the Business Starter worksheet to answer the questions above for your product or service. Visit the links below to learn more about construction business.

Business Concepts

General Business Concepts:

Starting A Construction Business Requirements

http://tenonline.org/sref/kw1.html

Advertise

You know who you are and what you like, you have a great idea to make some cash money, and you created a great plan. The time has come to go out and find some clients. For this WebQuest, you need to think about how best to sell your supplies or service. And you get to practice on your classmates! Look at different ways to advertise your construction service and create at least one sample advertisement to share with the class. Your advertisement or promotion idea can be a flyer, a poster, a video, or any of a number of options.

Check out the Evaluation section to see how you will be graded on this activity.

Evaluation

This page presents the chart showing you how you will be scored on your completed WebQuest. Everyone is expected to participate and give something to the final project.

	Very Good 4	Good 3	Needs Work 2	Not So Hot 1
Construction Business Idea	Business idea meets all three of these requirements. Can be started with Php 500,000.00 Is appropriate for 18 year-old and above students Builds from students’ self assessments	Business idea meets two of the three requirements. Can be started with Php 500,000.00 Is appropriate for 18 year-old and above students Builds from students’ self assessments	Business idea meets one of the three requirements. Can be started with Php 500,000.00 Is appropriate for 18 year-old and above students Builds from students’ self assessments	Business idea fails to meet any of the three requirements. Can be started with Php 500,000.00 Is appropriate for 18 year-old and above students Builds from students’ self assessments
Business Plan	All sections of the Business Starter worksheet are completed in full. Business plan demonstrates a strong understanding of market and profit.	Most sections of the Business Starter worksheet are completed. Business plan demonstrates an understanding of market and profit.	Some of the sections of the Business Starter worksheet are completed. Business plan demonstrates some understanding of market and profit.	None of the sections of the Business Starter worksheet are completed. Business plan lacks a clear understanding of market and profit.
Service Strategy	Students create an appealing advertising and promotion plan. Sample advertisement encourages most classmates to say they would deal with the construction service.	Students create an appealing advertising and promotion plan. Sample advertisement encourages only three-fourths of classmates to say they would deal with the construction service.	Students create a somewhat appealing advertising and promotion plan. Sample advertisement encourages only half of classmates to say they would deal with the construction service.	Advertising and promotion plan is not appealing. Sample advertisement encourages only one-fourth or fewer classmates to say they would deal with the construction service.
Assessment	Group members cooperate, respect the ideas of others, and learn from one another. Group needs little or no teacher help.	Group members work together and share questions, ideas, and sources. Group needs some teacher help.	Group members work together on some tasks, but not all. Group needs teacher help.	Group members do not work together well. Group needs constant help from teacher.

Go on to the Conclusion section of the WebQuest to complete the activity.

Conclusion

The activities in this WebQuest encouraged you to investigate the process for starting a small construction business. As part of the WebQuest, you were asked to really think about who you are, what you like to do, and what you are good at doing. Were you surprised by any of your answers to these questions? How well did you really know yourself? Did any of your responses make you want to change something about yourself?

You were asked to build a business plan about a small construction business. You have to think about all the important steps of starting a business from the beginning if you are going to have success later. Now that you have seen the business plans and advertising and promotion plans of the other groups, how would you change your plans to be more successful? This is the end of the WebQuest, but it does not have to be the end of your business. Keep thinking about your business and the future !

Credits

Credits:

Sources :

http://tenonline.org/sref/kw1.html

by Kit Werremeyer, Pres. Southerstar Consultants LLC
SCORE Chapter 203, Tampa, FL

Teacher Page

Guided Lesson Plan

On this page you will find an overview of the purpose, objectives, and learner description, along with the standards students will meet when they complete this WebQuest. This guided lesson plan will support teachers as they introduce students to the STARTING A SMALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS WebQuest activity.

Purpose

The STARTING A SMALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS WebQuest is intended to support student learning in a various ways about construction business. First, the WebQuest encourages students to examine who they are and what they like to do. A second purpose for this WebQuest is to educate students about the basics of construction business. Finally, the WebQuest transitions students from theory to reality, in which they can use it in the future as businessmen.

Rationale

Building an understanding of how choices and activities they do now apply to their futures is an essential growth opportunity for students. At the same time, investigating construction businesses, profit, loss, marketing, and advertising helps students become critical evaluators of commercial enterprises and ad campaigns, something that will serve them well as they become active members of our capitalist society.

Prerequisites

Students embarking on the Starting a small building construction business WebQuest should demonstrate the following.

Basic Internet navigation skills
Evaluating and Investigation of Construction Business
Basic Interpretation of Profit, Loss, Marketing, and Construction Business knowledge
General understanding of working in a small group

Instructional Objectives

Upon completion of this WebQuest, students will have the ability to:

Define the terms price, cost, and profit.
Sort businesses into providers of goods/supplies and services.
Develop a basic business plan.
Identify and target potential customers with advertisements.

Subject Matter Description

You will find the following sections in the WebQuest for students to refer to when completing the activity.

Introduction: In this section, students will be given an overview of the activity with a basic framing of the activity.
Task: On this page, students will encounter an outline of the WebQuest.
Process: As students encounter this page, they will learn the extent of the project and the steps for completing the WebQuest successfully, as well as the resources to guide them through the activity.
Evaluation: The rubric for scoring each project and each student’s participation in the group is provided for student reference.
Conclusion: This page offers students a tidy warp-up of what they have completed and some additional questions to think about as they move on.

Assessment

The product of this WebQuest for students includes a basic written business plan in the form of aBusiness Starter worksheet and the development of a sample advertisement or promotion for their chosen product. Student work will be assessed on several measures, including individual contributions to the group, overall business plan development, and their ability to share a convincing marketing and promotion strategy.