Teacher guide · Real Life Lab · Harder · about 60 min

🏪 Run Your Own Shop

Pupils practise real life thinking and problem solving and confidence through "Run Your Own Shop": Open a shop, price it, survive a bad week, and count your profit.

Lesson guide

1. Hook · 5 min
Show the 🏪 mission title and read the opening: "What does your shop sell?". Take three quick guesses.
2. Model · 5 min
Think aloud through the first step together. Use Coin the Raccoon's line as your prompt: "Smart call. Money and time both count."
3. Do · 35 min
Pairs work through the 22 steps on screen or on the printed sheet. Circulate and ask "why?"
4. Discuss · 10 min
Use two or three of the discussion questions. Ask pairs to share different answers, not just correct ones.
5. Reflect · 5 min
Exit ticket: one sentence on how they used real life thinking today.

Discussion questions

What was the hardest choice in "Run Your Own Shop", and why?
What does your shop sell — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Who is your shop for, and why would they choose you over the big shop down the road — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Each item costs you £2 to make. What do you charge — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Where could you use real life thinking outside school this week?
If you did this again, what would you change?

Adapting it

Support: Read prompts aloud, pair with a confident partner, and accept spoken or drawn answers for writing steps.

Stretch: Ask pupils to create their own extra step for a partner and explain the correct answer.

Curriculum links

National Curriculum: Maths: money, measures and solving real-world problems
PSHE: Living in the wider world: economic wellbeing — money, saving and choices
PSHE: Health & wellbeing: keeping safe and everyday responsibilities

Pupil sheet

🏪 Run Your Own Shop

Name: ____________________ Date: __________

1. What does your shop sell?
☐ 🧁 Bakery
☐ 📚 Bookshop
☐ 🌱 Plant shop
☐ 🎮 Game swap shop
2. Who is your shop for, and why would they choose you over the big shop down the road?
3. You start with £120. Spend it on setting up.
Budget: £120
☐ Stock — £40
☐ Shelves — £15
☐ Sign — £10
☐ Till & card reader — £20
☐ Posters & flyers — £10
☐ Fridge — £25
☐ Comfy chairs — £15
☐ Website — £20
Total spent: £______
4. Each item costs you £2 to make. What do you charge?
☐ £2 — cheapest wins
☐ £3.50 — a fair margin
☐ £10 — big profit
5. Explain your price to a customer who says it's too expensive.
6. Order your opening day.
___ Check the till float
___ Count takings
___ Open the doors
___ Serve customers
___ Set out stock
___ Unlock and clean
7. Week 2 goes wrong. Find out how badly.
Clue — Rain: Five days of rain. Half your usual customers stayed home.
Clue — Stock: A third of your stock won't last another week.
Clue — A rival: A new shop opened opposite selling the same thing, cheaper.
Clue — The takings: You made £70 this week. Your costs were £90.
8. You're £20 down. Best move?
☐ Cut your price below the rival's
☐ Sell the short-life stock as a bundle deal and post about it
☐ Close for a week
☐ Borrow £100
9. Match each money word to what it means.
Cost → ________________
Price → ________________
Profit → ________________
Stock → ________________
10. Write the advert for your bundle deal. Make me want it.
11. Month 2: £60 to grow the shop.
Budget: £60
☐ More stock — £25
☐ Loyalty cards — £10
☐ Local advert — £15
☐ Saturday helper — £20
☐ Better sign — £10
Total spent: £______
12. End of month: what worked, what you'd never do again, and your target for next month.
13. Chapter 2. Month two. Sales dropped 20%. First move?
☐ Find out why before changing anything
☐ Halve every price
☐ Close early
14. Look at your shop's numbers and notes.
Clue — Footfall: Just as many people walk in as last month.
Clue — Basket size: People are buying one item instead of three.
Clue — Reviews: "Lovely stuff, but the queue took ages."
Clue — Costs: Your supplier raised prices by 10%.
15. What is your real problem?
☐ Nobody knows the shop exists
☐ Slow service is costing you sales
☐ Your products are wrong
16. Spend up to 60 to fix it (at least 3 choices).
Budget: £60
☐ Second till — £25
☐ Weekend helper — £20
☐ Card-only fast lane — £10
☐ Clearer signs — £5
☐ Online orders — £18
☐ Loyalty cards — £8
Total spent: £______
17. Justify your spending to a business partner who wants to spend nothing.
18. Order how you'd work out whether your fix worked.
___ Compare the numbers
___ Keep or undo it
___ Make one change
___ Note today's numbers
___ Wait two weeks
19. Match each money word to its meaning.
Revenue → ________________
Costs → ________________
Profit → ________________
Stock → ________________
20. Your supplier's price rose 10%. You should…
☐ Compare other suppliers, then decide
☐ Double your prices
☐ Sell at a loss forever
21. Write a one-week advert plan that costs under £50.
22. End of quarter. Report your profit, your best decision and your worst.