instructor’s script manual for marketplace literacy ... · madhu viswanathan, anne mckinney, erin...

Madhu Viswanathan, Anne McKinney, Erin Ha, Ron Duncan,

Philip Fairweather, Huimin Ru, Maria Jones, Sudeep Gowrishankar, and

Students of Entrepreneurs Without Borders

Illustrations by Warren Widjaja

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Script Manual for

Marketplace Literacy

Education in the US

ILLINOIS MARKETPLACE & MAKER LITERACY PROGRAM

1 | I M M L P U S A S c r i p t M a n u a l

Script Manual for Marketplace Literacy Education in the US

By:

Madhu Viswanathan, Anne McKinney, Erin Ha, Ron Duncan, Philip Fairweather, Huimin Ru, Maria Jones,

Sudeep Gowrishankar, and Students of Entrepreneurs Without Borders

Illustrations by Warren Widjaja

Published by the Illinois Marketplace & Maker Literacy Program and the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative

Copyright © 2016 Madhu Viswanathan, Anne McKinney, Erin Ha, Ron Duncan, Philip Fairweather, Huimin Ru,

Maria Jones, Sudeep Gowrishankar, and Students of Entrepreneurs Without Borders


Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 5

How We Have Structured This Manual ..................................................................................................... 7

Lesson 0: Course Introduction .................................................................................................................. 8

UNIT 1: Consumer Literacy – Before You Go Shopping ............................................................................ 11

Lesson 1: Choosing Your Store ................................................................................................................ 11

Lesson 2: Creating a Shopping List .......................................................................................................... 15

Lesson 3: Finding Coupons ...................................................................................................................... 20

UNIT 2: Consumer Literacy – During Shopping .................................................................................... 25

Lesson 1: Finding Products ...................................................................................................................... 25

Lesson 3: Checking Nutrition Facts Labels .............................................................................................. 30

Lesson 4: Using Unit Price ....................................................................................................................... 36

Lesson 5: Checking Expiration Dates ....................................................................................................... 40

UNIT 3: Consumer Literacy – After Shopping ....................................................................................... 45

Lesson 1: Using Customer Service ........................................................................................................... 45

Lesson 2: Checking the Receipts ............................................................................................................. 48

Lesson 3: Using Self-Checkout ................................................................................................................ 50

Lesson 4: Using a Call Center .................................................................................................................. 54

UNIT 4: Sustainable Consumption ....................................................................................................... 57

Lesson 1: Saving Energy .......................................................................................................................... 57

Lesson 2: Saving Water ........................................................................................................................... 65

Lesson 3: Sustainable Transportation ..................................................................................................... 72

Lesson 4: Where Does the Trash Go? ..................................................................................................... 79

UNIT 5: Entrepreneurial Literacy – Generic Marketplace Literacy ........................................................ 90

Lesson 1: How Products Evolve ............................................................................................................... 90

Lesson 2: The Value Chain ....................................................................................................................... 97

Lesson 3: Consumer Needs ................................................................................................................... 102

Lesson 4: Goods and Services ............................................................................................................... 104

Lesson 5: Groups of Customers or Segments ....................................................................................... 108

UNIT 6: Entrepreneurial Literacy – Businesses and Products ............................................................. 111

Lesson 1: Philosophy of Doing Business ................................................................................................ 111

Lesson 2: Choosing a Business .............................................................................................................. 114


Lesson 3: Gathering Information/Market Research ............................................................................. 116

Lesson 4: Understanding Customers ..................................................................................................... 119

Lesson 5: Designing Products – Creating the Value Proposition .......................................................... 123

Lesson 6: Communicating the Value Proposition ................................................................................. 127

Lesson 7: Delivering the Value Proposition .......................................................................................... 132

Lesson 8: Pricing the Value Proposition ................................................................................................ 136

Lesson 9: Basic Accounting ................................................................................................................... 141

Lesson 10: Financing the Enterprise ..................................................................................................... 144

UNIT 7: Balancing the Value Proposition with the Environment and Society ..................................... 151

Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 151


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We acknowledge with deep gratitude the foundational support provided for the Illinois Marketplace and

Maker Literacy Project, through funding over multiple years from the University of Illinois Extension and

Outreach Initiative. This manual is the product of a research in many different settings where we learned

about people who embody the undying human spirit. We acknowledge the University of Illinois Extension,

Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative, the Marketplace Literacy Project, Entrepreneurs Without Borders, the

College of Business Outreach and Engagement Office, the College of Business Communications and External

Affairs Office, Urbana Adult Education Center (Samuel Byndom, Charles Young, Jacqueline Williams, and

Arlene Anderson), Bethel New Life, University of Extension Unit 27, and Srinivas Venugopal.

We build on literature in many disciplines including marketing, management, education and social work. We

list below a small but representative set of materials while acknowledging that it is impossible to do full

justice to the wide literature that has influenced our thinking - Marketing Management (Prentice-Hall, 11th

edition, 2003) by Philip Kotler; The Theory of Buyer Behavior (Wiley, 1969) by John A. Howard and Jagdish N.

Sheth; Consumer Behavior (Harcourt College Publishers, 9th edition, 2001) by Roger D. Blackwell, Paul W.

Miniard, and James F. Engel; Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (Free

Press, 1998, 1980) by Michael E. Porter; and Pricing: Making Profitable Decisions (McGraw-Hill Higher

Education, 2002) by Kent B. Monroe.

The true measure of this manual is not so much in its writing but in whether those who read it in turn are

inspired to work toward bettering the world for people living in poverty, one person or family at a time if

need be.


INTRODUCTION Previous work has focused on at least two key elements that individuals living in subsistence need to

participate in marketplaces, financial resources (e.g., microfinancing) and market access. Marketplace literacy

is the third key element, designed based on pioneering research on subsistence marketplaces aimed at

understanding life circumstances and marketplaces in subsistence contexts in urban and rural parts of South

India. This research was a basis for developing a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program

in India which assumed that the audience cannot read or write.1

This program uses the “know-why” or an understanding of marketplaces as a basis for the know-how of being

an informed buyer or seller. Despite the difficulties with abstract thinking that low-literate individuals may

experience, such education enables deeper understanding of marketplaces by leveraging the social skills that

participants bring to the program and relating educational content back to their lived experiences. Such

understanding can enable individuals to place themselves on a path to lifelong learning. The program

innovates in terms of the content as well as the delivery method, covering concepts using picture sorting, role

play, and so on, that tap into people's lived experiences.2 Topics covered range from consumer skills to

choosing an enterprise the student could start and being customer oriented.

The approach is documented in the book Enabling Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence

Marketplaces by Springer in an education series in alliance with UNESCO.3 This book describes research on

low-literate, poor buyers and sellers in subsistence marketplaces, the consequent development of our

innovative marketplace literacy educational program that enables consumer and entrepreneurial literacy,

and implications of the research and the educational program for business, education, and social enterprise.

The program has also been described in press outlets such as the Wall Street Journal.4

The first time a Marketplace Literacy Program (MLP) was offered, a woman stood up and said that it had

educated not just her but her entire family. Women spoke of pooling resources to buy products wholesale,

checking and returning products like expired medicine, starting different types of businesses, expanding

existing businesses, serving customers politely, and even adhering to details such as not using plastic for

environmental reasons. Women in villages spoke of taking charge of household purchases from their

husbands and negotiating with local shopkeepers. In turn, shopkeepers reportedly identified women right

away as those with marketplace literacy training and said they would give them a good deal! The savings

from being informed consumers has been immediate, and almost universal, while many families have

benefited from earnings from new or expanded livelihood opportunities. Self-confidence, social skills,

awareness of rights to participate in the marketplace and to shape it while adapting to changing

circumstances are the key areas of impact. The effect of such enlightenment is transformative and potentially

life-long.

For more than a decade, MLP has influenced subsistence communities in fundamental ways that have great

impact beyond simple literacy and vocational skill. Following extensive piloting and assessment, the

Marketplace Literacy Program - Illinois and Marketplace Literacy Communities - India have provided

1 http://www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence 2 Video introduction at http://busvideo2.business.uiuc.edu/college/videos/subsistence/marketplaceliteracy/uiucintroshort.html, PowerPoint slides at http://www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence/docs/EnablingMarketplaceLiteracy.pdf 3 http://www.springer.com/education/book/978-1-4020-5768-7 4 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125187240878878743.html


marketplace literacy education (i.e., skills, awareness of rights, and self-confidence as consumers and as

entrepreneurs) to approximately 40,000 women in India over the last decade and have recently piloted

and/or launched similar programs in Tanzania, Argentina, Uganda, Honduras, Mexico, Kenya, and Illinois.

Although the starting point was a face-to-face program, multimedia-based, teacherless methods have been

designed and used for wider deployment. Such models include a video-based approach using community-

produced video episodes depicting two women confronting challenges in the marketplace as customers and

as entrepreneurs. This instructor-based model involves a variety of classroom exercises based on the video

episodes, with appropriate multimedia support. A similar video-based approach with an even smaller role for

an instructor emerged in a partnership with one of the largest microfinancing organizations in the

world. Using a movie where a woman empowers herself through the marketplaces as a starting point, video-

based modules were developed and successfully deployed. 14 video-based modules were designed, assuming

a group of women would be in a setting with a DVD player and a television but no teacher. A teacher on the

screen served to facilitate the program.

The program for the US developed in parts – beginning in the early 2000s with materials for a nutrition

education program, and then continuing with lessons that were designed and assessed at an adult education

center over an extended period of time. More recently, the entire program was taught in different parts of

Illinois and the work has been documented in a variety of ways, including an interface that can be used by

instructors and students. One such documentation is through this manual. Throughout the process, our

research has been ongoing, as we developed a bottom-up approach to gain valuable insights.

We note that the program was designed from scratch for audiences in the United States. Each context is so

different and it is important to design carefully. What we are wedded to is at a more abstract level – a focus

on know-why to help low literate, low-income individuals think beyond the immediate, and a bottom-up

approach that stitches concepts together and, as a result, addresses different roles, such as customers and

entrepreneurs.

The following lessons are designed for adult students with low levels of marketplace literacy. The lessons

teach how to be more informed consumers, how to shop effectively to get the best value, how to start a

small business, and how to save money while helping the environment.

There are certain key lessons we emphasize throughout – emphasizing know-why in addition to know-how,

rather than what to buy or sell; concretizing, localizing, and socializing the education; being bottom-up in

teaching rather than conveying concepts top-down; and using the notion of value as in what is invested and

what is obtained in return as the guiding concept at a human level as well as a marketplace level.


How We Have Structured This Manual This script manual is designed as a companion piece for our instructor manual. Each module is based on

those taught in Illinois, which included face-to-face lectures and exercises. We have included text from in

each lesson to serve as a script for pre-recorded videos. Instructors may also opt to use the script as a guide

for their own face-to-face lectures.

Text that appears [in brackets] are notes that are not meant to be read aloud. For example, links to external

videos are provided to allow for embedded PowerPoint videos not connecting properly during instruction.

Lastly, students are intended to work on several exercises in groups. Students are encouraged to stay in the

same groups throughout the course because new assignments build upon the examples they use for starting

a new business in previous lessons.


Lesson 0: Course Introduction Thank you for joining us for this marketplace learning experience. This is going to cover life skills, and how

you can make your money go further when you go shopping. So, we will be talking about how you interact

with the marketplace.

You interact with the marketplace in a lot of different ways. Sometimes you're a customer, when you're

buying things. Sometimes you are involved as an employee. Sometimes you're involved as a member of

society in terms of what's going on in the marketplace. Sometimes you're involved because you want to start

a small business. There are lots of different ways in which you interact with the marketplace, and that's what

we will cover in these lessons.

If you make your dollar go further, it is money in your pocket, right? It's your money. And it may come in

ways you might not expect, like learning what questions to ask when you go to the store. It just takes a little

bit of talking and a little bit of knowledge and then it is money in your pocket. It's like you earned it because

you didn't spend it. And you're going to get better products as well, because that's another one of our goals.

We want you to have more money, and we want to make sure your dollar goes further as a customer.

We also want to make sure you use your resources well. It may be electricity, it may be energy, it may be

transportation. Again, this is money in your pocket, and it helps the environment. That's the other part of

what we want to do.


And finally, we want to make sure you learn about the marketplace in general, because you may be an

employee, you may be an entrepreneur, or you may want to start a business someday. All of these options

are possibilities for you, so we want to make sure you understand about the marketplace and how businesses

work and so on. One way to think about it is that we want to make sure that when you give money and use

the resources around you, you get the value that you should be getting. And we also want to make sure you

understand how the marketplace works, so that if you decide you want to start a business, you know how to

create it.

Here's how we're going to divide things up. For the first few lessons, we’re going to focus the class on your

role as a customer. And then later, we’ll talk about the resources you have at home, and how you can save

money on energy, water, gas, and other resources. Later on, when we talk about starting a business, we’ll

focus on your role as an employee or an entrepreneur, or somebody who's going to start a small business

someday. For now, though, we’ll focus on you as a customer. Okay?


So, let’s talk about how to make your dollar go further. To start, I ask you to take a sheet of paper. Write

down your ideas about what it means to be a customer. What are some things you wish you knew more

about? This could be about going shopping, getting services, complaining about services, or anything else

about being a customer. What are some things that you wish you knew more about? What are some things

you're afraid of as a customer? Let’s hear from each of you.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video to give everyone time to write down their

thoughts, and then lead the class in a discussion about what they wrote. Thank you all for sharing your

thoughts. I hope you had a good discussion.]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have told us things like being afraid of buying something of

bad quality, getting cheated, or spending too much on something they could have found for less money

somewhere else. Your ideas may have been similar to these, or you may have had other ideas, too.

I want you to know that in every class, it’s not just going to be me talking to you through a video. You’re

going to be playing a big role in these lessons, too. We will have exercises and discussions to help you learn

with each other.

So, let’s start with a quick exercise to get you thinking about your shopping habits. When you think of

yourself as a customer, what are some rules that come to mind when you think about which store to go to?

When you think about how to go to that store, what are some rules you have? I don't mean rules as in laws

or something very strict. There are just some things you've learned on your own. So, if you had to tell

somebody who didn't know anything about shopping, what would you tell them in terms of which store to go

to, and why? What are some rules that you have? [For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the

video to lead the class in a discussion.]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have talked about things like trying not to buy things on

impulse and sticking to a budget. We’ve had people say that they feel like they have to be very careful not to

look like they’re trying to steal, and this can make shopping more stressful because of that stigma.

I'll tell you one of my rules. I'm not going to buy anything when somebody calls me on the phone and tries to

sell something. I'm going to say that's fine, give me your website. Normally they want to close the deal right

there, so I'm not going to buy. That's one of my rules.

What else should you do and what are some things you should not do? Your homework is to think about this

before your next shopping trip. I want you to think about some of the rules you have as a customer. And I

don't want you to just sit down and write down these rules, I want you to observe yourself. The next time you

go to the grocery store, I want you to think about what you observe about yourself, and the way you go

shopping. Okay? Think about what you do, what you don't do. So when you come back to class, be prepared

to tell us if you went grocery shopping, or shopping for a cellphone or anything else, and what you observed

about yourself. And based on this, tell us what sort of rules you follow as a customer.


UNIT 1: Consumer Literacy – Before You Go Shopping

Lesson 1: Choosing Your Store Welcome back! In our introductory lesson, we asked you to think about your shopping habits: how do you

choose which store you go to do your shopping? What sort of rules do you give yourself when you shop?

Let’s say you need to pick up some groceries after class. It just happens there are certain things you need,

and I want you to reflect on what you'll do and where you will go. So to start, just jot down a list of groceries

you need to pick up. What are you going to get? Where are you going to go to buy them?

Take a minute to think about it, and then share your ideas. Where are you going to buy groceries? How will

you get there? What are you going to buy? Why do you do this? Why do you walk to a particular store? Why

do you drive to another store? Can you explain why you go to the store you chose? Is it because it's cheaper,

or because it’s nearby? I want you to think about why you do what you do. [For video-based teaching:

Operator, please pause the video to lead the class in a discussion. Okay! So, I hope you had a good

discussion.]

So, why did you pick a store, and why did you pick a certain mode of transportation? Maybe it has to do with

the quality of the items you can get. Maybe you go to a store that has everything, so you only have to make

one stop. Maybe your choice is based on prices.

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have talked about walking or taking the bus to a specific

store. Some people choose a store because of the deals they can get, or because the store gives them better

service. We’ve had people say that they choose to go to certain stores because they have coupons. This is a

good idea and something we will talk about in a future lesson. We’ve also had people tell us that they

compare prices between stores and choose the store with the lower prices. This is also a good idea. Do any of

you go to a store because you know people treat you well there? Sometimes that happens to shoppers, too.

And it depends how far you have to go, right? Does it matter what you're going to buy? Are you going to go

to across town to a big-box store if you only need one small carton of milk? If not, where are you going to go?

Let’s say you just need milk, because you ran out of milk. What are you going to do? Are you going to drive or

take the bus to a big-box store?

You’re probably going to go to the store nearest to your house, right? So, even the store you choose depends

on what exactly you want to buy, and is that nearest store.


Let’s say you choose a nearby convenience store. What are the prices like there? Are they the same as what

you can find at a big-box store, or are they higher? They’re usually higher, right? The prices are higher and

you usually see smaller cartons, right? And they're charging higher because they're giving you convenience.

This is the reason why the convenience store is charging higher prices: they're saying, “I'm not in the business

of selling milk, but I can sell you these small cartons, and you get convenience out of it”. So even this decision

of where to go depends what you want to buy. And that's why it's so important to try to understand why you

do what you do. It's hard enough to know what am I going to do and how am I going to do it.

But when we're grocery shopping, we tend to look more for deals. Also, the amount of money we spend

when we go shopping has a lot to do with location, even though some people don't always take that into

account.

Let’s say you're going to a store 20 miles away. That's pretty far. You're going 20 miles to a big-box superstore

because you can buy what you need in bulk. If the gas price is $3.50 a gallon, you'll end up spending around

$2.40 for gas just going there and back, because you’ll spend 40 minutes traveling. So that's everything you're

putting into going to that further store.

On the other hand, say you go to a store that's five miles away like a smaller supermarket. You'll spend about

60 cents getting there, but only ten minutes driving. So if you go to that closer store, you save $1.80 and half

an hour of your time.

But what is really important to know is that it's not just a matter of travel time and gas. It's also about what

you want to buy. Say you're low on milk and toilet paper. Do you really want to go 20 miles to a superstore

just to buy those two things and spend that much money on gas and that much time getting there?


Not really, because you can just walk to a corner store and get those. Even a gas station or convenience store

has milk and toilet paper.

But then, say you have a party coming up or you're really low on almost everything you need. You need milk,

eggs, chips, pasta, toilet paper, etc.. So then you might as well take the time to go do that at the superstore

to get better deals, because you're buying more things. You're buying in bulk.

So it's about what you want to buy, how much you want to buy, and then how much time you have to choose

which store you want to go to. Some people might like grocery shopping and taking the time to go to a

further store for the better deals.

But you're giving up time and money (and effort) for your deals. So it all depends on what you value more. So

does anyone know how much time and money you spend going to the grocery store? Any guesses? Gas is

kind of hard to know how much you spend. Do you think you spend under $10.00, well probably? Do you

think you spend around $5.00 going to the grocery store every time or less? How much time do you spend


going there? Time is definitely as important as distance because time is valuable to you just like money. So

you don't want to waste your time or your money.

Sometimes you'll want to go to a store that's farther away or a store that's more expensive, like a store with

organic food. If you go to a gas station to get bread or something, you're not going to necessarily get to

choose from a lot of different options because they're probably going to only have one thing, if they even

have bread. But if you go to a superstore, you're going to have many more options and you can choose

something that has more quality and is more appealing to you.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of things to consider when you choose a store – the time you spend

shopping, the time you spend traveling, how much money you spend getting there and back, how many

items you need to buy, and where you have to go to find what you need. We can’t tell you where to do your

shopping. We do, however, want you to understand what you are giving up, and what you get in return.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk more about how you can save money when you go shopping by avoiding impulse

purchases.


Lesson 2: Creating a Shopping List Welcome back! Let’s start with a review of what we’ve covered so far.

In the first lesson, we said we have three goals. First, we want you to have your dollar go further as a

consumer. We want you to keep more of your money and we want you to use your money well so you get

better products. This is part of what we call marketplace education. Second, we want you to be able to use

your resources, energy, electricity, and water more efficiently so that you end up saving money, and it's good

for the environment as well. It's a win/win, as we say. And third, we want to cover some things that can help

you figure out how to work in the marketplace, such as when you want to start your own business. These are

the three topics we're going to cover during this program.

So, in the last lesson, we asked you to think about where you would go if you needed to pick up some

groceries. We talked about how you make these choices, and how to weigh your decision against factors like

the money you have to spend on gas or bus tickets, the time it takes you to get there, and whether it costs

less money in the long run to go somewhere nearby once you factor in these other expenses and the

preciousness of your personal time.

Let’s now talk for a minute about impulse buying. What is impulse buying? Let’s say you're standing in the

checkout line. You look around. You’ve got your items and you see a candy bar, so you just grab it. Or

sometimes, people buy much larger things on impulse. Sometimes people say, “I liked the car, so I just

bought it,” right? So why should you not impulse buy? Maybe because you're spending on something you

don't need, and you haven't thought it through. And sometimes, you're trying to find a reason to buy it

because you like it, right? So you have to think about that, you have to step back.

So the next time you go shopping, I’d like you to do three things differently.

I would like you to make a shopping list. Let’s make a shopping list right now. Please get out a sheet of paper

and write down some things that you might be likely to buy. This is just a practice exercise, so it doesn’t have

to be what you would buy when you actually go to the store. When you’re finished, we'll talk about how you

came up with the items on shopping list. Okay?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video to lead the class in a discussion. Okay. I hope

you had a good discussion!]

So how did you come up with your shopping list? When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have told

us that they put down things that they need at home or are running low on. There are lots of different goals,

right? One method is that people think, "I've been out of it this item for months; I wish I could remember to

buy it." The other thought is, "I'm running low, so I'm going to be careful." The third thing about a shopping


list may be, "You know what? I want to plan ahead." Or, "I want to stock up because it's on sale." Right? It

could be a lot of different reasons. Sometimes, it’s about, “I have this amount of money, and this is what I can

afford to buy right now.” How much money I have determines what I write down. Other times, it’s about

what you want for dinner that night, so you can take an occasion or event and plan around it. Or maybe, “I’ve

got to throw a party for my child, so what do I need for that? I need cake. I need candles.” So it could be

event-based. It could be because it's for dinner. It could be for an occasion.

That helps you to organize as well, right? And sometimes, you'll see shops that have their items organized

that way. So if they have the cake there, they may have the candles there by it. Sometimes they make it easy

for you, right?

So, let's talk a little bit about the shopping list. Sometimes, making a shopping list might seem a little tedious

– like you don't want to take the time to get a sheet of paper and write it down. But now with smarter

phones, you can have a notepad on your phone and you can write them down really fast.

I know I do that because I always think I'll remember, but then I'll forget something really important like eggs,

and that day I wanted to make eggs for lunch and then I missed out.

So definitely, writing it down helps, because unfortunately we don't all have perfect memory. Sometimes I

even write a text message. So if I don't want to write it in a notepad app, there are a lot of ways to jot it down

really fast. Or, if you like physically writing it down, you can do that. Another option is to take photos with

your phone of the things you need to buy.

A shopping list is definitely helpful because it can prevent you from having to go back to the store again. I

know it doesn't happen often, but it's definitely happened, say, when there's a birthday party and someone

forgets the candles. They have to go back because the birthday cake needs those candles. It'll save some time

to have candles on the shopping list and get them on the first trip.

When I’m shopping, sometimes if I don't have a shopping list, I like to go through every aisle and look,

because maybe I'll see something I want. So maybe I end up buying something that I don't need. Maybe I'll

buy some cookies because they look good, but I don't need them and I shouldn't eat them. Or maybe I'll pass

through the soda aisle and pick some up, but I didn't come to the store for those things.

By making a list, I can save time and save money. And then, instead of going through all the aisles, I'll go

straight to the milk aisle and get my milk. Then I’ll go straight to the eggs. This is also really good for planning

dinner, because if I'm making Thanksgiving dinner, for example, and I'm going to make pumpkin pie, I can

make sure I get everything, and not forget something like the crust. Because if I forgot the crust, I wouldn’t

have pumpkin pie, right?


So, definitely write down what you want for a specific event or meal. As an example, let’s say we’re going to

go grocery shopping for a regular dinner, not a special holiday.

First off, you want to decide what you want to make. Let’s say we're making salmon.

You’ll definitely need salmon on your list. Then, you’ll need some olive oil, salt, and ground pepper to season

it. You may already have all those seasonings at home, but may be you're running low and you won't have

enough for the next time you cook. You'll go to the grocery store and buy them. So when you make your list,

sometimes you'll just list out salmon, and sometimes you may need to add olive oil, or salt and pepper.

Now, let’s say you're baking cookies and your recipe calls for chocolate chips, and you just write chocolate

chips and you buy one bag. In reality, you may need two bags, but if you don't write down the quantity, then

sometimes you won't get the right amount, and then you'll have to go back to the store. Sometimes we'll

only think to write the item, but the quantity can be just as important – especially when baking or cooking,

and you need to be precise.


In your shopping list, you won't have to necessarily write all the details we have in this shopping list, like item

quantity. This is just an example to give you the gist of it. You can have the items listed on one side with the

quantity on the other. You might also find it helpful to put the most important items at the top. If you're

making steak and chicken for dinner, put those at the top so you definitely remember them.

As you go shopping, cross out the items as you pick them up, so you know for sure that you got everything.

Once everything is crossed off, you're ready to check out. It's really simple. Sometimes we overlook making a

shopping list, but it definitely can save you time and money, and just make shopping a little bit easier for you.

How many of you already make shopping lists? Are you going to try this out if you haven’t already been using

them? The bottom line is that we want you to understand how to prepare a shopping list, and how it can help

you save time and money.

Now, we have some homework for you. We’d like for you to make a shopping list the next time you buy

groceries. In the next lesson, we are going to listen and learn from you about what happened before the trip

and how that impacted your shopping.

Keep in mind that this class is not just about shopping. It's about going to the next level of saying, “What am I

giving, and what am I getting in return?” It’s about thinking through the process, gathering the information

you need, and so on. We'll slowly build up to that, over the next several lessons. See you next time!


Lesson 3: Finding Coupons Welcome back! Let’s start with a quick review of what we’ve covered so far. We’ve talked about the choices

you make when you need to pick up some groceries, and how to weigh your decision against factors like the

money you have to spend on gas or bus tickets, the time it takes you to get there, and whether it costs less

money in the long run to go somewhere nearby once you factor in these other expenses and the

preciousness of your personal time. We’ve also talked about how to make shopping lists, and how it can save

you time and money in the store if you have a list of everything you need to buy and how much of each item,

so you don’t forget anything or buy things you don’t need on impulse.

Now, let’s talk about your homework from the previous lesson. We asked you to make a shopping list for

your next shopping trip. So, how many of you had an opportunity to try this since the last class? Did you

make a shopping list? If so, what happened? How did it affect your shopping trip?



Did many of you try using a shopping list? When we’ve taught this class before, we’ve had students tell us

that using a shopping list helped them buy only the things they needed, so I hope it helped you, too.

Now, let's talk a bit about couponing. This is something else to think about before you go shopping.

Sometimes, people think that using coupons makes people look cheap. Sometimes, we use coupons because

we’re just trying to get a really good deal. It's true that you can save a lot of money.

There's even a TV show called Extreme Couponing. If you haven’t watched it, it's about people who use an

extreme number of coupons and they save a lot of money. Some of the people on that show have their

basement completely full of stockpiles of food. Some of them have extra chips, tons of toilet paper, paper


towels, laundry detergent. Some people who do this have way too much because they buy so much more

than they actually need. But, they might buy two carts full of items that would have a total retail price of over

five hundred dollars, and what they actually pay is closer to 25 dollars – because of their couponing strategy.

Again, it's very extreme. And, it takes a lot of work. If you have a busy life, it may be too extreme for you.

But, you can still use coupons to save some money. It doesn't have to be this extreme and you can still save

money. The next time you're going to the grocery store, before you head out, make sure you grab your

shopping list, wallet, and definitely some coupons.

Coupons are everywhere. Sometimes we tend to overlook them because we are bombarded with them and

we really don't want to take the time to look at them. But you can find them in newspapers, magazines, and

all sorts of places. A lot of stores will print out coupons with your receipt. Normally these have expiration

dates, so you should use those before they expire.

A good practice is to save a coupon for something like detergent if it’s the type of detergent that you would

want to buy anyway. Some products have coupons attached when you buy them, like a coupon on the lid of a

bottle of shampoo. Those can be used when you go the checkout aisle. There are also products that have QR

codes that can be scanned for coupons. Sometimes companies advertise next to their products in a store so

you can get something like 15% off. Also, there are services online that allow you to buy items at a discount,

sometimes at half price. It's a great way to make places like restaurants and salons more affordable.

And then, sometimes you can save money through online shopping. It's super convenient if you have an

Internet connection and you don't have to leave your house. Sometimes if you're shopping online, you can

search for the name of a store and the coupon code. Sometimes you can get an online discount that way.

Some people do that when shopping for clothes. If an online store offers free shipping and returns, you can

avoid paying for those fees and it costs you less than if you paid to physically get to a store.


Another way to make coupons go farther is to stack them. Let’s say you have a coupon for 10% off a certain

brand of macaroni and cheese. Just to avoid using real company names, we’ll call this Baft brand Cheez-n-

Mac. This would be a manufacturer’s coupon from the Baft corporation. And then you might have a coupon

for a specific store – let’s call it SellMart. And this coupon is for Baft Cheez-n-Mac at SellMart. You can use

both coupons when you go to SellMart to get double the savings. This is what we mean by stacking your

coupons.

Another example of stacking coupons is if you find a newspaper coupon with a really good deal on toilet

paper. Toilet paper never really goes bad, so you can buy multiple issues of that newspaper and then use

those coupons multiple times. You can go to the store once and buy toilet paper, then go back again because

the newspaper is really cheap. The savings for your shopping can be worth it, if it doesn’t cost you too much

to make those extra trips.

Some stores will match the price from another store if you bring in competitor's coupons. So that's another

way to save money. And lastly, if you go to the clearance aisles and use coupons, that's another way to

double your benefits again. The deals are already cheaper there, but they'll be even cheaper with coupons.

So now that we’ve talked about coupons, how do you keep track of them? Some couponers keep binders to

organize them. If you're going to take the time to collect a lot of coupons, you definitely don't want to lose

them or be unable to find them before the deals expire. You can get a little box or a folder if you're not

couponing that much. But you want to cut out the coupons neatly and have a system based on the expiration

date, so you know what to use first, or based on the product type. If you organize them by type of item, then

when you go shopping and you know you have to buy some juice, you can look in the beverages category in

your folder, if you keep them that way. And then make sure to check expiration dates, because the best deals

expire quickly. This is because stores don't want you to always get the best deals.


There are more ways you can save more money by combining coupons with other deals. For example, if you

use food stamps, you can use coupons in combination with them, and get an even better deal that way. Some

stores also have deal cards that you can use to save money, and you can use those in combination with

coupons, too.

Now, you may think that our class is about couponing, but it's not. It's about something deeper and broader

than that. So let me ask you this question: how many of you are now absolutely ready to do some of the

extreme couponing, as in the example we mentioned of someone saving five hundred dollars?

[For video-based teaching: You don’t need to stop the video to discuss this question. Just look around the

room for a show of hands.]

How many of you would be willing to take the time to organize a box of coupons and make several trips to

the store so you can use more coupons?

Okay, now, how many of you are thinking that would be very time consuming? Raise your hands.

So, some of you may be thinking, “I might be able to make $500.00 out of it, but I'm putting in time and when

I balance those two things, it's not worth it.” Is that right? And you may be thinking that it takes a lot of time

and practice and knowledge to get those kinds of deals?

Those are valid points. It takes time, knowledge, practice, effort. That's not necessarily how you want to

spend your time. You would be absolutely justified in not wanting to do that much couponing. We are not

asking you to do that.

But on the other hand, if you didn’t even know about coupons, and you could get some savings with a little

bit of time and effort, that's good to know about that, right? So we want you to balance those options. And

one of the things you'll keep hearing from us is, “What are you giving up, and what are you getting?” Be

aware of it.

It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth your time. But if you just have a folder where you threw in the coupons,

even if you don't even keep them organized, you might keep them because you think you'll use them, and

then you remember to take them along when you go shopping. That's not that much effort. It's a little bit of

thought, but then it can give you quite a bit of savings. And that may be worthwhile to you if what you're

giving is worth what you're getting in exchange.

But you don't always have to spend that much time doing it. You might be able to just spend an hour and half

on a Sunday going through ads and matching coupons, and spend a lot less than you would have otherwise.

And each of us has to figure out what it’s worth to us. If coupons save you money, it’s money in your pocket,

right? You earned it by not giving away more of your money. That's part of what we want to do. So you will

keep hearing us say this thing about giving and getting. So keep that in mind.

Now here is the homework for you. Find one coupon and use it. If you’ve been using coupons already, find

one coupon that you have not used before. If you don't use coupons, it will be the first time. So find one

coupon which you really want to use. Don't buy something because we asked you to do homework. Never do

that, but only buy because it’s something you need to buy, alright? So we want you to find a coupon for a

product that you have not used before.


And then, come back and if you can, bring the coupon with you. If you have to give it up when you make your

purchase, that's fine. At least tell us what it's about. If you can, make a note of it afterward to say, “This is

what I did, this is where I found it, and this is how much I saved,” and bring that with you to the next lesson.

That will be very helpful.

But again, couponing is not our central message. Our central message is what you give and what you get. And

you're going to see that applied to a lot of different areas. Okay? Nobody else can figure that out for you. All

we are saying is for you to figure it out. Think about it, and then make sure you arrive at a good decision.

Does everybody understand the homework for the coming week? We want you to what? Use a coupon. See

you next time.


UNIT 2: Consumer Literacy – During Shopping

Lesson 1: Finding Products Welcome back! Let’s briefly recap what we want to cover in these lessons. In general, we want to make sure

you learn how to be a better customer and how to use the resources around you better. And so, more of

your money will stay in your pocket. We also want you to learn about the marketplace when you look for a

job, or maybe start your own business. That's what we call marketplace literacy.

Typically, the three topics we cover are how to be a good customer, how to be literate as a customer – this is

not about reading and writing, but knowing more as a consumer – and then, how to use resources like energy

or water, and then how to run your own business by learning how businesses work. So, these are the three

topics we'll cover.

So far, we’ve talked about things you can do to save money before you go shopping. We’ve talked about

choosing the store where you do your shopping, based on what you need and the time and money it takes

you to get there. We’ve talked about writing shopping lists to avoid buying things you don’t need and save

you time when you shop. We’ve also talked about how you can use coupons to save money. Money you

don’t spend is money in your pocket.

We also gave you a little homework assignment in the last lesson. That assignment was to find a coupon and

use it on a shopping trip. How many of you had a chance to try this? Did anyone use a coupon? If you did,

what was it for? How much money did you save?



In this lesson, we're going to talk about what happens in the store. Let's say you want to buy some chips.

What do you do? Where do you look? Do you ask somebody where the chips are? Do you look for signs in the

store?

Once you find them, what do you do next? Do you buy the best brand you want? And then, how do you find

the next product that you want?

Let’s say, for example, you get the chips. Then you might say, “Oh, I need to get some milk, too.” So you go to

the milk aisle, then you say, “I have vegetables on my shopping list, too,” and you go to the produce section.

If you shop this way, you are doing a lot of exercising the grocery store, aren’t you? Or, maybe you say, “Hey,

I'm in this area, this is where I can find these things on my list.”


Let’s talk about ways you can navigate your way through a supermarket so you can save more of your time

and energy.

First, look up at the signs above the aisles. They have different categories of items in each aisle.

Look for the name of the product you want to buy. If we were looking for rice, we’ve found it here.

It’s in Aisle 2, according to this sign.


Sometimes specific products are labeled with signs on the shelves, too. You can use those to help you search

for the specific product you’re looking for.

If all goes well, this should lead you to what you were looking for! In this photo, we found instant rice with a

Thai lime flavor. Sounds good, right?

We hope this helps you the next time you go shopping. That brings us to the end of this lesson. In our next

lesson, we’ll talk about how to find the best deal when you’re comparing two similar items when they have a

different price and size. See you then!


Lesson 2: Checking Price and Size Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, and how

to find what you’re looking for in the store. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up

when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about how to choose between similar products in the store, so you can find

the one that will give you the best deal.

Let’s say we’re looking at boxes of cereal. What sort of things do you think about when you choose one kind

of cereal over another? If you have two different types of cereal that have the same price, how do you

choose the better deal?

Check the weight. In this case, the box on the left weighs 12 ounces, but the one on the right weighs 15

ounces. They look like they’re the same size box, but you get more with the one on the right.


Here, we have two similar types of cereal, but one is in a bigger box. Does the bigger box mean a better deal?

In this case, the bigger box actually gives you less cereal, because it weighs only 12 ounces, while the one on

the left weighs 32 ounces. That’s a lot of cereal in a small package!

Now, these two boxes of crackers are the same price. Which one is the better deal? If you went with the one

on the left, you’re correct! That’s it for this lesson. In the next lesson, we’ll talk about nutrition facts labels.


Lesson 3: Checking Nutrition Facts Labels Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, how to

find what you’re looking for in the store, and how to check the price and size of similar products so you can

get the most for your money. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up when you go

shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about nutrition facts labels. Do you look at that information? If so, what do

you look for?

Maybe some of you check the number of calories. Or, maybe if you’re really hungry, or if it's on sale, you're

going to buy something without looking at the label. But, it's something worth taking into account.

So, what does this information tell us about a food product? The label on this can says sodium is 640

milligrams and 27%. What does that mean? It says percentage daily value, right? And then, it says 27% for

sodium. So, what does that 27% mean? Basically, it says that for a healthy daily diet, you need a certain


amount of sodium. And, that amount of sodium is about 2,400 milligrams for the average person. On this

product, that amount only counts for half of the can. So getting 27% of your daily value of sodium from just a

half a can of soup is a lot of sodium!

In this particular product, if you take one serving of it, that's one cup. That’s not even the entire can. If you

take one cup of it, that itself has 20% of the sodium you should consume in the entire day. If you consume

the whole can, that’s 40% of your sodium – almost half the sodium you should have all day, just in one can of

soup!

It may be something like a small cup of macaroni and cheese, and you're getting 20% of your daily intake of

sodium. And if you can add up all the things you eat in a day, look at all of the sodium you're consuming.

That's what percentage daily value means.

So, do you see what percentage daily value is? It’s this measurement of how much you should you eat in a

typical healthy diet. So, if you take some of the products like sausages and you look at things like the amount


of fat in them, it will say something like 17 or 18% for one serving size. That's what percentage daily value is.

It is a percentage of what you need for the entire day for that ingredient.

Now, let me ask you this. What is a serving size? And then, what does it mean when a label says there are

two servings per container? What it means is that if a serving size is one cup, and there are two servings in

the box, the entire box has double the amount of everything listed.

Usually, they will say something like 12 chips make a serving. That changes by the pack, the brand, and the

package, and all of that. So, that will not necessarily be consistent. Sometimes, it'll be 18 chips per serving

and that serving has 200 calories.

So, for some of you, you might be more interested in the number of calories, maybe because you don't want

to eat too many calories, or maybe because you don't want to feel too sluggish by eating too much. But, for

whatever reason, nutrition facts are pretty important.


Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food. The number of servings

you consume determines the number of calories you actually eat. In general, something that’s 40 Calories is

considered low. 100 Calories is a moderate amount. 400 Calories or more is high. This is a general reference

for calories when you look at a Nutrition Facts label. This is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Eating too many

calories per day is linked to overweight and obesity.

We’ve talked about some of the nutrition information we get on the label – fat plus sodium. These are things

we don't want too much of. We need a little of it, obviously. But, we don't want to have too much. But some

of these, we want to get as much as 100% if possible. Fiber helps you digest food. Vitamin A, Vitamin C,

calcium, and iron are all good for you. You want to have lower numbers of the things in yellow and higher

numbers of the things in blue.

So, we’ve briefly talked about the daily value, which are those percentages. They're saying this is 20% of your

sodium for the day. But, 20% of what? How many calories? How big is your diet?

This percent daily value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Some people might have a bigger diet. People who

work out a lot eat a lot of protein, so they're going to consume more calories in a day because they need

more energy in a day, because they're going to burn more of them. On the other hand, plenty of people eat

fewer than 2,000 calories a day, especially if they don’t get much exercise or they are trying to take in fewer

calories. Not everyone is built the same, either, so the calories you need may not necessarily be 2,000 per

day, but 2,000 is the average for adults. So, this is based on an average diet of 2,000 calories.

In this case, the label is making 2,000 calories mean 100%, and it's telling you how much you're getting. In

other words, this is based on a suggestion. So, it's not true for everyone. These amounts in yellow – fat,

cholesterol, and sodium, you want to eat less than what’s suggested if possible. For the vitamins, minerals,

and dietary fiber in blue, you can eat more than what’s suggested. This is all based on a 2,000-calorie diet,

how many grams you want of each.


This one shows a bigger diet of 2,500 calories, in case you have a higher diet than other people.

So, like we said, this is a percentage daily value based on a 2,000 calorie diet. 5% or less is low. Over here, the

fiber is low. There is not a lot of fiber in this product. And the Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and iron are low. In

general, 20% or more is high. Like we said for sodium, that's a lot of sodium. The fat is getting close to being

high and the calcium is high, which is good, because we want more calcium if possible. Products don't just say

on that line whether they’re healthy. You have to look around and figure it out on your own.

So, looking at some of the information here in terms of the calories, fat, sodium, protein, and some of these

vitamins, which one do you think is healthier?


The second one says the calories are 80, the total fat is 0, and saturated fat is 0. Whereas the first one's

calories are 120, fat is 8%, saturated fat is 15%. So, the one on the right has lower calories and lower fat, but

they have the same number of vitamins.

I have a couple of questions for you. What's missing here? There's something that's not very good for you

that's missing. What is it?

It’s sugar. By the way, let me ask you this. Has there ever been a time when a doctor told you that you better

look out for this or that and you started looking at it?

It's about balance. And, it's quite possible that you say, “I love these cookies and they've got 50% fat.” And

then, you find something else where you give up a little bit on the taste, but it's a lot healthier for you. It's a

little bit like saying, “You know what, I'm paying so much for this, this is how much I'm getting, if I pay a bit

more I'm getting a little bit more.” Same thing.

I mean, you may want to think about that tradeoff because we're always making tradeoffs, right? So, you

may want to say, “This is twice as healthy and the taste is not that different.” And so, that's another way to

think about this as well. It basically comes down to value. What are you giving up and what are you getting?

This brings us to the end of this lesson. In the next lesson, we’ll talk about comparing similar products by

looking at the unit price.


Lesson 4: Using Unit Price Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, using coupons, shopping lists, how

to find what you’re looking for in the store, how to check the price and size of similar products so you can get

the most for your money, and how to interpret nutrition facts labels so you can make informed choices about

the food that you eat. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up when you go shopping?

What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about finding the unit price to get the best deal when you’re comparing

similar products in the store. Has anyone used unit price when shopping? We talked about quantity and

price, which is essentially unit price. But do you look at this? Do you know what it is? Let’s go over it.

Here we have two half-gallon jugs of milk and one whole gallon. The price for the half gallon is $1.85. On its

own, a half-gallon jug costs less because it's smaller. Now, look at the whole gallon. It’s $2.39. If you're only

looking at price, you might pick the half gallon. It's cheaper. But then, if you're also looking at size, you might

think to get the whole gallon because it's bigger and it's going to last you longer. But also it depends how

quickly you can drink your milk, whether you eat cereal a lot, or if you don't. So now, you're wondering what

the better deal is.

So, a gallon is two half gallons. And then a gallon also equals four quarts. These are all the different ways you

can get milk and how they're related. You can get four quarts, you can get two half gallons, or you can get

one gallon, and they're all the same amount.


Then, it can get even smaller. You can get four quarts, which is also a gallon. You can get eight pints, or 16

cups, and it’s still a gallon. So, how can you tell which option is the better deal?

If you want to do the math in the store, you can divide the price per container by the number of ounces and

see how much it costs per ounce. For example, if a half gallon is $1.85, and it has 64 fluid ounces, that is three

cents per fluid ounce. For a whole gallon, that’s 128 fluid ounces for $2.39. If you divide that, you’ll see that it

costs two cents per cup. It's hard to see, but you're saving a cent per cup when you buy the whole gallon.

Does all this math give you a headache? It’s a lot to figure out when you’re in the store, isn’t it? The good

news is that there’s something to make the whole process easier for you, and it’s called the unit price.


All you have to do is look at the unit price while you're shopping to make your life a lot easier. Basically, all

that math we just did shows this number right on the price tag. This is your unit price. It takes the full price of

the item and divides it by quantity. A single unit could be the price per ounce, per pound, or however the

quantity is measured. So, it says how much it costs per ounce. If something costs more money but you get

more of it, it's cheaper per unit.

One example is cereal. We have two cereals here. They're both the same brand. They're both the same price,

too. So if you buy either one, you're technically spending the same amount of money. But then, the ounces

are actually different. One has more weight to it than the other, so it has more cereal. That is why the oats

and honey variety costs less per unit: it is 21.9 cents per unit while the other one is 23.3 cents per unit,

because it has more cereal in it. You may be spending the same amount of money, but with one you're going

to get more cereal that's going to last you a little longer. So, as you can see, the first one saves you more.


Here, we have several different types of the same flavor of soda. One is $2.98 for an eight-pack. If you buy

the 12-can box, it’s $3.98. And then the packs of bottles are $3.68. Can you guess which one is the cheapest

in the end, based on price and quantity?

The 12-can box is the cheapest because it's 2.8 cents per fluid ounce. The eight-pack of cans is the most

expensive option at five cents per ounce. The 12-pack will cost the most when you're checking out because

the overall price is higher, but it's going to last you the longest and you're going to get the most value from it

in the end. The other two packs are less expensive per pack, but in the end you're not getting as much for

your dollar.

So, what does a unit price do for you? It helps you to compare different brands of soda, or different types of

the same brand. It tells you how much you pay per ounce.

Let’s have a class discussion. How many people have used unit price before? Does this information help you

or not? Are you going to look for unit price the next time you go shopping? [For video-based teaching:

Operator, please pause this video and lead everyone in a discussion about their responses. Okay. I hope you

had a good discussion!]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, a lot of people have told us that they’d never heard of unit price

before, but that they would use it in future shopping trips. So, we hope that it’s helpful to you, too.

We don't want to tell you that you should use it. We want you to understand why it could be helpful to you.

It's a way of basically reducing everything to its volume because there are so many different varieties of

similar products out there, in different sizes with different prices. It can be very challenging to compare all of

them, so that’s why understanding the unit price can help you figure out how to get the best deal.

The next time you go to the store, look at the unit price. This is another tool you can use to make your money

go farther. You know what unit price is now, so I hope that you will consider using it. It's about price and size.


Lesson 5: Checking Expiration Dates Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, how to

find what you’re looking for, how to check the price and size of similar products so you can get the most for

your money, how to interpret nutrition facts labels so you can make informed choices about the food that

you eat, and how to find the unit price to get the best deal when you’re comparing similar products in the

store. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you

getting in exchange?

In our last class, we talked about unit price. Have any of you had a chance to use it on a shopping trip since

then? If so, did it have an effect on the choices you made on the items you wanted to buy?



In this lesson, we're going to talk about expiration dates. Have you ever bought food that had gone bad in the

store? Maybe you bought some chips that tasted stale, or some bread that had mold on a part you couldn’t

see when it was in the wrapper. Stores are supposed to check for quality on items before they sell them.

Sometimes they miss these details. Sometimes they put items like these on clearance so people will buy food

that is close to going bad. It can be a way to get a good price if you can eat it quickly, but it’s important to

check for expiration dates when you’re shopping.

You’re probably already aware of how to find an expiration date on a package, so let me ask you this. Aside

from checking whether something's just expired or not, is there anything else you look for with the expiration

date? What else can you do with the information they give you?


One other thing you can do is to take the freshest item you can find. For example, if you see milk that’s going

to expire in a few days, and there's milk at the back that's going to expire in a couple weeks, you can take the

fresher milk. So, the expiration date is not just about whether something has expired or not. It's also a way to

get something fresher.

Sometimes they'll say, “sell by” this date. So if it says sell by the 17th, then you have until the 17th and

probably another week to use it, depending on the product. If it’s milk, you have about another week before

it goes bad.

Sometimes you’ll see the month written as a number. It can be helpful to remember the holidays that are

associated with each month.

Maybe this can help you remember which number corresponds to which month.


On this carton of soy milk, the date is written as 11-27-11. This is an old photo from 2011, because we know

that the number at the end represents the year. We also know that there can’t be 27 months in a year, so the

date must be November 27, 2011. I can’t recommend drinking this milk anymore.

Sometimes, a food will say “use by.” It’s another thing that means that you shouldn’t eat it after the date.

This peanut butter would probably be fine if we could travel back in time to September 7, 2012.

Can you find the expiration date on this package of shredded cheese?


How about on this carton of whipping cream?

Now, let me ask you to write down something. We've been talking about what you look for when you go

shopping. I want you to write down some of the things you look for when you buy any product. Let's say

groceries, so if you only buy milk and bread, what do you look for? And, I also want you to write down if you

follow any rules.

For example, maybe you say, “If it's cheap I take it, or if it's a good brand I take it.” Do you follow any rules?

Okay, let me give you a few minutes just to write down what you do in the store. What do you look for? What

rules do you follow when you’re shopping? This could be like saying, “I buy the cheaper item,” or “I buy the

best brand,” or whatever. And you could think of a product, like chips or milk, whatever is more helpful to

you. Don't think in general terms. Just pick a product that you buy often.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video to give everyone time to write, and then lead a

discussion about what people have to say. I hope that was a good discussion!]

Let’s see a show of hands: does anyone look at expiration dates? How about nutrition facts labels? Does

anybody look for sugar content on the labels? Now, how many of you have looked at the unit price when

you’re comparing similar items?

What do you give up when you’re shopping? You give up energy, you give up effort, time, you give up a lot of

different things when you go shopping. And this is what we call value. And so, we want you to see the value

in this. It's not about whether you use coupons or buy spinach or any specific thing. The broader thing we

want to convey to you is that you understand what you're giving up and what you're getting in exchange.

Make sure you understand that.

And, you don’t have to understand everything we’ve talked about in this class 100%. But, you need to know a

little bit more about it. Like unit price. And, same thing with the percentage nutrition labels.

Now you know what you're getting and what you're giving up. You know what percentage daily value is. This

information is out there. And, I'm not saying you've got to spend all of the effort just to figure out one small

thing. I'm saying, just put that in the back of your mind. Maybe, with a little bit more effort, you can get

something else a lot healthier and you can get something a lot cheaper. That's all. So it has to work for you,

okay?

The larger concept is value. What are you giving up, what are you getting? So think about that. What are you

giving up, what are you getting?


For your homework, I want you to think about what you give up as a customer. What do you get? Whether

it's shopping, or cell phone service, or whatever. In general, what are you giving up as a customer, and what

are you getting? And I want you to write down your ideas, because I think there are a few things that will

come up when you write them down. So, think about it. As a customer, what do you give up, what do you

get?

In the next lesson, we’ll start to talk about things that you can do as a customer after you’ve finished

shopping.


UNIT 3: Consumer Literacy – After Shopping

Lesson 1: Using Customer Service Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, how to

find what you’re looking for in the store, how to check the price and size of similar products so you can get

the most for your money, how to interpret nutrition facts labels so you can make informed choices about the

food that you eat, how to find the unit price to get the best deal when you’re comparing similar products in

the store, and how to look for expiration dates. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving

up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about using customer service.

What would you do if you need a coffee maker, but you pick up a water boiler by mistake? Or, what if you

bought a child’s toy only to discover that it has an eye missing? Don’t waste your money – take wrongly

purchased or broken merchandise back to the store at their Customer Service desk.


Throwing away a new purchase is a waste of money. Bring it back with your receipt within a short period of

time (as soon as you are available) and save a lot of money!

Before you going to customer service, be sure to prepare three things: the item you want to exchange, the

receipt, and that you are going within the time limit on the receipt. This is usually 30 days. It’s important to

check what’s on the receipt, because if you wait too long, the store can’t accept returns anymore.

First, be confident. You are their customer; you pay them money so that they stay in business. It’s their

obligation to see that you are satisfied. Second, explain your purpose to customer service staff politely and

clearly so they can understand how to help you. Return your goods with their help. Be patient. Once you get

what you want, it’s nice to say “thank you” before you leave.


They are there to help you, so you can make the most of this service when you have a problem! That brings

us to the end of this lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about the information you get with a printed receipt.

Until next time!


Lesson 2: Checking the Receipts Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, how to




the store, how to look for expiration dates, and how to use customer service if you have a problem with

something you have purchased. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up when you go

shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about how to interpret the information on your receipt after you buy

something. A receipt is a record of the number of products you buy and how much money you spend on

them. By checking products and prices on the receipt, you know whether the amount of money you spent on

is correct.

One is the store name. Two is the contact information of the store. There should be at least an address and

phone number. This information helps you go back to the store if anything needs to be changed or fixed.

Three is the list of items purchased. Some receipts will include a product number that corresponds to the bar

code on the side of the product. Four is the price for each item. Five is the total price before tax, or

sometimes the total price you have to pay, if tax is included in the individual item prices like it is in this

example. Six is the number of items you bought. You can check if the total numbers are the same as the

number of items in your bag, if you want to make sure nothing is missing. Seven is the date and time when

you made the purchase.

Hopefully, this information will help you if you need to contact the store or use your receipt to return an

item.


That’s it for this lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how to use self-checkout to make your shopping

trip go a little faster. See you then!


Lesson 3: Using Self-Checkout Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, using coupons and shopping lists,

how to find what you’re looking for in the store, how to check the price and size of similar products so you

can get the most for your money, how to interpret nutrition facts labels so you can make informed choices

about the food that you eat, how to find the unit price to get the best deal when you’re comparing similar

products in the store, how to look for expiration dates, how to use customer service if you have a problem

with something you have purchased, and how to read the information you get on a receipt. It comes down to

the same two things. What are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about how to use a self-checkout machine. How often do you go to check

out at a store, and all the cashiers have long lines? You can save time by using the self-checkout machine. It

can be easier, faster, and possibly more accurate.

It’s usually near the store exit, near other checkout lanes. Some stores have clear and visible signs above the

self-checkout areas.


First, place your basket on the “consumer unload area”, or if you have a cart, you can leave it in front of the

self-check-out machine.

Second, push the “start” button or language preference on the touch screen. All self-checkout machines have

touch-screen user interfaces.

Third, find the barcode for each product. It’s usually on the side of the product. Then, scan it in front of the

self-check-out machine.

Fourth, after you’ve scanned the item, you should be able to see the item on the screen, and you can place it

in the bagging area.

Fifth, when you have an item with no barcode, such as vegetables and fruits, place it on the weighing scale.

Sixth, press “Look up item” and find the corresponding item.


Seventh, once you are done entering all the products you want to buy, click the “finish and pay” button on

the screen.

Eighth, when you click on “finish and pay”, “payment type” will appear on the screen. You can use cash,

check, debit, or credit card. If you have a coupon, click the “coupon” button first.

Ninth, insert your coupon in the coupon acceptor.

Tenth, the total amount due will automatically appear on the screen.

Eleventh, slide your card on the card panel or enter cash.

Twelfth, take your receipt from the receipt printer.

That brings us to the end of this lesson. When we come back, we’ll talk about how you can save time and

energy by using a call center instead of making a physical trip to the store.


Lesson 4: Using a Call Center Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, coupons, shopping lists, how to




the store, how to look for expiration dates, how to use customer service if you have a problem with

something you have purchased, how to read the information you get on a receipt, and how to use a self-

checkout machine. It comes down to the same two things. What are you giving up when you go shopping?

What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about using a call center. As long as you don’t need to physically return an

item, you can save time and energy by calling a store’s customer service line instead.

Place orders over the phone, ask questions, solve problems. It also helps you avoid traffic!


Part of understanding your role as a customer is understanding that you are the lifeblood of their business.

Their goal is to keep you as their customer, to bring you back to their products, and to keep a good

relationship with you – because you pay them money! You keep them alive in this competitive market. If

their business can sell you a product once but cannot get you back, their business won’t be around very long.

Helping you with your needs and problems is their responsibility and duty.

Where do you find the phone number? Usually, it’s on the store receipt, in the phone book, or online.

First, dial the number. Follow instructions and press the number corresponding to your need. Then, wait until

someone picks up your phone call. Politely tell them what you need, or if you have any complaints or

problems. You can negotiate if they offer you several options or solutions. Say “Thank you” once they help

you solve the problems or place your order. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to rate the operator’s

service before you hang up the phone.

What do you think? Would you use a call center the next time you need to take care of an order?


That brings us to the end of this lesson. When we come back, we’ll begin a new unit on sustainability, and

how you can save money on your utility bills and other resources around you. See you then!


UNIT 4: Sustainable Consumption

Lesson 1: Saving Energy Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, using coupons and shopping lists,





with something you have purchased, how to read the information you get on a receipt, how to use a self-

checkout machine, and how to get what you need through a call center. It comes down to the same two

things. What are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

In this lesson, we're going to talk about saving money by saving energy. How many of you want to save

money? Why do you want to save money? Maybe you want to spend it on other things. You can pay bills,

make car payments, or pay off other debts. Maybe you want to go shopping.

Those are pretty good reasons to save money. You're going to need a lot of things in life that costs money.

Now, how many of you really want to save the earth? What if you could save the earth from climate change,

or trash, or pollution? How many of you want to do that? Raise your hands, and look around the room to see

how many hands are raised.

Now, what if I tell you that you can actually save money by saving the earth? Are you interested? The big

thing is, what do you do to save the earth? And what if I tell you it may be possible?

There are a lot of tips we’re going to give you over the next four lessons on how you can actually save money,

and save the earth. So in a way, you're being environmentally conscious, but you're going to make money by

being environmentally conscious.

If you benefit from saving money on utilities, it happens to be good for the environment. And that's what we

really want to do. So, if you spend $100 on each utility, where do you think most of your money goes? To

waste? Where do you think it goes in terms of heating? Water heating? Lighting? Where does it go?

I wonder about my own bills now and then, and I’ll say, "I don't need this, I don't need this." And if I'm paying

$30 more every month than what I need, that adds up to $360 at the end of the year. Similarly, there are

these win-wins where it's good for the environment and it helps you save money. You end up wasting less.

And there are government programs which want to encourage you to do that. And if you get a financial

incentive for doing it as well, it's a win-win-win right there.


What is the temperature you have in your home in the winter on your thermostat? 75 degrees Fahrenheit?

80 degrees?

If you can keep it at 68 or 70 instead, your home may not be the toastiest or warmest of homes, but you're

actually saving money without letting your pipes freeze. You might have to wear a sweatshirt instead of

shorts like you would in summer.

The same is true for running the air conditioning in the summer. If you can set your thermostat at a higher

temperature, like 78 or 80 degrees, you use less air conditioning. It won’t be quite as frosty, and you’ll want

to wear that pair of shorts. But again, this translates into you saving money. Because the biggest amount of

money you spend on your energy bills goes into heating and cooling. So if you can save on that, you're saving

on money.

You can also save money on heating your home in the winter by preventing that heat from going to waste.

For example, a lot of heat escapes our homes through cracks around the windows and doors. You can caulk


around the edges of windows and doors where they meet the edge of the wall, and it will help prevent that

energy from escaping. You can also cover your windows with plastic sheeting that you find at the hardware

store or most department stores. Also, if you have rooms that you don’t use every day, you can close the

vents in those rooms and shut the door so you aren’t paying money to heat or cool a space you don’t use.

In the summer, you can save money on air conditioning by turning it off when you don’t need it. Electric fans

use less energy than air conditioning, and unless the weather is very hot, they can help cool down a room

when the windows are open. If you have a room that gets a lot of sun, you can keep it cooler by closing the

curtains or blinds. This will help prevent the hot sun from heating your home through the glass. Also, you can

open the windows at night to enjoy a cool nighttime breeze, and then close them during the day before it

gets too hot.

Another way to save money on your energy bill is to turn off any electrical appliances or lights when you are

not using them. Do you ever walk out of a room and leave the light on, even if you are not planning to spend

any time in that room for a while? You are paying for that light if you do. The same is true for a TV, stereo, or

other appliances that run in the background. Of course, we are not saying that you should not watch TV, or

enjoy having the lights on. But when you are done, you can save money by turning them off.


How many of you own a computer or laptop? If you shut it down when you’re not using it, you can save

money. If it’s not shut down, it’s still using energy because it’s in a “standby” mode until you start it up again.

If you have a standing monitor, you can turn it off when you are away from it for more than 20 minutes at a

time.

Another good way to save energy on your computer, and other electrical gadgets, is to plug them into a

power strip. You can turn off the power strip and it will shut off energy to all the devices plugged into it. This

works really well for TVs and all the other appliances that we hook up to them, like DVD players, stereos,

cable boxes, etc.

Turning off electricity to a power strip is a very good way to prevent “energy vampires.” When you have

something plugged into a wall outlet, even if that device is turned off, it’s still flowing electricity from the

outlet to the device, so that it will be ready when you go to turn it on. It is literally sucking energy, and so it is

called an energy vampire. This is also very true of charger cords. When you are not charging your mobile

phone, unplug the charger, or have it in a power strip that you turn off when you’re finished.


How many of you still have incandescent light bulbs that you are using at home? These are getting rarer, now

that stores have stopped selling them, but a lot of people still use them because they have a supply at home.

The newer CFL and LED bulbs cost a little more when you buy them, but they use a lot less energy and last a

lot longer. In fact, one CFL bulb lasts as long as nine incandescent bulbs. So if you had to choose between

buying nine incandescent bulks and one CFL, the CFL bulb would give you a much better deal!

If you have a space outside your home that you light at night, like in front of a door or garage, you can use a

motion-sensor light to use less energy. Motion-sensor lights only turn on when they sense motion, like when

someone is at the door. That way, the light is only on when it is needed, and turns off when it stops sensing

motion.

How many of you have run the washing machine when you have a very small load – maybe even just a single

shirt? You can make sure that your washing machine runs more efficiently, and saves you money on

electricity, water, and heating when you save that shirt for a full load.


You can also save when you run your washing machine with cold water. It takes energy to heat the water,

right? And about 80-90% of the energy used for washing clothes in a conventional washing machine is for

heating the water. So, if you use cold water, or even if you switch from hot water to warm, you are saving

energy and money!

It's the same thing when you hang dry your clothes. You can make your own DIY clothesline outside your

home, or even put a line inside where you do your laundry, and dry your clothes without spending any

money on using an electrical dryer. If you go to a laundromat, this is means that you are saving money by not

paying to use one of their dryers.

One thing you can do while you’re cooking is to cover your pots when you are boiling liquids. This keeps the

heat inside the pot from escaping, so you need less of it.

If you can afford to replace an old appliance, it will save you money in the long run. Older appliances are

much less efficient than newer models, which can make better use of energy and resources. A lot of times we


replace these appliances because they are broken and we can’t repair them anymore. However, it’s

sometimes less expensive to buy a new machine than to pay someone to fix the old one. And, because the

new one will use less energy, it will save you money down the road.

One last thing: check your energy company to see if they offer any rebates. It’s in their best interest to help

you use less energy, because it’s less energy they have to create. We have a program in Illinois, where the

utility company offers rebates. It’s a good idea to check with your local company to see what they offer.

The Weatherization Assistance Program is another resource to help you save energy. It can help you make

minor home improvements that will bring down your energy bills. Remember, saving energy is not just about

saving money – it’s about saving the earth. And a lot of people and resources want to help you do that,

because it helps everybody.

Your homework for the next class is to look around your home and make a list of the ways you use the

resources around you. Are there areas where you waste energy? It could be something very simple, like

maybe something in terms of the temperature in your refrigerator or the temperature on your heater, and so

on. What behaviors can you change, so that you waste less? Watch yourself for a day, and make a list of what

you do, and what you might change about your behavior so that you can save money on your energy bills.

On average, $56 goes into heating your home or cooling your home. So that means if you spend $100 each

on utility bills, then $56 goes to heating. And then you see $18 goes to water heating. $10 goes to lighting. So

it's like anything in life. If you say, “You know what? I've got to change.” You want to go for the thing that's

going to give you the maximum benefit first, right? I mean you don't want to do the least important thing.

You've got to think about the big things. So when you think about this, the big things are the heating and the

cooling. You can save up to $25 a month, which is $300 a year. That’s your money, folks.

And so that’s what we're doing just by saving, right? So how can you save money on heating? What

temperature is your thermostat? Think about that. If you lower it by a couple of degrees, look at the savings.

Are your windows sealed? Seal them with drop cloths. How can you save money on lighting today? What

type of bulbs do you use? So again, be aware of which one you use, and think about using fluorescent lights.

And then replacing incandescent bulks saves you $40 each year. It's your money.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about all the things you do, and what you can change so that you waste less

water, and save more money.


Lesson 2: Saving Water Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about choosing a store, using coupons and shopping lists,





with something you have purchased, how to read the information you get on a receipt, how to use a self-

checkout machine, and how to get what you need through a call center. It comes down to the same two

things. What are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

Most recently, we talked about ways that you can save money by saving energy. We asked you to make a list

of the ways you use the resources around you, and what you might change about your behavior so that you

can save money on your energy bills. Are there areas where you waste energy? What behaviors can you

change, so that you waste less?

And so I asked you to observe yourself at work or at home for a day and see how much energy you might be

wasting. And then I asked you to think about one way in which you can change, so that you end up saving

resources. Saving money. It's good in terms of helping the environment and actual resources, right? So can

somebody tell us what you did? You know, maybe you didn't sit down and write down everything, but can

you tell us about what you did?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead everyone in a discussion about their

responses. Okay. I hope you had a good discussion!]

In this lesson, we're going to talk about saving money on a different type of resource – water.


Now, we all know that the earth is at least 75% water, so you may be thinking that we have lots to go around,

right? How can it be a problem when there is so much water in the world?

The problem is that most of this water is undrinkable until we treat it, and that takes a lot of energy. Natural

water that we find in the ocean has salt in it, and most water in lakes and rivers has parasites that need to be

removed.

In some places, the water is very polluted. There is a long process to treating the water to make it drinkable.

And, there are a lot of places in the world that are very dry, or they don’t have the facilities to treat the water

they do have, and it takes a lot of energy to ship water to those places.


What can we do? We can use less water! This will help ensure that water is available for everyone, and it will

also save you money.

One easy thing you can do to save water is to turn off the faucet while you are brushing your teeth or

shaving. Running the bathroom faucet for five minutes is like using a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours straight –

and it uses up to eight gallons of water a day. You can use a cup of water to rinse out your mouth after

brushing your teeth, and it uses a lot less water than if you leave the water running while you scrub.

How many of you take a bath in a bathtub, and how many of you take a shower? A long soak in the tub can

feel very nice, but it uses a lot more water than a shower. The average bath uses about 50 gallons of water.

The average shower uses only 15 gallons – that’s a big difference! That is a lot of gallons that you're actually

saving when you take a shower instead of a bath, which translates exactly to the amount of money that you

are saving each month on your water bills. Imagine if you are spending around $204 per person in a year for

taking a bath; for a family of four that comes close to $800.


So basically, you could be saving almost $50 a month just by taking a shower instead. You could end up saving

close to $600 per year just by taking showers every single day, or every other day, how many ever times you

take a shower.

Fixing leaky faucets is another way you can save money and water. Does it annoy you to hear dripping water

when you're sleeping? If a faucet leaks one drop every second, that’s more than 2,000 gallons of water per

year! But this is something easy to fix, and that again that translates into saving money.

If you have the ability to replace any fixtures in your bathroom like the toilet or shower head, you can get a

newer model that uses less water. Low-flush toilets work just as well as the older ones, but they use less than

two gallons of water per flush. If you live in an older home, and your toilet was made before 1982, it’s using

five to seven gallons per flush. That’s a lot! Toilets that have been made since 1994 are required to use no

more than 1.6 gallons, but newer toilets are even more efficient. Some new ones can use as little as 1.28

gallons. Toilets can count for almost a quarter of our water usage in the home, so that will add up to a big

difference over time.


If you have a dishwasher in your kitchen, these actually use less water than if you wash your dishes by hand.

This is especially true if you only run the dishwasher when it’s full.

We’ve already talked about how you can save energy when you run your washing machine on a full load. This

is also true for saving water.

And again, newer washing machine models use less water and less energy, so when your old machine breaks

down, it’s actually going to save you more in the long run if you replace it with a newer, more efficient

machine than if you pay to fix the old one.


How many of you collect rain water? If you have a yard, it’s a way to water your lawn for free, because you’re

using what the weather gives you and not what you pay the water company for. Also, a lot of cities will now

give you money for saving rainwater. Again, when you conserve your use of utilities, it benefits the utility

companies, too, so they want to encourage you because it’s a win-win.

Think about that. You save, and you actually get money by collecting rainwater. If you have a rain barrel that

collects water, and you use it to water your lawn, you're saving water by watering the lawn with that rain

water.

For that matter, while we’re talking about watering your lawn, it’s better to do it manually than by using a

sprinkler. Sprinklers are convenient but they use 33% more water than if we just use a hose, even if it’s not

water from a rain barrel.

So, let’s have a show of hands. How many of you are already doing some of the things we talked about in this

lesson to save water? Now, how many of you learned something that you can put into practice to help you

save some money on your water bills? Let’s take a few minutes to discuss this.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead everyone in a discussion about their

responses. Excellent! I hope you had a good discussion.]

This brings us to the end of our lesson on water. Over the next few days, try keeping a journal about your

water use at home. This is like what we talked about with our energy use. Look around your home and take

stock of the ways you use water, and how you might be able to reduce some of that use. We’re not talking

about radically changing your lifestyle habits, just making small changes that will add up to bigger savings

over time.


I'll give you another example. Look at your phone bills once in a while. See all the services you have. They

keep getting more and more expensive, right? If you can just check them out once in a while and see if you

can get a better plan somewhere else, it can save you money.

And so it's so important to see where you can save. And they may be small things, but they add up. Keeping

your faucet on when you're brushing your teeth is one example, right? So it may seem small. If you believe

wasting is bad, then getting rid of the waste is going to save you money. And wasting is bad, let’s face it.

We started off talking about saving the earth and saving money. That's a win-win. It doesn't always happen,

but we want you to know there are win-wins. And then if you can use that rain water, it's a win-win-win,

because you're getting it for free. Now it's a little bit like the drip in the faucet, because all of this adds up

folks. If you don't watch out, it adds up. And, by doing this, we can ensure that there is enough clean,

drinkable water for more people worldwide.


Lesson 3: Sustainable Transportation Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about things you can do to make the most of your

shopping experiences and save money. We talked about how we make choices in our spending habits. What

are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

Most recently, we talked about ways that you can save money by saving energy and water. We asked you to

make a list of the ways you use the resources around you, and what you might change about your behavior

so that you can save money on your utility bills. Once again, it's about value. What are you giving up, and

what are you getting? Except this time, it's value as in the resources you use at home, and what you do every

day. It’s value as in what you're using, how you're using things, and so on.

Now, we’re going to talk about ways you can save on another type of expense – transportation. What do we

mean by “sustainable” transportation?”

Well, there are lots of different types of transportation that help us get from one place to another. The types

we use most frequently are the ones that help us get between our homes and work, school, or other

commitments.


The vast majority of people in the US still commute to work by driving a car, truck, or van: 86% of Americans.

5% of people use public transportation, 4% work from home, 3% walk, and 1% ride a bicycle. Let’s have a

show of hands. How many of you drive to work, or ride in a car? Now, how many of you take public

transportation? And how many of you walk, ride a bike, or use some other means of transportation?

When we talk about sustainable transportation, we mean the types that use little or no energy. Cars make

our lives more convenient, but they cost a lot of money on gasoline, insurance, and upkeep. And, the more

we drive our own cars, the more we pollute the air, which contributes to greenhouse gases that cause

climate change. The best way we can individually help reduce climate change is to reduce our dependency on

cars. This can have benefits for us, as well.

The more you walk or ride a bicycle to get to where you’re going, the more exercise you get. This is good for

your health because you get exercise, reduces stress levels, and save money because you’re not paying for

gas or a bus ticket. And, it reduces air pollution and the number of cars on the road. So it helps you by being

good for your health, and it’s good for the earth. It also means that there is one less car in a traffic jam, so

there is more room on the road when emergency vehicles need to get through. You never know – you might

be saving a life by helping that ambulance get to the hospital!


Walking and bicycling is great, but it’s not always practical, especially if we have a long distance to travel, or

different levels of physical ability, or the weather is very cold. There are benefits of taking public

transportation, too. You’re still saving money that would be spent on gas, parking, and vehicle maintenance if

you would otherwise be driving. Most public transportation still costs a little money, but compared to driving,

it’s a lot less that you’re spending. By taking public transportation, you’re still reducing road congestion and

air pollution because you’re sharing your ride with other people. You’re also potentially getting some

exercise, because you probably have to walk to and from bus stops, so that benefits your health. And lastly,

when you ride on a public bus or train, you have time to check your phone or read a book, because you don’t

have to pay attention to the road. You have a little time to relax.

If you have a phone that uses apps, there is a Google Maps app that helps you find a public transportation

route in any area. It gives the exact time of departure and arrival. You can find it at maps.google.com.

Some local mass transit systems have their own trip planners and apps. You can search online by entering

your city and state, and the word “transportation.”


Maybe you have a long commute, and there is no convenient public transportation option. Sometimes we

don’t have an alternative to driving. We can still talk about some tricks that will help you get the best mileage

for your money. First, carpooling with other people is better than if each person drives all by him- or herself.

If you have four people in the car, it means that there is one car on the road instead of four.

Second, you can spend less money on gas by taking out anything that you don’t need to keep in your car. Do

you keep a lot of stuff in your trunk? The more weight you haul around in your car, the more gas you need to

haul it all, so removing extra weight can cut down on the amount of gas you need to buy.

Sometimes you can save money, AND time, by planning your trip ahead of time. If you have to run a lot of

errands, try to see which errands you can run in the same trip rather than making multiple trips. You might

also be able to shave a few miles off the total journey by planning the order in which you make your stops on

various errands.


Now, what is the most gas-efficient speed? In other words, what speed do you need to go to get the best gas

mileage on your car?

It’s 55 miles per hour. Now, we’re not saying that you should go 55 in a city zone. This is good to know when

you are on the highway. For every five miles per hour you go over 60, for example, you pay another 31 cents

per gallon on average. So, if you like to speed, you may get to where you’re going faster, but you’ll be paying

extra for gas. You may end up paying a LOT extra if you get a ticket for driving over the speed limit!

Now, let’s talk about idling. All drivers have done it. Let’s say you drop off a friend at the library to return a

book. She says that she’s only going to take a few seconds, so you put your car in park and leave the engine

running while you sip your coffee and wait for her. How long will you wait for her to run in and out of the

library before you turn off the engine? One minute? Five minutes? She seems to be taking her time. Did she

have to pay a fine? What if it’s 10 or 15 minutes? You may be wondering what is taking her so long. Has it

been over thirty minutes? What is she doing, reading Harry Potter?


The longer you leave your car in idle, the more gas you burn up even when you’re not going anywhere. Two

minutes of idling your car uses the same amount of gas as one mile of driving. If you wait 40 minutes for your

friend, you’ve used up an entire gallon of gas. If gas is $4 a gallon, that’s wasting 10 cents a minute!

Another way you can increase your fuel efficiency is to get regular maintenance on your car. Check the tires,

change the oil, keep the fluids filled, and watch out for warning lights. Doing these things takes a little

amount of effort, but they will keep your car running as smoothly as possible, which will also mean that it

performs better on gas mileage.

And lastly, if it’s time for you to buy a new car, consider getting a fuel-efficient model that needs little

maintenance. Most newer cars get better gas mileage than older cars, because more people are looking for

that feature. Still, some new cars get much better mileage than others, especially hybrids.

Hybrid cars can help drivers save a lot of money on gas. These are cars that get some of their energy from a

rechargeable battery, so they don’t have to rely on gas all the time.


Just to give you an example, the Prius has a monitor

that tells you whether you're using gasoline, or if you're using energy from the battery. And when you brake,

when you slow down, almost everything goes green on that monitor. Because what's happening is the energy

from braking is being used to recharge the battery, and that's running the car, so you're not running on

gasoline. So the Prius gives you more mileage in the city than on the interstate.

Normally, when you brake a lot, you end up with even more mileage. And so think about putting 120,000

miles on your car. And think about how many gallons of gasoline go in that, and how much can be saved if

the car recharges itself every time it brakes. Literally, it can be double the mileage of some other cars. Hybrid

cars can cost a bit more up front, but they give more than that back.

So you have to think about what you are giving, and what you are getting. But you can't just think about it in

terms of the transaction. If you look over the life of what it may cost for you, as opposed to right now when

you put a down payment on a car, you get more back in the long run.

That brings us to the end of our lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about other ways you can reduce waste

and save a little money at the same time.


Lesson 4: Where Does the Trash Go? Welcome back! So far in this class, we have talked about things you can do to make the most of your

shopping experiences and save money. We talked about how we make choices in our spending habits. What

are you giving up when you go shopping? What are you getting in exchange?

Most recently, we talked about ways that you can save money by saving energy and water. We also talked

about things you can do to save money on gas and travel expenses, which can also help the environment.

Once again, it's about value. What are you giving up, and what are you getting? What are you doing every

day? It’s value in terms of how you're using your resources.

Just to wrap up where we left off, let’s have a quick discussion. How do you use resources around you? How

do you create value in the things that you're using? Which means, what are you giving? What are you

getting? We’ve talked about energy, water, and transportation so far. We’ve asked you to look around you at

home and see how you are using your resources.

So, what have you learned since we started this unit on sustainable consumption? Have you made any

changes in your behavior, or the way you use your resources? Let’s hear from you.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead the class in a discussion.]

In this lesson, we’re going to go into even more detail about things you can do to help the environment,

specifically, by changing our relationship with the stuff around us. This can include the trash we throw away,

what we recycle, and what we can reuse or avoid buying if we don’t need it.

How does this fit in with a class on mastering the marketplace? There are three parts to what we do. One

part is how to be a better customer. So, when you exchange money and get products, how do you make sure

you get value? That's one piece. Another piece is to learn about business. Maybe you can be an employee,

maybe you want to start your own business, so we show you how businesses work. We'll show you how you

can create something that others value, so they're willing to pay you for it. It's the other side of business. One

side is being a customer, the other side is being an entrepreneur or being an employer in business and so on.

But the third piece is how we make exchanges with the environment around us. For example, we use water

and energy. Try to understand how we use these things, so that you save resources, so you spend less, and

it's good for the environment. You could almost think of it in terms of how you want to make sure that

whatever you exchange, whether it's at the marketplace, where you give money and get products, or when

you're paying for all these natural resources, that you make sure that you get good value. That's what we're

here for.


So you may be wondering what the big deal is about trash. We throw it away, and it’s gone, right? On

average, Americans generate 251.3 million tons of trash per year. That’s a lot of trash! And what starts as one

bag every few days for most of us adds up a lot over time. So now we have giant landfills that are full to

bursting with trash, and a lot of it won’t break down over time.

Manmade materials like plastics and Styrofoam last for 500 years. They won’t disappear in our lifetime. And

we’re creating more and more of it. The average baby goes through 8,000 diapers. Americans throw away 25

billion Styrofoam cups every year. And what happens when we don’t throw it away in a trash can? A lot of

people toss trash like this in public parks and places where trash doesn’t belong, and it stays there. And then

when someone else comes along and sees trash already in the park, they may think it’s okay to add their own

trash, and eventually the park looks less like a place to relax and enjoy yourself, and more like a dump.

What if I tell you that there are a lot of people who are probably looking at something similar? Maybe you're

not affected by it, but I know even within most cities, there are people who have a lot of trash by their

homes. And where do you think the trash comes from?


A lot of products have toxic chemicals that can either kill people or animals, or wildlife. And when this stuff is

dumped in landfills, or illegally littered, those chemicals seep into the ground and invade our ground water.

They hurt wild plants and animals, and they can also hurt us because they’re hurting our own water supply.

Cigarettes are especially full of these toxins. They’re small, but they add up and cause a lot of damage, too.

That's something to think about. And we've gotten away with saying, we can afford to waste it, so I'm going

to waste. That's bad. We want to break out of that habit.

Okay, here's an interesting thing. What do you see in this picture? This picture was taken in China. A small

child is sitting on a pile of wires taken out of electronic devices. In a lot of places, when we throw away our

old cell phones and TVs, they go to other countries where people take them apart to collect the precious

metals inside. It’s a very toxic process that’s very dangerous for the people who do it, and it exposes those

toxic chemicals to the environment. It’s also bad for children like this one, who grow up in this environment.

It’s something to think about. Now, let’s watch a short video about our electronics and what happens when

we throw them away.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_7i6T_H78]

What do you think about that video? Do you find yourselves throwing away a lot of electronics? Does this put

new light on the picture we saw of the small child surrounded by electrical wires? Let’s take a few minutes to

discuss what you saw, and your reactions to it.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this recording to lead everyone in a short discussion. I

hope you had a good discussion!]

If you talked about how much stuff you throw away, you’re not alone. We have all done this. As the woman

in the video says, a lot of the products we buy are “designed for the dump.” She also talks about taking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_7i6T_H78


political action to demand change. And while that is great, we don’t mean to say that there is nothing you can

do to change your own habits.

We all have small things that we can change that can cut down on the amount of trash that goes to the

dump. For example, when I went to the store the other day, I bought three bags worth of groceries. I doubled

up my bags, because I didn't want them to break as I was taking them on the bus back home. But then I

realized that, after doubling up the bags, I threw away almost five of the six bags that I had used. Now, those

bags typically go to far-off places like the ones mentioned in the video, where I don't have to suffer about it.

But a person who has to live there ends up being the one to suffer. If I had brought in my own bags for my

groceries, I wouldn’t have needed to use any of the store’s plastic bags – let alone double them up. This is

just one example of a way to avoid creating more trash.

As you can see in this picture, some people around the world don’t have the option to send their trash to a

landfill far away. This is especially true in parts of the world that don’t have the infrastructure or the space to

put their trash somewhere else. This photo was taken in Mumbai, which is one of the largest cities in India.

This woman is just going about her everyday business, because what else can she do? People live in this

neighborhood, but they don’t have a place for their trash, so it just piles up around them, and there is

nowhere left to walk except on top of a giant pipe.

Now, we’re going to have a group exercise. We're going to divide you into teams of three or four. Please look

to the people closest to where you are sitting and form small groups. Each group will get a small household

object like a pen, a cereal box, a water bottle, or a sheet of paper.

In your groups, think about the object that you have in front of you. Imagine that this object is a real living

creature. Where do you think it came from, and where is it going? Think about it as much as you can.

I'm going to give you an example. I’m holding a pair of earbuds. Where do you think they came from? The

store. Where did they come from before the store? They came from a factory in China. But before the

factory, they existed as different materials like plastic and metals. Somebody had to extract every single

metal. Somebody created the plastic. They put them both together to create earbuds in a factory. From

there, it probably went to a store that sells electronics, right? Then I go to the store to shop. That was how it

came into my hands. But where do you think this is going when I have a new set of earbuds, or some other

way to listen to my music? What happens when one of the wires on this pair breaks? I throw it in the trash.

But then, where does it go after I throw it in the trash? It goes to a landfill. Does it decompose? No, it doesn't.

Maybe I can recycle it. But maybe I'm not going to recycle it, because it’s easier to throw it in the trash, right?

Just throw it in the garbage, keep walking, and go buy the next pair of earphones. But is that how it ends? We

don't know.


So what I want you to do, is talk with your group about the object you have in front of you and come up with

the story of where it came from, and what will happen to it. I'm going to give you all exactly five minutes. The

first team that comes up with the story is going to be the winner.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and give everyone five minutes to work

together to come up with their story. After five minutes, lead a discussion of each group’s story.]

Now, how did everyone do? Was each group able to come up with a story to explain where your object came

from, and what will happen to it after we’re done with it? Which group was the first to finish? Well done!

Give yourselves a round of applause. A couple of you had paper, right? To make paper, you had to go all the

way to forests and trees and timber. And then you've got to work your way back to where it ends up. When

we’ve taught this class in the past, people have talked about their objects getting made out of materials in

factories and then going into the trash. People have mentioned that these objects put a lot of toxins in the

earth when we throw them away, and that the trash takes up a lot of space, and that the trash that goes into

the oceans is also a big problem. People in our classes have told us that something has to be done about this

problem.

The reason why I gave you this exercise and showed you that video is to make you think about where things

are coming from and where they're going. Because a lot of times, we just buy things, we use them, and then

we throw them away, and we forget about them. But there's a bigger story to things than what you just see

or what you use. I'm not going to ask you to say that you have to recycle from now on, or that you should

stop buying all electronic items and just live like a 100 years ago. No, that's not what I'm saying. What I am

trying to tell you is that you've got to be aware of what's going on.

You can start by reducing the number of things you're actually purchasing, and how many things that you're

actually using. Can you be resourceful with what you have? Being resourceful always means you're saving on


money. If I'm wasting 10 sheets of paper towels when I could just be using a single cloth rag, I'm being

resourceful, right?

Yes, maybe it only costs two cents for each paper towel, but maybe you don't see the money, because it's

just two cents, so how can it matter. But in a way, you could be saving over a long time, a lot of money by just

being resourceful with what you have.

We’re showing you several examples of ways that you can reduce the number of things you buy by switching

from disposable products like paper towels, Styrofoam cups, and plastic utensils, and replacing them with

things that you can reuse. You can reuse cloth rags and spend less money on paper towels, for example. You

can use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers. You can buy foods in bulk rather than in small, disposable

packages. These are just a few examples.

If you have a lawn, you can also reduce what you throw away by leaving the cut grass on the lawn after you

mow it, instead of putting them in a bag to throw away. It’s actually better for your grass if you do this

because it reduces the amount of fertilizer that you would need, and the grass clippings will decompose on

their own and provide more nutrients into the soil. If you have the opportunity to buy a new lawnmower, you

can switch to an electric or reel model and stop paying for gas, too.


We can also reuse a lot of objects to keep them from going into landfills. In this slide, we show an example of

a braided rug made from old towels, and a bottle that is being used to water plants. All you have to do with

the bottle is rinse it out and fill it with water, then stick it upside down in the soil, and it will help the soil stay

hydrated.

What if I could reuse bottled water? Now, I don't buy a water bottle. That bottle is out there. I don't know

how many months I would just reuse that and carry water with me wherever I go. Again, I'm not spending

about $10-20 on just buying a plastic bottle, which may go in the trash.

We can also reuse things by turning them into something new. Have you ever seen jewelry made from

aluminum cans? Sometimes people turn chip bags into purses, too. Here, we see someone has turned

cardboard toilet paper tubes into planters for small seedling plants. If you want to start a garden, this is a

good way to plant your seeds and let them grow up a little bit before you move them outside. This is a way to

be creative with the stuff we have around us. Why spend money on a fancy decorative lamp when you can

make one out of old CDs and holiday lights? Maybe this can inspire you, or may it’s not your cup of tea. We

are just presenting ideas of things that you can do with things that you might have on hand anyway, so you

don’t have to spend as much money buying more new things.


And of course, there is recycling. Lots of different kinds of paper and cardboard can be recycled.

Glass bottles and jars can be recycled.

Aluminum cans, tin cans, foil, and even aerosol cans can be recycled if they don’t contain hazardous

chemicals.


Many types of plastic can be recycled, like disposable bottles and jugs, reusable containers and lids, buckets,

even medicine containers.

You can even recycle food! If you have a garden, you can turn food into compost that will provide rich

nutrients for your soil. You just collect the leftover pieces of fruits and vegetables that you peel or chop off

that you would otherwise throw away. Even fruits and vegetables that are going bad can still be composted.

You can keep a bin or a designated space outside where you can put these bits, and over time put some dirt

on top of it, and let it break down into compost.

There are even ways to recycle batteries and electronics, like the pair of earbuds we talked about earlier. A

lot of places want you to recycle these separately, so you may need to find a local collection place like an

electronics store or even sometimes a library.


We have just talked about a lot of different ways you can reduce, reuse, and recycle. It’s a lot of information

and it can feel a little overwhelming. I don’t want you to think that you need to do all of the things we’ve

suggested. If you want to do something, that’s great! For now, we just want you to think about it, and keep

thinking about making small changes over time. Because every single time you're doing something good for

the earth, in a way you're actually saving money yourself. Directly or indirectly, you are doing something for

yourself. While sometimes it might be a little bit of money, if you look at it over weeks or maybe months, you

are saving a lot of money. So keep thinking about these things over the next few weeks. If you want to reuse

something, if you want to recycle something, if you want to reduce how much you use, it all adds up. It is a

win-win, because it's good for the earth, and it’s good for you as well.

But in everything you do, you've got to figure out what you are giving, and what are you getting. So if you're

going to reuse something, or if you're going to recycle it, what are you giving up? And what are you getting by

doing it? What are you giving up, what are you getting by doing it?

Let’s take a moment to summarize what we’ve covered so far in this course. It really comes down to you

having a mindset where you think about value. What are you giving up? What are you getting? Are you going

to try any of the changes in behavior that we’ve suggested? I hope you do, because I think of all the ways

we’ve talked about saving money, you're not giving up that much. And you're going to get more resources.

You're going to get more of your money to stay with you. You're going to waste less, right? So I hope you

think of it in terms of value. What do you give up? What do you get?

The same thing applies with shopping and coupons. Remember, we said you don't need to spend all day

looking for coupons. But if you have a simple habit, you think about it. You learn about it. And you may say,

“I'm just going to put these coupons over here and look at them before I go shopping.” That's doesn’t cost

you so much, and you get a lot of benefit out of that. So to us, the biggest thing we want you to take away is

this idea of value. What are you giving up? What are you getting? So as a customer, you give up not just

money. You give up time. You give up effort. You give up information, right? Remember those cards that you

swipe through in the grocery stores? You're giving up information, too.

And what do you get in return? Well, you get good quality products. Maybe you get a relationship because

you know the person or the store. So we want you to think about things in terms of value. We started off

talking about the customer. It's value when you buy things and use them. We want you to have value. When

you go to the store, you exchange money and you get a product. We want you to make sure you get the

value that you deserve. It's your money. When it comes to the environment, and some of the things we're

talking about, it's value in how you use your resources. It's not value in paying for it and getting it, but


actually you are paying for it differently. The bills show up later. You don't see it as a shopping exchange, but

it shows up later, right? So it's value in using the resources around you.

When we come back, we’ll start a new unit that explores how businesses work. This will be helpful to you in

understanding how to get better service as a customer, and also how you might be able to start your own

business.


UNIT 5: Entrepreneurial Literacy – Generic Marketplace Literacy

Lesson 1: How Products Evolve Welcome back! We’re going to start this lesson by going over some of the things we’ve already talked about

in this class, and how to put them into context of a larger picture. We’ve talked a little about this already,

from the perspective of being a customer and how you shop.

First, what kind of value do you get when you make an exchange? This could mean any kind of exchange,

though in this class we usually talk about spending money. What do you give up, and what do you get in

exchange?

When you make this exchange, do you feel like you’re getting the right kind of value to make it worth what

you paid? We often use this example of someone considering different phone plans, because it’s something

most of us have to do. Why do we choose one phone plan over another? It’s because we’re looking for the

plan that gives us the best value for our money, right?

We’ve talked about how you can make your money go further as a consumer in terms of the kind of store

you choose, how you make a shopping list, using coupons, finding products in a store to make the best use of

your time, checking items by price and size, using unit price to compare similar options, and checking

expiration dates. We’ve talked about using customer service to handle issues after you make a purchase, how

to check your receipt, how to use self-checkout, and using a call center.


We’ve also talked about value in usage – the ways you can make your money go further and help the

environment at the same time by cutting expenses on your energy, water, and transportation bills, as well as

reducing the amount that we throw away.

As we move forward in this class, we’ll talk more and more about other types of exchanges. If you start your

own business, you’re creating value through exchange with your customers. For example, if you want them

to give you money, you’ll want to give them value so they’ll keep coming back, right?

Your job is another way you can create value. In this case, you get paid for a service that you provide.


There is also value in sharing with your community and helping the environment. These are not things that

directly put money in our pockets, but they can help us feel good. We are social creatures by nature, and it

feels good to help others and create a better place that we can all enjoy.

Likewise, we can find value in our relationships with the people who are closest to us – our family and

friends. These are the people who help us get through rough times and make the good times even better.

So, as we go forward through the next lessons, we don’t want to try to tell you where you should find value in

life. What we want to do is get you to think about where and how you find that value. What do you value

most in life? What brings you joy? And, what are you willing to invest in order to get more of what you value?


There are many different paths that you can take, and again, we aren’t trying to tell you what you should

value, or what sort of path you should take in your career. We just want you to think about it in the context

of what you give up, and what you get in exchange. And if you want something different than what you are

getting, what can you give in exchange so you can get what you want?

Now, let’s move on to the main part of this lesson. We’re going to talk about how products evolve as part of a

new unit on entrepreneurial literacy. This is not about knowing how to read, but knowing and understanding

how businesses work.

We can study entrepreneurial literacy by learning why companies choose certain designs for the products

they sell. For example, why would a body product have the word “beautiful” on it? What goes into the way a

box of cereal is designed, or how the cereal tastes? What guides companies to advertise their products on TV

in a certain way? Learning more about these choices can help us understand businesses better, and what

kind of choices we might want to make ourselves if we start our own businesses.


Let’s say you’re buying a car. If money is no object, what features do you look for in a dream car? What

would convince you to buy it? Do you consider technology features, safety, environmental impact, the

amount of room you have inside, style, or mileage? What do you look for in a car? Remember, money is no

object.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and take a few minutes to lead everyone in a

discussion. I hope you had a good discussion!]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have told us that style and safety were their biggest

concerns, but the other features were also important. Whatever features you chose, you are not alone –

people who buy cars look for these kinds of features. Now, let’s watch a short video. This is going to talk

about how cars evolved over time.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOZZNP8LeFk]

So, what did you learn from that video? Transportation has changed a lot over time, hasn’t it? One question

is, why don’t we still use horse-powered wagons and steam engines?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOZZNP8LeFk


Let’s have a quick discussion. Which came first – cars with seatbelts, or cars without seatbelts? Cars with air

conditioning, or cars without air conditioning? Cars with tape decks, or cars with Bluetooth or USB ports?

Take a few minutes to discuss these questions.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video and lead the class in this discussion.]

In terms of which came first, there were cars without seatbelts before cars had seatbelts. There were cars

without air conditioning before air conditioning was invented. And, there were cars that had tape decks

before there were cars with Bluetooth or USB ports.

Again, why do we have cars with seat belts, air conditioning, and Bluetooth or USB ports now, if we didn’t

have them earlier? These features were invented after cars were invented. That’s a matter of history. But as

we saw in the video, there have been types of transportation before cars that we don’t have any longer. So,

why do some features, like tape decks, and some types of transportation, like horse-driven wagons, almost

disappear?

It has to do with technology and progress and competition and money. But it also has to do with customers.

Remember how we talked about what you look for when you buy a car? How many of you said you wanted a

car with a tape deck? I’m guessing not many of you. Tape decks have been replaced by newer technology, so

over time, fewer and fewer people have looked for tape decks in cars. After a certain point, car companies

decide not to put tape decks in new cars because the customers stop looking for them – but they DO put in

Bluetooth and USB ports, because those are new features that more customers want. Likewise, you don’t

find many horse-driven carriages anymore because more people want to drive cars instead. And if you were

in the business of selling vehicles, you’d have more customers wanting to buy cars than customers wanting to

buy a horse and wagon.

That brings us to the end of this lesson. For your homework, find something that you have around your

home. Think about how it evolved from similar types of products people used in the past. We’ve talked about

cars versus horses and wagons. What else has changed in our lives? What about the way we cook, the way

we communicate, or other items that we have at home? Take a look at what you have around you, and think

about what has changed, and how customers might have driven those changes.


Lesson 2: The Value Chain Welcome back! In our last lesson, we began to talk about how we find value in the various elements of our

lives, and how products evolve over time. We looked specifically at how cars have changed since they were

invented, and how the features that we find in cars change because of the things that customers look for

when they go to buy cars.

We gave you a little homework assignment, too. We asked you to look around your home for other examples

of products that have changed over time. Are you ready to discuss what you came up with?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead the class in a discussion. I hope you

had a good discussion!]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, some of the things people have talked about are how cooking has

changed, because we now have gas and electric stoves, whereas before these were invented, people used

firewood to cook. People have also talked about the difference between televisions and radios, because

people used to listen to radios before televisions were invented, but now, more people buy televisions than

radios. You may have come up with other examples – there are a lot out there, and there isn’t just a single

right answer to this question!

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about the elements of a value chain. What is a value chain?

To put it into perspective, the value chain is how a product gets from where it’s produced to where it reaches

the customer. Think about the milk you might put on your cereal. Where does it come from? What are the

steps involved in getting it to you? What is added to milk?


A value chain is a series of exchanges with value added at each step. We’ve talked a lot about value in this

course. In this case, value is what makes a product better and easier for us to use. If we’re looking at milk, it

begins when a farmer milks a cow. The milk is very fresh at that point, but not many people would want to

drink it yet because it’s still raw. And, it’s not very convenient for many of us to get all the way out to the

dairy farm to buy our milk directly from the farmer, is it?

So, that milk is taken to a factory. It’s pasteurized, which makes it safe for us to drink because it removes any

parasites that might have been in the cow or might have got into the milk after it came out of the cow. It’s

also homogenized, which means that all the milk from a lot of cows comes out with the same consistency

that you expect when you get it from a carton. When it’s at the factory, milk might also be converted into all

sorts of different varieties. Today, we’re used to finding whole milk, low-fat milk, skim milk, buttermilk, half-

and-half, cream, butter, cheese, and all sorts of different dairy products that come from milk. That happens

at a factory.

Later, the final product is put into containers for individual sale and distributed to stores. That’s where you

can buy milk as a customer, so that you can put it on your cereal or use it as an ingredient in cooking.

As we think about the value chain, what are some ways that you can add value in the value chain? Each step

of the chain is an exchange, from the cow to the farmer to the factory to the distributor, to the customer.

Maybe you like to cook. If you started a business where you cooked with milk, like making buttermilk biscuits

or homemade cheese, you would be adding value to the chain by producing something new from the milk.

Now, let’s watch a video on how bananas come to you through the value chain.


[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbjSaom1AY]

So, what did you learn from this video? Did you realize how many steps there were in getting bananas from

the place where they are grown? This video shows them going to Europe, which is a little farther away, but

they would go through a similar process to ship from Costa Rica to the United States.

Let’s have a quick discussion about what you saw in the video. How is value added as the banana goes from

the tree to the store? Why do they put the bananas into boxes? What does the Dole brand mean to you? Do

you like certain brands more than others?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video to lead the class in a discussion.]

When we have taught this class in the past, people have told us that value is added in each step of the

process when the bananas are cut up into bunches and washed, put in boxes, loaded into crates and shipped,

then inspected before going to the store. The bananas are put into boxes to protect them from damage

during the shipping process. This is another element of value that is added to the bunch of bananas that you

buy because you are guaranteed that the bananas will not be bruised before you buy them.

When we ask about brands, and specifically the Dole brand, we are not suggesting that you choose one brand

over another. Instead, branding is another element of value in the value chain. We recognize Dole as a

familiar brand, so when we see a Dole sticker we know what to expect from their bananas. This same

philosophy can explain why some people will pay a lot of money for certain brands of clothing or electronics.

We’ll talk more about branding later in this class. For now, keep in mind that adding a brand can add value to

a product from the perspective of the customers who look for that brand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbjSaom1AY


Now, let’s have a group exercise. You’ll need to get into groups of three to five people. Take a look at this

picture. This is similar to the milk value chain picture that we looked at earlier. Which element of the value

chain is the most important? We have transportation from the farm, the farmer and cow, the consumer, the

processing plant, money, and the grocery store. With your group, please use a sheet of paper and draw a

bullseye. Then, add the elements of the value chain with the most important element in the center of the

bullseye, the next important elements outside the center, and the least important elements along the

outermost circle.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please give students ten minutes to work on this exercise, and another

five to ten minutes to discuss each group’s answers.]

Now, was each group able to put the elements of the milk value chain in a circle? How many of you put

money in the center as the most important element of the value chain? Let’s have a show of hands. When

we’ve taught this class in the past, just about every single person who does this exercise puts money in the

center. So if you put money in the center, you’re thinking the same way as many of the people who have

taken this class.

However, money is NOT the most important part of the value chain. Can any of you guess what might be the

real answer? It’s actually the consumer. Why would the consumer be the most important part of the value

chain? Because without a consumer to buy the product, there is no money. And for that matter, all the other

steps in the chain lose all of their value. Without a consumer to buy the milk, there is no money to pay the

farmer, or the factory, or the grocery store, or any of the other people in between to transport the milk

between these places.


The consumer really is the most important element. And so, as a consumer, you hold a lot of power, because

you can choose whether the rest of the elements of the value chain get paid when you choose whether or

not to buy the final product.

This is also important to keep in mind if you want to start your own business someday. If you want your

business to make money, you need customers. Without customers, there is no business. If you went to a

business that treated you badly, you wouldn’t be as likely to go back, would you?

This brings us to the end of our lesson on the value chain, but we will be revisiting a lot of these ideas in

upcoming lessons. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about consumer needs. Thanks again for joining us!


Lesson 3: Consumer Needs Welcome back! In our last lesson, we began to talk about how we find value in the various elements of our

lives, and how we see products evolve over time.

Today, we’re going to move forward in our conversation about business and talk about consumer needs.

Here’s a question: why do people buy things? Look at these two pairs of shoes. Why would somebody buy

the sneakers? Why might somebody buy the high heels? It comes down to two different kinds of consumer

needs: one is physical, and one is psychological. We all need shoes. That’s a physical need that the sneakers

satisfy. Comfortable shoes that are easy to walk in satisfy a physical need. On the other hand, the shiny, red

high heels can also satisfy a physical need, but what makes them stand out from the sneakers is their look.

They satisfy a psychological need for consumers who want their shoes to look attractive. Products that help

us look and feel attractive appeal to us on a psychological level.

There are all sorts of ways we can look at physical and psychological needs. Why do we go to the grocery

store? Because we have a physical need for food. But whether we get the most basic nutrients versus the

tastiest options comes down to a choice between physical and psychological factors. Why do people like to

dress up in nice clothing? It could satisfy a psychological need that they can’t get from just any old clothes, or

it’s because they need to dress up for their job, which would be a physical need. Why do we go to the

dentist? Because we have a physical need for dental health – or, in some cases, it can be a psychological need

for a more attractive smile.


Again, our physical needs have to do with what we need to survive. Psychological needs satisfy what we need

to make life more enjoyable. They can help us feel happier, more accepted by society, and feel better about

ourselves. This is the difference between bread and water, and cake and cocktails. It’s the difference

between practical rain boots and this season’s hottest new boots. It’s the difference between a coat that only

keeps you warm, and one that makes you feel fabulous.

In these pictures, the physical needs are satisfied by an umbrella on a rainy day and a nutritious breakfast.

The psychological needs might be satisfied by a phone plan that lets a woman talk with people she loves, and

a television that lets someone watch a favorite show.

So, what do you look for in products? Why do you look for them? Your homework for the next lesson is to

take some time and think about one product that you buy. Just choose one product. It could be anything –

it’s just something that you would buy. Then, think about why you buy it. Does it satisfy a physical need or a

psychological need? Or does it satisfy both? When we come back, be prepared to talk about the product you

chose, and what sort of needs it satisfies you as a consumer.


Lesson 4: Goods and Services Welcome back! Thanks again for sticking with our class and joining us for this lesson. Recently, we’ve been

talking about business. We talked about how products evolve because consumers want to buy products with

new innovations. We talked about the value chain, and how something like milk or bananas gets from the

farm to you as the consumer, with value added at every new step in the chain from the factory to shipping

and quality control, to the store where you can buy it conveniently.

In our last lesson, we talked about the difference between physical and psychological needs for consumers.

We asked you to think about a product that you buy, and whether it satisfies physical or psychological needs

for you, or both. Do you have a product in mind to talk about? What needs does it satisfy for you as a

consumer, and why?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video and lead the class in a discussion about their

choices. I hope you had a great discussion!]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have talked about buying things like chips because they’re

hungry and the chips satisfy a physical need, and because they taste good, they satisfy a psychological need.

We’ve also had people talk about buying a car to satisfy a physical need to get to work, and buying small

things like online songs and ringtones because the music satisfies a psychological need. You may have had

different products and reasons for buying those products. There are no right or wrong answers here. Our goal

for this exercise is just to help you think of products in terms of the needs that they satisfy.

In this lesson, we're going to look at the difference between goods and services. Does anybody know the

difference between a good and a service?


We pay for goods and services all the time. We have different kinds of goods and services in this picture.

Some things are goods and some are called services. Do you know the difference?

Goods are tangible things that you can touch. Scooters, cell phones, and cereal are all examples of goods.

Services are things that people do. You can’t touch them like you can a good, but you benefit from them.

Someone who cooks a meal for you at a restaurant is providing a service. Doctors and teachers perform

services.

Which of these pictures represents goods and which are services? We just talked about doctors and teachers.

But what about the ice cream vendor? And the supermarket?

For that matter, can a product be both a good and a service? In the examples above, you could get a cell

phone as a good that comes with a service plan, and the restaurant sells you a meal as a good and the service

of cooking it and bringing it to your table.


With a good, you are getting something tangible. With a service, you're not really getting anything solid, you

know, it's not like a bag of chips, but it is healthcare, it's education, it's things like repairing something. That's

a service. So, there are goods and services. And when we talk about products, we mean both goods and

services.

Let’s recap with a short video.

[Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hriOz9yl-Ro]

Now, for the rest of this lesson, we’re going to complete a group exercise. We’d like for you to start thinking

about how you might be able to start your own business. What sort of business would you like to start? Think

of a good or service you could sell. Maybe you like to make certain kinds of goods. Maybe there is something

you can do as a service. Some examples are restaurants or food trucks, home improvement or lawn care

services, or selling things like clothes or jewelry.

We’d like for everyone to form into small groups. Ideally, you can form groups based on similar business

concepts, so for example, one group plans to start a restaurant while another opens a shop. Just because not

everyone is going to have the same idea, some of you might need to be in a group with a different business

idea than the one you came up with on your own. That’s okay. You can still work on the exercise together,

and in the back of your mind, think about how you might apply the exercise to your personal idea. This is all

about practice more than anything else.

So when you get with your small group, we want you to come up with a name for your business. Assign at

least one task to each person in the group: what needs to be done to get the business started, and who will

do each task? Develop advertising you’re your business, along with a menu or pricing system for the goods or

services you plan to offer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hriOz9yl-Ro


All right? After everyone’s had 15 to 20 minutes to plan out their business with their group, be sure to have

everyone discuss their business ideas. Thanks again, and enjoy the exercise!


Lesson 5: Groups of Customers or Segments Welcome back! Over the past four lessons, we’ve talked about what businesses need to consider. Our goal is

to help you understand this as a customer who exchanges money with businesses for goods and services, and

also to help you understand how businesses work from the perspective of someone who might start a

business of your own. It’s possible. And if it’s something that you think you might want to do, we want to

help you to start thinking about it more deeply.

In our last lesson, we gave you a group exercise. We asked you to come up with an idea for a business with

your group, and to start planning things that you would need to do to help it get started. We asked you to

come up with a name for your business. We asked you to assign tasks to each person in the group. We asked

you to develop advertising for your business, and to develop a menu or pricing for the goods and services you

would sell.

Were you all able to come up with a business idea with your group? If not, have you thought of a business

idea on your own? As we move forward, we’re going to explore these ideas in greater detail, so we’d like for

you to keep your ideas in the back of your mind when we talk about other aspects of business.

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about how groups of customers are different and how we can divide them

up and provide them with different offerings, also called segmentation. What is segmentation? It refers to

different types of customers.

Not all customers have the same wants and needs. For example, we have different kinds of people

represented in this picture. Look at the types of clothing they’re wearing. If you had a business selling

clothing, you’d need to have different styles for people who have different tastes and needs. For example,

would your shop have kids’ clothing? Would you have men’s wear or women’s wear? Would you have


different styles that are more popular with people of different ages? What about people in special

professions who need specific uniforms? These are things to think about with any business.

We use the term segmentation and segments when we talk about business because groups of customers

represent segments of the larger population.

Your business can satisfy more customers if you can cater to different segments. For example, let’s say you

want to start a restaurant. Would you offer any vegetarian entrees? There are a lot of vegetarians out there.

If you don’t, then chances are they won’t go to your restaurant. So you can offer a few vegetarian dishes to

encourage that segment to give you their business. Or you can decide, that you will not attract such

customers. Similarly, if you have a clothing shop, you can get more customers if you offer clothes in more

sizes.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRFBVIvJHw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRFBVIvJHw


Now, let’s watch a short video that explains more about segmentation. This touched upon the related

marketing concepts of targeting and positioning, which we’ll explore more in the next unit. The main

message we want you to get from this video is that businesses are using their knowledge of different

customer segments to advertise the same product to different segments in different ways. They showed a

salad. They showed how they’re advertising this same salad to African-American, Hispanic, and Asian

customers in completely different ways. Do you think it works?

We’re going to wrap up this lesson with another group exercise. We’d like for you to get with your group and

think about the business idea you came up with in the last lesson. Now, think of that idea in terms of what

we just learned about segmentation. What segments of customers do you want to attract? What are their

wants and needs? Make a list of each segment and describe what each one is like. What do they do for a

living? What do they want? What do they need? How can your business target them specifically? Then, take

turns role playing as customers for the other groups’ businesses. One group will be the business while

another group acts as their customers, and then after a few minutes, the groups will switch and the

customers will become the business, while the business group will become the other group’s customers.

Think about the steps that customers go through when they are trying to decide where to eat or shop. What

can your business do to influence them?

Take some time to get with your group to think about your customer segments and describe them. Take

maybe five minutes on role playing and then another five after switching businesses and customers. After

you’re done, have a discussion with the whole class about what you came up with and how your role playing

went.

When we meet again, we’ll start a new unit that will explore business principles in greater depth. Have a

great exercise!


UNIT 6: Entrepreneurial Literacy – Businesses and Products

Lesson 1: Philosophy of Doing Business Welcome! In this unit, we're going to talk about running a business, where you are creating value for others.

We're going to talk about being an entrepreneur. But then, it's also about value. It's how you create value for

others who are willing to pay for your services or your goods.

It's about some of the exchanges that you have in your life. You have exchanges when you're an employee.

You have exchanges when you're an employer. You have exchanges between family members. That does not

involve money usually. They're other intangible things. But that's all part of value as well.

Remember, I asked you to write down the things that you value. Some people say they value pets. Some

people say they value other things. Why? You invest in them and you get something out of it, right?

So when you think about your goals, it's also an exchange process. Because you're going to invest in it. You've

got to work hard for it, and then you're going to get what you value, right? So I want you to think about this

in terms of value. And that's the one concept you're going to keep seeing. What do you give? What do you

get? The other thing is that we're not going to tell you what to buy and what to sell. That's up to you. We

don't have the expertise to tell you that. That's up to you. You figure out what's best for you. Nobody else

can. All I'm saying is to make sure you keep yourself informed and think about it.

One of the questions I have for you is, what are some principles you would follow in the way you run your

business? What would you always do? What would you never do? For example, I would say that I would

never cheat somebody. That’s one example. I might also say that I will always respect my coworkers and be

professional. What are some things you would always or never do?


[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video and lead the class in a discussion. I hope you had

a good discussion!]

When we’ve taught this class in the past, people have told us that they would always keep their prices fair

and be nice to customers. They have told us that they would never do things like discriminate against anyone

or be rude to customers. You may have had different responses. That’s fine. There are no right or wrong

answers here.

These never and always ideas are things you strive for. There are times when we won't meet them, but at

least we have a goal, right? That's a matter of what we want to be like. There are times when you may have a

really mean customer, or one who’s creating a problem for your business, and you can’t be nice to them.

When we learn a lot of these different things we will do and not do, it's always good to understand them in a

fair way. And what we have here is this balance which between the buyer and the seller. You want to make

sure that the exchange is beneficial to both parties, right? That's very important. The seller is saying, “Look,

you know you need what I'm making. I'm not going to overcharge you, but at the same time, you know I need

to make a living as well.” All of us, one way or the other, make a living by offering something of value.

It could be a teacher who offers value to you in the form of education. That's how she gets her salary. It could

be the plumber who fixes the leaky faucet so you can save money on your water bills. It could be the person

who sells you a hot dog. So that's the basic idea that we have to try to engage in mutually beneficial

exchanges. Mutually means both parties. Beneficial means you get something out of it that you didn't have, I

get something out of it that I didn't have. Now obviously this is the ideal.

There are good businesses and there are businesses that will take advantage of you, and so on. The same

goes for customers. So, there are some customers who will take advantage of the business. And so it works

both ways. It's not one-sided. So it's very important to focus on mutually beneficial exchanges and that is kind

of the overall way in which we need to think about how we run our business. If you do that, it's going to be

good for your business as well, and people come to you for a lot of reasons.

What do you get as a customer? Well, as a customer, you get good treatment. You get the product. You get a

good experience. You get a trusted relationship with the business. You know, we've had people tell us that

they don't go to a particular store anymore because they don't get treated well. Or, they go to another store

because that business treats them well and wants them to come back. So how you're treated makes a big

difference.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how you choose a business. See you then!


Lesson 2: Choosing a Business

Welcome! In this lesson, we’re going to talk about how to choose a business. What kind of business would

you like to start, and why? What will you be good at? What is the competition that you will have for

customers, and is there a demand for your product?

Let’s have a quick exercise. I want you to write down one thing that you think you're good at, that you think

you can do to start a business. It doesn’t have to be the business idea that you’ve used in previous group

exercises, though you can continue to use it if you want. It could be anything that you feel like you would be

good at.

Now, think about what it would be like to run this business. Do you think it would sell well? Would you have a

lot of people who could afford what you are selling? Is it something they need? Would it be easy to sell in

your local community, or is there something else that you are good at that your community might need

more? These are just things to think about in terms of your business idea.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video and give everyone a few minutes to jot down

their ideas.]


Now, let’s have a discussion about your ideas. What factors did you consider in choosing a business? Is there

a need and a demand for it? What are you good at? What are you bad at? What is your competition going to

be like? What are they good at and bad at?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video again to lead everyone in a discussion about

their ideas.]

When you came up with your business idea, you had to think about a number of things. What are you good

at? You have to build off your strength. How much competition is out there? Most importantly, is there a

demand for your business in your neighborhood? So you had to think of these three things: whether you're

good at it, do you think that you can do better than the competition given their strengths and weaknesses,

and whether there are enough people who would want or need your product in your part of town. So those

are three things to keep in mind.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how you can find out more about the market and what your business

would need to succeed in your area. Until next time!


Lesson 3: Gathering Information/Market Research Welcome! In the last few lessons, we’ve talked about how businesses work. We’ve asked you to think about

and idea that you could develop into a business.

In this lesson, we’ll take that idea forward and show you how to give your business idea a better chance at

success by conducting market research.

So let’s think about your business idea. You’ve thought about something that you’re already good at that you

could develop into a business. The next step is to learn more about the marketplace. How would your

business fit into your local community?

Learning more about this marketplace is what we mean when we talk about conducting market research. It’s

about looking at the competition you would have with your business and seeing how big of a demand there is

for it. Who else is good at doing what you want to do? If there are too many other businesses like yours and

they are very good at it, then you would probably have some challenges in starting your own business in that


field. But even more important than how good someone is at their business is whether there is enough

demand for it. If you want to open a specialty car dealership that sells high-end luxury cars, for example, you

could be really great at selling cars but there will only be a small number of people who can afford the types

of cars you want to sell. And so it’s important for your marketplace to have a need for something like what

you want to sell.

In this particular illustration, we have this person who is thinking, “I want to start a bakery.” So, see the

different things she can do. She can talk to people. She can talk to customers. She can talk to bakers. She can

go to the store. She can think about where to get the supplies for the cakes that she wants to bake and so on.

Where does she get the equipment?

So what are some things you can do to try to identify more about your business idea? Let’s say you want to

start a food truck. You can try to figure out how much a truck would cost, and if it’s one that you can actually

cook in, or just keep things warm. You can figure out some of the things that are required for this business.

What do people want for lunch? I mean, do they want sandwiches? Do they want tacos? Do they want

something else? How do I make all of those things? Then you can try to figure out how much you should

charge them. Well, if customers go to a restaurant, they're going to pay a certain amount. So, a food truck

needs to have a lower price. You can try to figure out where you are going to have the business. One of the

first questions you're going to ask is, “Who are the different groups of customers I should be considering?”

And, what do they look for in a food truck?

So then we can go to similar food trucks at different times, like during lunchtime at different places on

different days of the week, and see what their customers are like. What are they ordering? Are they in a

hurry? Which food trucks seem to get more business than others, and what are they doing differently than

their competition? What could you do to compete with them?

These are the customers we're going to focus on. They are similar in a lot of ways. They're in the right

location. They are working at the right time. They don't have a way to get an inexpensive lunch. They used to

pay five dollars for lunch per meal. They used to pay two dollars for coffee. Now, it's five dollars for coffee

and seven for lunch. So suddenly, your food truck can offer these customers a less expensive meal.

And so now you’ve got to ask, “Is there a demand?” Yes. “Is there a lot of competition?” If there is, can you

find a place where there isn't much competition? What you want to find is a business idea where there's not

as much competition and there's demand for it. So that's something you need to think about. And there are a

number of ways that you can learn about the marketplace.


So right now, I want to start this food truck that sells quick lunches. Let's say I start with something that's

feasible. It could be a lot of different things. So what are some of the things I will do? That's market research,

right?

I'm not going to start big, because if I start big and I lose, I’m going to lose big, right? So I’ll start fairly small,

and then think big. Now, what do you do before you even start small? What we say is we'd rather you started

something small and decided not to do it because you would lose money instead of diving into it and losing

money. We want you to be careful about this. And that's what we call market research.

Now, we’d like to give you some homework for the next lesson. Think back on your business idea. It could be

the one you came up with on your own, or the one you worked on with your small group in previous

exercises. Now, think about what competition you would have if you started this business.

For this homework, we’d like you to go around your local area and find businesses that are already doing

something similar to what you want to do. Go into all these places to explore what they’re doing, who their

customers are and what they’re like, and learn as much as you can. Do they have a lot of customers, or is

business pretty small for them? How are they treating their customers? What sort of items do they have, and

which ones seem to be the most popular?

Thanks again for tuning in. See you next time!


Lesson 4: Understanding Customers Welcome back! In our last lesson, we talked about conducting market research by finding out more about the

businesses in your local area that do the things you want to do. We asked you to find out what they’re like,

what their customers are like, whether they have a lot of competition, and anything else you can learn about

these businesses that you could use to decide if it’s the right business for you. Have any of you had an

opportunity to look into this? If so, what did you learn?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead everyone in a discussion about what

they have learned through market research. I hope you had a good discussion!]

In this lesson, we’re going to keep learning about business by discussing consumer behavior. This will help

you in starting a business because understanding how consumers behave will help you know how to meet

their needs and encourage them to give you more business.

How do customers make decisions? How are those people on their lunch break looking for a place to eat

going to make their decision when they consider my food truck? Unless you understand this, you don't know

how to create and what to create. You won't know whether to make a sandwich or a taco, or something else.

You won't know how you are going to reach them.

So, let’s have a quick discussion. You are a consumer yourself, so you already have some understanding of

consumer behavior. Think about a product or service that you bought for the first time. What were the steps

in your decision process? How did you choose the item from among other possibilities? Were you happy with

your choice? Based on the steps you too, what could a business do to get you to spend your money with

them?


[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video and lead everyone in a discussion about how

they have made these choices as consumers.]

When marketers talk about understanding consumer behavior, they identify something similar to the five

stages of consumer buying. The first is problem recognition. That means that consumers recognize that they

have a problem that they need to fix by buying or replacing something. The next stage is information search,

which means that they look around for information that will help them make a decision. The next stage is

weighing the options. If it’s going to be an expensive purchase, they’ll want to consider several different

options for what they’re looking for and consider several different places that sell it, so they can get the best

price. The next stage is purchase decision. They make a decision and buy the item. The final stage is post-

purchase satisfaction. Are they happy with what they bought? Maybe, maybe not. That’s what that stage is

about.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Vt9nmVYDM]

Now, let’s watch a video that explains more about consumer behavior and how consumers make their

decisions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Vt9nmVYDM


Look at these illustrations. What's going on here? This person sees something at a distance. He’s walking, and

it looks like a long and exhausting trip. Then he’s talking with his friends. He sees a motorcycle. Suddenly, he

can ride instead of walk, and he’s happy. Then he tells his friend.

So first, he sees a need. He says, “I’ve got to travel a long way. I wish I had something to make the trip easier.

And he sees that vehicle over there and talks to people. He looks at some alternatives, buys it, and so on. You

and others will need to figure out what steps customers go through. If you understand those steps and how

they decide, then you know how to communicate with them. You know what to tell them so that they come

in and buy your product. And so that's just one option for understanding customers.

Do you remember what I said was the most important thing to run a business? Customers. Without a

customer, you don't have a business, right?

So, what do you need to know about your customer? You need to know who is in your target market.

Remember when we talked about customer groups or segments? Find the segment of customers who would

be most interested in your product. Then, learn more about that segment. What are they like? What are their

interests? You can then repeat this for the next group that would be most interested. The more you learn

about your customers, the more you can reach them through advertising and promotions – something we’ll

talk more about in future lessons.

You could start by asking people what they want. And what we did is we looked at the steps that we could go

through. Think about the steps you would go through if you want to buy a bike or a used car. Or if you want

to figure out which model to go with. Or if you want to figure out which restaurant to go to for dinner. That's

part of what you need to understand about the customer. What are the steps? So we need to figure out what

those steps are.


Here is another example. Brand X, a leading athletic shoe manufacturer, knows that its typical customer is also a sports fan. If Brand X can build shoes good enough to be worn by professional athletes, it will have a convincing story about quality to tell. In addition, it can also benefit by using well-known athletes as spokespersons in its advertising, and by placing advertisements in sports magazines where its customers are likely to see them. This is an example of a company using its knowledge of its customers to build products that its customers want and advertise them in a way that those customers will see and find appealing.

This is something to think about. As you think more and more about your business, think about who your customers are. What can your business do to offer them what they’re looking for?

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how to design products to appeal to those customers. Thanks again for tuning in!


Lesson 5: Designing Products – Creating the Value Proposition Welcome! In previous lessons, we’ve talked about how to start a business by understanding more about the

market and your potential customers. In this lesson, we’ll talk about how to design products based on what

your customers want.

As an entrepreneur, or someone running a business, how do you design products that customers want? Let’s

look at this picture. We have bread at the top. In the middle, we see someone eating the bread. Hopefully

that means it tastes good, right? And we have someone lifting weights, so maybe that means the bread has

ingredients that are healthy. At the bottom we have a bunch of ingredients and the tools needed to make the

bread. These are all factors that go into designing how this bread can appeal to customers.

Here again, it's back to the customer. How can your products address the needs of customers? How can your

business do this?


Remember how we talked about consumer behavior? Customers will buy a product if it fits their needs. With

something like a motorcycle, customers want something that will be safe, a good value for their money, and

has the latest features available.

The product needs to fulfill the core and peripheral needs of the customer. By core needs, we mean things

like safety and a good price. Peripheral needs are things like whether the product will help the customer look

or feel good.

Let’s think of product design in terms of pizza. Customers want pizza that tastes good and has some

nutritional value, right? That is how they would define quality in a pizza. Taste and nutrition are the benefits

that they would hope to get by eating pizza. Now, in designing that pizza, it needs to have ingredients that

appeal to both taste and nutrition. So it has pepperoni and sauce, and probably cheese, to help with the

taste. It might have veggies to give it more nutritional value, but it also has carbs and protein as well.


So when you think about how a product should be designed, you can think about what ingredients go in the

pizza. Or with bread, you can say that you want it to be a sweet roll. You can add sugar. You’ll add flour and

eggs and butter and so on. Why do you want to put sugar in there? Why do you want to put the eggs in? Why

do you want to put in butter? Why do you want to do those things? Some of them are necessary in baking,

right? And some of them are there purely because people like them.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM]

Now, let’s watch a video about how people are designing shopping carts for supermarkets.

What can we learn from this video? This team talked to a lot of people to get ideas for their designs, right?

And then they went through several different designs and took the best ideas from each one. Let’s have a

short discussion followed by a group exercise. What did you learn from this video about how to make a

product, and how does a team work together to come up with many ideas? Discuss these concepts with the

whole class.

Then, get into groups and design a different shopping cart that addresses your own needs. First, individually

come up with your own ideas so that you have something you can contribute to the group. Then, share your

ideas and work together to come up with a design on paper. Be prepared to discuss everyone’s shopping

carts after they come up with their designs.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video to lead everyone in a discussion and facilitate

the group exercise. I hope you had a good discussion!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM


Was everyone able to come up with a design for a shopping cart? Let’s go over the concepts we’d like you to

take away from this lesson.

Everything you do to design a product should be about benefiting the customer. In the video, we saw how

the designers put together their shopping cart because of what the customers told them that they needed.

They needed something that wouldn’t fly away across a parking lot in high winds. They needed something

that could turn easily in the store. They needed something that would make it easier for customers to scan

their products as they go and save time in the store. These are all things that the designers tried to factor into

their final design.

Let’s say I'm going to buy a used car. What am I looking for when I buy a car? What do I really want? It has to

accommodate my needs. So I may want to make sure it gives me high gas mileage. I want to make sure

there's enough room for my family members to sit in the back seat. But what am I really looking for? I'm

looking for things like durability, comfort, safety, economy. Those are the benefits I'm looking for. I don't care

how I get those benefits, but I want to get them.

So one of the things you're going to keep in mind when you design your business is that everything you do is

because it serves a need or gives a certain benefit to the customer. And that's what we try to do with product

design. It’s important to understand how customers will use your product and what benefits they will derive

from it. It’s also important to adjust your ingredients or supplies so that your product is attractive and easy

for you to offer at a good price.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how to advertise your business after you’ve come up with your designs.


Lesson 6: Communicating the Value Proposition Welcome back! In the last few lessons, we’ve talked about how to start a business by understanding how

businesses work, how to choose your business based on things that you’re good at and what would be

needed in your community, how to understand consumers and what motivates them to choose what they

buy and when and where. We’ve also talked about researching the marketplace so you can learn more about

what is needed and how your potential competitors in business treat their customers. And we’ve talked

about how to design products based on the things that benefit customers.

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about how to communicate about products and business. Let’s say you’ve

started your business. You need to let customers know about it so they can buy from you, right? This is all

about communication.

What do you know about your customers? Who is your target market? That will depend on the segment of

the population that is interested in what you are selling. What type of people would buy your product? What

do you know about their lifestyles? What are their hobbies, political or religious beliefs, or cultural identities?

This information can tell you how to reach your customers through advertising and promotions!


Think about the decisions you’ve made as a consumer. Why did you buy a certain type of television, shoes, or

even shampoo? A lot of the time, it has to do with promotion.

What is promotion? It’s a form of persuasive communication. It’s what you say or do to convince a customer

to buy your product. It’s also information about that product or service. So that's what communication is.

Remember when we were talking about understanding consumer behavior, and we brought up the example

of the athletic shoe company that used athletes to advertise their shoes to sports fans? This is the same

concept. It’s important to understand your customers in order to understand the best way to communicate

with them.


The way you promote your product needs to tell consumers what kind of value they can expect if they buy

your product. Maybe it will make their day easier. Maybe it will help them look cool in front of your friends.

Whatever it does, your promotion needs to let them know how it can benefit them. If customers don’t see

any benefit in buying it, they won’t buy it, right? So, how do you convince them?

The first thing you need to do is to communicate. To do that, you need to figure out what the customer is

thinking about, what steps they're going through. And then you need to figure out what to say. How do you

achieve that? The first step is just to make them aware. The first step cannot be that you say, “Hey, come and

buy it.” No, first they have to be aware of it. Right? They have to be aware that you exist. And then, the next

step is to figure out how you get them interested. Then, how do you get them to try it out? If you are good,

they're going to come back.

Promotional tools can take many forms. It could be an ad on TV, the radio, in the newspaper, on a billboard,

on a website, or anywhere else you see ads. It could be a coupon that entices people to buy your product

because it’s on sale. That's why you get all these coupons, right? Because they want you to buy stuff. It could

be a flyer in someone’s mailbox or a sign on your shop. It could be attractive packaging in the store. It could

even be word of mouth, if your first few customers tell their friends about your business. Free samples are a

very good way to think about it as well.


[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN7NZB4f4qM]

Now, let’s watch a video that breaks down different types of advertising.

We’ve just seen a lot of examples of ads that appeal to different emotions and needs. We as consumers need

things like friendship and status, right? And we like to see funny things, or things that make us feel good. And

ads can appeal to all those feelings.

Now, let’s have a discussion. How would you sell this backpack? Let’s say you’re going to market it to high

school students. What promotional tool would you use? What attributes would high school students find

valuable in their lives? Take a few minutes to discuss your ideas.

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video to lead everyone in discussion.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN7NZB4f4qM


Great! Now, here’s something else to figure out how to promote. Here is some toothpaste. Let’s say you

want to sell it to a woman in particular. How would you promote this toothpaste to convince this woman that

she should buy it?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video to lead everyone in discussion.]

When you communicate, you're going to think about things like how the customers are going to think about

your product. If you understand the customer, you can figure out how to communicate. So what is the first

thing you need to do so that the customer decides to go to your food truck? First you need to get them to

know about it. They need to be aware of it. You don’t want them to think, “I didn't know this thing existed.“

Then you need them to get interested in it. Then you probably need them to come and try it out. That’s when

things like coupons and free samples come in handy.

That brings us to the end of this lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how to deliver your product and

value to your customers. Until next time!


Lesson 7: Delivering the Value Proposition Welcome! In the past few lessons, we have talked about how you can start your own business by thinking in

terms of the ways businesses address customers’ needs.

In this lesson, we are going to talk about how you deliver your product to your customers.

Remember when we talked about the value chain? This is about how a product gets from the place where it’s

created to the final place where the customer can buy it. At each step in the chain, value is added to the

product. In the case of milk, value is added when it’s taken from the farm, treated at the factory to make it

safe to drink, and delivered to the store so that customers can easily pick it up and buy it.

If you’re going to start a business, it’s important to think about how the value chain would apply to what you

want to sell. Where are you getting it from? What other steps are involved along the way? What is added?

For example, if you want to start a bakery, you’ll need to think about where your ingredients and supplies

come from. Are you buying flour from the supermarket, or a wholesale distributor? Is there a special value


added to the flour from one source that would add more value to your cakes than if you bought your flour

somewhere else? You might need to weigh the different values you get from different kinds of flour when

you decide where you buy that flour. That is a choice that you will be making when you buy ingredients.

These choices also affect the final product that you sell to your customers. What value are you adding to the

product that you sell? If you are selling something that you didn’t make, like factory-made goods, what value

are you passing along to your customers? Maybe it is a matter of convenience, if you can make it easier for

them to buy the items. Maybe you could start a business delivering groceries to people who don’t have time

to go shopping. In that case, the value you provide is in picking up the groceries and bringing them from the

store to your customer.

In the value chain, there is an exchange with value added at each step. It costs money to deliver milk from

the farm to the factory, right? And the factory gets convenience from this delivery because it doesn’t have to

go to the farmer directly. And then the milk supplier adds value to the milk for the supermarket when it

delivers milk from the factory to the store.


So with your own business idea, you’ll need to think about how you will deliver your product to your

customers. What are the different alternatives available to you as a seller? You have options. You could order

from a wholesale seller and then sell them to customers as a retail seller. You could ship them directly to your

customers. You could order them online.

Let’s take a look at the different channels that you can use to get your products to customers. The first is the

direct method. It goes directly from the producer or manufacturer to the consumer. An example of this

would be buying produce from a farmer’s market. The second method is retail. It goes from the producer or

manufacturer to a retailer, who then sells it to the consumer. The third method adds a wholesale step in the

chain. The product goes from the producer or manufacturer, to a wholesaler, and then to a retailer and then

the consumer.

How do you choose an option? What are some factors to consider in these steps? If you can avoid having too

many steps in the chain, you can keep your prices lower for your customers because you won’t have as many

people in the middle who need to be paid for the value they add to the product. Depending on what you

want to sell, you may not be able to purchase it directly from the producer or manufacturer. These are

choices that you’ll need to consider.


[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le46ERPMlWU]

Now, let’s watch a video about a new way to deliver products to consumers.

What do you think about this idea? It’s an innovative way to deliver products, right? It doesn’t require a

truck, roads, or even a driver to get the package to the customer. And it’s presumably faster than traditional

delivery methods, if they can get products to the customer in only 30 minutes. Drones are still a relatively

new technology compared to delivery trucks, so we don’t yet know how it’s going to pan out. But it’s an

example of a way to think of a new and different approach to delivery.

That brings us to the end of this lesson. Thanks again for tuning in. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how to

decide how much to charge customers for your products. See you then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le46ERPMlWU


Lesson 8: Pricing the Value Proposition Welcome back! In the past few lessons, we have talked about how you can start your own business by

thinking in terms of the ways businesses address customers’ needs. Most recently, we talked about different

ways you can deliver your products to customers.

In this lesson, we’ll talk about how to price your product. It’s not just about the money you want to make.

There are a lot of different factors to consider.

How do you decide how much to charge for your products or services? First, you have the cost of the

materials you have to buy. Then there are utility costs. If you are renting a shopfront, you’ll have expenses

like rent, electricity, water, etc. Even if you don’t rent a physical space for your business, you will probably

use things like electricity, meaning that if you work at home your electricity bills will go up. If you use tools or

other materials, you may have to buy them, and factor in how much it would cost to replace or repair them

over time when they break. If you have a delivery service where you use your car, or if you use your car to

transport items for your business, you’ll have expenses like gas, car insurance, and fixing or replacing your car

over time. You may also want to factor in other expenses like advertising and other promotions for your

business.


Here is an example, if you go into business selling motor scooters. You're producing 100 units. It costs you so

much to produce 100 scooters at the factory. It costs $2,500 for the materials for 100 units. It costs $2,000

for labor. The utilities for the factory, and for your storefront, cost $1,500. And then there is $2,500 in profit

for you if you sell them at a certain price. So you need to be very good at figuring out your full cost of

everything. You can't just put down a few things and say, “I think I'm making a profit.” No. You’ve got to be

very good at figuring out all the different costs of doing business, including the money you put down, which

could be doing something else. This includes your time that you put into your business, where you could be

doing something else, okay?

So you need to be very good at putting down all the costs. If you don't put down all the costs, you really don't

know if you're making a profit or not. If you don't know what your business is doing, whether it’s profitable or

not, it's like driving with your eyes closed. So you have to be very good at putting down all the different costs

of running the business, whether it's material, labor, utilities, or your time. You could be earning money

somewhere else, but you're putting in your time into the business and your money. You could be investing it

somewhere and getting a return or something, right? So you’ve got to understand the full cost of doing

business. And you need to know that before you can do the pricing. And there are a couple of ways to do this.

One way is called a cost-based calculation. In this particular case, we have the price. Basically, we've added

up all the costs, and then the price is set at $85, which includes the profit. So it's a profit plus all the different

costs. You want to go through all the different costs and come up with a figure that makes sense in terms of

what you pay and what profit you want to make.


The other method is consumer-based pricing. What is the value that the customers see in the product? This

guy is asking himself, “Do I want to buy this scooter? I want fuel-efficient transportation. I need an extended

warrantee, and I’d like it to be silver.” When you think about a customer's needs, you can come up with a

business where you end up charging $15 for a sandwich. Nobody's likely to buy it. You know that.

But it turns out that there are certain businesses where that's the only way you can make it up, so find a good

business to start. Why? Maybe because our vehicle for mobile vending is so expensive. Who knows? Because

our vehicle is so expensive, it makes it impossible for you to run the business. So that's a good thing to know,

right? Then you think of some other business. So you can think of what the customer wants. You can think of

how much it costs you, or you can think of what the customer wants. You're going to balance those two

different things. The same goes for the guarantee and all of those different things.

You will also need to consider the competition and how much they are selling items like yours. Remember,

customers are going to be researching different places when they decide where to make a big purchase. They

will also be looking at things that indicate quality. So a store may have an MLP Motor Scooter like the one in

this picture for $88, which is cheaper than the BikerMan Motor Scooter. But BikerMan has higher ratings for

speed and safety, and you can ride it on a mountain, which you can’t do with the MLP scooter, and the

guarantee lasts another year longer.


So when you think about different costs, you want to make sure to write everything down. In this case, this is

a bakery example. She pays for packaging. She pays for supplies. She pays for transportation. And she needs

to add in the cost of her time as well – how much time it's taking her, because she’s working too, right? And

when you run a business, you're putting your time in there. So that's another thing to keep in mind.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mcSU0y51-A]

Now, let’s watch a video that explains a little more about value-based selling.

What did you learn from this video? Some products really benefit from being priced according to their value.

But when you do this, it’s important to make sure the customer understands that value, and that ties in with

advertising and getting the message out there.

Let’s take a few minutes to discuss the ideas we’ve talked about in this lesson. Based on what we’ve seen

about the pricing options for the scooter, do you think this consumer will buy it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mcSU0y51-A


[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause this video to lead everyone in a discussion.]

Now, let’s have a recap about what we’ve talked about in this lesson. When you put a price on something

you’re selling, be sure to factor in things like the profits that you want to earn, the costs associated with

producing it, the features the product has, the maximum amount that consumers can afford to pay, what

competitors are charging for similar items, and additional customer service that you might need or want to

offer in association with that product.

That brings us to the end of this lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about accounting principles that will help

your business get off the ground.


Lesson 9: Basic Accounting Welcome! In previous lessons, we’ve talked about things that will help you start a business.

In this lesson, we’ll go over some basic accounting principles that will help you with your business.

Why is accounting important? It’s about planning for the future of your business so you can grow over time,

controlling the cash flow so you don’t run out of money, and using a decision-making process to help you

take financial actions. All of these together will give you a precise financial picture of your business

operations.

There are three elements of accounting: Assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity.


Assets are what you have. Assets aren’t just about money. They include everything in the inventory for your

business. They can be ingredients. They can be tools and equipment. They could be a computer or a

smartphone that you use. They could be a vehicle that you drive to make deliveries or pick up materials. All of

these things have value for your business.

Liabilities are things that you owe. They include your bills, taxes, any business loans you might take out, and

wages for your employees.

Owner’s equity is the combination of investments and the profit or losses for the business over time. So in

this picture, you might have a shopfront worth $50,000, and you have a $500 computer, and $9,500 in cash.

Your total assets would be $60,000. If you’ve taken out a business loan worth $20,000, then you subtract that

from your assets and your total owner’s equity is $40,000.


Here’s an example of a balance sheet that shows more detail. If your business earns $32,000 in revenue, then

subtract everything that you owe, you end up with $5,290.

[Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfnb-1WZQWI]

Now, let’s watch a video that shows how to set up an accounting system for your business.

What do you think? Did that video help explain how this works? I hope you have a better understanding of

accounting for your business now. This brings us to the end of this lesson. In our next lesson, we’ll talk about

how to get the financing for your business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfnb-1WZQWI


Lesson 10: Financing the Enterprise Welcome back! In previous lessons, we’ve talked about things that will help you start a business.

In this lesson, we’ll talk about how to finance the enterprise – in other words, how to get the money to get

your business up and running.

Something that's important to keep in mind is that you usually need money to start a business. There are a

lot of different ways you can do it. And overall, you need to have an idea of where you want your business to

be in 1 year, 2 years, so that you can match that up with how you're going to get that money.

You’ll need funds for business growth, market competition, and to stay operational. You’ll need diligent

recordkeeping so you can forecast your outflow of money and be prepared to meet those outflows. You’ll

need long-term planning so you’ll have money for special initiatives like purchasing equipment or machinery

for your business. And, you’ll need to create a vision and goals for your business so you can prioritize the

needs for your financial resources.


One way to finance your business is through equity financing. This means that you give part of the ownership

of your company to someone else in exchange for capital. In other words, you find some family, friends, or

other investors, and ask them to pay for a percentage of the money you need to start up the business. You

need to know how much money you need first. Then if your uncle pays 50 percent of that money, then your

uncle will own 50 percent of your business. If you start your business with money you saved, that means that

you are financing it with equity and that you own 100 percent of that business.

One of the most common ways that people get money is by debt financing – or borrowing. This means that

you take out a loan and pay interest, but you don’t have to give away part of your company. If you have a

short-term loan, you won’t have to pay interest for very long, but the payments will be higher. With a long-

term loan, the payments are shorter, but you’ll owe them for a longer time. The long-term loans can be

useful when you need to pay for assets that you expect to use for more than a year – like property, vehicles,

machinery, or other expensive equipment.

What do lenders look for when you want to get a loan? They look at the four “C”s of lending. Cash flow is

your ability to repay the cash that you owe. They measure this using what they call a cash flow forecast.

Collateral is the value of the assets that you are willing to pledge. Commitment is the amount of money that

you’re committing to the business, in other words, equity. And character is your personal credit score, which

is based on your history of borrowing and repaying debt. This is important because loan officers always look

at credit scores when they decide who’s more likely to make good payments on a loan. If you have a history

of paying your bills on time, especially on other kinds of loans like auto loans or mortgages, they love to see

that because it indicates that you’ll pay back what you owe them.


Interest is the fee that you pay for borrowing money. There are two kinds of interest: variable interest rates

and fixed interest rates. Variable rates are adjusted to market conditions and may go up and down. They can

be unpredictable, and you could end up owing a lot more money than when you first take out your loan.

Fixed interest rates stay the same for the duration of the loan. So if you start with an interest rate of four

percent, it’s going to stay at four percent until you’re finished paying it off.

A good metaphor for interest is like a toddler playing with building blocks. Imagine you have these building

blocks and you have the word, interest, written on them. You start without the main interest, and then it

builds. The blocks of interest can build on top of each other, which can help you if you're putting money away

like you would in a savings account. But if you're borrowing money, that can hurt you.

The annual percentage rate, or APR, is a stated annual rate. The effective annual rate, or EAR, takes into

consideration the compounding interest over time. This can add up!

So here’s an example of what can happen. You have probably seen car commercials on TV. They talk about

APR. Almost every single commercial talks about that. So the idea that they're quoting you is what you would

be paying in interest if it was just compounding one time per year. Again, compounding is that idea that you

have these building blocks and interest on top of each other. That's what compounding is. So, say you're

starting out. If you assume that the effective rate is 1, it will roll one time then it ends up doing this. But if we

say that 12 times a year, i.e., once a month, then how many building blocks do you have? You have 12

building blocks instead of 1, so obviously, it's going to bring you up quite a bit. As you can see here on the

slide.


The way I like to think of it is the idea of getting the most bang for your buck. It's better for me if I spend $1

to get $10 than it is for me to spend $5 to get $10 because I have a limited amount of money. I don't have

unlimited amounts of cash that I can invest. So this can be a good tool for you to understand how I can use

my money in the best way.

Here’s an example of interest as it applies to credit cards. Let’s say your credit card charges a 22.9% interest

rate. You make $2,000 in purchases. How much are you paying in interest at the end of the year? Assuming

all your payments are on time and you don’t have any late fees, and the APR is the same as the EAR, you’ll be

paying $458 in interest on your credit card. That’s taking the original $2,000 you spent, times the 22.9%

interest rate. You’ll pay $458 in interest after a year.

Now, let’s see how this looks with a different EAR. That’s Effective Annual Rate. You still have a 22.9% Annual

Percentage Rate, or APR. You still charge $2,000. You still make all your payments on time. But now, the math

gets a little more complicated. The 22.9% APR is per year, so we divide that by 12 to see what interest you

get charged per month – that’s 1.9083%. Now, the actual amount you owe is going to change every month,

because the interest rate applies to the amount you originally owe, plus the added interest from each

previous month. So it just keeps building. It’s effectively at 25.46% now instead of the original 22.9%. So if

you multiply 25.46% times the original $2,000 you charged, you will now owe $509.26 at the end of the year.

That’s opposed to the $458 you would have owed without the Effective Annual Rate.


Now let’s talk about Return on Investment, or ROI. The Return on Investment compares the amount that you

pay versus the amount that you're getting back. This will influence the bang for your buck rate, and it’s called

the ROI percentage. Take the total amount that you stand to gain from an investment. Then subtract what

you lose, or what it costs you to make that investment. Then you take that figure and you compare it against

the original figure of what it would cost you, and that’s how you find out your Return on Investment. If it’s a

low number, or maybe it’s a negative number, then you know that you’re not going to see enough return on

your investment to make it worth your time or money. The higher the number, the better return you’re going

to get. Financial analysts use this formula all the time to decide where to invest money.

Here is an exercise we’ll walk through together to help explain Return on Investment. Let’s say you create

and sell custom computers and have the following opportunities: you could sell a laptop for $800, when the

parts cost $461, or sell a desktop computer for $1200, when the parts cost $567. It takes you the same

amount of time to make both models, but the costs you would have to pay for parts are different. Which

option would give you the better value?


First, we’ll calculate the ROI for the laptop. If we’re planning to sell it for $800, that’s how much we would

gain from the investment. So we take that $800 and subtract how much it would cost us to make the laptop,

which is the $461 in parts. That’s $339. Then we take that and divide it by the $461 that we paid for parts to

see what the total return on investment would be. It’s 0.735, or 73.5%.

Now, let’s look at the desktop computer. We were going to charge $1200 and it would cost $567 in parts.

That comes to $633 divided by $567, which gives us 1.11, or 111%. So, the return on investment is greater for

the desktop than for the laptop. You’ll get more money to make the desktop!

Another thing to consider when starting a business is the opportunity cost. You are giving up something,

maybe a salary at some job. That's the idea of an opportunity cost. The idea of doing something new means

that you might have to give up something else. It could be your job. It could be some time spent with your

kids. It could be a lot of different things and something that we need to keep in mind.

Here is an example. Let's say you grow and sell vegetables. If you decide you want to grow carrots, you're

giving up the time and the land that you could have devoted to another type of crop. Maybe you’re giving up

the opportunity to grow potatoes instead. You don’t have the space to grow both crops on all your land. You

could do half and half, but then you’re only getting half the crop for potatoes and half for carrots.


Here’s another example. You can choose between spending your time reading a book or going to see a

movie. If you choose the book, your opportunity cost is the cost of the book plus the pleasure that you would

have gotten from watching the movie. That’s what you’re giving up for the chance to read the book. On the

other hand, if you choose the movie, your opportunity cost is the cost of the movie ticket and the pleasure

that you would have gotten from reading a good book. So once again, it's the idea that you make a decision,

but that decision is not free. Our decisions are never free. We’re always giving up something. It's just a

matter of how much value we’re giving up.

Now, let’s work on a group exercise. You can work with the groups that you formed when you first started to

talk about starting a business. This time, make a list of all the different costs that you would have for that

business. Come up with a price for one particular service that you have. We'll either make up costs or we'll

come and tell you how much something will cost. We'll make up numbers but I want you to go through the

process of figuring out how much it will cost you to start a business. Okay? And that includes opportunity

costs. I just need you to list all the different costs. I don't need you to tell me how much. Okay?

[For video-based teaching: Operator, please pause the video while everyone works on this exercise.]

Once everyone has had a chance to come up with a list of costs, have a discussion with the class to talk about

the different costs everyone came up with.

I hope you had a good experience with this exercise and learned some ideas that you can use to finance your

own business. That brings us to the end of this lesson. When we come back, we’ll wrap up everything that

we’ve learned in this course. Thanks again for tuning in!


UNIT 7: Balancing the Value Proposition with the Environment and Society

Summary Welcome back! Over all the lessons we’ve covered in this course, we’ve explored a lot of ideas. In this lesson,

we’ll review and summarize a few of the things we have learned.

First of all, we said we want you to get value as a customer, so we want you to keep your money. We don't

want you to throw away money. And so we talked about consumer literacy – things that will help you avoid

spending more than you have to.

We talked about how to get value in an exchange. What do you give up, and what do you get? We split it up

into what you should do before you go shopping, like finding coupons. And we're not saying you should use

every coupon, but just have something where you put a little bit more thought into the shopping process and

decide if you want to use them. You saw some of the savings you could get. How do you create a shopping

list? And how do you find out which store to go to?

Then we talked about what you do during shopping. How do you find products? How do you check price and

size? How do you look for nutritional products and unit price and all of those different things? And then after

shopping, how do you check out? How do you check the receipt? How do you use customer service? How do

you evaluate products? Sometimes you will need to compare different options to get the best value out of

that exchange.


The second part we talked about was how to get value when you use the resources around you. We talked

about energy, transportation, waste, and so on. And there, the basic idea is that if you can just think through

a little bit on how you use resources and change some of your habits, you're not going to see the money right

there, but you're going to see it add up over the months through your electricity bill and your water bill and

so on. Why not do those small things? It's better for the environment. It's better for you. It's a win-win.

And in the third part of our course, we talked about how to create value for others and start a business, and

how to create value as an employee. As an entrepreneur, as an employee, as a citizen, how do you learn

about business? How products evolve? What's important in running a business? What's the most important

thing for you to run a business? You need a customer. You need a customer who has a need that you want to

serve. We talked about how products get from production all the way to the customer and beyond. We

talked about the value chain and a lot of different things, the philosophy of doing business, and so on.

One of the things we talked about is how all of this evolved. How did we go from a horse-drawn wagon to a

car and from a bicycle to a scooter and so on? This evolved partially because of technology and money, but

especially because what came out, whether it was a car or a scooter, served customer needs better. That's

why it lasted so long. So that's something we learned.

We talked about the value chain. How does something go from a producer all the way to the consumer? This

is very important to keep in mind, and each step is an exchange, and in each step, value is added. And that's

where value comes into play as well. And remember the exercise where you found out what's the most

important element needed to run a business. You cannot have a business without a customer.

We talked about how there are different groups of customers who behave in similar ways, and we call them

segments. So you have to figure out where to go to find the segment of customers who will give you

business, and how to appeal to them. So you've got to figure out who your customer is.


We talked about the philosophy of doing a business. What are some things you will never do? What are some

things you'll always do in a business? And so we talked about how it's give and take. It doesn't always work

out according to plan, but as far as we are concerned, we want to make sure we give a benefit and we get

money for that.

We talked about how to conduct market research. What are the different things you can do to see if you can

start a specific business? There are lots of simple things we can do. We talked about how we have to

understand the customer. And in the case of someone who wants to buy a scooter, someone has a need for

transportation and then talks to people to get advice and looks into alternative options before deciding which

scooter to buy. And if this person is happy with the scooter, he or she is going to recommend it to others. So

you have to understand the process that customers go through.

We also talked about designing products. Why do you put sugar in a cookie? Why do you put butter in it, and

so on? All of those things are added because you want to give a benefit to the customer. You don't put them

in just because you want to. That doesn't mean anything. Everything should have a benefit for customers. We

talked about financing and accounting for a business. We'd rather see you consider the costs, do some

research, and decide not to do a business rather than dive in and lose money. So one of the things to do is to

write down all the costs. First, just list the items, and then you can try to figure out how much each one costs,

including your time and opportunity costs. Opportunity cost is the cost of what you stand to lose when you or

your money could be doing something else.

And finally, whatever you do, whether it's business, whether you’re a customer, think about the environment

and society. You've got to bring that into the picture as well. And that brings us to one final topic: how to

balance the value proposition, or what value you can bring with your business, with the environment and

society.


We’ve talked about how you need customers to run a business. Both your business and your customers also

depend on the environment, because we all have to live on this planet together, and the resources that give

us life depend on a healthy environment.

And because we talked about helping the environment by watching the way we use resources at home, it’s

equally important that our businesses watch out for those resources, too.

High profit is not the only concern when running a business.

Why should your business care about the environment? We mentioned that it’s important to maintain a

healthy environment. But if you as, an entrepreneur, establish ethical practices that help the environment,

that can also help your business in return. You can establish trust with customers. You can draw in new

customers, create customer loyalty, and even save money. Think about some companies that advertise that

they are taking certain steps to help the environment. It looks good, and customers will be more likely to

want to give you business.


So what are some things you can do with your business? For one, you can use less water. We’ve talked about

water usage as consumers and all the things you can do at home to save water. This is the same idea. Try not

to waste water with your business.

Another thing is to watch how much natural gas your business consumes.

Again, a lot of the ways that we talked about saving energy, water, and gas at home can apply to a business.

This is true if your business has a physical storefront or a shop where you work, or if you run your business

out of your home.


But with businesses, companies can end up using a lot more resources than the average consumer because

they are working with a lot more materials. For example, some businesses use a lot of paper. One tree can

make 16.67 reams of paper, which equals 8,333.33 sheets. If your business sends out a lot of mail, or if you

keep a lot of paper records, that can add up to a lot of trees over the years!

And of course, you can reduce water in your business location by things like fixing leaks. You can also install

things like automatic faucets and dual-flush toilets, which both use a lot less water than the kind of faucets

that are commonly found in homes.

Some ways you can save on natural gas are by replacing dirty gas filters, using high-efficiency heaters, setting

thermostats to a lower temperature like 55 degrees Fahrenheit during off hours in the winter when no one is

there, and using automatic lights that turn off when no one is in the room.


One way to save paper is by recycling. One ton, or 40 cartons, of recycled paper could save 7-12 trees. You

can also save by printing on both sides of the paper and using electronic substitutes like online billing.

And again, these are options you can use at home, too.

While we’re at it, here are a few final tips you can use in your household. Turn off the water while brushing

your teeth. Take short showers over baths. Turn off the heat when no one is home. Unplug your appliances

from the wall. Take the bus, bike, or walk when it’s nice out. Use natural sunlight as much as possible. Recycle

paper, plastic, etc. Reuse sheets of paper as shopping lists.

So that covers some things you can do with your business and at home to help the environment. Now, we’d

like to tell you a little bit about some people in other parts of the world where we have taught this class, to

give you some more context about what we do and why. We work with people who live in poverty all over

the world. So when we teach this class, we always want to end with a story about people who are very

different from us.


As an example, we have worked with the Maasai Tribe in Tanzania, in East Africa. The Maasai people live very

simply compared to what we are used to in the US. These are people with a very rich culture. They have very

strong social networks, the way they get along. The way they live in harmony with the earth. They're not

polluting with their daily habits. They're not creating and throwing out trash. They live very simply. But the

thing is, there is less and less water, and as the environment for them gets worse, they are living in very

extreme poverty.

The first time we met with them, there were about 40 or 50 tribal members who had been waiting to see us.

One young man said, "You are from a great university. Please help us because we are living in a lot of

poverty." And we told them that before we could help, we first need to be the students. We had to learn

from them before we can be of help.

We asked, if they only know about the two or three trees around them, they can't move around the forest,

right? And they know how to move around the forest. So they need to not just know that, but also the largest

forest and the various kinds of trees.

What we try to do is say, it's not enough if you know how to make jewelry, or raise cattle, or some of the

other things the Maasai people are good at. You have to know that marketplace on the main road. You go

there, and you figure out what to sell, and hopefully you get some resources back into your communities. It's

not about giving up your rich culture. If you look at some of their social relationships over there, they are

much stronger than the social relationships you’ll find in the US. Or in a lot of other places, like maybe India.

So it's not about diluting culture, but it's about learning the larger marketplace out there.

One of the things we did when we were working with them was to set up a shop with some of the groceries

and supplies that they typically buy. We gave them fake money and asked them to buy from us, as if we were

the shopkeepers that they would normally interact with. They kept buying and buying, and we cheated them

every way possible. We would double the price, and they bought the same thing. We gave them the wrong

change, and so on.

And it was very interesting because we had asked them to role play in teams. One person observed what the

other person bought. And they would all say, "This person did a very good job of buying." And they said, "We

should only buy from you. That's the right thing to do," and so on. They were extremely innocent, gullible

people.

So, from that experience, we learned that we needed to work with them on becoming better customers

before we could talk about starting a business. And sometimes here in the US we hear students say things

like, "I buy the cheapest." There, they say, "I buy the biggest" because they have to walk many miles to the

marketplace to buy something and take it home, and they don't want to make more than one trip, so they

buy the biggest size they can find.

We did a couple of exercises on consumer literacy in which we asked them the same question I asked you at

the beginning of this course: "What are you afraid of when you go to the marketplace?" And when we first

started working with the Maasai, they were so afraid of being customers. They said, “I don't know how to be

a customer.” When we first asked them to come up with a business idea, they didn't know what that meant.

They were thinking, “You're asking us to come up with an idea. You should teach us what business is.”

When we went back after eight months, we asked them again what they were most afraid of. And this time,

the conversation was different. This time, their fears were more about how they could get the best deal, and


if they could make a profit by selling a particular item. This was a change compared to the way they felt at the

beginning.

We had a chance to talk to everybody who's taken our class. A couple of them talked about how they

designate one of them to go to the buyers’ market. One goes to the sellers’ market. They communicate. They

don't buy anything until they know they can sell for a profit.

We talked to three women who were in our class from the beginning, and one of them told us that since she

took the class from us, she started a small business where she gets a little bit of income buying and selling

some small items. And she said that for the first time, she has a pillow and a mattress. Another woman said

that for the first time, she feeds her children a little better. Another woman said, "I've become more careful

as a customer. I don't buy everything in one place. I check out all the shops first." And it was so heartwarming

to hear that, because we did so little for them, and they made so much of out of it. It means so much to

them.

But this is just to give you a sense of what we're trying to do in Tanzania. We have worked in different

countries all over the world. It's about marketplace literacy. How can you be a better customer? How can you

be a better entrepreneur? Or learn about the business world, so that you know where to fit in, if you're as an

employee. Maybe as your own boss.

And we also want people to learn how to work with their environment. If you look at the Maasai’s

environment in Tanzania, they have long-term drought. There's very little water. There's a lot of

deforestation and fewer trees. And their only way to cook is with firewood. They have to spend six or seven

hours a day just to find enough firewood. They have to spend two hours getting water that they can actually

drink. The ways that they relate to the environment are similar to what we started talking about in the US as

well.

And it's so good to go to these environments, because we learn about people consume and they can still

make a living. You wouldn't believe how little the people of the Maasai tribe eat. Maybe they have just some

milk in the morning. They may not even have a square meal a day. It may be once a week. They know how to

use the grass that grows around them to make the roof of their home. They know how to use their animals

for milk and food and so on. They know how to live with very little.

But they’ve learned to live like that. We can learn from the folks who live in very difficult conditions. The

point is, sometimes we waste because we can, and we have to think about that. It's your money. And it ends

up being good for the environment when you can save those resources. I'm not saying we have to live like

that, but I'm saying waste is bad, something that our parents and grandparents often teach us.

The reason why we earn money is so we can enjoy life. All we are saying is that we don't want to waste it.

That's all. I really like the idea of saying, “If I'm going to waste it, let me give it to somebody else or give it to

an animal.” Because sometimes when we have these things, we don't even know where the money is going. I

have my cell phone plan. I have my cable plan. I don't even know where it's going until I suddenly stop and

ask why I’m throwing away $150 a month when I can get what I need for $75.

When you change your behavior, what are you giving up? What are you getting when you turn off the TV and

the lights when you're not using them? What are you giving up? Think about that and decide what you are

giving up and what you are getting. What are you getting when you stop wasting food? Or when you stop


buying fast food? What are you getting and what are you giving up? You're learning how to be thankful and

not waste.

If you start watching out and say, “I'm going to be careful about the way I use lights and the way I use food,”

you're also thinking about yourself and what you are putting into yourself. If you start taking care of the

things around you, you're going to take care of yourself right there as well. And I do think that's a very

important thing. That's a value you get by saying, “This is who I am. I don't waste. And when I think

something is going to go to waste, I'm going to give it to somebody who really needs it, right?” So that is

something else we get as well. I'm not just talking about money. I'm talking about other things, too.

For example, what you're getting could be the feeling of helping somebody, and that somebody could be the

next generation. People talk about a lot of things like the economy, but everything is within nature.

Ultimately, everything we eat comes from nature. So you have to think about what you give, and what you

get, and I'm not saying you need to give all kinds of effort just to get a little bit, but the point is to think about

it.

What you get may be savings, or what you can get may be to do something good for the earth. And it's a win-

win. We don't want you to do something where it's a lose-lose, but we want you to think about win-win.

Sometimes it takes a bit more effort the first time you do it, but then you get into the habit of doing it. It goes

back to this idea of value.

The same thing applies when you want to start a business. You have to create something of value that

someone's willing to pay you for. It can be very small. It may be selling small items that you buy wholesale to

people in your local neighborhood. It may be selling vegetables that you grow at home. It may be mowing

lawns or weeding in the summer or shoveling snow in the winter. It can be something very basic. When we

talk about business, it’s just some way to get an income.

Throughout this course, we have talked about a bunch of different things in terms of how to get value in an

exchange, but the basic idea is very simple: What are you giving up? What are you getting? You're giving up

more than money. You're giving up time. You're giving up information. You're giving up effort. And what are

you getting back? Not just a product. You're getting a warranty. You're getting a relationship. So that's the

bigger concept we want to leave with you: Value. What do you give up? What do you get? And if you can

keep that in mind when you shop, you're going to have money in your pocket.

instructor’s script manual for marketplace literacy ... · madhu viswanathan, anne mckinney, erin...

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