The Entrepreneurship merit badge for Boy Scouts is all about what it takes to start a business. So if you know a Boy Scout who is thinking about starting up a lawn mowing business or some other enterprise, this is the badge for him. Some high schools have students start a small business as part of their program, so that would be a good opportunity to work on this badge also.

Entrepreneurship Merit Badge Requirements

1. In your own words, define entrepreneurship. Explain to your merit badge counselor the role of the entrepreneur in the economy of the United States.
2. Identify and interview an individual who has started his or her own business. Find out how the entrepreneur got the idea for the business and how the entrepreneur recognized it as a market opportunity. Find out how the entrepreneur raised the capital (money) to start the business. How well is the business doing? Report what you learn.
3. Do the following:
1. Write down as many ideas as you can think of for a business. Get ideas from your family and friends. From your list, select three ideas that you believe are the best opportunities for you.
2. Explain to your counselor why you chose these three ideas rather than the others on your list.
3. For each of the three ideas that you chose, prepare a list of questions that you would ask potential customers.
4. For each of your three ideas, informally interview potential customers, using the lists of questions from requirement 3c. Report what you learn.
5. Using the information you have gathered, choose the one idea that you feel is your best business opportunity.
4. Conduct a feasibility study of your business idea by doing all of the following (briefly writing or explaining each item to your counselor):
1. a. Product or Service
1. Identify your business goals.
2. Tell how you will make the product or perform the service. Determine whether it is technically feasible (practical or doable).
3. Determine how you can make enough of the product or provide enough of the service to meet your business goals. Explain how you will accomplish this.
4. Identify and describe the potential liability risks of your product or service.
5. Determine what type of license you might need in order to sell or to make your product or service.
2. Market
1. Determine who your customers are. Identify the type of person who would buy your product or service.
2. Describe the unique benefits of your product or service.
3. Tell how you will promote and sell your product or service to potential customers.
3. Finances
1. If you are selling a product, determine how much it will cost to make one prototype.
2. Calculate the selling price of your product or service. Explain how you determined the price.
3. Tell how you will sell your product or service and make a profit.
4. Determine how much money you will need to start your business. Explain how you will get the money.
4. Personnel
1. Determine what parts of the business you will handle yourself. Describe your qualifications for the work. Determine how your business responsibilities will fit into your schedule.
2. Determine whether you will need additional help to operate your business. If you will need help, describe the qualifications your helpers should have and what duties they will perform.
5. Do TWO of the following:
1. Sketch a prototype of your product or write a description of your service.
2. Create the prototype. List all of the materials you used to make your prototype. Calculate the cost of all the materials and labor to compute the total cost of making your prototype.
3. Design a promotional poster or flier for your product or service.
4. Project (estimate) your sales through the first three months of operation. Calculate the profit you expect to make.
6. When you believe that your business idea is feasible, start your business. Show evidence that you started your business (sales receipts, for example, or photos of the product). Discuss with your counselor any ethical questions you have faced or think you may face in your business venture.

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Table top displays are a way to show off a  hobby, collection, event, or other project. Or you can showcase your unit’s program. As part of the Hobbies Troop Program Feature for Boy Scouts, table top displays are used in a hobby fair to show of each Scout’s particular hobby. In addition, for several of the Venturing awards, Venturers must create a table top display.

Table top displays are not just for Scouting though. Creating displays for Scouting projects will help Scouts later when they need to create displays for school projects, science fairs, and even later in life for business.

So how do you create a great tabletop display? Here are some ideas to get you started.

Tips for a Great Table Top Display

Know the Rules

First of all, find out what sort of limitations will be placed on your display. Don’t assume you will be allowed unlimited space. Find out what the maximum width, depth, and height of your display can be. Must all of your display be attached to a board, or can you place loose items on the table. Are perishable items like food allowed? What about batteries or liquids?

Obtain a Display Board

For most displays, you will want a display board. You don’t need to purchase an expensive business quality board. Look for an inexpensive tri-fold presentation display board like this one. Just make sure it meet the rules. Having the display board in hand before you start creating stuff to put on it will give you a solid idea how much space you have to work with.

Organize Your Thoughts

The material on your display board should be organized into different sections. These sections should have brief descriptions which catch the viewer’s attention. For example, if you are making a display about Leave No Trace, you might have a section for each principle – “Dispose of Waste Properly”, “Leave What You Find”, “Minimize Campfire Impacts”, etc. A display for a science project would be completely different. It might have sections like “Problem”, “Hypothesis”, “Background”, etc.

So you need to come up with your own way of organizing the material. About six to ten different sections works well for most displays. But be flexible and do what works best for your particular project.

Type It Up

After you organize your thoughts, type up a heading for each section and then the material.  Your heading font should be really large so it catches the eye. The material under each heading should be in a large enough font that most people standing in front of the display can read it without leaning forward or squinting.

You might have to do some trial and error to get the sections printed up correctly so they fit on the board. If you have additional information you want to make available, but it in a report and place it on the table in front of the display. (You might want to attach it to a long string so it doesn’t wander off.) Just be aware that most people won’t pick up the report, so get your main ideas on the display.

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

Depending on the rules and what information you are trying to convey, you might not be able to use physical objects to share your ideas. But you can often use pictures. If you are creating a display to recruit new Scouts and it lists some of your great activities, add lots of pictures.

Use Color for Impact

Add construction paper boarders to your typed information and section headings. One way to do this is to print the material with wide margins, cut off some of the margins, and mount it on the construction paper. Add boarders to your photos also. If your display still lacks impact, add some brightly colored shapes with key words neatly written on them.

Be Prepared

You’ve completed your display. It looks great. You take it to your location, set it up, and on no! Something has fallen off. Take some glue, tape, string etc with you in case you need to make last minute repairs. You probably won’t need it, but you will be glad you made the extra effort if you do.

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Communications merit badge is one of the Boy Scout merit badges which is required for the rank of Eagle.  Unlike many of the Eagle required badges, this one really lends itself to being worked on in a group meeting setting. So this is one that could be the basis for a series of troop meetings.

Once when a group of Scouts from our troop was working on this badge, they planned a campfire program for requirement 8. They made up many of their own skits. Then they volunteered to do the program as a Cub Pack meeting. The Cub Scouts loved the program and the adults in the pack were grateful to the Boy Scouts for providing the entire program for on of their meetings.

Remember, even if the Scouts work on the requirements as a group, they still need to meet with their counselor individually to complete the badge.

Communications Merit Badge Requirements

1. Do ONE of the following:
1. For one day, keep a log in which you describe your communication activities. Keep track of the time and different ways you spend communicating, such as talking personto-person, listening to teachers or the radio, watching television, reading books and other print media, and using any electronic communication device. Discuss with your counselor what your log reveals about the importance of communication in your life. Think of ways to improve your communication skills.
2. For three days, keep a journal of your listening experiences. Identify one example of each of the following, and discuss with your counselor when you have listened to:
1. Obtain information
2. A persuasive argument
3. Appreciate or enjoy something
4. Understand someone’s feelings
3. In a small-group setting, meet with other Scouts or with friends. Have them share personal stories about significant events in their lives that affected them in some way. Take note of how each Scout participates in the group discussion and how effectively he communicates his story. Report what you have learned to your counselor about the differences you observed in effective communication.
4. List as many ways as you can think of to communicate with others (face-to-face, by telephone, letter, e-mail, text messages, and so on). For each type of communication, discuss with your counselor an instance when that method might not be appropriate or effective.
2. Do ONE of the following:
1. Think of a creative way to describe yourself using, for example, a collage, short story or autobiography, drawing or series of photographs, or a song or skit. Using the aid you created, make a presentation to your counselor about yourself.
2. Choose a concept, product, or service in which you have great confidence. Build a sales plan based on its good points. Try to persuade the counselor to agree with, use, or buy your concept, product, or service. After your sales talk, discuss with your counselor how persuasive you were.
3. Write a five-minute speech. Give it at a meeting of a group.
4. Interview someone you know fairly well, like, or respect because of his or her position, talent, career, or life experiences. Listen actively to learn as much as you can about the person. Then prepare and deliver to your counselor an introduction of the person as though this person were to be a guest speaker, and include reasons why the audience would want to hear this person speak. Show how you would call to invite this person to speak.
5. Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Present an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor.
6. With your counselor’s approval, develop a plan to teach a skill or inform someone about something. Prepare teaching aids for your plan. Carry out your plan. With your counselor, determine whether the person has learned what you intended.
7. Do ONE of the following:
1. Write to the editor of a magazine or your local newspaper to express your opinion or share information on any subject you choose. Send your message by fax, e-mail, or regular mail.
2. Create a Web page or blog of special interest to you (for instance, your troop or crew, a hobby, or a sport). Include at least three articles or entries and one photograph or illustration, and one link to some other Web page or blog that would be helpful to someone who visits the Web page or blog you have created. It is not necessary to post your Web page or blog to the Internet, but if you decide to do so, you must first share it with your parents and counselor and get their permission.
3. Use desktop publishing to produce a newsletter, brochure, flier, or other printed material for your Scout troop or crew, class at school, or other group. Include at least one article and one photograph or illustration.
8. Plan a troop court of honor, campfire program, or an interfaith worship service. Have the patrol leaders’ council approve it, then write the script and prepare the program. Serve as master of ceremonies.
9. Find out about three career opportunities in communication. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

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The American Business merit badge can help Scouts understand the history of business in the United States and practical aspects of modern business. If you have a budding entrepreneur in your troop who runs his own lawn care service or summer snow cone stand, then this is the badge for him.

American Business Merit Badge Requirements

1. Do the following:
1. Explain four features of the free enterprise system in the United States. Tell its benefits and responsibilities. Describe the difference between freedom and license. Tell how the Scout Oath and Law apply to business and free enterprise.
2. Describe the Industrial Revolution. Tell about the major developments that marked the start of the modern industrial era in the United States. Tell about five people who had a great influence on business or industry in the United States. Tell what each did.
2. Do the following:
1. Visit a bank. Talk with one of the officers or staff. Chart the organization of the bank. Show its relationship with other banks, business, and industry.
2. Explain how changes in interest rates, taxes, and government spending affect the flow of money into or out of business and industry.
3. Explain how a proprietorship or partnership gets its capital. Discuss and explain four ways a corporation gets its capital.
4.  Explain the place of profit in business.
5. Name five kinds of insurance useful to business. Describe their purposes.
3. Do the following
1. Pick two or more stocks from the financial pages of a newspaper. Request the annual report or prospectus from one of the companies by writing, or visit its Web site (with your parent’s permission) to view the annual report online. Explain how a company’s annual report and prospectus can be used to help you manage your investments.
2. Pretend you have bought $1,000 worth of the stocks from the company you wrote to in requirement 3a. Explain how you “bought” the stocks. Tell why you decided to “buy” stock in this company. Keep a weekly record for three months of the market value of your stocks. Show any dividends declared.
4. Do ONE the following
1. Draw an organizational chart of a typical central labor council.
2. Describe automation, union shop, open shop, collective-bargaining agreements, shop steward, business agent, and union counselor.
3. Explain the part played by four federal or state agencies in labor relations.
5. Run a small business involving a product or service for at least three months. First find out the need for it. For example: a newspaper route, lawn mowing, sales of things you have made or grown. Keep records showing the costs, income, and profit or loss. Report:
1. How service, friendliness, hard work, and salesmanship helped build your business.
2. The benefits you and others received because you were in business. Comparable 4-H, FFA, or Junior Achievement projects may be used for requirement 5.
6. Do ONE of the following:
1. Make an oral presentation to your Scout troop about an e-commerce company. Tell about the benefits and pitfalls of doing business online, and explain the differences between a retailer and an e-commerce company. In your presentation, explain the similarities a retailer and an e-commerce company might share.
2. Choose three products from your local grocery store or mall and tell your merit badge counselor how the packaging could be improved upon so that it has less impact on the environment.
3. Gather information from news sources and books about a current business leader. Write a two-page biography about this person or make a short presentation to your counselor. Focus on how this person became a successful business leader.

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If you have Boy Scouts selling popcorn for your unit this year, show them the requirements for the Salesmanship merit badge. Selling for a unit fundraiser  fulfills requirement 5a.

Some Scouts might not find this merit badge too exciting, but you might have some eager salesmen who are interested in learning more. This merit badge is also good for Scouts who have their own business enterprise – like mowing lawns or dog watching.

Salesmanship Merit Badge Requirements

Complete all seven requirements

1. Explain the responsibilities of a salesperson and how a salesperson serves customers and helps stimulate the economy.
2. Explain why it is important for a salesperson to do the following:
   1. Research the market to be sure the product or service meets the needs of customers.
   2. Learn all about the product or service to be sold.
   3. If possible, visit the location where the product is built and learn how it is constructed. If a service is being sold, learn about the benefits of the service to the customer.
   4. Follow up with customers after their purchase to confirm their satisfaction and discuss their concerns about the product or service.
3. Write and present a sales plan for a product or service and a sales territory assigned by your counselor.
4. Make a sales presentation of a product or service assigned by your counselor.
5. Do ONE of the following and keep a record (cost sheet). Use the sales techniques you have learned, and share your experience with your counselor:
   1. Help your unit raise funds through sales of merchandise or of tickets to a Scout show.
   2. Sell your services such as lawn raking or mowing, pet watching, dog walking, snow shoveling, and car washing to your neighbors. Follow up after the service has been completed and determine the customer’s satisfaction.
   3. Earn money through retail selling.
6. Do ONE of the following:
   1. Interview a salesperson and learn the following:
      1. What made the person choose sales as a profession?
      2. What are the most important things to remember when talking to customers?
      3. How is the product or service sold?
      4. Include your own questions.
   2. Interview a retail store owner and learn the following:
      1. How often is the owner approached by a sales representative?
      2. What good traits should a sales representative have? What habits should the sales representative avoid?
      3. What does the owner consider when deciding whether to establish an account with a sales representative?
      4. Include your own questions.
7. Investigate and report on career opportunities in sales, then do the following:
   1. Prepare a written statement of your qualifications and experience. Include relevant classes you have taken in school and merit badges you have earned.
   2. Discuss with your counselor what education, experience, or training you should obtain so you are prepared to serve in that position.

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