The Sandwich Shop Simulation

Students begin the program by observing people, goods and services in their local shopping centre. They gather ideas to incorporate into their own enterprises and market days.

Once back at school the students participate in a simple simulation, “The Sandwich Shop”, students will discover why a simple sandwich with ingredients costing 32 cents needs to sell commercially for many times that amount. Role playing the part of customer, students will learn that they can choose when, where and what to buy or, when acting as proprietors, that they have to control costs and meet customer demands to succeed in a competitive market.

Students are challenged to work in a team and make decisions about the sale of sandwiches, burgers, drinks, cakes and other food items. This small business model assists students to understand the basics of business. The shop has been in operation for two years prior to the current takeover by students.

A sandwich shop was chosen because students would be able to relate to its appearance and function.

What roles are there in this shop?

The simulation is flexible and can be run for teams of up to 10 students. The potential roles that are available include:

Job roles can be expanded, combined and changed around to give students the chance to act as customers so teams can practice taking orders, serving and making change.

What is the Sandwich Shop challenge?

A successful sandwich shop primarily produces quality sandwiches, with good quality fresh ingredients. It should also provide other high quality sandwich alternatives such as burgers or soups. Prices should be reasonable and in keeping with the amount charged by other shops. The shop and work areas must be very clean. Staff must be clean, neatly dressed, polite and provide quality service.

The Sandwich Shop simulation is delivered in four levels:

• Step One - Students determine how many sandwiches, burgers, cakes, and hot and cold drinks need to be sold to cover costs.
• Step Two - Students determine how many employees are needed to be employed to make and serve these quantities.
• Step Three - Students work out what the best price is to sell their sandwiches, burgers, cakes, and hot and cold drinks to make a profit and to maintain sales.
• Step Four - Students now have an idea about sales volume, staffing levels and pricing and are now given complete responsibility for running the sandwich shop.

At the end of this phase students will have some understanding of the basic needs of small businesses, marketing requirements and the personal characteristics to be a confident, successful contributor to society. The students are mentally prepared to move immediately into the more extensive phase of the program.