One of the greatest experiences for the students – an idea that was born the day before the course started.
The day I arrived to Figueira da Foz, one day prior to the start of the course Entrepreneurship in Water Sports and Travel, I enjoyed a great Brazilian lunch (feijoada) at a little cafe in the centre of town. The two girls working there served me the plate with a very generous smile, spoke very well English and told me about the place where they worked: A Casa da Tia.
I knew this would be the ideal place for the event that still had to be designed – but I knew it would take place. An activity where the students would leave their comfort zones, something outside the classroom and truly putting them in the drivers seat of entrepreneurship. I decided it would be at this place, I only needed their approval.
After the kick-off on Sunday July 14th, I walked to my hotel passing by this little venue. The same girls recognised me right away and greeted me wholeheartedly. I told them my idea: I wanted to bring my group of students to enjoy a lunch whilst working on solving an issue the business was facing. After a short chat with the owner of the place, Anabela, I got their approval and a reservation for the following Saturday was made.
At 12:00 o’clock, the first ones started to show up and rather quickly we filled all the seats just in front of the café. Most of us ordered the Porco Alentejano, a well-known dish from the Alentejo region. Anabela and Layal (whom I met before) came outside and shared the case (picture below): besides several legal issues around the use of the square in front of the café, they found it also difficult to attract clients throughout the entire year.
I made the group form couples and they had an hour to come up with out of the box solutions. A great energy arose, as some wear going in to ask all kinds of questions to Anabela and her colleagues, others started to look up business cases online and also some students got to analyse the total outside area.
After an hour and a bit, Anabela came outside and all students presented her their ideas. These ranged from special events, unique signage along the boulevard, a further focus on the desserts (where the place actually is known for) whilst skipping other products and several other initiatives were proposed.
To me it wasn’t at all about ‘the best idea’. To see the students enjoy, collaborate, learn from each other and think of ways outside of the ‘regular scope’ was the achievement I was hoping for and this exactly played out well.
