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Light It Up

Our Mini Company is called Light It Up.
We specialise in making Fire Starting
Kits. Our Mini Company consists of our
manager Ciarán Flynn, Salman Bin Ihsan,
Dillon Squires and Stephen Stewart.
We decided to choose our idea during
a cold October night, while desperately trying to keep warm.
We needed to start a fire quickly and easily and that’s when we
came up with our brilliant idea. We thought about the elderly
struggling to keep warm and start a fire so we decided to
produce easy to light Fire Starting Kit would help them keep
warm during the cold, dark winter nights.
Our product is an eco-friendly and safe way to light a fire. Our Word Wizards
Fire Starting Kit consists of a recycled paper briquette, kerosene,
pieces of high quality wood and firelighters. It is an easy way to Word Wizards is a Transition Year mini company consisting of
start a fire to warm up your home. It is very long lasting, and will eight classmates, Tiwani Akinlabi, Ruairí O’Connor, Nonso Nzewi,
Sami Aziz, Ian Jones, Harrison Jameson, Niall Walker and Isaac
be a solid foundation for logs and coal for a long lasting fire than Wilson. We make personalised story books and audio CDs, as
will keep your home warm and cosy. well as wooden toy tractors and wooden alphabet blocks.
We decided to draw up a questionnaire so we could market and We started up this mini company at the outset of the year, with
sell our product accordingly. We got around forty answers to the aim of getting children back into reading, and with this idea
it from students in the school. We then tried to figure out how in mind, we also produced products that appeal to all learning
many to make and sell with the information we received. styles. We used the name Word Wizards to emphasise our focus
We eventually decided that our estimated profit would be on getting the written word out to children. The name also
around €100 so we made our products accordingly. We sold describes the many skills that we have used in order to run a
them in the Craft Fair at The Backyard in Cavan. We also sold our successful business.
product in the school to students who own fireplaces and to Our first aim was to design, write and produce a colourful,
people in and around our area. appealing and educational storybook. We wrote a plot about a
class trip to a local farm. We thought that the topic of animals
We went to the Cavan Enterprise Awards on the 4th of March. would capture the attention of many children, particularly in
The competition was held in the Slieve Russell in Ballyconnell. the surrounding area. We downloaded a computer programme
We exhibited our product and spoke to different people about which helped us find suitable and quality images for the book.
it. The judges were particularly impressed with our Business After designing the whole book, we sent our finished pages to
Report. At the competition we listened to a speech and a guest a printer in Virginia. We wanted to engage the readers in a plot
speaker give a presentation on enterprise and technology. Our that involves them as the main character, with a subject that
Mini Company learnt a lot about innovation and technology. is a very big part of many people’s lives in this part of Ireland.
We thought about how we could use it to benefit our own Mini To appeal to the aural learner, we decided to add an audio CD,
Company. which got the backing of local entrepreneur, Francis Verling.
We took our inspiration for our wooden tractors and blocks
Overall, our Mini Company was very successful and we are from the book. The blocks have many functions, whether being
satisfied with our product. Our customers have given us used to spell names, or just enhance the literacy of the reader by
positive feedback. We hope to sell more in the coming months forming words. The tractors were to add an element of fun and
so if you are cold at home and would like to warm yourself up, enjoyment for the reader.
buy a Light It Up Fire Starting Kit for only €2.50 for an easy and Throughout this experience, we have learnt a lot from working
long lasting fire. as part of a team in order to successfully complete this project.
We have gained numerous skills and learnt a multitude about
Salman Bin Ihsan, Financial Manager
each other and where our strengths lie. We are very proud of
the work ethic fostered by each team member in the successful
production of this educational package.

The Royal Times 2014-2015 59