Free money and enterprise workbook for vmbo and mbo

📄 Download the free workbook: 50 pages of practical money missions for vmbo and mbo, with a teacher guide and answer key (Dutch-language PDF).

Many teenagers leave secondary or vocational school with little hands-on experience of money and enterprise. They may know the theory, but they have rarely set a price themselves, worked out a profit, or built a cashflow plan that does not quite add up. This free Little Finance Heroes workbook, "Mijn eerste mini-onderneming", lets students actually do it. Across six missions they build their own mini-enterprise, step by step, from idea to pitch.

Why a hands-on approach fits this group

For upper vmbo and entry or mbo, what counts is making, calculating, choosing and explaining. Not a chapter of theory, but a task where a student has to defend a real choice. The workbook links enterprise to money skills, digital safety and sustainability, and lets teams work with their own product or with the worked example case. Students practise skills they can use straight away, even if they never start a business.

The six missions

1. Discover: which problem do you solve? From a real customer problem to an idea.
2. Build: what does your idea cost? Fixed and variable costs set out clearly.
3. Calculate: when do you make a profit? Revenue, costs, profit and break-even.
4. Plan: do you have enough money in time? A simple cashflow plan that survives a setback.
5. Check: is paying safe and fair? Spotting digital payment risks.
6. Pitch: can you defend your choice? Showing in 90 seconds that the idea holds up.

Each mission stands alone, so you can take a single lesson or run the whole series.

Everything you need is included

The workbook is ready to use. A teacher guide, learning goals, a rubric and a full answer key are all included, and differentiation is built in. You only need a calculator, a pencil and optionally the internet for price comparison. All amounts and people are fictional.

Safe and honest in the classroom

Students share no real bank details, passwords, debts or household incomes. Everything uses fictional amounts, and a student may always choose an invented situation. It is educational material, not financial advice, and it does not replace an official curriculum.

How to start

Download the workbook, print mission one and let teams choose a product or service. After each mission, give one compliment on evidence and one question that makes the plan stronger. By the end each team hands in an opportunity card, cost sheet, price decision, profit calculation, cashflow plan, safety check and pitch.

📄 Download the free workbook and get the PDF by email right away.

Educational material, not financial advice. Illustrations made with AI.