Skip to main content
FLC
Start Learning

Lesson plan · Understanding Businesses · Lesson 11

Putting It Together

Use the six-question framework to analyze a business from start to finish.

  • 45 minutes
  • Grades 9–12
  • Intermediate
  • Activity: small groups
Present slidesWorksheet + keyStudent lesson

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Apply the six-question framework to a business
  • Support every conclusion with a number
  • Write an honest one-paragraph business summary

Materials

45-minute agenda

  1. 0–5 min

    Warm-up

    Post: “If you could invest in one business you visit every week, which would it be — and what would you want to know first?”

  2. 5–12 min

    Direct instruction

    Present the lesson slides. Make sure students leave with these points:

    • Six questions: model, margins, owns/owes, cash, moat, risks.
    • No single number tells the whole story.
    • Back every claim with a number.
    • End with an honest one-paragraph summary.

    Use the “See it” slide (Analyzing Campus Coffee Co.) to make the idea visual.

  3. 12–17 min

    Worked example

    Walk through “Writing the one-paragraph summary” on the slides. Pause before the result and ask students to predict it.

  4. 17–22 min

    Live demo

    Project check the margins from the slides or the Profit Margin Calculator. Change one input at a time and have students call out what they think will happen.

  5. 22–37 min

    Analyst Team

    Format: small groups · 15 minutes

    1. Groups use the Campus Coffee Co. facts from the lesson.
    2. Each group member takes one or two of the six questions: model, margins, owns/owes, cash, moat, risks.
    3. The group combines answers and writes a one-paragraph summary with at least three numbers.
    4. Two groups read their summaries aloud; the class asks one follow-up question each.

    What to look for: Strong summaries state the model, cite a margin, mention debt or cash, name a moat, and end with the biggest risk.

  6. 37–42 min

    Check for understanding

    Use the question slides — or run them as a Four Corners game. Answers:

    1. Which statement is most reasonable? — B. Company X may face near-term risk despite high margins, because of its debt and low cash.
    2. Which question does the balance sheet help you answer? — A. What does the business own and owe?
    3. A strong business analysis names the biggest risks, not just the strengths. — True
  7. 42–45 min

    Exit ticket

    Prompt: Why shouldn't you judge a business by a single number?

    Answer: One number misses the full picture — a business can have high sales but thin margins, or profits but no cash.

Differentiation

Common misconception

“Analysis means predicting the stock price.” It means understanding the business honestly, strengths and weaknesses.

Support

Give students sentence starters for each of the six questions.

Extension

Apply the six questions to a real public company using its investor relations page, and write a one-paragraph summary.

Homework or make-up work

Students can complete the full interactive lesson — including its knowledge check — at learnwithflc.org/courses/understanding-businesses/analyze-a-business. No account needed; progress saves on their device.