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Article published in June 2024, updated in August 2026
In this article, you will discover:
- How Evolvia supported a fifth-grade class in creating a mini-business for bookmarks, from production to sales
- The 3 workshops conducted with the students and the concrete results: €398 in revenue, €348 in profit, a shop managed for a week
- How this initiative fits into Evolvia's territorial CSR approach, which it seeks to multiply
What if entrepreneurship was discovered as early as elementary school? This is the bet that Evolvia, a consulting firm founded in 2005 by Michel and Emmanuel Gorbatoff, made by partnering with the Louise Weiss elementary school in Vailhauques. In 2023, the company supported a fifth-grade class in creating and managing a real mini-business over the course of three workshops. This initiative allowed students to positively envision their professional future while aligning with Evolvia's CSR approach in its community.
Why raise students' awareness of entrepreneurship?
Evolvia and its leader Emmanuelle Gorbatoff wanted to break the stereotypes associated with businesses and show children that they could be creators, innovators, and business leaders, regardless of their area of interest.
"Everyone can undertake, it is about working collectively on a common project. It is necessary to mobilize a group of people and thus create a team, to enable this success.
— Emmanuelle Gorbatoff, Deputy Director of Evolvia
The challenge for the students: to project themselves positively into their professional future, with confidence and with concrete keys to understand the world of business.
Vocabulary point:
- Awareness of entrepreneurship: an educational approach aimed at introducing, often from a young age, the basic concepts of starting and managing a business (product, team, sales, etc.), without aiming to train future entrepreneurs but to broaden the field of possibilities.
A project that had to convince the education authority
To introduce this project into the school environment, Evolvia worked closely with the education authority. Convincing the officials of the educational interest was not immediate.
The main obstacle: the question of introducing the concept of money within a school. It was necessary to justify the interest of having a business in a school and to demonstrate that the initiative served an educational purpose above all.
The 3 workshops: from theory to the mini-shop
Workshop No. 1: What is a business?
Based on the concrete example of the neighboring chip factory, the students discovered the basics of business: from creating the concept to selling the product. The goal was to make entrepreneurship tangible and accessible.
Workshop No. 2: The Creation of the Mini-Company
In teams, the students selected a product — bookmarks — and divided roles to represent each department: finance, purchasing, production, marketing, CSR, HR.
Concrete examples:
- Production : cutting and illustrating the bookmarks
- Marketing : packaging and customizing the products
- HR : integrating safety concepts with the teacher
- CSR : sourcing recycled raw materials
Workshop No. 3: Managing the Mini-Shop
For a week, the students managed a mini-store at school, displaying prices and different models. Result: €398 in revenue, €50 in expenses, €348 in profit.
After the experience, the students collectively reflected on the use of the profit (reinvestment, donations) before choosing to share a lunch together, strengthening their team spirit.
An extension to high school and an ambition to multiply
A complementary workshop was set up with second-year students to introduce impact assessment, value distribution, and the environmental and social impacts of an economic activity.
In total, Evolvia raised awareness among 222 students and dedicated 25 hours. The company seeks to multiply these operations to grow its CSR impact in its territory.
Who is Evoliva?
Company information
Evolvia is a consulting firm created in 2005 by Michel and Emmanuelle Gorbatoff. In 2023, the company partnered with the Louise Weiss elementary school in Vailhauques to support a fifth-grade class in creating and managing a mini-business. An initiative that fits into its territorial CSR approach and that Evolvia seeks to multiply to amplify its local impact.
Key figures
1
222
students made aware in total (180 first-year students, 12 second-year students, 30 fifth-grade students)
2
25h
hours dedicated by Evolvia to awareness-raising
3
348 €
of profit made by the fifth-grade students (398 € in revenue, 50 € in expenses)
Conclusion
This project allowed for a dual awareness: on one side, the teams from the National Education discovered how a company can positively integrate into the school environment; on the other side, 222 students explored different forms of entrepreneurship — from sports to associations, from production to sales.
An initiative that illustrates what a concrete territorial CSR can be: not an abstract approach, but a commitment rooted in the reality of a territory and the people who live there.
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The main obstacle was the introduction of the concept of money in a school. It was necessary to demonstrate the educational interest of the approach and justify the presence of a private company in a public school. Once these questions were resolved with the rectorate, the project was able to unfold within a clear educational framework, supervised by the teacher and the Evolvia teams.
No. A complementary workshop was organized with second-year students, to go further: impact assessment, value distribution, environmental and social impacts. In total, Evolvia raised awareness among 222 students — 30 in CM2, 12 in second year, and 180 in first year — dedicating 25 hours to it.
Because CSR is not limited to a company's internal practices. It also includes its impact on the territory where it operates. By raising students' awareness of entrepreneurship, Evolvia helps to open up possibilities for young people who may not have envisioned themselves in this role, while strengthening its local roots and its purpose as a responsible company.