Amour, an accessories store set up by a group of students from HKMA David Li Kwok Po College, is not a simulated company but a real business. The nonprofit company sold handmade products such as earrings, natural stone bracelets, Christmas cards, mobile phone accessories and toys - including teddy bears and dolls - at a booth set up in the school playground. It also provided song dedication and broadcasting services on campus. The store was part of the Junior Achievement Hong Kong company programme, which aimed to provide students with a real-life educational entrepreneurial experience and equip them with a better understanding of the role of commerce in the SAR under the guidance of business professionals. At their final board meeting at the FedEx Board Room in Admiralty, the company, which ran for 14 weeks, announced a profit which would then be donated to charity. 'We knew we would make a profit,' said vice-president Irene Chan Tsz-yee, 17. 'We were quite clear about our market, and we knew that most of our schoolmates are comparatively wealthy so we had a very good chance of making a profit.' In the internal workings of the company, there were the board of directors and different departments including marketing, production, human resources and finance. Students had to raise funding among the class, elect board members, make decisions on production and allocate human resources. The success of the business caused surprise among the instructors. 'We were not sure if the business was going to be successful,' said instructor Kaily Lam Kim-ching, from FedEx. 'At the beginning, we were thinking it would be great if they could break even.' The instructors were impressed by the students' performance and the ideas they came up with. Marketing vice-president Vivian Au Hiu-kwan, 19, did not expect the business to be so serious. 'I thought it would be like setting up a booth in the flower market and not all that professional,' she said.
