Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation

What did you learn?  What changes might you implement based on your new knowledge?

After watching the Edpuzzle about Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation dimension, I realized I am on the first floor of the elevator: students are problem solving, but not much more.  To move up the elevator, I need to have students work on problems that have meaning to them and are substantial.  I also need the students to create a product or method that is new to them.  I would like to push students to create a business model with projected growth and use linear equations to represent the profit of selling a specific item or something like this.  When I ask several students if they would be interested in this, they tell no, because they won't own their own business when they're older and if they do, they will have someone else do the math for them.  Before I can do a large project like this,  I feel like I need to build up their confidence in math first.  To build their confidence, I think I should do smaller projects that would take a day and then have the students reflect on their math abilities.