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Course Description
The idea of starting a business is appealing to many people. This course
will introduce the many aspects required to create a successful new venture.
It is however, just a starting point. The outcome of this course will
not be a fully researched business plan, ready to implement. The effort
required for meeting such an objective would consume many months of a
prospective entrepreneur's time. Rather, this course will help give students
a feel for what is involved with being entrepreneurial and if the role
of entrepreneur is one he or she might find appealing.
The life cycle of a start-up company from the points of view of inventors,
engineers or investors includes issues of planning, dealing with legal
and tax issues, financial opportunities at different stages, and sources
of technical assistance. The course also examines creativity in start-ups
and creative gap analysis.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:
• Apply the entrepreneurial process
• Analyze the feasibility of a new venture business concept
• Evaluate his or her own entrepreneurial tendency and ability
• Brainstorm ideas for new and innovative products or services
• Use a variety of feasibility tests, assess and select prospective
new venture concepts for further study
• Conduct focus groups, surveys, and other methods for researching
customer reaction to various new venture concepts
• Conduct a variety of secondary research activities to analyze
competition, market trends, industry structures, and other issues relevant
to specific new venture concepts
• Examine and analyze issues related to intellectual property protection
for specific new product concepts, (e.g., patent and trade name searches)
• Create promotional items related to specific new product concepts,
(e.g., advertising themes, slogans, etc.)
• Investigate state and federal regulatory requirements for specific
industries by contacting relevant agencies
• Describe how to investigate financing alternatives for specific
new venture concepts
Breadth of Assignments
This course utilizes a variety of assignment types in exploring the topics
of Entrepreneurship including reading, both online and textbook based,
individual assignments involving flash and java presentations, online
research, writing assignments, and self-assessment exercises, and group
projects involving discussions and collaborative research and idea formulation.
Required Resources
Kuratko, Donald F. and Richard M. Hodgetts, Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary
Approach, Fifth Edition, South-Western, 2001 ISBN 0-03-019604-3
Course Summary
Entrepreneurship
Business & Management
Module/Topics
Module 1: The Entrepreneurial Process
• Comparing your personal profile with that of a typical entrepreneur
• Surveying and reporting on a selection of online resources for
entrepreneurs
• Evaluating the successful business venture of a famous entrepreneur
• Laying the groundwork for a new business venture with your fellow
students
Module 2: Brainstorming, Innovation, and Creativity
• Using creative thinking to enhance the success of a new business
venture
• Using the brainstorming process to generate new ideas
• Describing the various types of feasibility tests that are used
to evaluate new products and services
• Applying feasibility testing to a new business venture with your
fellow students
• Using market segmentation to evaluate consumer needs
• Using market segmentation techniques to identify an ideal target
market for your group's new business venture
• Using personal interviews, focus groups, and written surveys to
evaluate consumer reactions to your group's new product or service
Module 3: Entrepreneurship
• The major components of a business plan
• Describing how a well-written business plan can contribute to
the success of a new business venture
• Conducting a competitive profile analysis to compare the strengths
and weaknesses of your competitors
• Creating a perceptual map that positions your product and your
competitors' products against two competitive criteria
• Developing a supply chain that illustrates all of the organizations
your company works closely with
• The importance of industry organizations to new business ventures
• Identifying entry barriers for a new business venture and describe
methods for overcoming those barriers
• How entry barriers can be used to prevent competitors from entering
your marketplace
Module 4: Developing and Initiating the Plan
• The benefits of different types of advertising media
• The importance of intellectual property (patents, trademarks,
and copyrights) to a new business venture's success
• Conducting a basic patent search
• Explaining the differences between retail and non-retail business
locations
• Analyzing a potential business location to determine its suitability
for a new business venture
• The various regulatory requirements that affect businesses at
the federal, state or provincial, and local levels
• The specific regulatory requirements that will face a new business
venture in your home area
Module 5: The Launch: Structuring, Capital Sources
• The different types of pricing strategies that are used to determine
the unit selling price of a new product or service
• The different types of financial analysis that are used to evaluate
new businesses
• Performing a break-even analysis of a new business venture
• The advantages and disadvantages of various types of business
structures
• The differences between debt financing and equity financing
• Developing a basic financing plan for a new business venture
• Explaining the advantages and disadvantages of five different
commercialization strategies
• Developing a basic commercialization strategy for a new business
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