MGMT 611 New Venture Creation: Generating, recognizing, and evaluating new venture opportunities. Developing an entry strategy, writing a business plan, and obtaining start- up financing. Entrepreneurial self-assessment. Course Objectives: To develop the ability to: • Evaluate a business idea against your personal vision. • Examine your willingness and desire to be a successful entrepreneur. • Research, recognize, and assess business opportunities. • Choose an appropriate legal structure and management infrastructure for your business concept. • Conduct research on your chosen product/service and its relation to the industry, competition, and other market considerations. • Project the financial situation of your business concept including needed start-up funds, pricing strategies, and sources of financing. • Research, develop, and write a Business Plan, incorporating all the elements needed for a start-up venture • Develop team and group interaction skills • Use a software-based process for coordinating and collaboration on deliverables Course Description: CONTENT: You will learn aspects of effective entrepreneurial practice from the perspective of the founder. A significant amount of time will be spent on researching, developing and writing the Business Plan. The practical, hands-on approach encourages students to immerse themselves in the vision, research, and planning aspects of a new venture. With this goal in mind, the course covers the following key areas: • Identifying entrepreneurship—What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? How can you develop the skills, knowledge, and abilities to be a successful entrepreneur? What are your goals for starting a business? • Recognizing opportunities—Where do ideas for successful ventures come from? What business opportunities match your own personal vision? • Defining a business concept—What research and information is needed to write a business concept statement? How can you identify and avoid flaws in the business concept? How can you create a sustainable competitive advantage? • Testing for feasibility—What factors determine the feasibility of a business? What research, information, and analysis are required to determine whether you should proceed with the business concept or evaluate the feasibility of another idea? • Developing a Business Plan—What are the key components of the start-up Business Plan and what information is needed in each component of the plan? What decisions about management, product/service, marketing, and finances will create the greatest potential for success? How should the Business Plan be written and presented? You will also learn hands-on skills in teamwork, client management, and project management. STRUCTURE: The classes are held over 10 sessions, culminating with the delivery and presentation of a Business Plan. The classes are structured along the archetypical Kauffman Foundation Fasttrac workbook. The Business Plan for a new venture includes four major sections: . Management and Organization Plan, . Product/Service Plan, . Marketing Plan, and . Financial Plan. Students gain the knowledge, skills, concepts, and strategies relevant for start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs. The practical, hands-on approach encourages students to immerse themselves in the vision, research, and planning aspects of a new venture. There will be 5 teams of 4-6 students each, to be partnered with a "client" company or organization. PROCESS: The course centers on the business planning process—opportunity recognition, business concept development, feasibility testing, culminating with a Business Plan. Students experience all aspects of planning a new venture from determining their personal vision to conducting market analysis to testing financial feasibility, drawing from the whole spectrum of business and management. This course demonstrates why good planning leads to successful business performance. Students gain insight in how the various pieces of the business’s puzzle fit together and why the different aspects need to be managed in harmony for the venture to operate successfully. The teams will manage and coordinate the team process and "client" collaboration using a webbased project management tool. Resources: . FastTrac® NewVenture™ College Edition – Entrepreneurship Manual, 2009, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. ISBN: 1-891616-64-1 . ManagePro Performance software/ . Recommended (Optional) Reading: Barron's Writing a Convincing Business Plan Hall, Doug: Jump Start Your Business Brain: The Scientific Way To Make More Money (Paperback). Moore, Geoffrey: Crossing the Chasm Porter, Michael: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors . Additional Reading materials to be assigned/distributed. . Special Speakers . Actual company/organizational client Grading Assignments (Components) 295 points Personal Vision 10 points Business Concept Statement 20 points Product/Service Plan 50 points Marketing Plan 75 points Management & Organization Plan 50 points Financial Plan 75 points Feasibility Checklist 15 points Executive Summary 30 points Final Business Plan 120 points Intragroup Participation Rating 30 points Oral Presentation 25 points TOTAL: 500 points Lower limits: A = 450 B+ = 425 B = 400 C+ = 375 C = 350 D = 300 The Assignments (components) will be given preliminary grades on first submission: students can then revise resubmit for a final grading. It is also understood that the project/client situation may dictate that certain section/s be incomplete/undeveloped : where that cannot he helped, then the point distribution would be reapportioned to the other sections. Reference point: what the situation realistically allows or does not allow. Initial Team Groupings A B C D E F Ice Cream A Weigand Keith A Hammer Adam A Lemkuhl Sean A Hendershot Jaime OTR Main Street B Shanthara Madhu B Willis Joel B Martinez Jesse B Armacost Scott OTR Mahatma C Kimball David C Paige Anthony C Pope Tres C Parr Dustin AvatarComp D Mosley Gary D Platt Aric D Woock Sean D Dean Michael D Switzer Sarah OTR Outside E Balanenko Ann E Arndts Richard E DeGeeter Kristen E Plaatje Matthew Day Care F Creech Dennis F Scribner Kristin F Ross Chad F Shantaraj Madhusudan Session Text Prep Assignment Deliverable Special Topics / Events 10FEB None None Group Formation Client Company Presentations 17FEB FasTrac1 - Exploring Entrepreneurship FasTrac2 - Identifying and Meeting Market Needs: Recognizing & Researching Opportunities Team grouping finalized & Client Company Match established Laying the Groundwork . The Executive Summary . ManagePro mechanics & biz rules: Driving the Deliverables A Peek at Complementary Approaches . Stanford / J Ellis Product & Market Conceptualization . Technology sector: Geoff Moore: Chasm theory . Consumer Sector: Doug Hall's Dramatic Differentiation and Real-Reason-To- Believe 24FEB FasTrac3 - Setting Financial Goals 1.1 Create the Personal Vision 1.2 Develop a Business Concept Statement 1.3 Evaluate a Business Concept vs Personal Vision 2.1 Conduct Market Research 2.2 Evaluate and Refine the Business Concept Team Progress Reports & Open Forum 10MAR FasTrac4 - Planning the Product/Service: Defining the Product/Service FasTrac5 - Researching and Analyzing the Market: . Creating the Marketing Plan . Market Analysis & Pricing 3.1 Estimate Start-Up Costs 3.2 Evaluate the Business Concept vs the Financial Goals 3.3 Consider Potential Funding Sources 3.4 Complete the Business Concept Analysis Team Progress Reports & Open Forum Speaker: The Chinese Market 17MAR FasTrac6 - Reaching the Market 4.1 Create the Product/Service Plan 4.2 Write the Product/Service Financial Assumptions 5.1 Industry Profile 5.2 Competitive Analysis 5.3 Market Analysis 5.4 Pricing Team Progress Reports & Open Forum 24MAR FasTrac7 - Building the Organization and Team: 6.1 Develop a Marketing Activities Schedule 6.2 Create the Marketing Plan - Market Penetration 6.3 Write the Marketing Financial Assumptions Team Progress Reports & Open Forum . Legal Matters . Management FasTrac8 - Planning for a Profitable Business: . Profitability . Financial Projections Speaker: Cincinnati Small Business 31MAR FasTrac9 - Monitoring Cash Flow and Seeking Funds FasTrac10 - Implementing Next Steps 7.1 Create the Management and Organization Plan 7.2 Write the Management and Organization Financial Assumptions 8.1 Project the Sales 8.2 Project the Three Year Income Statement Team Progress Reports & Open Forum Speaker: The investor's Perspective 07APR 9.1 Project the Three-Year Monthly Cash Flow 9.2 Finalize the Financial Plan 10.1 Feasibility Checklist 10.2 Finalize the Executive Summary 10.3 Finish and Assemble the Plan Team Progress Reports & Open Forum 14APR Integration All Business Plans Due Full Business Plan Presentations