Complete Course Outline
Textbook:
Business, The Ultimate Resource. Perseus Publishing © 2002.
Recommended Reading:
• The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. Harper Business © 1995.
• Managing By The Numbers by Chuck Kremer and Ron Rizzuto with John Case. Basic Books © 2000.
• Purple Cow (Portfolio Hardcover © 2003.) and Unleashing the Idea Virus (Do You Zoom, Inc. © 2000.) by Seth Godin
• Diary of a Small Business Owner by Anita F. Brattina. The ATHENA Foundation. © 1996, 2003.
Course Requirements
General Information:
Each session will be focused on a single topic that is more fully described in this syllabus. Many of the sessions will include guest speakers who are experts in the subject area. Depending on content and guest speaker, each session will run between 60 and 90 minutes in length.
Class Time:
All classes will be held on Wednesday via telephone. Class will begin promptly at 7pm (EST).
Class Format:
Each class session will include a lecture and a question and answer period. In the question and answer period there will be a review of the prior session’s homework assignment.
Please note that the order of the sessions and the content are subject to change based upon guest availability.
Question and Answer Period:
During each class, you’ll have the opportunity to ask the instructor a live question. Once the presentation has begun and the speaker has been introduced, the live Q&A function will be enabled. If you want to ask a question, simply press *1 on your phone. You will then be placed in a queue to ask your question during the Q&A period that follows the presentation. The presenters will answer as many questions as time allows. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, simply press *1 again.
Homework:
There will be a homework assignment associated with each session that will focus on the student’s own business idea. The homework should be prepared in time for the following week’s session. Each session’s homework should take between one and three hours.
Pre-Session Reading:
Most sessions have pre-session required reading. Each one should take between one and two hours. Some sessions also have recommended reading.
Course Website:
You can access all course materials online at the course website.
At the course website you can:
• Obtain the complete course schedule and dial-in information for each teleseminar.
• Download a session guide for each teleseminar up to six days before the session. The session guide contains detailed talking points and case material related to the specific course session, as well as guidance regarding homework and reading required for the following session.
• Link to the course discussion board.
• Listen to or download an archived audio recording of each session the day after it occurs.
• Access course notes for each session within three business days of the session. The course notes include a complete transcript of the teleseminar that has been annotated by your instructor.
Session Outline
- Session 1: You, Your Idea, and Your Plan
- Examine what it takes to succeed – personality traits, habits and practices
- Identify your entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses
- Begin to refine your business idea so that it will succeed
- Set the groundwork for developing a winning business plan
- Session 2: Customers and Competition
- Learn to determine the viability of your business idea
- Step-by-step method for assessing the market
- Define your target customer
- Gather key information about your competition
- Session 3: If You Build it….
- Estimate the number of potential customers
- Determine how much they will spend
- Learn to predict future trends
- Maximize market opportunity
- Session 4: Building Your Brand
- Learn to articulate your market position
- Develop a distribution plan
- Reach your target consumers in a cost effective manner
- Make and adjust a marketing and promotions plan
- Session 5: Team Players
- Learn to identify the skills your business will require
- Strategically build the human capital of your business
- Develop a management team
- Session 6: Revenues and Costs
- Operational planning
- Project revenues
- Anticipate and account for costs
- Financials
- Session 7: The Bottom Line
- Interpret profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet statements
- Pressure test your financial projections
- Optimize your business idea
- Session 8: Funding Fundamentals
- Estimate the amount of funding you need
- Determine what type of funding is most appropriate for your needs
- Locate sources of funding
- Prepare to secure funding