Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Building the Dream

Starting a firm may be one of the most challenging and rewarding journeys your students can attempt, but many more ventures are launched than completed. What, then, makes for a successful entrepreneur? What are the tools that students should be armed with when they decide to start their own business? What are the opportunities and pitfalls they will encounter on their way? These questions and more will be explored in Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Building the Dream.

The course, presented by Thomas O'Malia, Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Southern California (named the number one Business School for Entrepreneurs by "Success Magazine", August 1998), begins by examining how entrepreneurs approach both business and the world at large. It discusses ways of testing the feasibility of an idea, and lays out a set of tools that students can use to take their dream from concept to reality. This set includes tools for raising money, for selling their products, and for selling themselves. Finally, the course helps students develop an execution strategy, a business plan that makes profitable use of what they have learned.

Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Building the Dream presents behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with dozens of entrepreneurs, who reveal the passion, dedication, and preparation they needed to succeed. The course's video case studies range from large corporations like Kinko's and Subway, to technology companies like Earthlink and QAD, and smaller, fast-growing companies like Two Hot Tamales and Hard Candy Cosmetics. These cases use the experience of real-life entrepreneurs to show that the skills needed for success can in fact be taught. In addition to illustrating the technical challenges and victories of these entrepreneurs, the cases also reveal the humor, passion, style, attitude, and drive underlying their success. These stories are not merely meant to enlighten, but inspire.

Introduction to Entrepreneurship teaches students the entrepreneurial way of thinking and acting. By the end of this course, they will have the knowledge and skills to decide if and how to launch a venture of their own.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• describe the entrepreneur's world and mindset
• debunk common myths about entrepreneurs
• define the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
• apply entrepreneurial techniques within an existing corporate structure
• describe ways of creating an environment conducive to the free flow of ideas
• identify sources of successful business ideas
• recognize new opportunities for business ventures
• describe how to take a new concept from initial idea to final execution
• differentiate a number of entry strategies and the skill sets needed to implement them.
• assess the feasibility of a proposed business
• explain how to accomplish goals creatively using minimal resources
• identify the competitive advantages an entrepreneur has over an entrenched business
• describe low-cost guerilla marketing techniques to publicize their businesses
• compare classic corporate distribution channels with newer, more innovative techniques
• determine and minimize their initial capital requirements
• describe how to raise money effectively from a wide variety of sources
• explain how to retain maximum ownership of equity when raising startup capital
• create a practical business plan
• identify the stages in a company's life cycle, and manage its growth
• analyze the advantages and pitfalls of franchising as a means of starting a business

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Lesson 1
Video Program #101
Do You Have What It Takes?
This program provides an overview of what it takes to be an Entrepreneur. It describes the entrepreneurial mindset and introduces the model business, a tool to help the student decide what kind of business best matches their personal strengths.

Lesson 2
Video Program #102
Myth of the Entrepreneur
Dispels common myths about entrepreneurial myths. Contrasts the entrepreneurial approach to business with the managerial. Explores the attitudes and characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Lesson 3
Video Program #103
Finding Your Ideas
Discusses the strategies open to entrepreneurs for starting a new business. Introduces the concept of skill sets, helps the students identify their own skills, and matches entry strategies with those skills. Explores how to turn a loose idea into a testable, well-articulated concept.

Lesson 4
Video Program #104
Entry Strategies Getting Started
Introduces students to the "feasibility funnel," which filters a business idea through a series of clearly defined tests. Asks students to practice their feasibility-testing skills on the ideas of others. Examines how to create formal feasibility study

Lesson 5
Video Program #105
Feasibility Will It Work?
Focuses on how to achieve goals creatively using minimal resources. Compares traditional marketing techniques to those of entrepreneurial marketing. Contrasts entrepreneurial sales strategies with classic sales strategies.

Lesson 6
No Video Program
Project 1: Interview an Entrepreneur

Lesson 7
Video Program #106
Tool Set: Marketing Your Idea
Focuses on how to achieve goals creatively using minimal resources. Compares traditional marketing techniques to those of entrepreneurial marketing. Contrasts entrepreneurial sales strategies with classic sales strategies.

Lesson 8
Video Program #107
Tool Set: Researching Your Customer
Outlines the 5 steps of classic sales and distribution, and introduces more innovative, entrepreneurial techniques. Discusses the classic and entrepreneurial approaches to benefit development.

Lesson 9
Video Program #108
Tool Set: How Much Money Do Your Really Need?
Introduces the blind tour, a technique for mapping out a business's financial requirements. Compares the convention, commercial bankers' approach to money with the entrepreneurial approach. Discusses how entrepreneurs can minimize their capital needs.

Lesson 10
No Video Program
Project 2: Value Chain Analysis

Lesson 11
Video Program #109
Tool Set: The Money Hunt
Explores the fundamental rules of money and the knowledge entrepreneurs must have to attract the investors they need. Examines four types of money sources in depth, matches each type with the appropriate stage in the venture's life cycle, and evaluates what each type will want from the entrepreneur.

Lesson 12
Video Program #110
The Business Plan and Beyond
Explains how to write a readable and effective business plan. Discusses strategies for managing a company's growth and harvest its success.

Lesson 13
Video Program #111
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Develops ways of instilling the entrepreneurial spirit within an existing organization. Profiles successful companies which have used the tactics of corporate entrepreneurship.

Lesson 14
Video Program #112
Franchises Making Their Dream Your Dream
Defines franchising and discusses the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. Uses the model business to determine whether franchising is an appropriate entry strategy for an entrepreneur, and, if so, how to find the right franchise to fit his or her needs.

Lesson 15
No Video Program
Project 3: Franchising or Money Sources