SYLLABUS
BSNS 4310
ENTREPRENEURSHIP I: BUSINESS
PLAN DEVELOPMENT
SEMESTER 1, 2007-2008
I.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Hardacre
Hall, Room 232
Instructors: Greg
Heberling Emmett
Dulaney
Office Address:
Hardacre
Hall, Room 204 Hardacre Hall, Room
231
Phone: 765.641.4363 765.621.4126
Email: gdheberling@anderson.edu
eadulaney@anderson.edu
Office Hours: Before class, or by appointment
This course is designed to immerse the student in
the dynamics of planning, establishing and growing a new business. Focuses on
the development of a business plan that identifies a market need, evaluates the
financial viability of the venture, and organizes the resources to launch the
business. This course is taught in a seminar format using both the analysis of
cases and the evaluation of business plans.
PREREQUISITES: BSNS 2710, 2810; ACCT 2010.
Planning and Growing a Business Venture: Venture
Planning Field Guide, 2004 Edition. (ISBN: 1-891616-27-7).
Good to Great. Jim Collins. 2001. (ISBN: 978-0-06-662099-2).
There will also be assigned readings from the Wall
Street Journal, The Economist, and other journals. Links to
pertinent articles, or handouts, will be assigned on a topic-by-topic basis.
The major objective of this course is to develop the skills necessary to create a well thought out business plan in a form that would be presentable to a group of Private Investors, Bankers, and/or Venture Capitalists. Meeting course prerequisites indicates exposure to the elements needed to formulate a business plan. We will focus on the integration of that core knowledge.
Class attendance is vital to the learning experience of the student in this course. Therefore, students are expected to attend and participate in the class unless prevented by reasonable circumstances. The instructor may contact students if excessive absences are apparent in order to discuss the problem.
Students are expected to conduct themselves with the
highest ethics. Individual assignments are to be done only by
the student. All submissions handed in under a student’s name are to be limited
to that student’s work. Any exception to these guidelines should be reported
and discussed with the instructors. There is a ZERO TOLERANCE rule in effect
for this area; any violations will result in a zero for the submitted material.
Students having special problems that might affect
their performance should notify the instructors during the first week of school. Possible arrangements can be made to work
closely with the
Cell phones should not be used in class. Phones should not be used for making or
receiving calls, or text messaging. Any phones used for this purpose, without
prior consent, will become the property
of the instructor.
This course will be taught using a combination of business plan analysis, seminar format, and lecture. Outside speakers and articles from current business periodicals will also supplement the course, as well as relevant videos and student presentations. Some class time will be devoted to group work on the business plan. Students should seek the instructor’s input on their plan.
BUSINESS PLAN (WRITTEN) 25%
BUSINESS PLAN (PRESENTATION) 15%
MIDTERM (CRITIQUE OF EXISTING PLAN) 15%
COMMUNICATION 10%
QUIZZES AND ASSIGNMENTS 25%
SPEAKER REACTION PAPERS 10%
TOTAL 100%
100% >
A > 93% 83%
> B- >
80%
93% > A- > 90% 80%
> C > 70%
90% >
B+ > 86% 70%
> D > 60%
86% >
B > 83% 60%
> F > 0%
Peer evaluation on the written portion of the
business plan (30% of course grade) will affect individual’s grades as follows:
If the group receives a
perfect score of 100% of the points allotted to the written portion of the
business plan but an individual receives an average participation grade from
peer group members of 80%, the student would receive the following adjusted
score. Contrast that with a peer score of 100%.
Raw
Score Portion of final grade Peer Score Adjusted Score
100% 30% 80% 24% out of 30%
100% 30% 100% 30% out of 30%
It is imperative that you
communicate with one another to avoid low peer scores
Each student group (as approved by the instructors) will develop a formal business plan based upon an agreed upon business. This plan must be for a business startup in an entrepreneurial setting. Try to select and create a plan in an area, which is applicable to you. The plan will be graded on the following criteria:
------------Table of Contents with page references is
Mandatory--------------
1. Development of the Executive
Summary
2. Identification of the Market
(Industry, Customers, Competitors)
3. Creation of a Marketing
Strategy
4. Creation of the Financial
Statements
*Balance Sheets – opening, end of year 1, and
2. (Three balance sheets)
*Income Statements by year for years 1, and 2.
*Cash flow Statement by year for years 1,and 2.
*Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis. Forecast the sales needed to generate the
following:
-Break-even
-Profit
of $100,000
-Profit
of $200,000
-Profit
of $500,000
(If these profit levels are unachievable for your business, adjust
accordingly)
NOTE: Any pre-opening costs that would
normally be expensed during operations should be capitalized on the opening
Balance Sheet in organization costs and amortized over 5 years using the
straight-line method of depreciation. (Do not use a contra asset account for
amortization; instead write down the asset by the amount of amortization)
The cost items on the income statement should be supported with appropriate documentation as to the reasonableness of the forecast. Detailed notes regarding reasonableness of cost estimates should also support the opening balance sheet. Any capital acquisitions should be detailed as well. These notes should be included in a section titled “NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS”
5. Development of the
operation/management plan
6. Appendices and supporting
documentation
With the exception of point number 4 above
(Financial Statements) each group or individual will have the flexibility
of creating their own table of contents for the Business Plan as long as all
plans include at least the information outlined in points 1 – 6 above. Additional sections of the plan could include
items such as:
Critical Risks and
Contingencies
Scheduling and Milestones
Summary and Conclusions
Each group should submit their plan electronically
as well as turn in TWO copies of the plan and it should be professionally
bound. If you need a copy for your
portfolio, plan accordingly. All Plans are due on Thursday, November 30, 2007.
NOTE: A
portion of the grade for this plan will be allotted to routine submissions of
the plan’s elements as assigned.
At the end of the semester (schedule to follow when
groups are formed) each student or group will be required to give a brief (30
minute) presentation of his or her business plan. The context of their presentation will be
that you are presenting to a commercial banker, venture capitalist, or some
other appropriate source of funding to convince them to invest or loan you the
required capital. Therefore your
presentation should be professional, concise, and compelling.
For the
midterm, all students will read and evaluate a plan that was written for this
course in a previous semester, or otherwise provided. The evaluation is expected to discuss the
strengths and weaknesses of the plan.
Each student is expected to communicate with the instructors regarding progress on completion of the business plan during the semester.
·
Quizzes will be given on material assigned or presented in class. Regularly assigned quizzes will be given in
Moodle and must be taken before the start of the class in which the topic is
assigned. In-class quizzes may, or may not, be announced beforehand. No quizzes
may be taken late. Sign in
to Moodle immediately to see the quiz schedule for assigned quizzes.
·
Your group will be required to manage the compilation of the business
plan as though it were a project for work.
You will be required to submit your plan of attack for completing the
business plan. There is no set format
for this strategy.
·
Each group will also be required to submit a weekly list of objectives
to be accomplished which will be followed up the next week by a progress
report. These two reports must be sent
via e-mail. Each week you will add to
the previous weeks document so that each week’s e-mail includes all
weekly objectives and progress reports submitted up to that point in the semester. Use good thought and creativity in designing
this document. It should be easy to
determine from your report how your project is progressing throughout the
semester.
·
There may be occasional out of class assignments in this area as well.
·
Each group will be required to evaluate one other group’s business plan
presentation at the end of the semester.
Each student is expected to select two speakers from those who visit the class and write a one-page reaction to their presentation. Proper report format should be followed and the paper is due at the beginning of the next class. One of the reaction papers must come from a speaker during the first half of the semester and the second must come from the latter half of the semester.
Week of: Topic(s)/Activity Text
Reference
9/6 Introduction,
Syllabus Review, Small Projects
Entrepreneur’s
Personal and Business Criteria Chapter 1
Legal Forms
of Organization Chapter
12
9/13 Further
discussion of small projects | Make elevator pitches
Entrepreneurial
Characteristics Chapter
2
Entrepreneurial Myths Chapter 3
Identifying Venture
Characteristics Chapter
4
9/20 Presentations of small projects
– 5 minutes each
9/27 Topics
and groups for final projects must be approved!
Entrepreneurial
Entry Strategies Chapter
5
Plan
Overview and Writing Tips Chapter
8
10/4 Concept
Development Chapter
9
Management Team/Infrastructure Chapter 11
10/11 Intellectual Property Chapter
13
Contracts
and Leases Chapter
14
10/18 Midterm: Evaluate an existing business plan
10/25 Market Research Chapter
17
Analyzing
the Market Chapter
18
11/1 Financial Statements Chapter
22
Financial
Ratios Chapter
23
11/8 Pricing Chapter
19
11/15 Market Penetration Chapter
20
Budgeting Chapter
21
11/22 No Class (Thanksgiving)
11/29 Protecting Business Interests Chapter 15
Governmental
Regulations Chapter
16
12/6 Final
Presentations Part One
12/13 Final Presentations Part Two
ALL BUSINESS PLANS ARE DUE ON
NOVEMBER 30, 2007
REGARDLESS OF WHEN YOUR
GROUP IS SCHEDULED TO PRESENT
PRESENTATIONS WILL BE SCHEDULED
DEC 6, 13
Some of the
following may be helpful in preparing your business plan.
www.bplans.com provides sample business and marketing plans along with a start-up section featuring answers to common questions about starting a company.
www.businessfinance.com/index.htm
The site of
www.ceebic.org The Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence promotes entrepreneurship and houses its own business incubator program. It offers free counseling to anyone interested in starting a business, along with programs and seminars on such topics as how to conduct market research, how to raise capital, and how to discover business opportunities.
www.drapervc.com/resourses.html This resource page from Draper fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital fund, has useful links to sources of legal, engineering, general management, and industry information.
www.edgeonline.com The Entrepreneurial Edge Online offers financial management and assessment tools, interactive modules on various aspects of starting a business, an extensive list of links related to entrepreneurship, and a comprehensive library of books (plus relevant chapters of books you can read online for free).
www.entrepreneurmag.com is the Web site for Entrepreneur magazine. It includes articles on topics such as how to write a business plan in a day, top Internet entrepreneurs and how they did it, and finding angel investors. It also includes a bookstore and an archive library, free business forms, and information of franchising. Bonus: Take a quiz on the site to determine if you have what it takes to succeed.
www.inc.com Inc. Online features articles on a wide variety of topics-for example, advertising secrets of hot start-ups, how unlikely entrepreneurs succeeded, and what happens when business partners break up. You’ll also find a “virtual consultant” offering sources for financing, free software, and demos on general management, money management, personnel, and Web site builders, and a great online store for books, videos, and software.
www.sba.gov What isn’t on this site? The U.S. Small Business Administration offers information on all aspects of business planning and extensive links to other sites.
www.startupbiz.com This site offers advice on every aspect of starting a business, from choosing a name to researching your idea and promoting it. It also has a form allowing you to submit your idea to The Center for Innovation, which will provide a free critique of your idea and business or marketing plan.
Business Plan Pro helps you create your business plan; it includes a database of banks and venture capital firms. A best seller, it has earned some great reviews. (Palo Alto Software, $89.95, Tel. 888-PLAN_PRO, Web site www.palo-alto.com)
Marketing Plan Pro helps you define your market, plan a strategy, budget, forecast sales, track results, and measure success. (See above info on number and web site)
BIZPLAN BUILDER 5.0 SOFTWARE Comes with a text by the same name and is the world’s best-selling and award-winning software, produced by South-Western Publishing.
NOTE: The aforementioned requirements, policies, evaluation procedures, schedule, etc., are subject to modification at the discretion of the instructors.