BA 250 Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Lecture Hours: 4
Credits: 4

Covers foundation of entrepreneurship and small business management. Explores challenges facing entrepreneurship and small business today, business management strategies, financing, various forms of business ownership, opportunity assessment, business plan, and feasibility analysis.

Recommended: Placement into WR 121Z and BA 101Z with a grade of C or better.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Describe the challenges of entrepreneurship and small businesses, and the business life cycle.
Explain the process of identifying new opportunities.
Identify resources and financing necessary to start a new business venture.
Evaluate the feasibility of a new business venture.
Develop a business plan.
Comprehend the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing an existing business, starting a new business, and franchising.

Content Outline

The Entrepreneurial and Small Business Perspective
- Entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mind-set
- Entrepreneurial intentions and corporate entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurial strategy: generating and exploiting new entries
From Idea to Opportunity
- Creativity and the business idea
- Identifying and analyzing domestic and international opportunities
- Protecting the idea and other legal issues for the entrepreneur
From the Opportunity to the Business Plan
- Business plan: creating and starting the venture
- Marketing plan
- Organizational plan
- Financial plan
From the Business Plan to Funding the Venture
- Sources of capital
- Informal risk capital, venture capital, and going public
From Funding the Venture to Launching, Growing and Ending the New Venture
- Strategies for growth and managing the implication of growth
- Accessing resources for growth from external sources
- Succession planning and strategies for harvesting and ending the venture