Alternative Project: Your own Business Concept
May 28th, 2008Your Deliverable should contain the following:
A proposed business model with the 5 elements
A pitch
A personal statement of how this interests you
Feedback from Alums (or graduating student entrepreneurs that are launching a business)
A summary of conversations with potential customers
A list of the type of people you want on your advisory board
You may also include any “alternate” features of “alternative” models you are considering
Exam Questions
May 19th, 2008I have added the final questions. You can have up to 50 pages of cheat sheets. You may create a table of contents and it won’t count against your total cheat pages. The same cheat sheet may be shared between two students, but no more than two: you and a friend.
Introduction
1. What kinds of things can you compare between different businesses? (e.g. Scalability, ability to reach critical mass)
2. What are the five sacred elements in Alan’s business model?
3. What is an elevator pitch? How does Alan differentiate between a “informational” pitch vs. a “persuasive” pitch?
4. How does Alan define a portfolio? What are some common elements?
5. With regard to a portfolio, what is a reflection? How can you go about creating reflections?
Mote.Net
1. What did the founder of Mote (also named Alan) say about pathways to Entrepreneurship?
2. Can you describe how Mote has evolved as a concept?
Peter Roberts & Greenpoint Landscaping
1. What was Peter’s first tip for entrepreneurs?
2. What were Peter’s thoughts regarding the choice of a partner?
3. Compare and contrast Peter’s first business model for landscaping vs. his present model. What did Peter like about that newer model?
4. What did Peter specify as being associated with startup-struggles? (there were two items)
5. Peter differentiated between a dreamer versus a entrepreneur: How? (hint: look at Tip #2 for part of the answer).
6. What were the rest of Peter’s tips?
Ladd Smith & InHarmony Landscaping
1. What did Ladd lack when starting his business?
2. What does Ladd mean by “sales aren’t crap”?
3. What was Ladd’s top advice? What does he suggest to make this work?
4. What are some of the values that Ladd built into his business? (I’ll give you one value: “green”)
Steve Ward & Tom Burns of VieVu
1. How is a “Northwest atmosphere” created at VieVu?
2. Why is there price differentiation between the “law enforcement product” vs. “consumer product”?
3. What were the backgrounds of the two founders? What type of entrepreneurial experiences did each have before creating VieVu?
4. What are Steve’s three tips? How do they resemble the tips from the other entrepreneurs?
Kim Volz and Volz Enterprises
1. What does Kim see as the difference between an entrepreneur vs a dreamer?
2. What does Kim put into his notebook?
Alan’s Lectures on Business Models and Social Entrepreneurship
1. Compare and contrast: a) continuous improvement; b) process reengineering; c) business modeling
2. Why does Alan say that the 5 sacred elements comprise a whole model? Why can’t we just change one element and say it’s the same model?
Elizabeth Rusnak and Bank Loans
1. What is an SBA loan? What is the 504 loan program? What’s the advantage of an SBA loan?
2. What is a line of credit? What is its purpose?
3. What is SCORE? What can they do for you?
4. What are some of Liz’s tips regarding business plans?
5. What do banks examine in a loan applicant? What are the 5 C’s of credit?
Dwayne Northrup, Franchising, and Garlic Jim’s Pizza
1. How did Dwayne and his group choose “Jim” as part of the company name? (check if you were listening)
2. How does Dwayne ensure quality?
3. What’s Dwayne’s business model? What’s the difference between a sub-franchise vs. a franchisee?
4. How does Dwayne target locations?
A Few more Alan Questions
1. What are some benefits associated with reflections (done with a learning portfolio)?What are some typical reasons for doing a learning portfolio?
2. Better yet, what is Alan’s definition for a learning portolio?
3. What are his three critical elements in a learning portfolio?
4. What is a process? What is a legacy process? (hint: remember the apple pie example in class)
5. What is social entrepreneurship? What does Martin Fisher say about social entrepreneurship? What was Martin Fisher’s social entrepreneurship venture?
6. What are some Pros and Cons of the charity model?
7. At the end of the social entrepreneurship lecture, Alan pleaded for policy makers and administrators to learn the art of making business plans. Why did Alan advocate this?
Final Presentations - Friday May 30, 2008
May 10th, 2008Requirements
Participants can submit 5 copies of a revised business plan by 5:00 pm, Monday, May 26, 2008 - The Center will reimburse up to $50 per team
Finalists are announced by Friday morning, May 23, 2008
Bring Copy of 6 Copies of Presentation Handout Slides to the Presentation Jury
Presentations
5:45 pm Friday, May 30, 2008 - Directions to Northshore Utility District Auditorium
China Entrepreneurship Trip
May 6th, 2008If you’re interested in making the trip to China in early September, please supply the following information and submit it electronically through a Word doc by Tuesday, May 20, 2008. The trip involves a faculty member and two students on a tour sponsored by a UWB alum to the Shenzhen and Yiwu provinces. The trip length will be almost two weeks. The purpose is to acquaint the visitors with entrepreneurial possibilities via China. We will also act as potential pioneers for future students. You may be asked to talk about your experiences with these future students.
1. Name
2. Statement of Personal Interest