Starting from the very beginning of recognizing opportunities, and continuing all the way to leaving a strong company to last for generations, these five courses are designed to educate, entertain, and empower students to elevate their lives and the lives of those around them. Designed by a university professor with 15+ years of teaching experience and personal entrepreneurial success, these courses will guide you on your own journey.
This course focuses on the entrepreneurial mindset and helps participants understand the role of entrepreneurship in the creative problem solving activities facing various members in society. The emphasis of the course is on how to identify potentially profitable business opportunities in the form of important problems to solve and how to identify customers most likely to value a solution to those problems.
You will learn:
1. How to apply the entrepreneurial process to problems you see for yourself and for those around you.
2. How to leverage your talents, passions, and interests for entrepreneurial pursuits.
3. How to identify and explore value-added opportunities for real potential customers.
This course shifts the focus from understanding the problem to solve to exploring potential solutions to that problem. It highlights the assessment process and the importance of identifying competition to make sure the proposed solution adds value in a way that is better, faster, and/or cheaper than other options. It also introduces entrepreneurial finance and initial sources of capital to help make the solution a reality.
You will learn:
1. How to create and assess potential entrepreneurial solutions to customers' problems.
2. How to recognize and outmaneuver potential competitors.
3. What potential sources for financing exist to bring your entrepreneurial idea into reality.
This course examines the creation and growth of a new entrepreneurial firm beyond simply the characteristics of the sole founder and the business idea itself. In particular, it introduces various leadership types and teaches founders how to effectively manage issues they will face as the enterprise expands, all while capturing
the advantages of creativity and innovation from its employees.
You will learn:
1. How to address important issues when selecting and managing a founding team and employees.
2. How to create a creative and innovative culture that encourages entrepreneurial thinking.
3. How to effectively communicate with stakeholders inside and outside the firm.
This course explores the various factors to consider as the firm scales to new product and geographic markets. In particular, it focuses on the monetary side of entrepreneurial businesses by describing what financial statements and accounting forecasts are commonly needed. Further, various sources of potential funding for new ventures are
described, including the pros and cons of each option.
The formal pitching process is explored in part to help entrepreneurs communicate with outsiders to obtain external funding necessary for continued business activities.
You will learn:
1. How to manage growth and expansion into new product and geographic markets.
2. How to create and analyze financial statements.
3. How to evaluate and pitch to external resource providers.
This course explores various ethical and legal issues faced by young entrepreneurial firms, including various organizational forms
entrepreneurs can choose
to help ensure founders’ assets are protected. In addition, numerous options are introduced to help entrepreneurs protect their intellectual property, which can be the source of innovative ideas and successful growth. Finally, issues regarding exit and succession are presented to ensure the firm remains competitive long into the future, even after the founder is no longer actively involved in the established venture.
You will learn:
1. How to consider legal and ethical issues fiirms may face.
2. How to protect the founders' and firms' valuable assets.
3. How to create an appropriate exit and succession plan.