We will welcome everyone to class. Introductions and overview of the class expectations. We will discuss the Entrepreneurial Journey. We will go over software tools to be used in the class. Discussions will include topics such as Visual Thinking, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurism and business plan development. Participants will introduce their business idea.
Resources
http://www.danroam.com/tools/
http://www.danroam.com/the-back-of-the-napkin/
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B34ZiIDxqYvAMFRrdWg5RW5XLVk
Pitch then Plan
https://www.newsmallbizu.org/partners/cccsd
https://www.newsmallbizu.org/courses/take_course/2
Visual Thinking
http://www.danroam.com/tools/
http://www.danroam.com/the-back-of-the-napkin/
Design Thinking
http://www.designkit.org
http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/
http://designthinking.ideo.com
This week we want to look hard at the business idea and try to define what the business is going to be. We want to make sure that we can be confident that the business has an opportunity for success. Risk will be considered in the start of a business. Market research resources and techniques will be discussed.
Talk about the opportunity you have discovered and the big idea you have for the business.
All good ideas share at least one of three goals:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/70518
How does your company make money?
Take some time in the lab to look at the industry and see what you can learn about it. Make notes and put in your “Industry” section in Pitch then Plan.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B34ZiIDxqYvAU0s1blFibDIybjA
We will delve into more about how the business is going to work this week. Questions will include: How is your business going to make money? Why does your business exist? What are your products and services? We will work on answering these questions and more to make sure this can be a sustainable enterprise.
Funding is difficult to come by for start-ups. We will discuss the Dollars for Dreams Micro Loan program. Pricing of products and services can be difficult to determine. Eric Marcus of the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative will discuss pricing strategy.
Eric Markus
This building block elaborates the earnings a business gets by subtracting the costs from the revenue generated from each customer segment. Where customers are generally considered the heart of the business, revenues are automatically likened to the arteries. Organizations must evaluate the worth of the value they provide to each customer segment. An accurate evaluation of this worth will result in multiple revenue streams being gained from a single customer segment.
We will take a little time to talk further about Design Thinking. We want you to effectively design your business to be successful and the Design Thinking Tools will help you solve many problems along the way.
The steps are:
Worksheet - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B34ZiIDxqYvAdlotZDM1ZjJLQWM
Pricing Strategies for your products and services
Continue working on the Business Model, The Product and Pricing sections based on what you learned in class this week. Start working on your “Customer” Section in Pitch then Plan. Be ready to talk about your customers next week.
This week we will take some time to more precisely define our customer. For this section, talk about the groups of customers that you will target and that will be attracted to your idea. Ask yourself, “Who has my money in their pockets?” Topics will include customer segments, customer relationships and continuing to engage customers.
City of Flagstaff Business Support and Research Tools - John Saltonstall, Business Retention and Expansion Manager
Worksheet - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B34ZiIDxqYvAOWVfRVFjWWpnYlU
Market research is critical to making sound business decisions. Conducting a market research survey will help you better understand your target audience so that you can increase leads, sales, customer awareness, and retention.
Insight on how your product or service is perceived compared to your competitors will help you determine the direction you need to take to improve and grow your business.
This building block dictates the nature of the relationships that an organization will develop with its various customer segments. A company could choose to communicate with its customers through people or automated means. The customer relationships that an organization opts for are based on the company’s business model and greatly impact the overall customer experience.
Research, working on plan, John Saltonstall’s presentation.
Continue working on your Customer section, Market Research Section and Sales Forecast. Start working on the Competition.
The Competition
Competition is this week’s topic. We will look around in the market and see who we are going against both directly and indirectly. It is very rare that you have no competition. If you don’t, make sure there is a market for what you are doing. Take a look at what your competition does well and what they do not do well. Are they serving the whole market or are there segments that you can go after.
Talk about the three to four main competitors trying to win your customers.
This is where things get a bit more fun. Start working on “The Message”. This is where we get to do some marketing and branding.
Every successful business has a message that is the basis for all of the branding and marketing. Who are you as a business? What do you mean to your customers? What is your story? We will spend our time this week building your brand in preparation for developing your marketing. Logos, taglines, copy, colors and branding look will be discussed.
Continue on each section - work on your message. Tell your story.
Knowing your market is important to your business. This week we will be discussing the environment surrounding your business and how it will affect your sales. This week we will dive further into branding and marketing. We will also start to work on our sales forecast. Marketing your business is something that needs to be done well and done all of the time. We will continue our marketing discussions with a speaker who does marketing for companies.
This building block defines how an organization communicates with and provides value to its chosen customer segment. Channels are the touch points through which an organization liaises with its customers and as such, play a huge role in defining the customer experience. Channels can be categorized as marketing, sales or distribution channels.
A business partnership is when two commercial entities form an alliance, which may either be a really loose relationship where both entities retain their independence and are at liberty to form more partnerships or an exclusive contract which limits the two companies to only that one relationship.
This week’s topic – how is your business going to operate? Will you have employees? Will you have contractors? If you make things, how does that happen? If you have service teams, how do you schedule them? Where do your products, resources and supplies come from? Who does what? These will all be discussed and worked on this week.
Presentation: Joe Bodin - Web Designer.
Talk about the work you do and how you make things.
Talk about:
Work on your plan and spreadsheet. Please send me a current draft of your plan and spreadsheet by the end of Sunday.
This week we will be talking about who will be running the show. Are you best suited to run your own company or would someone else be better? If you are looking for investment, your management team will be extremely important to your investors. This discussion also includes high level support people such as accountants, lawyers and marketing professionals.
Talk about the key players who will manage your business.
Understanding the most advantageous legal structure, the need for insurance, salaries and wages and required start-up funds all impact your business from the start. This week will will discuss LLCs, Sole Proprietorship, liability insurance, hiring employees and start-up funding.
Personal Finance and how it fits with business finance.
Write, write, write, spreadsheet! I need to see your drafts - keep it going!
Many businesses fail because they don’t understand the accounting and financial side of their business. This week we will spend some time with a local CPA and talk about how accounting works for your business. We will also get deeper into our numbers on our forecast.
Talk about how much money you need to get started. At this stage, list the major categories of start-up costs and estimate their amount.
Continue working through the Pitch Then Plan sections. Also continue to develop the financial spreadsheet. Turn in drafts by Sunday night.
So, now what? We have a plan pretty well complete by this time. We will talk about launching the business and the steps it will take.
This week is also about getting things ready for presentation and finishing the plan. We will have lab time, answer questions and get you ready for next week.
Talk about the next five to ten steps that need to be completed in the next 90 days to consider yourself a success. Attach dates to each step.
This week is all about you talking about your business. You will have 10 minutes to present your plan and will have the opportunity to get feedback from the group.