Entrepreneurship

Syllabus

1. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneur. Evolution of business. Business concepts (types, schools of thought, processes). Business myths. Cognitive foundations of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial thinking. Claims per person of the entrepreneur. Negative aspects of business making. Business ethics and ethical dilemmas. 2. Business opportunity and business idea Identification of business opportunities. Discovering and inventing an unsatisfied or completely new need. Entrepreneurial imagination and creativity. The process of creating a business idea. Innovation process and creative experimentation. Variations and twists (pivots) in the formation of a business idea. 3. Evaluation of the business idea I: Analysis of the offered value and its compliance with the unmet need. Customer profile: identification of requirements / unsatisfied needs, shortcomings and benefits. Customer profile evaluation. Value map: identifying products and services, mitigating shortcomings and creating benefits. Evaluation of value map components. Searching of a match (problem-solution, product-market, scalable and profitable business model). 4. Evaluation of business idea II: Feasibility analysis Limited objectivity of the evaluation. Evaluation criteria (uniqueness, investment, sales growth, product and customer readiness). Traditional evaluation process (technical and market feasibility). Newer evaluation methods (functional feasibility, consumer attractiveness, financial viability, lean start-up metrics). 5. Minimally viable product and market testing Prototyping. The concept of a lean startup. Minimally viable product. Understanding customer needs. Testing the offered value. Traction. Validation. Market experimentation. 6. Compilation and visualization of business model. The purpose of the business model. Concepts of RCOV, NICE, positive spiral/virtual cycle. Visualizations of business models: canvas (nine blocks), triangle - business model navigator (four blocks). Costs, revenues and other key performance indicators (KPIs). 7. Real application of business model. Business model innovation. Cluster typology of real models based on canvas visualization: A. Products and / versus solutions. B. Resources and processes. C. Trade. D. Communities. E. Prices and payments. Typology based on triangle visualization - business model navigator (set of 55 standardized models). 8. Types of financial resources. Personal savings, FFF (family, friends, fools/supporters), business angels, venture capitalists (VCs), private equity funds, crowdfunding / bootstraping, mezzanine capital, public resources, debt financing. Business dilemmas. 9. Procurement of financial resources. Reasons and meaning of external financing. Valuation of the company. Equity investments. Financial statements and projections for start-ups. The negotiation process between the entrepreneur and the investor. Negotiation tactics. Motivation of investors and entrepreneurs. Presentation of a business idea. The role of investors after the provision of capital. 10. Developing partnerships to support new business. The role of partnerships / networks in building social capital. Usefulness of partnerships / networks for entrepreneurs. Methods of building partnerships / networks. Virtual networking. Network maintenance. Networking to build a founding team. 11. Market entry. Brand building. Acquiring the first customer. From a prospective customer to a loyal customer. Communication lines with a potential customer. Development of communication campaigns. Creating product awareness. Development of sales skills. Customer motivation to buy the product. Market penetration. 12. Realization of distribution. Location selection, layout and appearance of the company. Access to distribution networks and channels. E-shop. Viral marketing. Marketing in social media. Global aspects of business making. 13. Legal aspects of business making. Protection of intellectual property. Succession (Factors and procedures). Exit (IPO or sale). Serial business. Business failure and bankruptcy. Exercises Tasks: 1. Assignment of seminar work - business project. The content of the business project will be developed in accordance with the content of lectures and exercises and will be the application of a specific business idea. The business project will be developed continuously and gradually during exercises. 2. Formulation of a business idea. Observing a selected market and industry, generating, opposing and synthesizing ideas into a business idea, searching for competing ideas. Pivoting an idea. 3. Identification of unmet need and analysis of the content of the customer value proposition. Application of the customer profile method versus value map method. 4. Analysis of the feasibility of the customer value proposition. Application of sets of selection criteria, synthesis of multi-criteria evaluation and assessment of evaluation objectivity. 5. Compilation of a minimum viable product and its market verification. Design of the concept of a minimally viable product and market testing methods, assessment of the objectivity of the market testing design. Design of product price relations. 6. Compilation of a business model based on the analyzed customer value proposition. Visualization of a business model based on the canvas method, variant representations of the model, opposition of the model and its correction. 7. Confrontation of business model with standardized business models. Comparison of the proposed model with standardized business models according to the business model navigator concept. Opposition of the model and its correction. 8. Choosing the suitable type of financing for a business idea. Selection, combination and volume of resources needed to finance operation and investment. 9. Negotiations with providers of financial resources. Presentation of a business idea in front of an investor in elevator pitch format. 10. The relationship between the business model and the partner network. Identification of missing resources and processes and specification of deliveries from partners and complementary partners. 11. Promotion, market entry and product sales. Choice of content and style of promotion, place and date of market entry, customer relations, correction of product price relations. 12. Choice and development of distribution network. Determination of the main and secondary distribution channels, specification of price, term and technical conditions of distribution 13. Presentation of a business project.