NEW VENTURE IDEA DEVELOPMENT AND FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS

Transcription

1 COURSE OUTLINE ENTREPRENEURSHIP - MBAH NEW VENTURE IDEA DEVELOPMENT AND FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS AKA: FINDING YOUR DREAM AAKA: LEARNING HOW TO SWIM ON YOUR OWN, AND FINDING THE POOL DR. W. F. (FRED) KIESNER OFFICE HOURS: M 2:00 4:15 OFFICE: HILTON BUSINESS CENTER # 371 T 2:00-4:15 W 5:00 7:10 PM OFFICE FAX: , HOME FAX: THESE ARE FORMAL HOURS. OFFICE PHONE: I AM THERE AT MANY OTHER TIMES. HOME PHONE: (B4-9PM) DROP IN, OR CALL FOR A FORMAL APPT. OFFICE fkiesner@lmu.edu HOME himself@frazmtn.com PURPOSE OF THE COURSE This course has been designed to provide the graduate student participant with an overall understanding of the concepts and methodologies of DEVELOPING AN IDEA for a new business, and then doing an initial INVESTIGATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE IDEA, to determine if it is worth pursuing in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship. Strong emphasis is placed on the development of a real world, workable, implementable NEW BUSINESS IDEA AND FEASIBILITY STUDY. In fact, in the process of doing the feasibility study there is a good chance that one might find out that the idea is NOT feasible. This is certainly a good outcome, if it saves the entrepreneur from investing a great deal of time and funding in a potential business that will not make it. While some theory will be explored, the major thrust of this course will be to insure that the primary product of the course, the New Venture Idea and Initial Feasibility Study, and the other class assignments, have immediate, real world application. This class is about learning of risk and failure, and growing from it. It is about learning to forge your ideas into workable business concepts, commit them to paper, and flesh them out into a reasonable form that can be tested to see if it could stand up to the demands of the market. The students must write at a top level, argue the potential of their ideas, and convince people like bankers and venture capital angels that their ideas are worth being born in the marketplace. It is expected that this course will generate opportunities and ideas that could then be

2 developed and "legitimized" in the MBAH 611 course where a formal business plan would be done for the development and funding of the business. SAMPLE SUBJECT AREAS COVERED IN THE CLASS The following are key issues we hope to cover and conquer in this class - an ambitious undertaking that can be mastered. 1. Self Discovery 2. What turns you on - if you ain't excited and having fun, forget it! 3. Creativity (something new) and Innovation (improving on the old - something better) and imagination 4. Finding and Recognizing Market Opportunities, niches, holes, voids - don't trip over an opportunity - the opportunities are there - but you need to recognize them - and then turn them into a viable business that can survive and thrive with a competitive advantage 5. Recognizing the obvious 6. The world is your oyster. 7. Sources of successful new venture ideas - trends in the market environment you live in 8. Idea Generation - brainstorming 9. Technology Transfer 10. Chaos creates opportunity - solving problems in the market 11. Will the idea work - feasibility is critical - and will the market care. Turning and Idea into a viable business opportunity 12. Developing a proprietary market advantage - tangible economic value 13. Creating and Pioneering a new market, VS jumping into an existing market 14. Evaluating and Testing New Venture Ideas and opportunities 15. Cost Benefit Analysis 16. The Vision and Mission 17. Determining Resource Needs and Marshalling them - the availability of support (labor, supplies, etc.) 18. Preliminary market research and assessment 19. Patents, patent searches, etc. How, why and should we? 20. Buying an existing business 21. Franchising - Pros and Cons 22. Know How - Know Who 23. Ethics and Social Responsibility 24. Will This Turkey Fly? TEXTBOOKS AND READINGS No formal textbook will be required. A large number of books, periodicals, videos and computer programs are available in the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization (CEO) club center in Hilton 254. In addition, during the course the professor will provide you with a good number of other readings, handouts and reference materials.

3 CEO - THE COLLEGIATE ENTREPRENEUR ORGANIZATION The undergraduate students at LMU have a student group with their own small office, and a rather strong library of entrepreneurial publications, books, computer programs and other sources that could be of great use to you in this class. They are in H 254. Check out their hours of operation. THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM WEBSITE We have an active entrepreneurship program at LMU, and I would strongly suggest that you check out our website: We are regularly adding entrepreneurial reference sources and links that might well be of use to you in this class. The site also gives details on several of our competitions and awards programs. SPECIAL SPEAKERS Several times during the term we will be bringing EXCEPTIONALLY POWERFUL SPEAKERS to LMU to stimulate your thinking about entrepreneurship and your potential future. You will be asked to, and expected to, make a MAXIMUM EFFORT TO BE THERE TO HEAR THESE WONDERFUL SPEAKERS! The presentations will be held right in our Hilton Building. If you are unable to make it to these presentations, you will be expected to write a 75 page report on a chosen subject of interest to the Prof. (do you get my tongue in cheek message that I really want you to be there?). You will also receive class credit for attending these presentations. EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES We offer you a number of wondrously exciting opportunities to excel in this program, and strongly urge you to take advantage of them. Some of them offer you class credit, and some will even offer an opportunity to earn money. Those who have a true fire in their belly about making their mark in life will, no doubt, be excited about participating on one or more of these opportunities. Details are provided on our website, and some will be explained in detail in class. Social and Regular Entrepreneurial Internship Opportunities. Cash awards for new entrepreneurial ideas. Entrepreneurship Student of the Year cash awards. COURSE REQUIREMENTS There are no exams in this course. The course requires both individual and group projects. In small groups of about four or five students (a partnership, hopefully, that brings a variety of strengths to the union, not just friendships) a major, workable, implementable, achievable, doable, realistic new idea for an ACTUAL, real business will be developed, and its potential feasibility will be tested. This is the backbone of the course, around which all other activities revolve. As such it is expected that the team will put considerable effort into developing a professional idea, in substantial detail. In preparing this new idea (for a real, potentially workable business), you will develop and hone your analytical and entrepreneurial thinking skills, as well as the real life skills needed for developing specific, detailed, action oriented, new ideas for businesses.

4 As part of this project, the team will also prepare brief reports on the environment for the business idea, and a SWOT analysis of the business idea, to learn the critical aspects of potentially pursuing the idea to fruition in that field and business. On an individual basis, each participant in the course will also develop and prepare a paper on their own abilities and potential as an entrepreneur, and a person living by their own wits and abilities in life. This "Self Assessment" paper is, from my personal viewpoint, the single most important assignment in this class. View it that way, and put your heart and soul into it. If students have done this assignment previously for me in another entrepreneurship class, a special alternate assignment will be given. Each student will also prepare individually an EXCITING, serious, professional new product idea that demonstrates their creative and innovative thinking ability. This idea will be in addition to the team idea that is the backbone of the team activities of the class. Serious potential success in the real world is the key watchword here. Think this idea through carefully, and present a serious, salable idea that excites you, and the professor, and has some real world chance at working. Do not make the mistake many students make here, and present an ill thought out idea that you thought of on the way to class on the day your paper was due. Treat this idea as your chance to really come up with a money maker for the future. At the end of the class, the student teams will make brief class presentations of their team projects to their fellow students. This will be the "final exam". This "final exam" panel of your peers, and the tough old professor, will analyze and react to the potential of the new venture idea. If it is handled correctly, this course could be the EASIEST AND MOST ENJOYABLE AND PRODUCTIVE COURSE YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN. If you take it seriously it could be a great deal of fun, and it could have a dramatic impact on the direction your life takes over the next fifty or sixty years. If you recognize that, and treat this course with the seriousness and planned (and timed) effort it demands, the course will be a great deal of fun since you will be delving into areas that could directly impact your future success. In short, this course can strongly impact your life! You will put forth a fair amount of effort in the course, but if you WORK SMART (quality work time, not just spinning wheels time), it will be an easy class because hopefully it will be fun and productive. Plan your time and efforts, and don't get caught in the trap of doing your assignments at the absolute last minute, and give 110%, and you will probably do surprisingly well in this class. If you are looking for a class where the Prof. will HOLD YOUR HAND and guide you through the reading of a textbook, and give you lots of tests, forget it. This course is about self-reliance and being responsible for your own actions and results. It is about resourcefulness, not expecting the Prof. to give you "the truth" and "the answer" on a silver platter. There is no "truth" in entrepreneurship! There is no easy answer or road map that will show you how to do it in the future. There are no formulas and textbook answers in entrepreneurship.

5 There is only trying, failing, learning, and doing it again. So, if you are not adventuresome, resourceful, excited about taking a managed risk and potentially failing, and if you don't believe in yourself and want to control your own destiny, then drop now, this course is not for you!!!!! If you excessively fear risk, and having to depend on your own wits and abilities to conquer ambiguity and uncertainty, then you should say bye bye to this class right now. The FORMAT of the class will consist of a combination of lecture, class discussion, team work and project presentations. There will be NO TESTS or exams in this course. GRADES GRADES will be determined through a combination of group and individual efforts as follows: GRADING % WEIGHT New Venture Idea Development - team 10.0 % 4 Environmental Analysis/Feasibility Study(Team) 25.0 % 10 Creative and innovative individual product idea 10.0 % 4 Analysis of a Winner - Individual 2 page report 10.0 % 4 Self Evaluation (Individual) 20.0 % 8 Class Presentation (Team) 10.0 % 4 Class Participation(Individual)(Mind & Body) 15.0 % 6 Letter grades will be converted to a number value as follows: A + = 120 Points A = 110 " A - = 100 " B + = 90 " B = 80 " B - = 70 " BELOW B- = ADIOS These numerical grades will then be multiplied by the weighting factor for each project or paper. Your final grade will be determined by your total points. The following brackets will apply. A = 4210 to 4800 Points A - = 3810 to 4200 " B + = 3410 to 3800 " B = 3010 to 3400 " B - = 2610 to 3000 " Flunk = Below 2600 " Mediocre or average work will not be tolerated or accepted! You have been accepted into one of the finest schools in this country. That precludes me from accepting anything less than exceptional work. You are not average! You are exceptional, or you would not be here! Show me, and more importantly SHOW YOURSELF, just what you are capable of doing and

6 accomplishing. Make me say WOW!!!!! when I review your work during the term. I have taught at some of the toughest, most demanding schools in the world, with the most exceptional students imaginable. I am used to excellence. I expect similar excellence from my LMU students, period! I GET IT! Thus you are expected to conduct yourself as professionals, working at a graduate, MBA level, capable of functioning and surviving in the big time. Unfortunate and sad past experience with just a few incredibly immature students requires me to state that any students who act in an unprofessional manner in this class will pay a severe price in their grade, possibly including immediate expulsion from the class. Since much of the key content of this course is presented and accomplished in class, it is expected that you will attend class, and be there in mind and spirit, not just in body. Other demands may require you to miss a class on a rare occasion. If you anticipate missing several classes, it is suggested that you register for another course, as obviously this course will not be very important to you. Your excellence grade will reflect things like attendance, coming late, or not being a real part of this class, even though your body is present (minus) and/or any extra special effort you put into making this class really work, or exceptional things you do in developing your ability to be a powerful entrepreneur (plus). You will start out with a "B" and go up or down from there. The choice is yours. I also consider it an insult to myself, and the other students in the class, to have students consistently arrive late for class. You wouldn't get away with that in the business world, with your customers, and you sure won't get away with it in my class. IN SHORT, DON T MISS CLASS, AND DON T COME LATE hint, hint, the fastest way to irritate the prof and get on his wrong side is to show up late or skip class. Your job is to be here in body and mind. This course is for people who are willing to give 110% of their effort to the class and to the team effort! Your fellow class members, the professor, and others who will work with us will put a great deal of effort into the work they do in this class, and the presentations they will be making for you. Therefore we greatly frown upon any discourtesies inflicted upon them, including absence from class, late arrival, or failure to give them 100% of your attention during class. If important external events compel you to miss class, you are solely responsible for obtaining the material that might have been handed out in the class, including important course material, class assignments, and graded papers. Materials are brought to class once, never more. If you are not there, you may have a serious problem. In short, be there both physically and mentally! You also do not want to hurt your team effort by not being there in case I give you team work time during the class period. GRADING PHILOSOPHY I demand and expect powerful excellence. If you get an A from me, you will know you are DAMNED GOOD, in an entrepreneurial way. I do not grade on a curve. I am perfectly willing to give ALL A'S OR ALL F'S. You, and your entrepreneurial team control where you will end up on that continuum, recognizing that I expect a lot and am a tough grader when work is less than excellent, and what you are capable of producing. My goal in life is to have classes where I

7 give all A's or A- s (my students have achieved this four times in my over 25 years at LMU). That is my definition of hog heaven! By my standards, you are now living in an ambiance of absolute excellence. Average work is not accepted. Give me average work, and you will be shocked at how poorly you do in this class. One certain way for you to earn a bad grade from me is to let your team down. If I get negative reports (and we do two peer evaluations) from your team that you are not carrying your weight, or that you are missing team meetings, or that you have not completed your share of the work in a timely manner, and in sufficient quantity and quality for this level of study, you will find out very fast how quickly grades can drop. In the business world you get fired for failure to perform. In my class you flunk, or get a lousy grade for failure to perform. Mark these words well, I mean them. I will not tolerate somebody trying to skate through this class on the backs of others! If you do, I reserve the right to lower your grade DRAMATICALLY!!!!! Please don't test me on this, for the results will be very painful. Generally speaking, each member of a team will receive the grade that the team earns on group projects, if they all participate equally, and perform to 110 % of their capacity. If a student obviously is not giving maximum effort in team projects, the professor reserves the right to give that student a substantially lower grade on team projects. In the entrepreneurial world, there are no excuses for performing at less than 110%!!!!! Exceptionally good work is the average in this class, the expected minimum. Incredibly good work earns a B+, and I promise you that I mean that. WOW! earns an A. Test your limits, push yourself to find out just how good you are. Make me say WOW! Make yourself say WOW! LOOK WHAT I DID!!!!! A FINAL WORD Late papers in any of the projects of this class will just not be accepted. Papers are due at class time, or at the panel presentation. If they are not turned in, or presented on time, they will not be accepted, and the student, or team, gets a zero for that component. As an entrepreneur and potential business owner, or entrepreneurial type leader, you must meet deadlines, or suffer the consequences. SPECIAL NOTE: The last I heard, you were adults about to enter the world of big time money and achievement. Therefore, I will expect you to do your papers in a totally professional manner spelling errors, typos, awkward sentences, and dumb errors resulting from a failure to proofread will be HEAVILY PENALIZED. These errors make you look like fools who don t bother to finish their work I don t want fools in my classes. I have been embarrassed that our friends at top business consulting firms have commented in recent years about how poor LMU students are at proofreading their papers, and eliminating careless errors. We are too good to have such silly foolishness detract from the excellence of this class, and its results. Therefore, watch your grade go down in flames if there are typos or spelling or grammar errors in your paper. Take this warning seriously! I do. Remember, the key and critical word in this class is:

8 WOW!!!!!!!!!! Show me your stuff, make me say WOW! EXCELLENCE is the missing ingredient in American business these days. You are the folks who can and will restore American business to its real potential. Therefore, if you do not produce excellent work in this course, do not expect a passing grade. Excellence is not your "normal" level of work. Excellence is the BEST YOU HAVE EVER DONE! Excellence is truly giving me 110% of your real potential. The most important result of this class is that you show yourself that you deserve a WOW! with the quality of your mind, the quality of your effort and the quality of the execution of your work. I am not talking about the amount of effort you put in. Everyone works "too hard" in their mind. I am talking about quality and excellence of effort, and the level of achievement of the results of that effort. Learn to WORK SMART, not hard, and make full use of the potential of your ENTREPRENEURIAL TEAM!!!!! Believe it or not, I really want to give you the A you CAN earn!!!!! So, earn it, if you really, truly do want to earn it!!!!! I can guarantee you that you won't get it as a gift in this class. You control the grade you get, by showing excellence, period. A final final final word on personal courtesy and etiquette in recent years I have noted that it appears young folks today delight in calling others by their last name only, or by their first name when it is inappropriate. Please do not insult me (or anyone else) by calling me by my last name only, or my first name if calling me Dr. Kiesner is too much for you, I happily answer to any of the following: Dr. K, Prof. K, Dr. Fred, or even proudly, most recently, Grampa Fred if you appreciate that exalted state. I busted my bunjowskies off to earn the doctorate, so it gives me my jollies to hear the title used in the same proximity as my name. Thank you!