Week 1 discussion
DQ1
Entrepreneurs
Please respond to the following:
Inc. magazine claims, “Entrepreneurship is more mundane than
it is sometimes portrayed . . . you don’t need to be a person of mythical
proportions to be very, very successful in building a company.” Discuss whether
you agree or disagree with this statement and why.
Analyze the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur and
determine if you have what it takes to start your own business. Provide
specific examples to support your response.
DQ2
Strategic Management
Please respond to the following:
Analyze the steps involved in developing a strategic plan
for a company and determine which step is the most difficult to get right.
Explain your rationale.
From the e-Activity, determine how you would leverage the
support provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration in planning and
starting your own business. Provide specific examples to support your response.
Week 2 discussion
DQ1
Choosing a Form of Ownership
Please respond to the following:
From the e-Activity, describe the most appropriate form of
ownership for your new franchise based on your current financial situation.
Provide specific examples to support your response.
Assume the form of your new business will be a partnership
(if you have not already done so). Discuss the types of conflicts that may
arise and how you could prevent them from arising in the first place.
DQ2
Franchising and the Entrepreneur
Please respond to the following:
Based on the case study (“Firehouse Subs”), determine which
of the three options executives are considering would be most beneficial to a
single franchise owner. Explain your rationale.
From the e-Activity, discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of being a franchisee of the franchise you selected. Provide
specific examples to support your response
Week 3 discussion
DQ1
Buying an Existing Business
Please respond to the following:
From the e-Activity, discuss the best possible method for
determining the value of the business you selected. Explain your rationale.
Create a strategy for negotiating the purchase of the
business you selected in the e-Activity.
DQ2
Feasibility Analyses and Business Plans
Please respond to the following:
Develop an idea for a new business and conduct a feasibility
analysis. Please be as creative as you like in the development of your idea
(but as careful as you can be in your analysis of that idea).
Analyze the steps involved in crafting a wining business
plan and make at least one recommendation for improving the process. Explain
your rationale for making the recommendation you did.
Week 4 discussion
DQ1
Creating a Solid Financial Plan
Please respond to the following:
Discuss the best way to leverage a breakeven analysis when
defining a business strategy.
Analyze the 12 financial ratios mentioned in the textbook
and determine which is the most useful to the greatest number of small
businesses. Explain your rationale
DQ2
Managing Cash Flow
Please respond to the following:
Analyze the steps involved in preparing a cash budget and
determine which steps presents the greatest number of obstacles to the greatest
number of small businesses. Explain your rationale.
Analyze the steps involved in avoiding a cash crunch and
make at least one additional recommendation for doing so. Provide specific
examples to support your response.
Week 5 discussion
DQ1
Guerrilla Marketing
Please respond to the following:
From the first e-Activity, discuss the key elements that
made the guerrilla marketing so successful. Explain your rationale.
Discuss possible best practices from the guerrilla marketing
campaign that different types of small businesses could leverage. Provide
specific examples to support your response.
DQ2
Advertising and Promotion
Please respond to the following:
From the second e-Activity, determine the best possible way
to leverage Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to advertize
and promote the small business of your choice. Explain your rationale.
Select a small business with which you are familiar and then
determine the best way for that business to stretch its advertising budget.
Provide specific examples to support your response.
Week 6 discussion
DQ1
Pricing and Globalization Strategies
Please respond to the following:
From the e-Activity, discuss the best possible pricing
strategy based on whether the company you selected is a retailer, manufacturer,
or service firm. Explain your rationale.
Discuss the best possible way the company you selected could
expand its market globally.
DQ2
Globalization and Sources of Equity Financing
Please respond to the following:
From the e-Activity, discuss how the company you selected
might benefit from selling new customers on e-Bay (as opposed to building and
maintaining its own Website).
Referring to the same company, determine the best source of
equity capital available to the company you selected. Explain your rationale.
Week 7 discussion
DQ1
Sources of Debt Financing
Please respond to the following:
Briefly describe a small business you could envision
yourself owning and discuss the most appropriate source of debt capital for
that business. Explain your rationale.
From the e-Activity, discuss how you could best use an SBA
loan to get your business running or expanding. Provide specific examples to
support your response.
DQ2
Location, Layout, and Physical Facilities
Please respond to the following:
Using the same small business you described in the first
discussion, determine the best possible location for your business within
driving distance of where you now live. Explain your rationale.
Discuss the layout and design configuration of a building
you would like to use to house your business, including how you would comply
with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Week 8 discussion
DQ1
Supply Chain Management
Please respond to the following:
From the e-Activity, determine which best practices can be
applied to the greatest number of small businesses. Explain your rationale.
Analyze the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and
Six Sigma in regard to quality control of a product or service, and make at
least one recommendation for improvement. Explain your rationale.
DQ2
Managing Inventory
Describe a retail business with which you are familiar and
determine the most suitable means of inventory control. Provide specific
examples to support your response.
For the same business, discuss what innovative steps you
could take to deter employee theft and/or shoplifting.
Week 9 discussion
DQ1
Fikes Products
Please respond to the following:
From the case study, discuss possible new options for
finding quality employees other than those considered in the case study.
From the case study, discuss how Mark Sims could better motivate
the employees he already has to become more productive and dedicated. Provide
specific examples to support your response.
DQ2
Management Succession and Risk Management Strategies
Please respond to the following:
Assume you are the owner of a small business with which you
are familiar. Outline the basics of a management succession plan for passing
the business on to the individual of your choice.
Referring to the same small business, determine the most
appropriate way for that business to minimize its exposure to risk. Explain
your rationale.
Week 10 discussion
DQ1
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Please respond to the following:
Select a small business with which you are familiar and
develop a plan of action for encouraging ethical behavior. Provide specific
examples to support your response.
Analyze a business’s responsibilities to the environment,
employees, customers, investors, and the community, and determine which is the
most important. Explain your rationale.
DQ2
The Legal Environment
Please respond to the following:
Select a small business with which you are familiar and
discuss the most likely forms of business law it would need to be concerned
about. Provide specific examples to support your response.
Referring to the same company, discuss the most likely
government regulations that would directly impact day-to-day operations.
Provide specific examples to support your response.
Week 11 discussion
DQ1
Summation
Please respond to the following:
Reflecting back on everything you have learned in this
course, discuss the single most important lesson any entrepreneur should apply
in order to be successful. Explain your rationale.
Summarize the lessons learned in this course in 140
characters or less (something you could post on Twitter).
DQ2
My Dream Business
Please respond to the following:
Discuss the most innovative idea you can dream up for a new
business. Explain why you think it would be successful.
Discuss the major challenges you would face in running such
a business and how you would expect to overcome them. Provide specific examples
to support your response.
