Innovator's Journey prep documents are provided as trusted resource for entrepreneurial development. These documents are provided for educational purposes only.
Kauffman FastTrac equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the business skills and insights, tools, resources, and peer networks necessary to start and grow successful businesses. These are great resources for resource providers to use in guiding innovators. This workbook will enable the facilitator to assist in evaluating business strategies at different stages. The Fasttrac New Venture document (below) is a fantastic tool to use to reflect on what you have done or plan ahead. (Download Complete Document Below)
Introduction
Concept Analysis 2
Business Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Program Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CONCEPT ANALYSIS
1 Exploring Entrepreneurship
Defining Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Discovering My Personal Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Developing My Business Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Action Step 1.1 Create My Personal Vision 30
Action Step 1.2 Develop a Business Concept Statement . . . . . . . . .34
Action Step 1.3 Evaluate a Business Concept Against My Personal Vision . . 37
2 Identifying and Meeting Market Needs
Recognizing Opportunities 42
Evaluating Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Understanding Market Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Collecting the Right Data 54
Gathering and Analyzing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Action Step 2.1 Conduct Market Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Action Step 2.2 Evaluate and Refine My Business Concept 80
3 Setting Financial Goals
Using Financial Information as a Roadmap for Success 84
Introduction to Financial Concepts 86
Screening for Financial Feasibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Business Concept Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Action Step 3.1 Estimate Start-Up Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Action Step 3.2 Evaluate My Business Concept Against My Financial Goals . 109
Action Step 3.3 Consider Potential Funding Sources . . . . . . . . . 115
Action Step 3.4 Complete My Business Concept Analysis . . . . . . . 117
BUSINESS PLANNING
4 Planning the Product/Service
Defining the Product/Service 136
Protecting the Product/Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Complying with Governmental Regulations . . . . . . . . . . 154
Starting My Business Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Action Step 4.1 Create My Product/Service Plan . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Action Step 4.2 Write My Product/Service Financial Assumptions . . . . 169
5 Researching and Analyzing the Market
Analyzing the Market 172
Industry Profile 172
Competitive Analysis 176
Market Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Setting Prices 186
Marketing Plan 194
Action Step 5.1 Create My Marketing Plan – Industry Profile 205
Action Step 5.2 Create My Marketing Plan – Competitive Analysis . . . 206
Action Step 5.3 Create My Marketing Plan – Market Analysis 207
Action Step 5.4 Create My Marketing Plan – Pricing . . . . . . . . . 208
6 Reaching the Market
Creating a Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Communicating the Brand 214
Exploring Marketing Strategies 224
Developing Sales Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Checking Marketing Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Creating a Marketing Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Action Step 6.1 Develop a Marketing Activities Schedule . . . . . . . 253
Action Step 6.2 Create My Marketing Plan – Market Penetration . . . . 255
Action Step 6.3 Write My Marketing Financial Assumptions . . . . . . 257
7 Building the Organization and Team
Choosing a Legal Form of Business 260
Managing Key Business Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
Board of Directors or Advisory Board 276
Setting Your Organizational Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Using Outside Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Action Step 7.1 Create My Management and Organization Plan . . . . 294
Action Step 7.2 Write My Management and Organization
Financial Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
8 Planning for a Profitable Business
Charting Profitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Finalizing Sales and Expense Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Creating Financial Projections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310
Assessing and Monitoring Profitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Action Step 8.1 Project Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Action Step 8.2 Project My Three-Year Income Statement . . . . . . . 326
9 Monitoring Cash Flow and Seeking Funds
Cash Is King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Cash Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Measuring Cash Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Seeking Funding Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Monitoring Ongoing Cash Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Action Step 9.1 Project My Three-Year Monthly Cash Flow Report 366
Action Step 9.2 Finalize My Financial Plan 368
10 Implementing Next Steps
Evaluating the Business Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Completing the Business Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Presenting the Business Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Implementing Next Steps 384
Thriving in Your Entrepreneurial Role 386
Action Step 10.1 Feasibility Checklist 393
Action Step 10.2 Create My Executive Summary 400
Action Step 10.3 Finish and Assemble My Plan . . . . . . . . . . . 402
Action Step 10.4 Identify Next Steps 404
Tools for the Current Economy
Assess Entrepreneurial Characteristics 413
Business Idea Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Bootstrapping Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
SWOT Analysis Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Bootstrap Your Marketing Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
A Lean, Mean Marketing Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Break-Even Analysis Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Calculate Break-Even: The Case of Midwest Lab Services 428
#InXGuide #InJClearPath