PSYC U5 DB

Review and reflect on the knowledge you have gained from this course. Based on your review and reflection, write at least 3 paragraphs (800 words) on the following:

· What were the most compelling topics learned in this course?

· How did participating in discussions help your understanding of the subject matter? Is anything still unclear that could be clarified?

· What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information?

· The main post should include at least 1 reference to research sources, and all sources should be cited using APA format.

Reading Assignment

Use the online library, the LIBRARY , to access assigned articles and book chapters.

1. Read the following articles:

· Kim, H. (n.d). A Hand Up For Start-Ups. Washington Post, The.

· Goodale, G. (2011, April 20). New social media and the 2012 election: Waaaaay beyond Facebook 2008. Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG.

2. Review Abrams,

· Chapter/Step 6-7

· Fell, D. (2010). Upstarts: how genY entrepreneurs are rocking the world of business and 8 ways you can profit from their success (Ch. 2). McGraw Hill.

· Ryan, D., & Jones, C. (2009). Understanding digital marketing. (Ch. 7). Kogan Page.

 Read these articles online:

· Byers, T., Kist, H., & Sutton, R. I. (1997). Characteristics of the entrepreneur: Social creatures, not solo heroes. In Dorf, R. (Ed.), The Handbook of Technology Management., Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/class/e140/e140a/content/Characteristics.html .

· Bianchi, A. (1993, May 1). Who's most likely to go it alone? Inc. Magazine .

Assignment Objectives

· Recognize the behavior attributes of those who become entrepreneurs

· Distinguish between the thought process and mindset of successful entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs

· Describe the dynamics of unleashing innovation and creativity

· Identify characteristics of entrepreneurs who recognize and seize business opportunities and new ventures

Preparing a business plan is a lengthy project that takes time, effort, and careful systematic research. It is useful to bounce ideas off of other people and industry experts. The business plan should look professional and organized, and it should be written in clear language. It should answer questions such as the following:

· Executive summary: This features the highlights of your plan and sells the business idea in 2 pages or less.

· Company summary: This is a description of the company objectives, the ownership, and any history related to the company.

· Products: What are you selling? How will the product be developed?

· Market analysis: This provides a description and an analysis of your target market, your competitors, and your industry.

· Strategy and implementation: This describes your development strategy, your growth strategy, and your marketing strategy. This section will also detail time lines and milestones.

· Management summary: This details background on the management team.

· Financial forecasting: This contains key financial statements and projections.

At the end of the day, the business plan will be the first marketing tool for the new business venture. It is a prepared document that can be presented to potential investors, lenders, and partners. It is a document that will help guide the business through operation, and it should be maintained and updated even after the business venture is well and thriving.

The Executive Summary

The executive summary is a formal version of the business proposal, and it should include answers to the following questions:

· What is the business venture?

· What separates this business from its competitors?

· What are the major marketing points and keywords?

· Where will the business be located?

· What will be the legal form of ownership be?

· Who will fund the new venture?

The executive summary should be concise and many advise keeping the executive summary limited to one page. In essence, an executive summary is a resume for a new business venture, often written after the business plan is devised and often placed as the first page of the business plan.

The Company Summary

You have to learn to crawl before you can walk, and you must master walking before you can run. As an entrepreneur, if you are not able to describe your business venture, you will find very few supporters. As a small business developer, you need all of the help that you can get.

A lot of importance is placed on a name. Think about the stress involved in naming a child, or even a pet. People frequently run through several names before finally settling on one, and it will be no different for a business. It may take some brainstorming to come up with a name, and there is really only one requirement: it should accurately reflect the business.

Products

It may seem obvious, but it is crucial for a business plan to detail the product. What is the good or service that the business is selling? Will there be research and development involved? In some cases, this may be one of the most important elements in a business plan, whereas in others, this element may be almost unnecessary. Generally, if the new venture involves a new service or a new product, it will be important to detail the following:

· Explain how the product will be designed and manufactured.

· Describe how much it will cost to do so.

· List where the facilities are located.

· Discuss what the legal issues may be.

In some cases, such as a restaurant, it may seem unnecessary to go into too much detail, but some thought should always be given to this portion of the business plan.

Market Analysis

Understanding and describing the marketplace is one of the most vital aspects of developing a business plan for a successful venture. The marketing portion of the business plan will address the following two things:

· Who are the customers?

· How will the business reach them?

It will seem easy to figure out who the customer will be, but an entrepreneur will also have to know where they live, what disposable income they have, what they spend their money on, how old they are, how educated they are, and any other tendencies that are relevant to the business. There may be one core consumer base with several smaller consumer segments. For example, the core consumer base might be young professionals who are college educated and with no children. A smaller consumer segment might be empty-nesters who are college educated and who have disposable income.

In addition to gaining a clear understanding of the target market, the entrepreneur should have an excellent idea of who the competitors are. Conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis (SWOT) is an effective way to understand who the competitors are and how they differ from one another. The following is an example of a SWOT analysis that was created for a meal delivery venture.

Once you understand your target audience and who the competitors are, the entrepreneur can think about how to reach the consumer. Designing an effective marketing strategy is an important part of the business plan.

Strategy and Implantation

Critical risks

It is impossible for any new business venture to come to life without any associated risks. Analyzing the risks and offering solutions will not only prepare the business developer but reassure potential investors and lenders that the entrepreneur had thought through the business venture in detail. It will be impossible to predict every situation, but the business developer should be able to answer several of the following key questions for themselves and for investors or lenders:

· How will the competitors react once you enter the market? Will they change their business strategies?

· What are some negative industry trends?

· What happens to the business venture if it fails to achieve the projected sales?

Thinking about any critical risks will help the entrepreneur overcome any obstacles that he or she might face as the business venture comes to life.

Location

The exact location may not be known, but in the very least, the business developer must think about the needs of the business. He or she should be able to answer the following questions:

· Will the location be built, owned, or leased?

· What type of facility will be needed (building, storage, etc.)?

· What kind of equipment will the business need?

If the entrepreneur cannot give an exact address, he or she should include research into facilities and locations that potentially meet the needs of the business venture.

Milestone Schedule

This element of the business plan will describe certain business objectives that should be met within a certain period of time. Milestones are essentially deadlines that the business venture is required to meet.

Management Summary

In the likely event that lenders and investors need to be involved in the business venture, knowing the key players can be important. If a lender or investor has confidence in the people who are managing the business, he or she is more likely to give the entrepreneur money. Consider the following:

· What will the compensation structure look like for key managerial staff?

· What is the form of business ownership and how will that affect the managerial staff?

Descriptions of key positions, bios, and resumes should all be included.

Financial Forecasting

Creating the budget for a new business venture is essential to understanding the feasibility of the business strategy. A business developer will have to know the following from the start:

· Whether the product fits with the target market

· Whether the consumer will purchase the product or service

· How much it will take to make the product

· How much it will take to maintain the location and the equipment

· How much is needed to compensate employees

· How much should be saved for miscellaneous taxes and other fees

Unless the business developer has an excellent grasp of accounting, it is useful to meet with an accountant because he or she is often aware of some of the hidden costs and some of the real costs that it might take to run a business. The entrepreneur will have to understand the following:

· Project inventory

· Depreciating values

· Amortization of cost

· Projected sales (often at several price points)

· Taxation

· Understand pro forma financial statements such as balance sheets, cash flow, income statements, and profit and loss statements

Financial forecasting can be intimidating and can feel a bit like pulling a rabbit out of a hat; however, the business developer should be able to convince everybody involved (especially lenders and investors) that they know the following:

· Where the break-even point is located

· What it takes to get there

· What will happen if the business does not meet the break-even point

· How they can exceed the break-even point

The concept of success in business is an interesting one. The primary goal of any business is to be profitable. That is to say, the business is in operation to pay its bills, pay its employees, and ultimately have some money left over to pay the owners.

The simple equation for profit is as follows:

Revenue – Expenses = Profit

The revenue is all of the income that is generated by the sales. For instance, imagine a restaurant as the operation. The revenue is generated through food sales and beverage sales. The food sales can be on-site, takeaway, or even off-site catering. Beverage sales are generated through sodas, specialty waters, teas, coffee, beer, wine, and other alcohol. Management’s responsibility is to generate as many sales as possible. Marketing, public relations, and promotions are means of increasing revenues.

Expenses are all of the bills that must be paid. There are fixed costs like rent, utilities, and insurance. There are variable costs like food and labor. Again, it is management’s responsibility to control the costs associated with operating the business. Many of the fixed costs are not controllable. For example, rent is a standard, fixed amount that must be paid every month. The only time to control or adjust rent is when the lease is up for negotiation. Labor and food are variable costs, and they are highly controllable. Proper scheduling, overtime control, and flexing all control labor costs. For food, the cost-control cycle helps to control overall costs by monitoring practices and quality along the way.

The resulting difference between sales and expenses is the profit. Profit is the money that is used to pay the owners of the operation as well as reinvest in the business itself. At the end of the month, if there is money left over (a net profit), then there is an opportunity to buy new equipment like stoves or chairs for the dining room. Profit is the result of solid planning and attentive management; it is not as easy to achieve as it sounds.

Another way to look at profit is to plan for it. Another equation that management might use is planning based on desired profit, as follows:

Revenue – Desired Profit = Ideal Expenses

As seen, this management equation plans for the profit. As such, the expenses are controlled to achieve the desired expense outcome. The above equation states that profit is a desired outcome and, as such, there can only be so much spent in expenses to assure that profit is achieved.

Measuring and Tracking Operational Success

Measuring and tracking is the key to success. Proper management procedure—planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing, supervising, and evaluating—provide the means of achieving the desired outcomes. This process is fluid and cyclical. Once a program is implemented and evaluated for success, then new planning can occur for future needs. These new strategies are then implemented and evaluated and the cycle continues. This is basis of the management process and management’s responsibility in operating a successful facility.

Control of an Operation

Control, in its simplest sense, is a series of activities that are undertaken to help managers monitor the results of the operation. Control is management’s job. Control is the process of assessing and reacting to the business conditions that occur.

During the day, labor costs can be controlled by flexing staff. If the day is slow, management must assess if all the staff scheduled to work are needed. If not, then some can be given the remainder of the day off. There may be times when there are special projects that need to be completed. Again, it is management’s job to move the appropriate number of staff onto the project while maintaining the overall quality of service.

In Hospitality organizations, one is concerned with the following four basic costs to control:

· Food Costs: Food costs are the costs of the food that is produced and sold on the menu.

· Beverage Costs: Beverage costs are the drink items that are produced and sold in the facility. Most organizations focus this control solely on alcoholic beverages. Often, coffee and tea are lumped into food costs. In focusing on alcohol, beer, wine, spirits, and the items to create cocktails (like cherries, mixers, and olives) are part of this expense category.

· Labor Costs: Labor costs are the cost of the employees that work in an operation. This includes front of the house, back of the house, and management. This category also usually includes all payroll taxes that are incurred by the business as well.

· Miscellaneous Expenses: Miscellaneous expenses are any other bills or expenses the business incurs that are not related to labor, beverages, or food. This can be items like china, silverware, glasses, and linens. This can also be items like rent, utilities, and franchise fees.

When planning a social media marketing campaign, you should define the target market. Knowledge of the target market should dictate what to do with the campaign. In defining prospects and target markets, ask how likely they are to be interested in what is being offered. Next, what should be achieved with the campaign?

The social media used should complement each other. If awareness is increased by means of video or blogging, more people should start linking to you. The main goals are further explained as follows (Maki, 2007):

· Brand awareness can be increased by having products shown or talked about through various channels.

· A company or personal reputation can be managed by monitoring what is being said online. Online forums and blogs are rich grounds for feedback.

· Search engine rankings can be improved by gaining more links through social networking.

· Relevant visitor traffic can be increased through social media sites that revolve around certain topics, thereby attracting the people with interests in those specific topics.

· Sales for a product or service can be improved by building relationships with customers. Customers may be more likely to bond and trust through social media they do not see as paid advertising.

Marketing Campaign Step 1: Define goals and objectives.

Although an overall goal might be reputation management, one would list several objectives as bench markers for the goal being achieved. Once objectives are defined, it is easier to select a social media type for the marketing objective.

Marketing Campaign Step 2: Define your target market.

The following questions will help with this determination (Maki, 2007):

· Who is likely to be most interested in my content?

· Whom do I want to communicate with, and why?

· What kind of audience does this social community have?

· What are people currently saying about my Web site or business?

· Which type of person is likely to purchase my product or service?

· What tools or online services does my target audience use?

· Which Web sites does my target audience frequent on the net?

· What do members of my target audience have in common with each other?

Considerations for a Social Media Marketing Campaign

Results will not be immediate. It takes time to forge ongoing relationships. Once formed, those relationships can continue to provide brand awareness, spread word of mouth, and bring new links. Another limitation is that many people still do not use social media. There are some products and services in which much of the target market will not yet engage in social media. Therefore, social media campaigns should never stand alone; they should run alongside traditional campaigns.

Brand Spiraling

Before the Internet was so integrated into marketing, a television commercial was just a television commercial. All of the content needed to be delivered in a memorable format within 30 seconds. Today, many television commercials exist to drive consumers to the Internet for more product information. Current successful TV campaigns have asked consumers to go to the company Web site to vote for characters or enter contests. In essence, the commercial does not end after 30 seconds. A commercial that can get the viewer to take action and participate in any sort of product engagement is an example of brand spiraling. Essentially, you should use traditional and online media to support each other. Use the Web site to engage and inform the consumer.

Reference

Maki. (2007, November 23). Social media marketing campaigns: How to set goals and define your target market. Retrieved from the Dosh Dosh Web site: http://www.doshdosh.net/social-media/social-media-marketing-campaigns-setting-goals-defining-prospects/

For some aspiring entrepreneurs, a new and exciting venture is the only viable route to fame and fortune, as well as the only way to make your mark in the world (Landrum, 2012). However, the majority of entrepreneurs are motivated by other factors.

Unlike many other workers, money is not a huge motivator for most entrepreneurs. "For them, money is an important tool and key to building an empire, but it pales in comparison to the larger issues of people, products, promotion, and perfect market penetration" (Landrum, 2012). The work they do is driven by the passion they feel for it. For a true entrepreneur, there is nothing more fulfilling than having the chance to make a difference (Landrum, 2012).

In addition to passion, many entrepreneurs are motivated by the desire to be their own boss. For those with an entrepreneurial spirit, working for others is commonly seen as negative and unfulfilling. (Landrum, 2012)

"The one absolute about the impassioned entrepreneur is that they can't wait to get to work in the morning and often refuse to leave at night...no matter how high people rise in a corporate organization, few can say they look forward to going to work in the morning" (Landrum, 2012). Countless examples of entrepreneurs who refuse to leave their project sites and workshops exist, and "the same can be said of virtually every successful entrepreneur in the world" (Landrum, 2012).

In the Myers-Briggs personality test, a Jungian-based analysis of what lies behind peoples' motivations and decisions, the Promethean personality, or an intuitive thinker who sees the big picture and deals with his or her vision very rationally, is the optimal personality type to be an entrepreneur. Gene Landrum, well-known entrepreneur and author of Entrepreneurial genius: The power of passion, analyzed 13 great entrepreneurs and discovered that each of these successful entrepreneurs, while excelling in different disciplines, were Promethean personalities (2003).

References

Landrum, G. N. (2003). Entrepreneurial genius: The power of passion. Naples, FL: Brendan Kelly.

Landrum, G. N. (2012, November 22). Entrepreneurial genius – A passionate endeavor. Retrieved from the Entrepreneurs' Express Web site: http://www.collegeforentrepreneurship.com/express/index.php/entrepreneurship-a-passionate-endeavor/

International Entrepreneurship

The successful entrepreneurial effort takes a wide variety of skills, attitudes, and attributes, including vision, perseverance, ability to plan and carry out those plans, salesmanship, learning what potential customers need, people knowledge, being in the right place at the right time, and sufficient financing. Of course, the most critical requirement is money. Domestic or local success often creates an interest in new ways to profit. It may prompt the entrepreneur to consider entry into the international marketplace. Success in this marketplace comes from application of the aforementioned characteristics to some very different situations. The entrepreneur must understand that customer needs and wants, as well as methods of servicing them, often vary between marketplaces. Careful, customized research creates the foundation for success in foreign markets.

Government and Entrepreneurship

Knowledge of the legal environment of business is as important as any other factor in business. For entrepreneurs, it is especially important to have a basic understanding of business laws and government regulation because they are the major functionary in their business. As such, they often interact directly with other individuals in an atmosphere that is filled with suspicion and distrust. Entrepreneurs must know the basic facts concerning contracts and financial instruments according to existing business law. This knowledge is essential not only to secure agreements but also to avoid crippling and sometimes devastating lawsuits.