Whether starting a business or growing the one you have, a business plan serves as a roadmap and can help secure needed funding. In this course, you evaluate the many aspects and potential hurdles of the business and build the Business Plan, one step at a time.
This practical, hands-on approach encourages you to immerse yourself in the vision and planning aspects of your business. Focusing on the most critical components of the Business Plan enables you to uncover hidden risks and assess the business from a marketing, management, and financial vantage point.
CEUs/ILUs: 1.6
Length (in hours): 16
Price: $195.00
NBDA Member Price: $165.00
Agenda
Unit 1
Getting Started—Refine your concept and begin your plan
Prepare your concept statement—What, Who, Why, When, and How.
Identify product/service features and benefits.
Identify limitation, liabilities, and regulations.
Write your Business Description and evaluate it against a Business Description checklist.
Unit 2
Prepare the Marketing Plan
Conduct an industry and competitive analysis.
Perform a market analysis and identify target markets and a market penetration strategy.
Identify your pricing strategy.
Write your Marketing Plan and evaluate it against a Marketing Plan checklist.
Unit 3
Prepare the Management and Financial Plans
Identify key people and positions, duties and responsibilities.
Determine funding needs and sources.
Create sales and expense estimates.
Write your Management and Financial Plans and evaluate them against checklists.
Unit 4
Complete the Business Plan and Assess Business Feasibility
Polish the plan and add final elements—Cover Page, Executive Summary, Table of Contents.
Evaluate business plan against checklist and identify items in need of additional work.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will:
Possess a clear description of your proposed business.
Have the basic components of a business plan.
Possess a detailed checklist for next steps to research and launch your business.
Analyze the feasibility of your business.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to:
Write a clear, succinct business concept statement.
Conduct research on your business and its relation to the industry, competition, and marketplace.
Project funding requirements, sales, and expenses for your business.
Research, develop, and write core elements of a business plan, which you can continue to expand and research after the conclusion of the course.
Evaluate your business for feasibility.
About Online Learning
Online learning is a fun, enjoyable and very productive way to learn. Millions of people are learning online each year. You will engage with the instructor and other participants. You will get to know your instructor and other participants. You may make friends. It’s easy. It’s fun.
How the Certificate Works
It is easy to participate in your online course. After you register, you will be given a web address to go to get into your online classroom. You will have a password and use your email address and password to gain access.
Once inside the online classroom, here’s what you can expect.
What You Will Do
For each Unit, you will:
Access the online readings
Listen to the audio presentation for the Unit and view the slides
Take a self-quiz to see how much you have learned
Engage in written online discussion with your instructor and other participants
For best learning, you should make one or more comments at 2-3 different times each day.
The content (readings, audio lectures, slides) and self-quizzes are accessible for the entire course, so you can work ahead, or go back and review again, at your convenience.
Participate When You Want
You can participate any time of day or evening. The online classroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are no live real-time requirements or meetings. You decide when you participate.
For the best learning, participants should log into the course on 2-3 different days of the week.
Discussion
The Discussion for each Unit lasts one week. All comments are made in writing and can be made at any time of the day or night.
Your instructor will log into the Discussion area at least once a day and answer questions, make comments, and respond to comments by you and the other participants.
We encourage you to make 2-3 comments each day to maximize your learning and enjoyment of the course.
Mary Beth Izard is an entrepreneur, author, consultant and professor emeritus of entrepreneurship and has over 25 years working with entrepreneurs to start businesses. She specializes in entrepreneurship curriculum and has been a scholar-in-residence and consultant to the Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation in the U. S., if not the world, devoted to entrepreneurship. She was on the curriculum development team for Kauffman’s college course, Planning the Entrepreneurial Venture, and its nationally recognized FastTrac® programs. She is the author of BoomerPreneurs: How Baby Boomers Can Start Their Own Business, Make Money and Enjoy Life and the college textbook, Opportunity Analysis, Business Ideas: Identification and Evaluation. She has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
As non-credit, in which case you can participate as little or as much as you like;
For completion and recognition, in which case here are the completion requirements.
These Completion Requirements apply if you are taking our online course or certificate for any of the following recognition:
Certificate
CEUs and/or International Learning Units (ILUs)
Certification
Requirements
Make at least one comment every week in the discussion
The comment should show thought and be more substantive than just “Yes, I agree.” There is no length required for comments.
Replies to other comments, responses to other participants, count as comments (in most cases your instructor values replies and responses as comments).
Questions and online discussion facilitative comments also count as well as long as there is some thought to them.
Take every Unit self-quiz
Take every Unit self-quiz for the course and get at least 80% score.
You may retake any self-quiz as often as you need to get to the 80% level.
Completion timeline
The requirements should be done by the last day of the course.
Individual instructors may extend the deadline upon request.
If, for any reason, you are not able to complete the requirements during the course, we are pleased to provide you with our Course Transfer Option.
You may retake any or all of the same online course at a future offering within the next 12 months, and you can do so at no extra cost.
Recognition awarded
For individual courses, a PDF transcript is issued showing completion.
For certificates and certification, a PDF certificate is issued showing completion.
If you need further assistance with your class or are looking for an individual to contact within the LERN organization, visit the Contact Us page on the LERN website.
