MBA 622 Business Planning and Entrepreneurship

Spring 2007

Schedule

Syllabus

Instructor Information  
 

Course Objectives

With a unique blend of Marketing and Finance, this course takes students through the entire process of conceiving and planning a business start-up. The semester-long business planning project serves as the framework around which all of the instruction is based. The final business plan encompasses all of the necessary components to launch a successful and financially viable business. 

While the business plan project serves as an important element in the application and integration of the topics included in this course, coverage includes material and concepts that are not directly associated with the business plan.

This course provides advanced analysis and decision making concepts, tools, and techniques to be applied in a real business setting. Topics include marketing and financial analysis, competitive strategy and pricing, sales and growth forecasting, distribution of goods and services, cash budgeting and forecasting, short and long-term financial planning, and traditional and venture capital. The effective use of communication and other electronic technology is integrated throughout the course and is an important aspect of the business plan project. Assignments and the business plan project also emphasize written and oral communication to a large extent.

Required Materials

	Corporate Finance Smart, Megginson, and Gitman Thompson/Southwestern Publishing (2003) This was your book for MBA 611
	Writing a Convincing Business Plan DeThomas and Grensing-Pophal Barron's Publishing (2nd Edition) ISBN 0-7641-1399-2 Link to Amazon.com
	Everything from MBA 611 that ←THIS GUY tried to teach you. (All of it.)

Other materials will be provided as needed. You will make extensive use of BusinessWeek and the internet.

General Information
 

Class Time: Class time will be devoted to highlighting important material, demonstrating problem-solving techniques, and discussing important issues. It is assumed that you have read the assigned material carefully and completed all other assignments BEFORE class. Failure to do so will place you at a severe disadvantage to those who have. In-class discussions are an integral part of the learning environment for this class. Frequent and informed participation is expected.

This class is scheduled to meet from 2:00 - 4:30 Wednesdays. Therefore, you should plan your time as if the class ending time is 5:00 PM and avoid commitments that would require you to leave before 5:00 PM.

Attendance: Attendance does not directly affect your grade. If you have an occasional absence, it won't be a problem as long as you keep up with the work. Attendance is required for the Business Plan Project presentations and for any guest speakers.

Exams: Exams are designed to test your understanding of facts, concepts, and problem-solving methods. They are NOT designed to test your ability to memorize. Your score will depend very little on your ability to memorize and very heavily on your ability to relate a few fundamental concepts and procedures to practical business situations. Your ability to perform well on exams will require a large amount of preparation involving EXTENSIVE individual or group practice on problems and examples.

Assignment Submission: All assignments must be handed in at the stated time and in the stated form or they will automatically receive a grade of zero. Late assignments are not acceptable. It is your responsibility to retain a copy of all assignments should any questions arise later concerning that assignment.

Business Plan Project

The business plan project will form the centerpiece and unifying theme for the course. You, along with your group members, will conceive a new business venture and plan for its marketing and financial strategies as well as all other aspects of the business. The project will involve research, data gathering, analysis, and preparation of a professional-quality business plan at the end of the semester. Graded assignments associated with this project will include computer and written work as well as the final presentation. You will work in team of four for this project, but one or two teams will need to have five members. The teams with 5 members will be held to significantly higher standards to reflect their 25% advantage in work capacity.

Project Objectives and Intended Outcomes:

The business plan project is intended to foster the following learning objectives and outcomes:

• Gain extensive experience in business planning
• Challenge your resourcefulness
• Exercise your powers of innovation and creativity
• Gain an understanding of what "professional-quality output" means
• Improve your writing/revision skills
• Improve your critical thinking skills
• Improve your risk analysis skills
• Improve your research skills
• Improve your presentation and communication skills
• Improve your ability to think globally

Group Structure:

The structure of your group (roles and responsibilities) is your choice. However, you need to agree upon a group structure and commit it to writing. This agreement must document the job descriptions and range of responsibilities for each group member. The agreement must also include the conditions under which a group member can be "fired" and the progressive procedures that would precede such action. This agreement must be approved and signed by all members of the group and submitted to the class leaders. Note that if a person is "fired" from a group, he or she will be required to complete a business plan by himself or herself to fulfill the requirements of the course, and the plan will be graded on the same criteria as the plans from all other groups.

Necessary Elements of the Venture:

Your business must possess the following characteristics:

1. It must be realistic and feasible in the current business environment.
2. It cannot be a financial company per se (not a bank or a loan company).
3. It must have a highly significant internet component but does not have to be completely internet based.
4. It cannot be a franchisee, but can have the potential to become a franchisor.
5. It must have a physical location and physical assets in the USA.
6. It must be chartered in the USA (any state).
7. It cannot be located in Lafayette County, Mississippi, unless it is an on-line business venture.
8. It must make a reasonable income for the founders (you) within a reasonable period of time (3 years). Reasonable means that you can live on what you make from the business at something more than the catsup soup/ramen noodle level -- more like what a would be expected of a professional with an MBA.
9. It must have the realistic potential to be cash-flow positive and profitable within 3 years.
10. It must employ at least one person other than the founders on a full-time basis sometime in the first year of operation.
11. The founders must have a personal financial stake and take on personal financial risk.
12. Financing must be realistic based on the actual personal connections of the founders and other likely sources of funding. Outlandish claims for capital availability will require justification.
13. It must have long-term growth and expansion potential commensurate with the financing sources that are specified in the business plan.

The grade on the project will be substantially influenced by the originality, innovativeness and scalability of the concept.

Progressive Creation:

The business plan is a semester-long project that will require immediate and continuous work throughout the entire 15 weeks of the semester. To help keep you on track for successful completion of the project, there will be many assignments due throughout the semester. These assignments and their deadlines will be noted on the schedule page, but in general will include the following:

• Create and submit a description of your group structure, roles and responsibilities, and "how to get yourself fired."
• Conceive and select TWO business ideas with mission statements and general descriptions of the product/service to be offered and a reasonable discussion of how each business will meet ALL of the required criteria for the project.
• Based on feedback received from the instructors, select one of the two businesses to form the basis for your business plan.
• Submit an industry analysis
• Submit a market analysis, plan, and sales forecast
• Submit a cash budget
• Submit pro-forma financial statements (Excel spreadsheet model) that are integrated with the cash budget.

Note that grades will not be given on the individual submissions, since the final project is the only "deliverable" for the project. However, penalty points will be assigned to the project for late submissions, inadequate or poorly prepared submissions, or lack of submissions. The instructors will provide written feedback on the submissions so that improvements can be made in the final product.

Confidentiality:

All ideas and concepts associated with the ventures undertaken by you and your classmates are deemed to be confidential and proprietary to the members of the group. All class members will sign legally binding confidentiality statements at the beginning of the semester.

Business Plan Write-Up:

Your primary deliverable for the project is a professional-quality business plan. The content of your plan should contain the elements presented in Writing a Convincing Business Plan, but that book is meant as a guide -- not as a carved-in-stone formula. Personalization and customization of your plan is strongly encouraged.

Presentation:

At the end of the semester, your group will deliver a formal professional-quality presentation to the class that summarizes your business plan. You will have a limited time to make your presentation, so it will need to be concise and well-rehearsed. Your presentation will be graded by your classmates and your instructors.

Co-Member Evaluation:

Team members will evaluate each other according to the method described here: Group Member Evaluation Procedure

Gillespie Business Plan Competition:

All teams will be required to participate in the 2nd Annual Gillespie Business Plan competition, which will be held in late April on the Ole Miss campus. Two $5,000 prizes will be awarded -- one for the best business plan and one for the best business concept. Details on this competition will be provided as soon as they are available.

Table of Contents

Grading Policy

Points will be assigned based on your performance on exams and all assignments associated with the Business Plan Project as shown below:

Grades will be assigned according to a straight scale: 90%=A, 80%=B, 70%=C, 60%=D, less than 60%=F

Tests are graded on a curve. Final grades are not curved. The class leaders believe in challenging students to reach beyond the minimum and to aim for the highest possible achievement. This means we give hard tests, but grade them fairly. 

Famous quotes from Dr. Hawley: 

• "You can't learn to jump the high hurdles in life by practicing on toothpicks." 

• "D's and F's are available to those who work for them."

• "Education is not something that somebody does to you. It is something you do for yourself."

Famous quotes from Dr. Sloan: 

• "The future is digital and global." 

• "If you work way harder than you ever thought you could, you'll get half done."

• "Sleep is for sissies and undergraduates."
  

Policy for Make-Up Exams

Make-up exams will be given ONLY under one of the following conditions:

1. You have obtained WRITTEN permission to miss the exam prior to the scheduled time.
2.  You are suddenly taken ill prior to the exam, in which case you must:

1. notify a class leader of your problem at least TWO HOURS prior to the exam, and
2. obtain proof that you saw a physician or nurse PRIOR to the exam time.

3. You must attend to an emergency family situation, in which case you must:

1. notify a class leader of your problem at least TWO HOURS prior to the exam, and
2. obtain reasonable documentation to support the existence of your situation.