Owning and Operating a Small Business (subject to change)
Instructor: Thomas Schuett http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~tschuett
Office Hours: By Appointment (see below for details)
Telephone: 480-987-3798 Office location: To Be Arranged
e-mail: Use the mail function on the course Title Page tschuett@mail.mc.maricopa.edu (alternate)
Textbook: Start, Run & Grow A Successful Small Business (4th Edition), Susan M. Jacksack
Supplemental Resource: Entrepreneur’s Edge 2004 published by AZ Department of Commerce
(available by download at http://www.azcommerce.com/SmallBus/Default.asp )
Course Description: Starting, organizing, and operating a small business, including location, finance management processes, advertisement and promotion, credit, inventory control and ethics. Prerequisites: None.
Course Competencies
- Conduct a self-analysis to determine if one has the personal qualities essential for owning and operating a small business.
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various types of business ownership.
- Use problem-solving methods in determining the course of action to follow in starting and operating a small business.
- Identify and explain laws and regulations that affect the small business owner.
- Describe the characteristics of various types of business locations.
- Compare management styles and practices to determine effectiveness.
- Explain the various considerations that must go into establishing a price for a product or service.
- Compare and contrast methods for promoting a business, product, or service.
- Describe various types of inventory control methods.
- Describe different types of costs, and calculate break-even.
- Describe the challenge of ethics in small business, and define codes of conduct for businesses.
- Read and interpret financial statements.
- Identify different sources of debt capital, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Compare financial ratios between similar businesses.
- Create a comprehensive business plan.
Course Design
It is important for you as a small business owner (or potential owner) to develop a sense for the entire business operation. Together, we will attempt to accomplish this through a series of practical homework assignments that will contribute to the clarification of good business practices and the development of the initial stage of a comprehensive business plan and the accompanying documents that will support an effective business enterprise. These activities will attempt to provide an effective background for the establishment of your business venture.
Note: Some students plan to start their business right away. Others are doing background and preparation work now for a possible future venture. Still others take this course as a requirement or for general interest. Regardless of your personal motivation, the course work must all be completed as with any college-level class. It is not acceptable to claim, “Oh, I’m not really going to start this business, so I don’t have to do this work...” If you want credit for the course, you MUST do all the work it involves. If you get stuck, CALL ME at 480-987-3798 so we can work it out. In some cases, collecting actual data may be prohibitively costly or time-consuming, so it might be possible to detail your work plan through which you would actually get the data you need. It is NOT acceptable to just ignore the required work because it is inconvenient, challenging, or (from your point of view) not immediately rewarding. Since this is a college-level class on how to start and run a small business, you must demonstrate a level of understanding and proficiency in the subject to earn credit for it.
Element 1: Projects
Your research and documentation efforts will include the following projects:
- Business Infrastructure: Description of the Product or Service Business
- Target Market Analysis (who will be your preferred buyer?)
- Competitive Analysis (who will you compete against for their business?)
- Location Analysis (where will you do business from?)
- Marketing Approach / Pricing (how will you communicate with your intended customers?
How will you price your offering?)
- SWOT Analysis (strategic planning: your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
- Operational Controls (how will you run your operation?)
- Management Audit (who will run the operation? What are their strengths and weaknesses?)
- Target Market Revenue Projection (what will your revenue projections look like?)
- Cash Flow Projection (how will cash move into and out of your business?)
- Income Statement (will you make any money?)
- Balance Sheet (will your business be worth anything?)
- Financial Plan (what is your business capitalization structure / how will the business be financed?)
- Comprehensive Business Plan
Element 2: Study Quizzes
In addition to the above activities, (just to help you focus your reading) there will be a short Study Quiz each week to guide your reading for each lesson.
Element 3: Entrepreneur Interviews
To help you gain insight into successful entrepreneurial ventures, you may be asked to interview successful small business owners.
(See Interview Guide on line for details and instructions.)
Element 4: Business Plan
There will be no final exam. Instead, you will submit a draft of a Comprehensive Business Plan for your chosen business. Please notice that the above assignments will contribute heavily to and are a primary resource for the construction of this major effort.
Grading:
Points will be assigned for various aspects of the course. The points available for each aspect may vary from section to section and internet vs. classroom.
Things You Need To Know:
- Email Address — Send ALL email correspondence to me through the mail function on the course web page. As an alternate only you may use: tschuett@mail.mc.maricopa.edu. I do not check the MCC email account regularly. It is much more expedient if you send messages through the course mail facility.
- Personal Meetings — As we progress through the course, it may be helpful to you for us to meet in person or to talk things over on the phone. I am willing and eager to make arrangements for this to happen. As an Adjunct Faculty, I do not have an office on campus. Generally, we can meet in the Library. If that does not work for you, please let me know at 480-987-3798 or by email and we can make arrangements to suit your schedule.
- Business Development — This course requires you to develop a business plan for a specific business. You should think about your choice carefully because once you begin, you may not change your choice — you are committing to the one business you begin with. Even if your circumstances change or if you decide not to pursue this particular business, you must complete the course work with the exact same business you started with. No changes mid-stream!
- Identify yourself on work you submit — It is surprising how frequently I receive work, either electronic as an attachment, or dropped off on campus with no name attached to the paper. You can imagine how confusing and difficult it is to try to track down anonymous submissions. Because of the extremely high time requirements to do that, I no longer even try. So for EVERY submission you send directly to me as an e-mail attachment, include:
- Your Name
- Your Business Name
- The Project Name
- The Submission Date
Without this information, your submission will not be graded — and you probably won’t even know it until you try to check on your score for the project and don’t see anything posted... Also, please keep the same name throughout the course. Even if you change your name this term (get married...), please use the name you started with in your communications with me. That’s the one on your enrollment and on your student records. (Please don’t confuse me without an explanation!)
- Use YOUR NAME and a class-related TOPIC in the SUBJECT line of your e-mail message. If I don’t see a SUBJECT I recognize, I may assume it is spam and could delete the e-mail message without ever opening it.
NOTE: For every time I have to remind a student of these basic guidelines, it may cost five (5) points off that assignment! Please pay attention to these rules and follow them rigorously!
- Keep up with the schedule — Try to avoid falling behind; it’s hard to catch up, and you lose points. Also, it’s not usually a good idea to work too far ahead because I won’t read/grade papers until their due date, and you will not get the benefit of my comments and critique.
- Communicate, communicate, and communicate! — This electronic class format can be somewhat harder on individuals than an in-person class because you don’t get to know any classmates, and we don’t get to know each other. The only way to ensure that you get everything you want from the course is by letting me know what’s on your mind — your questions, your confusion, your radical new ideas... It’s always best to send me an email, but call any time you feel the need to do so and I’ll try to respond within 24 hours. Don’t sit and stew over a project and beat yourself up! Let me know what’s up so we can work it out together — that’s why instructors exist!
- Lesson Support (internet sections) — Read your “Lesson Support Message” each week to introduce the week’s project and discuss its content. There will often be referrals / links to outside resources — there’s a large world of support and assistance for you on the web — almost all for free! Take advantage of it!
- Technology / Software Required — Due to the electronic structure of this course, you will need to use the following software (both PC and Mac platforms are supported):
- PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer
- Microsoft Word (word processor) (NO alternates or substitutes are acceptable!)
- Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet)
- How to do the work of this course —
- Your Projects are available on line. You will need to download then SAVE the attachment in a place where you can navigate back to it easily.
- Use a FILE NAME which includes YOUR NAME and the Assignment title (Example: Schuett Infrastructure.doc). After you have saved it, go back into it and enter your responses to the questions. In all except the financial statements, the questions will have a box (a 1-cell table) for you to enter your response.
- PLEASE DO NOT change the structure of this work! Don’t get creative and try to “cut & paste” into an e-mail format. Don’t convert to WordPerfect. Just enter your responses in the space provided. Then SAVE. When you are satisfied with your response, create an e-mail to me using the course function and attach your project. (That’s why it is SO important that you include your NAME in the file name. Can you imagine receiving 20 different attachments all named “Income Statement”? Please help me keep your data sorted so you can receive all the credit you deserve!)
- Participation / Attendance — Active and continuous participation in this course is vital to your success. The only methods I have to track your attendance are (1) receipt of your Study Quizzes and your Projects, and (2) the on-line student tracking system which records when you have logged into the on-line course. I will monitor both of these information sources, and will drop without further notice any student who has not participated actively in the course for any consecutive two weeks. If you need to be away or otherwise absent from the course for any extended period of time, notify me in advance so we can make arrangements for you. Otherwise, I will drop students who do not keep up with the course work.
NOTE: Last day for withdrawal without Instructor’s Signature: Call registrar, 480-461-7659.
Last day for student-Initiated Withdrawal: Call registrar, 480-467-7659.
- Intention of the course — The overall purpose of this course is to help you write a comprehensive Business Plan for your chosen venture. This requires you to have a venture in mind to work on. It may be a service business, manufacturing, wholesale, retail or any other commercial business. We have had a number of individuals who worked on non-profit ventures, too. Of course, not every discussion point will apply equally to every venture. Accordingly, there are several versions of some of the Projects, and you should work on one that (hopefully!) applies to your specific enterprise. Please check with me if you are confused by the assignment – we may need to customize some of the work to accommodate a variety of interests. The end product should be the same, though. Every venture, both for profit and non-profit, still needs a comprehensive business and financial plan. This course should help you achieve that end.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES:
- Distance learning is not for everyone. It requires self-motivation, individual research, computer skills and the discipline to complete quizzes and projects without oversight.
- The syllabus and calendar are your governing documents, but either may change without notice due to the nature of the material, students, instructor, technology or unforeseen circumstances. The instructor will make every effort to communicate significant changes in advance.
- Academic honesty and integrity is expected. Identification of infractions and disciplinary actions will be guided by the MCC Student Handbook.
- Transmitting, storing, or receiving data or use of computing resources in an illegal manner (including obscenity, defamation, threats, etc.) will be dealt with in the manner proscribed by the MCCD Computing Resources Handbook.
- The MCC educational environment must be free of unwelcome sexual harassment and violations of MCC policy will result in disciplinary action.
- I am willing to make any reasonable accommodation for limitations due to any disability, including learning disabilities. Please see MCC's Disability Resources & Services center (http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/services/disability/ ) and contact me to discuss any special needs you might have.
MCC Early Alert Program (EARS)
Mesa Community College is committed to the success of all our students. Numerous campus support services are available throughout your academic journey to assist you in achieving your educational goals. MCC has adopted an Early Alert Referral System (EARS) as part of a student success initiative to aid students in their educational pursuits. Faculty and Staff participate by alerting and referring students to campus services for added support. Students may receive a follow up call from various campus services as a result of being referred to EARS. Students are encouraged to participate, but these services are optional. The Early Alert Web Page with Campus Resource Information can be located at : http://www.mesacc.edu/students/ears.
Final Reminder:
If you get confused and don’t know how to respond to a Project, or a specific question — CONTACT ME FOR GUIDANCE !!! Please DO NOT try to “wing it” or just make up an answer you think sounds OK! As your Instructor, I am your Coach, Counselor, Information Resource and overall Helper. If you have questions or get in trouble CONTACT ME as soon as you can! DO NOT DELAY, as the clock is always running!!! I can be a great source of help for you — but the burden is on YOU to ask! Take advantage of this unique opportunity!!!