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The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 4:04pm On Nov 10, 2013 |
The Entrepreneurs Guide is a free online class Powered by BeTheBest Network to help young adults and individuals, who want to go into Business or become an Entrepreneur to get the essentials of Entrepreneurship before starting out. This Class would start tomorrow 11th November,2013. It would run from Monday- Friday. Below is the Course Module: 1. Introduction to Business Enterprise 2. Business Orientation/ SWOT Analysis 3. Goal Setting 4. Decision making 5. Introduction to Business Plan Writing 6. Creativity in work place 7. Writing a Marketing Plan 8. Improving your productivity 9. Writing a Production Plan 10. Interpersonal skills 1- Listening 11. Effective communication 12. Interpersonal skills 2- Delegation 13. Record keeping 14. Interpersonal skills 3- Persuasion 15. Presentation skills 16. Writing an Organisation and Management Plan 17. Interpersonal skills 4- Coaching 18. Effective Negotiation 19. Writing a Financial Plan 20. Customer Loyalty 21. Time Management 22. Building a Corporate Brand See You in Class 2moro Have a great week |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by IRIENBOY(m): 4:38pm On Nov 10, 2013 |
Hello |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 7:26am On Nov 11, 2013 |
Good morning Class, I am Olusegun Moses Adenuga but you can call me OMA. We would be starting lectures today on Introduction to Business Enterprise. The word Business has three usage depending on the scope: 1. Singular: A particular market sector/Industry 2. Generalized: used when referring to a market sector e.g production of service for a particular item 3. Compound: Combination of singular and generalized A Business enterprise is an operating entity within a business enviroment dedicated to making profit from the sales of Goods and Services. Factors to consider before setting up a Business Enterprise: 1. Business Location: Your business location is very important before starting your Business Enterprise. If you situate a business in a wrong location, it may lead to the end of that business. 2. Capital: so many people mistake only money for capital when it comes to Business. You don't only need money, an idea is capital, also you can have people/relationships as capital to start a business. For example, if you want to start a recharge card business and you have a friend or family member that sells it in bulk, all you need to do is approach them and based on your relationship, they can offer to give you on credit to pay back after your sales; that's people capital. 3. You also need to consider your profit from the business, that is why you are advised to have a business plan before starting out (Business Plan Writing would be taught later in the course). 4. Customers- without customers, there cannot be sales. You need to do your homework well on the incentives you would add to your business to attract customers. Its may not neccessarily cost money, it could be just a smile, excellent customer service or discounts on products, you just have to come up with something to get people to keep coming back. 5. Raw materials- if you are planning to run a production outfit, are the raw materials readily available? If yes, that's a good one but if no, you really have to look for an alternative. 6. Competition- This is very vital. You need to study your competitors and generate ideas and ways to beat them. 7. Skills and Knowledge: Are you skillful in your new area of business or you need to employ someone to run the business for you, this is also important in setting up a business enterprise. 8. Government Policies- Government policies affect so many business enterprises when it comes to importation of raw materials, so many companies have closed down because ban was placed on the materials they use for production. 9. Technology: does your business need the use of technology? 10. Ease of Implementation 11. Labour: Are you employing labour or you are starting a one man business? This is also important to plan to pay yourself or employee an amount as salary at the end of the month. 12. Family Influence: Family influence on a line of Business can sometimes lead to emotional stress, so be careful to understand if your family is in support of your new proposed business or not. Work on the Factors above and see you 2moro 1 Like |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by IRIENBOY(m): 8:33am On Nov 11, 2013 |
Ride on bro. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by abofrad: 4:37pm On Nov 11, 2013 |
Good job, more ink to your pen. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 8:32am On Nov 12, 2013 |
Good morning friends, welcome to another day. Trust your night was great. We started the class yesterday looking at factors we need to consider to start a business. Today we would continue the class by looking at Business Orientation- ENTREPRENEURSHIP Entrepreneurship is the process of becoming aware of Business Ownership. Someone who is willing to become an entrepreneur must have the following traits: 1. He/She must be prudent 2. He/ She must have at least a general knowledge of the intended business. 3. He/She must have the ability to make good business decisions (Decision making would be taught later in the class) 4. He/She must be hard-working 5. He/She must be able to set goals (goal setting to be taught later) 6. He/She must be persuasive (Interpersonal skills- Persuasion to be taught later) 7. He/She must be enthusiastic 8. He/She must be Confident Functions of an Entrepreneur An Entrepreneur perform three basic functions: 1. Visionary Function- The ability to see and set goals for the future. 2. Technical Function- The revenue generating part of the Business 3. Managerial Function: Coordination, Planning, Organising, Staffing, Delegation, Controlling, Motivation and Marketing. Potential Benefits of starting a Business: 1. Individual: It boosts your self esteem 2. Family: It increases the standard of living thereby increasing the family income. 3. Community: Creates employment and reduce crime rates. 4. National: it increases the Gross National Domestic Product of a Country Entrepreneurs also face problems which emanates from: 1. Lack of record keeping: Most entrepreneurs don't keep records and this affects a business. 2. Low Patronage: some business run out of business when there is low patronage, this can be worked on when you create a market strategy (writing a marketing plan to be taught later), enhance customer service (Customer loyalty to be taught in the course) and building a brand for your business (Corporate branding to be taught also). 3. Too much stress: Seek the assistance of family members /friends to help out if there is not enough money to employ. At this point, we would end the class today. Hope you are learning? See you 2moro |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:23am On Nov 13, 2013 |
welcome to class today we would continue the class by looking at Swot analysis S- Strengths W- Weakness O- Opportunities T- Threats Strengths What are your advantages? What do you do well? What relevant resources do you have access to? What do other people see as your strengths? Consider this from your own point of view and from the point of view of the people you deal with. Don't be modest. Be realistic. If you are having any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your organisation's characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths! In looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors - for example, if all your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in the market, it is a necessity. Weaknesses What could you improve? What do you do badly? What should you avoid? Again, consider this from an internal and external viewpoint: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you do not see? Are your competitors doing any better than you? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible. Opportunities Where are the good opportunities in front of you? What are the interesting trends you are aware of? Useful opportunities can come from such things as: Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale Changes in government policy related to your field Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyles, etc. Local Events A useful approach to looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating them. Threats What obstacles do you face? What is your competition doing? Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing? Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business? Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective. After answering this questions, generate 10 business ideas that you know you can try after analyzing your Swot. Then tabulate those ideas against the factors considered in starting a business treated in the first class. Your Business ideas on the horizontal plane and the factors on the vertical plane. For each of the business ideas tabulated against factors, use the following to score your self 1-None 2- Fair 3- Good 4- Very good 5- Excellent At the bottom of the factors, total all the scores. This would help you know which business is likely to succeed. See you 2moro |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 7:22am On Nov 14, 2013 |
Good morning friends, hope you are doing gr8. You should have decided now, the type of Business you want to go into after the exercise of yesterday. Now that the foundation has been laid, you need to plan. Today, we would be looking at Goal setting. For any establishment/ organisation to have an edge, they must set goals. Even individually, we all have goals set to be reached at a particular time, whether short term or long term. An entrepreneur must set goals for his/her organisation. A goal is a written document/instruction to be achieved within a period of time. When setting goals, your goals must be SMART S- Specific: Your goal must be specific M- Measurable A- Attainable: it must be something you can do R- Realistic : Your goals must not be out of the blues T- Time bound: Every goal must have an expiry date. Principles of Goal setting 1. I don't have it and I need it : Achieve It 2. I need it but I already have it : Preserve it 3. I don't have it and I don't want it : Avoid it 4. I have it but I don't need it : Eliminate it See you in class 2moro Have a Great day |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:36am On Nov 15, 2013 |
Good morning class The quality of decisions is very vital to the success of any establishment. The daily decisions name will either make or mar the organisation. Decision making is therefore the cognitive (reasoning) process of choosing a course of action out of alternatives. It involves making predictions about what you want to do in the future and selecting between two or more alternatives and estimating the outcome of the decision made. Types of decision making 1. Strategic decisions: Its a long term decision process which puts into consideration your vision and mission. It involves you, your business and the environment. 2. Organisational decisions: This has to do with the organogram which states the hierachy of staff and their duties. Its a medium term decision. 3. Operating decisions: This is the day to day running of the organisation. Phases of decision making includes: 1. The Exploration Phase: At this phase, a challenge has appeared and you need to find a solution. 2. The Analysing Phase: At this phase, you need to analyse the challenges. Collect and present information in an efficient manner. It can give insight into the problem If done well. 3. The Exploration Phase: At this phase, alternatives are generated to tackle the challenges at hand. 4. The Final Phase: At this point, you make a decision. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 8:55am On Nov 18, 2013 |
Good morning class. Hope you had a great weekend. We would continue the today with an introduction to Writing a Business Plan. After you have succeeded in choosing the kind of Business you intend to venture in, you would have to write a Business Plan for your Business. Writing a Business Plan starts with the Executive Summary But we cannot write it first,cos we would need some more Variables from other parts of the Business Plan. First, we would consider the Business Overview. 1.0 : Description of the Business: give a short Introduction of your business including the name,location, and what you will do. 1.1: vision and mission statement Vision- state as clear as possible what you want your business to be or become. Mission- state in 30 words, the core purpose of your business. 1.3: Business Objective: definr your main objective, what you want to achieve within a specific period of time, set SMART goals. You can focus your objectives on the growth of sales volume, profit e.t.c 1.4: value preposition: what are the unique features of your business? 1.5: critical success factors: what factors will make your business succeed? 1.6 : what are the potential challenges in the business industry that you have choosen? With all these, you are set to start writing your Business Plan. Have a nice day and see you in class 2moro |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 8:07am On Nov 19, 2013 |
Gud morning class. Creativity is the act of doing something new/ developing a new idea. Constraints to creativity includes: 1. Wrong assumptions 2. Desiring to solve problems very fast 3. Too much faith in rationality 4. Failure to believe that you are creative Behaviours that can stimulate creativity 1. Always try to improve on quality 2. Put all your ideas on paper 3. Look for as many answers as possible 4. Do not be afraid to ask stupid questions 5. Accepting errors as an obvious consequence of a Creative process 6. Collecting data from various sources Thanks for showing up in class today, see you tomorrow |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Emmy9ite(m): 10:59pm On Nov 19, 2013 |
Seriously following prof! carry on! |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Emmy9ite(m): 8:04am On Nov 20, 2013 |
Prof, which business books will you recommend for me? |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 10:46pm On Nov 21, 2013 |
Friends, sorry for the break, out of town, class would continue on monday. @Emmy9ite: most of those business books are just Summaries, would help you check one out. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:21am On Nov 25, 2013 |
Gud morning friends, welcome back to class. Trust you had a great weekend. Today, class continues with learning how to write a Marketing plan. When writing a marketing plan, some critical questions Needs to be answered. 1. What is the product or the service you intend to market?- describe the most important features, what is Special about it, the benefits and what it will do for the Customer. 2. What's the quality of the product?- for you to have an Edge, the service you intend to render or the product Should be of a high quality. 3. Location- is my office or shop situated in a good location?, can my target market get an easy access to me? 4. Target: are your target the high income earners, middle income or low income earners?- identify ur target Customers, their characteristics and their geographical location. 5. What share of the market can be captured by your business? 6. Competition: list and describe your major competitors, and define your niche. Draw a competitive analysis with your company and competitors on the horizontal plane and the following factors on the vertical plane- product, locality, expertise, stability, appearance, sales method, advertising, company reputation etc. This will help you In making a good marketing strategy. 7. What's the price of your product? 8. What promotional method are you going to use to sell your products? 9. What marketing strategy is needed to ensure sales is achieved? 10. What are the strategies to distribute your product? After all these, draw a sales forecast for a period of 1year. Hope you have learned something today, see U 2moro |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:24am On Nov 25, 2013 |
@Emmy9ite: I will advise you get the Book : Grow Your Business By Mark Henricks, |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 11:30am On Nov 26, 2013 |
Good morning class. Today, we would continue the class by learning how to improve productivity in business. When you’re starting your own company for the first time, you experience many ups and downs and go through big changes, both good and bad. You no longer have any bosses who check your work or make final decisions. Instead, you take responsibility for your decisions, take care of nearly every task required to start a business, and overcome any obstacles that get in your way. For first time entrepreneurs, these sudden changes can be initially overwhelming and hard to adjust to. When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I thought I would be able to maintain a healthy work-life balance and wouldn’t be too work-obsessed. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, I found myself working more unproductively than ever, creating unnecessary stress and working long hours. My weekends were often spent working on tasks that were not even urgent. And I thought, this was not what I signed up for! A couple of months later, I realized that I had to start changing my work habits to boost my productivity. Here are five easy ways for first time entrepreneurs to improve productivity, which made my work-life more enjoyable and less stressful. 1. Set daily goals and stop working when you achieve your goals Every night, set daily goals for the next day. I suggest writing a checklist of daily tasks, which may include contacting target customers, managing social media channels, or creating an advertisement. Then, the next day, follow your list, put a checkmark in every checkbox, finish your work, and call it a day. Spend the rest of your day doing something else, like meeting your friends or going out on a date. A healthy work-life balance can keep you energetic and happy at work in the long run. 2. Establish a time limit for each meeting Spending too much time in meetings can waste everyone’s time. So, what is the best way to run productive, effective meetings? Let’s say your team plans to discuss your company’s marketing plans during the meeting. One day before the meeting, you can make a list of marketing ideas to be discussed, such as whether you should make a YouTube video or whether you should focus on Facebook or Twitter. You can show it to your team, and they can edit the list if necessary. Then, when the list is finalized, you can establish a time limit and let them know at the beginning of the meeting. By setting a time limit, you can run more focused, tighter meetings with your team. 3. Let go of work on the weekends When I started out as an entrepreneur, I realized I was constantly working on the weekends, which often made me exhausted the following week. Unless it’s a week before you launch, I highly recommend that you explore the world or take time to relax during the weekends. As an entrepreneur, it’s very important to stay inspired! 4. Learning something new? Find experts and ask them how to learn quickly When you are a first-time entrepreneur, you need to know a little bit of everything, including finance, law, marketing, operations, and strategy. You may also find it useful to learn web design or coding if you’re building an app. Before you learn anything new, find shortcuts to make learning quicker. If you can find experts or friends who know how to do it, ask them how to learn it fast and efficiently. 5. Outsource small tasks It’s a great idea to outsource trivial tasks that are not important but time-consuming, like editing images or finding data. By outsourcing, you can focus on more important and urgent tasks. After I implemented these strategies, I was able to develop a stable work ethic and became more productive at work. I realized that it’s not about how much you can accomplish but about how much you can enjoy your experience as an entrepreneur. Once you follow these tips, you too will be able to find yourself much happier and stay focused at work Have a great day. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 10:06am On Nov 27, 2013 |
Gud morning class, trust you had a great night rest. Today, we would be looking at writing a Production Plan. Like it clearly states, its a plan you use for the Production of your products. The following is what constitutes the Production Plan. 1. Location/factory- what qualities do you need in your Location? Describe the physical requirements eg space, Building e.t.c 2. Raw materials- list and describe all the raw materials Or consumable needed for the operation. 3. Production equipment- list and describe all the equipments Needed for the operation as well as their use and source. Draw a depreciation table to know the life-span of your Equipment and how to plan maintenance and repair. 4. Production process: Give a technical detail of steps & Processes involved in the production/operation. 5. Production cost: clearly list your production cost (direct & indirect) and give estimation of your production cost per Unit. Also draw a table of your cost analysis Have a great day. |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:11am On Nov 28, 2013 |
Good morning. Today we would be looking at interpersonal- Skills: Listening. Listening is hearing with a purpose, trying to get a meaning To a sound. Listening is one of the most important skill you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness and on the quality of your relationship with Others. We listen to obtain information We listen to understand We listen for enjoyment We listen to learn To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. How do you become a active listener? 1. Pay attention: give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message. Recognise that non-verbal Communication also speaks loudly. 2. Show that you are listening: use your body language and gestures to convey your attention. - occasionally nodding - smiles and facial expression - open and inviting gestures - introduction of verbal comment like yes, uh , oh, ok 3. Provide feedback: as a listener, your role is to understand what is been said. 4. Defer judgement: interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message. 5. Respond appropriately Start using active listening today to become a better communicator, improve your workplace productivity and develop better relationships. Have a great day |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 7:42am On Nov 29, 2013 |
Gud morning class. For us 2 communicate effectively, we need to be able to have perfected the skills of Listening. Communication is listening to understand and speaking to be heard. So many individuals are poor communicators Cos they don't follow the rules. They think too fast during communication They are impatience They keep incorrect attitudes They don't keep up appearance They are over-confident They are anxious They lack understanding They are absent-minded If individuals can work on these flaws coupled with mastering their listening skills, they would become effective communicators. Have a great day |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 8:36am On Dec 02, 2013 |
Good morning class, welcome to a new month and a new week. Today, our class would proceed with learning the art of Persuasion as a skill. Persuasion implies having to convince a person of a need to choose a certain action. This is different from power and authority which are means of compelling someone to do what you want them to do. Effective persuasion is the ability to present a message in such a way that it leads others to support the message. When an Entrepreneur/ Manager needs to get something done by his employees, he cannot rely on his positional power but persuasion. Effective persuasion is a subtle way of winning people to your side and you can do this by: 1. Building credibility 2. Search for common grounds 3. Develop compelling positions 4. Connect with the employee emotionally 5. Speak calmly and clearly 6. Be willing to praise and openly appreciate employees effort. 7. Use practical examples to illustrate your points 8. An excellent way of diffusing tension during persuasion is the use of Humour. Have a great day |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 9:04am On Dec 03, 2013 |
Gud morning friends. We would be looking at Record Keeping today. Record keeping is the act of documenting all activities of the day to day running of a business. The importance of doing this includes: 1. To have a clear picture of the finances of your business 2. It gives a clear picture of transactions to compare the activities of the organization. 3. Its a tool to convince bankers, suppliers and investors 4. It assists entrepreneurs in the development of their Financial plan 5. It serves as a basis to monitor the progress of the Business 6. It makes it easy to account for money borrowed or donated 7. It helps to differenciate assets from liabilities. Types of records 1. Cash day book 2. Day book 3. Reciept 4. Petty cash book Have a great day |
Re: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Business by Greenfield200: 8:26am On Dec 04, 2013 |
Gud morning friends, Today, we would be xraying the Topic- Delegation Delegation is shifting power and responsibility to a surbodinate on setting tasks. For you to effectively delegate, u must do the Following: 1. Be as clear as possible when delegating a task 2. Never delegate the task that u really have to do yourself, even if you have little or no time to do it 3. You clearify to what extent the employee is independent 4. You must supervise the task 5. Never make the control mechanism too strict 6. Remember delegation is pointless if you have no Confidence in the person. Great day |
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