Introduction To Entrepreneurship

Code

Course teacher

Associate teachers

Status of the course

Course objectives

Introduction to Entrepreneurship provides (1) an overview of the definition of terms entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneur, impact of the entrepreneurship on the development and importance of entrepreneurial culture and infrastructure; (2) understanding and acquisition of practical knowledge and skills which is important for a business idea generation and evaluation in regard to market, technical and financial sustainability.

Course enrolment requirements and entry competences required for the course

MS Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Learning outcomes expected at the level of the course (4 to 10 learning outcomes)

Graduates will be able to:
- Distinguish the entrepreneurship from other forms of the economic activity and entrepreneurs from small business owners.
- Define main elements of the business model for generating business ideas.
- Implement, individually and/or as a team work, process of definition, analysis and evaluation of the business idea sustainability.
- Distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of entrepreneurial activity.
- Distinguish the different source of financing, including evaluation of the costs related to each source.
- Describe specific aspects of the business idea sustainability, in the form of written document.

Course content broken down in detail by weekly class schedule (syllabus)

1st week: Introduction: objectives, scope and content of the course; teaching and assessment methods (team work).
2nd week: Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial process: conceptual definition of the entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs; differences between entrepreneurs, managers and owners of independent businesses; models measuring the frequency and intensity of the entrepreneurial activity; stages of the entrepreneurial process, the importance of entrepreneurial activity and impact on employment growth, competitiveness, targeted groups. Entrepreneurial propensity of participants (questionnaire: self-assessment entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial aptitude, expectations of participants, the skills related to MS Office).
3rd week: Entrepreneurial idea, opportunity, intent and project: defining of the idea, opportunity, intent and project concept, business ideas sources, models for evaluation business ideas sustainability, the business idea and business plan differences. In teamwork, carrying out processes of business ideas, generating, ranking and defining the business ideas list.
4th week: Business model: explain of the term, main elements and benefits of defining of the business model, using of the business model’s examples, discuss with participants about the elements of a business model based on the identified business ideas. Using a business model’s template for define the elements of the business model for each of the entrepreneurial ideas.
5th week: Industry analysis: explanation of the importance of the industry analysis for entrepreneurial planning, explanation of the scope, content and methods of the industry analysis; explanation of the main elements of competition analysis, using examples. In teamwork, for each business project, determination of the corresponding industry, identification of the major trends of the industry and sources of the statistical data.
6th week: Market analysis: explanation of the market analysis importance, scope and content, possible approaches and methods; explanation of what is the market segmentation and the method of determining the target market explanation of the selling prices methods. Conducting market analysis, for each business project.
7th week: Marketing plan: explanation of the marketing strategy content and scope, the sales process activities and way of defining the promotional mix; explanation of the distribution channels content and scope. Creating a marketing plan for each business project.
8th week: Technical aspect of the entrepreneurial project: explanation of the terms, scope, content and technical aspects of the entrepreneurial planning, the importance of the definition of the project’s micro and macro location, including the environmental protection and cost. Determining the technical aspect of the entrepreneurial project: various forms of assets (fixed and current assets), the location of the project.
9th week: Technological aspect of the entrepreneurial project: explanation of the terms, scope, content of the technological aspects of entrepreneurial planning explanation of the elements of the production and business processes, business functions, and elements of the organizational structure. Identifying the way of realization of production and business processes, organizational structure, management structure, business support functions.
10th week: Assessment of investment value and source of the funding: explanation of the importance of valuation, structure and dynamics of the entrepreneurial project’s investments; explain possible sources of funding, the cost aspect of individual funding sources and method of estimating the costs of financing investment. For each entrepreneurial project: identifying the investment specific items and funding sources.
11th week: Economic aspect of the entrepreneurial project: explanation of the scope and content of the entrepreneurial project economic aspects, the elements of the entrepreneurial project economic viability. For individual projects: drawing up a table of the income and expenditure values.
12th week: Financial aspect of the entrepreneurial project: explanation of the scope and content of the entrepreneurial project financial aspects, the elements of the project’s financial viability. For individual projects: estimation of the cost of financing and the indicators of the project’s success.
13th week: Risk analysis: explanation of the concept of risk analysis and risk management, explanation of the importance of identifying potential risks and the likelihood of their occurrence; explanation of methods of risk management. For individual projects: identifying potential risks, assessing the likelihood of each risk and determining a way to avoid and reduce risks.
14th week: Sensitivity analysis: explanation of the content and scope of the entrepreneurial project sensitivity analysis, explanation of the sensitivity analysis method. At the project level, identifying the critical factors affecting the entrepreneurial project, determining the relative impact factors, conducting the sensitivity analysis of the project on the impact of each factor.
15th week: - Revision, assessment (test).

Format of instruction:

Student responsibilities

Class participation and attendance – min. 80%.
Individual (team) work – project.

Optional literature (at the time of submission of study programme proposal)

Barrow C.P.; Barrow R.; 2005.; Brown The Business Plan Workbook: The Definitive Guide to Researching, Writing up and Presenting a Winning Plan; 6th edition; Kogan Page; London and Philadelphia.
Bendeković, J. i sur.; 2007.; Priprema i ocjena investicijskih projekata; FOIP 1974 d.o.o., Zagreb.
European Commision; 2003.; Green Paper – Entrepreneurship in Europe; www.studentstarter.eu.
Good Finance Guide for Small Businesses: How to raise, manage and grow your company’s cash; A & C Black; London.
Leburić, A.; Krneta, M.; 2003.; Profil poduzetnika; Naklada Bošković, Split.
Nugus, N.; 2006.; Financial Planning using Excel: Forecasti

Quality assurance methods that ensure the acquisition of exit competences

Quality of the teaching and learning, monitored at the level of the (1) teachers, accepting suggestions of students and colleagues, and (2) faculty, conducting surveys of students on teaching quality.

Other (as the proposer wishes to add)