This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:
Assess the level and type of funding that is needed for entrepreneurial ventures and options for obtaining funding.
Analyze financial needs of the business with risks, environmental considerations, and business objectives in decision making.
Apply financial principles and knowledge in support of a strategic initiative of an entrepreneurial venture.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Activity Instruction
Choose a startup venture and begin to prepare an analysis of the venture types, funding streams, venture capital strategies, and funding options for the proposed venture. The venture may be yours, a proposed venture from a friend or business partner, or one from the case studies in the Appendix (pp. 31–404) of your New Venture Creation: An Innovator’s Guide to Entrepreneurship text by Meyer and Crane (2014).
Using your chosen entrepreneurial endeavor, write a 3–4 page paper that:
Features either your own idea or one of the Venture Cases (details provided from your textbook along with accompanying video clips from Sage Publication’s Video Resources, linked in the Resources), choose an entrepreneurial endeavor, and describe the proposed venture.
Describes the characteristics and skills of an effective venture team, and the importance of having a strong team and advisory board.
Analyzes financial statements and financial management practices (basing the analysis, calculations, and projections on the time when this course is taking place: today, right now).
Compares and contrasts the pros and cons of different funding types.
Examines differences in funding types regarding ownership, risk, and control.
Summarizes what an entrepreneur is and compares the traits that make an entrepreneur different from a 9-to-5 executive, leader, or manager.
Applies financial research and analysis skills to evaluate financial management practices, documentation, and risk levels of an organization.
Uses the Capella library to research and describe different types and levels of funding available for entrepreneurial endeavors.
Creates a set of interrelated financial statements including: income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. While these do not need to be real financial statements, they must be reasonable. See the section on reasonable financial statements, below.
Creating Reasonable Financial Statements
No data is or will be provided to help you create 100 percent accurate statements. You must create your own reasonable statements. The instructor will grade the relevant parts in your assignments based on your ability to create a case for funding and using reasonable assumptions. That is, the instructor will grade your work based on your ability to persuade a hypothetical investor to finance your idea.
What is meant by reasonable financial statements? Let us say your project, case, or idea pertains to starting a small local computer repair shop. You should be able to estimate number of repairs per day, week, month, or year, as well as charges, overhead, parts, staff wages, and the like. Your numbers should be reasonable in the sense that the average number of repairs per day cannot possibly be more than 10, for example, staff wages cannot be more than $50 per hour, et cetera.
Use your own judgment, but keep in mind that a potential investor will not likely be convinced if you overestimate or underestimate any key number.
