The Course Project.  This course is based on a business life cycle approach. Entrepreneurs face financial decisions every day from start-up financing to ongoing operating expenses to paying taxes. Other decisions also impact finances such as hiring employees and determining how much insurance you need. Pretend that you are an entrepreneur who is planning to start a new business. This means that you will need to do the research and make a plan just as any entrepreneur would do. Thus, you will project budgets based on your research.

Each week will have you building a part of a business plan—whether it is a plan for a start-up or established business.  The following template will help you with the course project:

• Download The Template!

Your Unit 1 Goal.  Your first goal is to envision the business you’d like to establish and plan.  It may be a franchise, a from-scratch effort, or the acquisition and improvement of an existing business.  Visit the US Census data on small business at https://www.census.gov/data/data-tools/cbb/help/sm-bus.html  and think about the business you’d like to plan and establish.  Also, since every business is planned to start, it must also have a terminating event.  Think about whether you plan to liquidate, sell, IPO, or flip the business at a later date.

Once you have an idea for your business plan, follow the below steps: