MGTC39 - New Venture Planning & Creation Winter 2007
MANAGEMENT

Course Description

This course is aimed at entrepreneurially-motivated students who might someday wish to launch their own small business. The course has two purposes:

To examine the analytical processes that venture capitalists, business angels and other
private investors use when appraising business plans that cross their desks;

To have you write a business plan about a small, start-up venture that you might launch
in say, 3-5 years time.

Students will learn about market research, formulation of market strategy, financial forecasting, capital raising, how venture capitalists and other investors appraise deals, and - most important: how to write the plan for the launch of a small, start-up venture.

Students should have conceived of a business idea, the feasibility of which you wish to investigate. The course is designed so that this idea may be expressed in a business plan. At this stage in your business studies it is assumed that you have some reasonable knowledge of accounting, finance, marketing, production, and decision making.

If you do not have a business idea of your own, you will work – in a group - on the business plan for an idea being developed by one of your classmates.

 

Course Text

There is no prescribed or compulsory course text for MGTC39. However, relevant on-line readings will be identified and suggested to you as the course proceeds.

In addition, you are recommended to review the following web-sites:

United States Small Business Administration – Sample Business Plans
http://www.sba.gov/managing/strategicplan/sampleplan.html

Solutions for Small Business – The Business Plan, Govt. of British Columbia,
http://www.smallbusinessbc.ca/pdf/bpff2002.pdf

 

Course Evaluation

Evaluation Method	Distributed	Due in Class	Returned	Weight
Venture Description & Market Identification	Week 1	week 4	Week 6	20%
Market Research & Market Strategy	Week 1	week 8	Week 10	20%
Focus Group or Investors "Pitch"	Week 1	week 7 or week 12	n/a	15%
Final Business Plan with Financial Strategy	Week 1	week 12	at Exam	30%
Final Examination	April - May	n/a	n/a	15%

Assignments are due: 3.10 p.m. Wednesday afternoons

 

Please Note:

Your plan may not work. That's okay. The most successful students will be those who honestly, objectively and thoroughly assess the viability of their idea. It's better that your idea fail on paper than in real life.

 

Examination:

A final exam, worth 15% of the final course grade, will be given during the University's final exam period. The format of the exam will be discussed in class.

 This page last updated: 10 January, 2007