Entrepreneurship Notes

What is a business plan? Plan for the creation and management of the business with special attention to - marketing plan describing match of products and strategy to current and future markets. Operations plan assessing all revenues, costs, and financial requirements and sources. Business plan format generally includes: (Suggested format from US Small Business Administration) 1. Executive Summary 2. Company Description 3. Market Analysis 4. Organization and Management 5. Marketing and Sales 6. Service or Product Line 7. Funding Request 8. Financials 9. Appendix Pricing Pricing requires understanding current and future customer & competitor desires & plans. Customer oriented pricing considerations are critical to setting prices throughout the product lifecycle; starting at the R&D stage. Pricing strategies require constant evaluation & refinement as the market reacts & evolves. This blog post is based on my learnings from the course on ‘entrepreneurship’ offered b

Key partnerships describe the network of suppliers and partners that make the business model work. Types of partnerships: 1. Strategic alliances between non-competitors 2. Joint ventures to develop new businesses 3. Buyer - supplier relationships 4. Competition: strategic partnership between competitors Motivations for creating partnerships: 1. Optimization and economy of scale: most basic form of partnership or buyer - supplier relationship designed to optimize resources and activities 2. Acquisition of particular resources and activities - extend capabilities relying on other firms to furnish particular resources or perform certain activities - motivated by needs to acquire knowledge, license, or access to customers 3. Reduction of risk and uncertainty This blog post is based on my learnings from the course on ‘entrepreneurship’ offered by Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, University of Maryland through Coursera (2014).

Customer segmentation is the practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that are similar in specific ways. Separate segments if: - needs require and justify distinct offer - reached through different channels - require different types of relationships - are willing to pay for different aspects - have different profitability Customer segment types: Mass market: one large group comprising only one segment Niche market: specific, specialized customer group Segmented: slightly different customer group Diversified: Multiple unrelated customer group Multi-sided markets This blog post is based on my learnings from the course on ‘entrepreneurship’ offered by Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, University of Maryland through Coursera (2014).

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. Types of business models: 1. Sell a product: well defined, easy to scope and price, produce inventory with hope for sales 2. Sell a service: low startup costs, flexible to customer needs, tough to price 3. Sell a subscription: customer pay regularly, recurring fees and may receive regular product upgrades 4. License a technology: involve lower risk and lower reward 5. Advertising: works best when volume of users/viewers is large 6. Hybrids: sell products & offer services together This blog post is based on my learnings from the course on ‘entrepreneurship’ offered by Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, University of Maryland through Coursera (2014).

Solutions are not about the technology or the features. Solutions focus on customer value. Features, functions and technologies are simply vehicles for value creation.  Competitors influence your relative value for customers. Is your advantage superior and sustainable? Degree of advantage: Better features or functions, lower price for the value delivered due to your operations or strategies, rareness - competitors cannot offer the same set of values to this customer. Sustainability of advantage: How easily can a competitor copy or exceed your resources, know how, relationships - determines the likelihood of competitors replicating or surpassing your venture. Build the team with attention to understanding: What are their motivations? How committed are they to this venture? How realistic are they about the venture's risk and rewards? What skills, abilities and knowledge do they have? What is their reputation? Where have they worked? Where have they been educated? What hav