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Chapter 1 Entrepreneurial Careers
Building Your
Business Plan—Putting
the Puzzle Together
Entrepreneurial Careers
You have sixty seconds. Sixty seconds to tell
your story, convince an investor your business
is worth funding, and explain your background
and skills as an entrepreneur. How will you use
those sixty seconds? As an entrepreneur, your
audience may be investing money in or lending
money to your business. You must be able
to convince them of your ability to make that
business successful. They want to be sure that
you have the skills or are willing to learn the skills
necessary to become a successful entrepreneur.
Goals
• Set personal and business goals.
• Assess your aptitude and attitude as a potential
entrepreneur.
• Create business plan notes.
Directions
Access the Entrepreneurship
companion website at
www.g-wlearning.com. Download each data file
for the following activities. A complete sample
business plan is available on the companion
website to use as a reference. The name of the file
is Bus Plan_Sample.RetroAttire.docx.
Preparation
Activity 1-1. SMART Goals. Practice setting
SMART personal and professional goals.
Activity 1-2. Self-Assessment. Complete a self-
analysis of your skills, abilities, experiences,
strengths, and weaknesses.
Activity 1-3. Business Plan Notes. Create notes
about how you plan to gain the additional skills
you will need to become an entrepreneur.
Business Plan—Management
Team
You are in the beginning stages of creating a
business plan. In chapter 2, you will learn about a
business plan and how to write one for your new
business. In this first activity, you will preview the
business plan template and become acquainted
with each section.
1. Open the data file called Business Plan
Template.docx.
2. Preview each section of the document. To
familiarize yourself with the business plan,
read the instructions and questions that will
guide you to complete each section. As you
progress through the chapters, you will be
directed to complete each section. However,
the sections that you complete in each activity
may not be in the order listed in the document.
3. Locate the Operations section of the
business plan and start to write the second
subsection called Management Team. If you
are the sole owner/manager of the business,
then you are the management team. The
Operations section is an extensive one that
will be completed as you progress through
this text. Use the suggestions and questions
listed in the template to help you generate
ideas. Delete the instructions and questions
when you are finished writing the section.
Proofread your document and correct any
errors in keyboarding, spelling, and grammar.
4. Save your document as
FirstnameLastname_BusPlan.docx (i.e.,
JohnSmith_BusPlan.docx). Ask your
instructor where to save your documents.
ompanion
Website
www.g-wlearning.com