27 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 BusPlan_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, work ethic, 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.