Foundations of Small Business

This unit introduces essential choices and preparatory practices for starting, buying, and operating a small business, emphasizing startup finance, early-stage planning, basic marketing, and legal/tax considerations. It builds on introductory entrepreneurship concepts and prepares students to develop detailed financial plans, operations strategies, and acquisition documents in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the characteristics of small businesses and compare the advantages and disadvantages of starting versus buying an existing business to determine personal acquisition appetite and conditions when purchase should be avoided
• Calculate start-up cash needs and produce a basic cash-flow projection, identifying funding options (including bootstrapping and use of personal/retirement funds) and immediate financial controls required for launch
• Evaluate business valuation data and due diligence findings to formulate purchase offer contingencies and identify critical legal, tax, and compliance red flags
• Apply foundational management practices by drafting a mission statement, outlining an initial team and mentor strategy, and designing basic marketing and customer-retention approaches to include in an initial business plan