Course Information
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Topic outline
- Course Information
- 1. What is my business idea?
1. What is my business idea?
The key features of my idea
The first step for creating a company is having a good business idea. This module intents to provide a set of tools and techniques to help you convert your business ideas into a concrete plan to start your company
Upon completion of this module you should be able to:
Knowledge
- Build on your new venture idea and propose an idea for a social enterprise
- Define the aims and objectives of your business idea
- Understand the viability of your business idea
Competences and Skills
- Present defined aims and objectives for a business idea
- Provide an outline for a business taking into consideration human and financial resources required and determine a possible legal entity
- Analyse the demand of the product/service to identify a range of positive and negative
Presentation - Step 1 Page
- 2. Am I business minded?
2. Am I business minded?
Reflecting on my business QEAS
Why are you starting this business?
This module aims to raise awareness on the personal motivation when creating a new business and understand the different impact of motivation for entrepreneurship.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge:
- Be aware of your personal motivation
- Know the differences between a classic business and a social business
- Be aware of legal forms of social business in different countries
- Understand the different impact of motivation for entrepreneurship
Competences and Skills:
Be able to answer some basic questions and get the best out of the answers:
- Why are you starting this business in the first place?
- What does your business exist to accomplish, and who does it serve?
- What do you hope to get out of this business?
- What are you willing to sacrifice to make this business work?
- Will you be content “running” this type of business after you start it?
- When are you going to start?
- 3. Let's start a business
3. Let's start a business
Financial, legal, good practice considerations.
Before you do anything, you should choose a legal form for your company.
This module aims to provide all the necessary information on how to start up your social enterprise: understand the different legal forms of social businesses and be aware of the practical steps to set up a social business
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge:
- Understand the different legal forms of social businesses
- Be aware of the practical steps to set up a social business including timeframe and costs
- Know where to get support on how to set up a social business
- Be aware of legal forms of social business in different countries
Competences and Skills:
- Be able to answer some basic questions and get the best out of the answers:
- Why are you starting this business in the first place?
- What does your business exist to accomplish, and who does it serve?
- What do you hope to get out of this business?
- What are you willing to sacrifice to make this business work?
- Will you be content “running” this type of business after you start it?
- When are you going to start?
- 4. Making the most of income
4. Making the most of income
Smart business: cash flow, costs, efficiency, support
This module intends to help you understand the financial aspects for setting up a new business: different types of cost structures and types of costs, key issues regarding financial administration and where to find financial information, services and support.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand different types of cost structures and types of costs
- Know different types of revenue streams and identify how to develop the income streams
- Know different pricing mechanisms
- Understand key issues regarding financial administration
- Know where to find financial information, services and support
Competences and Skills
- Decide on the relevant cost structures for your social business
- Have an insight in the different types of costs in your social business
- Be able to apply the most suitable pricing mechanism(s) for social your business
- Be able to set up a clear financial administration
- 5. Planning for success
5. Planning for success
What am I selling? To whom? For how much?
A business plan is a fundamental tool that any startup business needs to have in place prior to beginning its operations. This module intents to help you understand the need for a business plan and the distinctiveness of a social business’ plan and where to find support regarding business planning.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand the need for a business plan and the distinctiveness of a social business’ plan
- Know the different parts of a social business plan
- Comprehend the use of the social business plan
- Know where to find support regarding business planning
Competences and Skills
- Be able to write an effective social business plan
- Know how to use a social business plan
- 6. How can I sell?
6. How can I sell?
Ideas, tips and techniques to sell
Every social enterprise is yet a business and if there is nothing to sell there is no business. Thus, sales remain key activity of any person willing to become a successful entrepreneur. This module intents to provide you tips on how to improve your sales skills.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand what sales are and why they are important including understanding demand and the market, pricing, supply, marketing and sales
- Know different customer channels
- Comprehend and develop practical experience of sales techniques
- Understand types of customer relationships
- Deciding if your social mission is part of your sales and marketing strategy
Competences and Skills
- Be able to reach your target group (market? Customers?)
- Be capable of using sales techniques
- Be able to determine and use the most appropriate sales techniques
- Be able to establish the sustainable customer relationships
- 7. Getting my business known
7. Getting my business known
Marketing and raising my profile
Promotion is one of the most important marketing variables for product/service success and for entrepreneurship in the marketplace. This module will help you understand how to promote your business and be able to identify the best options and channels to promote and develop a marketing strategy for your business
Upon completion of this module you should be able to:
Knowledge
- Understand how to promote your business
- Understand the principles of marketing and how to promote your business
- Be able to identify the Unique Selling Point (USP) and how to exploit them
- Understand the Marketing Mix and how it applies to your social enterprise
Competences and Skills
- Be able to prepare a Marketing Plan for a range of activities to promote your social enterprise
- Define the criteria for evaluating the return on promotional activities
- Set Marketing objectives for your social enterprise
- 8. Successfully managing my business
8. Successfully managing my business
Effectively managing a business
The objective of this module is to help you understand the techniques that can be used for strategic planning to facilitate the development of a good strategy. It also aims to help you to formulate and implement this strategy and evaluating the progress.
Upon completion of this module you should be able to
Knowledge:
- Understand the management principles of a social enterprise
- Know the best management strategies and organizational processes for a social business
Competences and Skills:
- Be able to define a business managing strategy for your social enterprise
- 9. Leading my business
9. Leading my business
The importance of leadership in business
Why do we need leadership in an organisation?
This module intents to help you understand what leadership is, understand the need and importance of leadership in an organisation and help you to provide a social vision and empower others to fulfill.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand what leadership is
- Understand the need and importance of leadership in an organisation
- Be able to provide a social vision and empower others to fulfil it
- Competences and Skills
- Be able to know how to lead a social enterprise
- Be able to demonstrate leadership in an organisation
- Understand the skills and competences of a social entrepreneur
- Be able to to locate best practice case studies and examples of leadership in social enterprises.
Competences and Skills
- Be able to know how to lead a social enterprise
- Be able to demonstrate leadership in an organisation
- Understand the skills and competences of a social entrepreneur
- Be able to to locate best practice case studies and examples of leadership in social enterprises.
- 10. Location! Location! Location!
10. Location! Location! Location!
Factors to help make the ‘’location decision’’
Why is location important?
This module will help you select the best location for your business by understanding why location is important for social enterprises and which are the main factors that affects the location of a social enterprise
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand and present why location is important for business
- Know which the main factors are affecting the location of a business
- Understand how location can affect the growth of a business
Competences and Skills
- List the factors to consider when selecting the location of a business,
- Be able to understand how location can affect business success
- 11. Operating a business
11. Operating a business
Day to day workings of a business
Once you have started your business it is crucial to create an operation plan to follow in order to grow your business activities and in fact grow the profit. This module intents to help you to develop a practical understanding and awareness of running day-to-day activities of social business and to develop networking capacity and how to build a higher profile.
- 12. Sustainability
12. Sustainability
Building capacity to succeed
In this module we examine the relationship between the sustainability of a social enterprise and the job performance of its employees.
Knowledge
- Understand the link between capacity building and employee / business performance
- Comprehend and develop training suitable to business and employees needs
- Be aware of the relationship between training and other reward systems (salaries, bonuses, allowances) as the major ingredients which fuel performance of employees.
Competences and Skills
- Be able to set up the criteria for hiring personnel according to business profile
- Be capable of measuring job performance and identify solutions to overcome under performance
- Be able to determine and use the most appropriate capacity building interventions
- Be able to establish a sustainable work environment and cooperative relationships between employers and employees
- 13. What social good will I do?
13. What social good will I do?
My social value and impact and how I know it is happening
A social enterprise differs itself from typical enterprises by the impact that it has on its beneficiaries and society. But what do we mean by social impact? In this module we will help you understand what is social impact and why it should be measured, be aware of the Social impact measurement tools and resources and understand outcomes.
Upon completion of this module you will:
Knowledge
- Understand what is social impact and why should you measure it
- Be aware of the Social impact measurement tools
- Understanding outcomes
Competences and Skills
- Be able to engage with stakeholders when measuring social impact
- Be capable to measure well-being
- Be able to find resources to help you measure social impact
- Be able to locate best practice case studies and examples of social impact