Entrepreneur Boot Camp
Fall 2011 Enrollment is now closed.
Empowering promising entrepreneurs and ambitious small business owners with an innovative, fast-paced course that includes creating a business plan, tips on finding money, and tips on designing the right operation for success.
The goals of this course are to understand why a business plan is necessary, learning from experts what they expect to see in a plan, practice some of the skills required, learn what the experts want to know to fund a business, write the plan, and prepare to enter the prestigious FAU Business Plan Competition (FAU BPC).
Who should enroll:
- Promising, up-and-coming entrepreneurs with a desire to build a successful business
- Enthusiastic college students who have a promising business idea and would like to connect with like-minded people
- Small business owners who are looking to take their business to the next level
- Intra-preneurs or professionals who run small businesses within larger organizations
- Anyone who wants to compete for more than $200,000 in cash and prizes!
Course Overview:
The certification is made up of nine sessions with morning lectures and optional practicum seminars. Completion of the full set of nine sessions is required to receive the certification.
- Morning lectures explore specific and relevant start-up topics that will be covered by industry experts and FAU subject matter faculty.
- Optional seminars feature hands on practical work by teams on either fictional businesses or real business concepts brought in by the participants themselves. Participants will receive coaching by either the experts, the professors or the entrepreneur in residence.
Boot-Camp goals include:
- Learn how to explain your business, your products and service and industry positioning.
- Discover the most effective research tools available, from using databases in researching competition to understanding demographics.
- Create a strong marketing program that will help you reach your target audience, and set the stage for strong customer relationships.
- Determine how you will sell and project sales revenues.
- Use your plan to gain investor attention by showing compelling financial and market potential.
- Understand the need for a strong management team; attract and hire the right people.
- Create a managerial blueprint for day to day operations, strategic direction and market share capture in a competitive world.
- Presenting your business plan to various audiences including financial institutions, angel investors and venture capital investors. Entrepreneurs will learn the importance of an elevator pitch.
- Work in teams preparing a business plan for the ACE business plan competition.
- Apply business plan writing skills, and present the plan to experts including investment sources, business community leaders and successful entrepreneurs.
Detailed description of the modules.
Certificate Program
All participants will receive a Florida Atlantic University Certificate upon satisfactory completion all sessions as well as assignments, individual study assignments, learning assignments and class discussions.*
*To receive the FAU certificate, unexcused class absences must NOT EXCEED TWO (2) SESSIONS and participants must be on time. Any students who miss more than the allotted absences, and who have not provided advance notice or a documented excuse will not be awarded a certificate.