Introduction to Entrepreneurship workbook preview

introduction to

entrepreneurship A hands-on workbook for aspiring entrepreneurs

THE

SKILLERY

Copyright Š 2015, The Skillery, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or any portion thereof, in any form whatsoever.

This workbook, and the accompanying workshop curriculum, was developed by The Skillery, and is available to organizations worldwide seeking to offer business education and community support to aspiring entrepreneurs. For licensing information, visit TheSkillery.com This workbook was written and designed by Matt Dudley, Nicole Keiper, Kristin Schleihs and Angela Gasparetti in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Skillery, Inc. 1323 Sixth Avenue North | Nashville TN 37208

THE

SKILLERY

before we begin With the simple act of showing up today, you’ve already taken a step most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t — namely, getting your idea out of your head and taking steps to make it a reality. You’re ready to learn. You’re ready to work. You’re ready to build something. And that’s something to be proud of.

This workbook is meant to accompany our in-person education at The Skillery, including our daylong Introduction to Entrepreneurship workshop, which delves even further into what the entrepreneurial experience looks like. But even on its own, the workbook will help you dive deeper (and very actively so) into what starting a business — your business — entails.

By design, this isn’t meant to be a how-to, or a step-by-step guide for starting a business (and any book that claims to be one is selling itself long, and you short). There is no step-by-step guide to becoming an entrepreneur. Every business is unique; every entrepreneur has skills and strengths in different areas. It’s not possible to build a viable business just by following the instructions and activities in a workbook.

That said, certain core fundamentals of starting a business — terms that everyone should know, philosophies that are somewhat indisputable, and best practices with which every entrepreneur should be familiar — exist. And we’ve taken those concepts and turned them into a series of exercises and activities designed to help you explore your business idea, and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

Ready to dig in?

what’s your big idea?

The “work” part of this book begins with sketching out your business idea.

You’re likely picking up this workbook not only because you have an interest in entrepreneurship, but because you also have a specific business idea you’d like to pursue. Tell us about your idea in the space below, in as much or as little detail as you have defined at this point.

The big idea:

contents understanding you

2

assumptions

18

customers

28

messaging & marketing

48

money

56

next steps

74

you

understanding Before we dig into your business idea, we need to understand a little more about what you’re bringing to the table. This section is devoted to understanding you, and how every part of you fits into the vision o you business.

A new business is ultimately shaped by the person or people who build it, in both intentional and unintentional ways. It begins framed by the context of your life: your dreams, desires and ideas, but also your schedule, your responsibilities, your constraints and fears. You’re doing yourself and your business a disservice if you don’t take a good look at those things at the beginning, and consider how every aspect can work for — or against — what you’re aiming to build.

your vision for success What does success look like? People describe success very differently. Some focus on making money. Some think about work-life balance, doing meaningful work, creating jobs, changing the world, enjoying the journey. There is no right or wrong answer here, no response too inwardly or outwardly focused, too big, too small. What’s important is that you decide what’s important to you and let that be a guiding force in your entrepreneurial journey.

Your answer to this question will impact your operations and your approach. If piling up cash is paramount, you’ll make decisions about your products and/or your time that deliver the biggest returns on that end. If work-life balance is key, you may intentionally limit your business’ scale to make sure you get to take your kids to the park on Saturdays. Neither approach is better or worse — but they are rooted in fundamentally different perspectives.

Let’s start at the end. What does success look like? What do you imagine for yourself, your business, your family, your friends, your bank account, your lifestyle? Draw it on the next page.

understanding you | 4

This isn’t art class. You won’t be graded. You won’t be judged.

Stick figures are totally allowed. Let loose and have fun. understanding you | 5

the big picture Many small businesses grow out of a passion or a hobby, and the entrepreneurs behind those businesses start off without fully considering certain key questions: Why does your business exist? Simon Sinek, author of the book Start With Why, argues that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

This workbook is an overview of entrepreneurship. That’s our “what.” We wrote it because we want to help aspiring entrepreneurs make smarter choices and do better work, and because we wanted to create a valuable — and, we hope, successful — product, to better our business, and our lives, as entrepreneurs, spouses and parents.

Those are our “whys.” The whys are more compelling, for sure.

So what’s your why? Could you describe your business by saying, “This is what I believe, and this is why I do what I do,” if prompted? Are you able to identify why your company exists?

Along with being more compelling, your whys help inform important decisions. In our case, the whys inspired conversations and questions: Is there something we can create that will help a broader mix of aspiring entrepreneurs than we’re already serving with classes? If we create a book, do we only use it in those classes? Offer it up to anyone?

Give it away for free? All of our concerns — from inspirations to finances — fed our answers. Knowing your whys will help guide you at critical decision-making points, too.

What do you want your role in the business to be? In the early days of starting a business, you’ll likely be spinning all the plates yourself — building products, selling them, marketing them, making decisions, fixing problems, talking to investors and customers, managing the books… cleaning toilets. But ultimately, what do you want your role to be? Considering your unique strengths and weaknesses (which we’ll dig into shortly), what should your role be?

understanding you | 6

Are you a business-minded spreadsheet fanatic? Maybe you should be your company’s CFO (chief financial officer). Are you logistics-minded, able to design, implement and improve processes within your business? Maybe you’re the ideal COO (chief operating officer). Are you a talented craftsperson and artist, with a unique set of skills to build a particular product? You should probably be the one making your products, unless you’re able to train others to make them with the same level of quality.

So, with all that in mind, once you have a solid team in place around you, where will you sit?

How big do you want your business to be? This question catches many aspiring entrepreneurs off guard, because few people begin building a passion-based business with a particular size in mind. Most of the aspiring entrepreneurs we encounter are searching for what we call “salary replacement” — if they can match their 9-to-5 salary by doing something they love, it’s a win. These folks are driven more by passion than by the potential growth of their company.

At The Skillery, we describe entrepreneurship on a spectrum. On one side you’ll find high-growth, investible, scalable companies. On the other, entrepreneurs who may be perfectly content with salary replacement. In the middle: what we call “slow-growth companies” — companies that may expand and provide their stakeholders with some wealth, but build to that slowly.

understanding you | 7

Now that you’ve spent a moment envisioning your future, let’s answer these key questions about your business.

Why does your business exist?

Some people might call this your business’ mission. Keep it brief. Keep it simple.

For now, start with the phrase my business exists to…

What do you want your role in the business to be?

Consider your strengths, your weaknesses, and your interests. What role should you have, and what control should you give to someone else?

How big do you want your business to be?

Is it just you? Do you have lots of employees? Does it pay you a decent salary?

Does it afford you trips on a private jet?

understanding you | 8

“We cannot waste time.

We can only waste ourselves.”

— George Matthew Adams