Opening up a Business - April 2013

First Christian Academy, Computer & Technology Class

Group Project:  Integration presentation. April, 2013.

Our next group project will integrate the material we’ve learned throughout the year.  You will get into groups of 3-5 people and decide who is doing what portion of the project.  You’ll turn that in this week.  Then you’ll have about three weeks to work on the project in and out of class, and will then present your project by having your files on your computer for me to check, and presenting the project to the class (5 minutes to present).

You are an entrepreneur and are considering opening a business.  You’ll need to search and hire employees, formulate a budget, prepare a business plan, present your idea to potential investors, design an advertisement, and open up the business!  There are four choices below.  Your group will pick one of the four and also turn that in today.

Business choices:

Coffee Shop.   You’ll open a coffee shop, employ people, and try to make a profit.

Car dealership.   You’ll buy sell and trade used cars.

Cell phone store.   Your store will buy and sell used cell phones.

Tutoring Center.   Your business will help middle and high school students with various subjects.

Here are the minimum requirements to receive a passing grade.  Go above and beyond, make it creative, and receive additional credit.  Each group member will do at least one of the following major parts of the project.  If your group is smaller, each person may need to do two.

Search for employees:  Create a one page job description for at least TWO positions inside the company (ideas here).  How many hours will the job require?  What days and times will the person work?  What will they do?  What skills are necessary to do the job?  How much will the job pay?  THEN find out what it costs to place an advertisement in the Tampa Times or on a job website like Monster.com and list that cost in your advertising budget spreadsheet.

Create a budget:  How much income will the business bring in each month?  For the year?  What will the store cost to operate for a year?  How much is your lease for retail space?  Do you need to buy computers or other electronics?  What will utilities (water, electricity) cost?  Phone / Internet / Cell Phone?  How much will it cost to pay the TWO employees you’ve hired?  Will you have to buy products to sell?  Use a spreadsheet that will total all of these up monthly, and then also show a yearly figure for each row (multiply the monthly by 12 to get the yearly figure).  I will be checking to see if you use FORMULAS for calculations and not a calculator. (this is very important, if you don’t know what that means, please see me quickly).  This is a major part of the project and will take time to do well.  If you do not use for formulas you will lose at least 10 points on the project. Your spreadsheet should look similar to the one we worked on in this assignment.

Prepare a business plan.  Start here to see a sample of a business plan.  Complete at least three sentences for each of the items; Business Plan Executive Summary [5-10 sentences that describe what you’ll be doing], Market Analysis [who are your competitors?], Company Description, Organization & Management [who is doing what?], Marketing & Sales Management [how will you advertise and get customers?], Service / Product Line [what will you be doing or selling?].  Use google docs or word or similar to create a nice looking business plan.  It should be at least one page, no more than two.  This is also a major part of the project.

Present your idea to potential investors.  Create a presentation [google docs, power point, keynote or prezi.com] that has at least 10 slides.  It should show a summary of what you want to do for a business, and give an idea of how much money the potential investor could make.  Use pictures.  Use graphs if you like.  Important:  how many items or services will you need to provide in order to cover your expenses and make a profit?  (remember the expensive drink store story from class).

Design an advertisement.  Use whatever software you like to create an advertisement.  It could be a nice looking presentation slide (google docs or power point) or a video or something else creative.  Make it interesting, creative, and clear to see what you’re selling or the service you provide.  You could also create an infographic, see http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225095#  (try using infogr.am, piktochart or easel.ly)

This project is DUE Wednesday May 1, 2013 at the beginning of class.  You will be graded on progress each week.  Be prepared to show me your progress at the beginning of class each week.  Have all documents on on your computer (google docs or similar).

(on the next page, there is a turn in page to tell me what business you’re opening up, and list who is doing what on the project.)

Turn this sheet into Mr. Caldwell.  ONE per GROUP. April 2013.

The business we are choosing to open is (check the box next to the one you’ll open)

⇵Coffee Shop.  You’ll open a coffee shop, employ people, and hope to make a profit!

⇵Car dealership.  You’ll buy sell and trade used cars.

⇵Cell phone store.  Your store will buy and sell used cell phones.

⇵Tutoring Center.  Your business will help middle and high school students with various subject.

Now, write in the names of who will be doing what.  If your group has THREE members, then at least two of them will be doing TWO of the items below.  If your group has FOUR members, then one person would be doing two of them items.  If your group has FIVE members, each member does one of the below:

Job Descriptions / Search for emp: ____________________________________

Create a Budget / Spreadsheet: ____________________________________

Prepare a Business Plan: ____________________________________

Present your idea to investors: ____________________________________

Create an advertisement: ____________________________________

By signing above, you agree you have read this entire project assignment and understand this is a large project that will require you to work a number of hours in total in the next few weeks.

This project is DUE Wednesday May 1, 2013 at the beginning of class.  You will be graded on progress each week.  Be prepared to show me your progress at the beginning of class each week.  Have all documents on on your computer (google docs or similar).