Business Administration
Quick-Advantage Entrepreneurship Program
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The Quick-Advantage Program provides each student with:
- A complete program curriculum over a twelve-month period.
- The skills and resources to develop a viable business plan.
- 24-hour access to Center personnel and successful entrepreneurs.
- The knowledge and tools to implement your business plan.
- "Aftercare" during the first six-months of start-up.
A Business plan competition has been created for those participants earning a certificate. The winner of which will receive assistance from the Center and its personnel in seeking start-up capital and resources.
All business plans in the competition must meet the following criteria:- It must be doable.
- It must be geographically real.
- It must possess a market of depth and breadth.
- It must possess a competitive advantage.
Opportunity exits where ever there is change whether it is economic, political, or societal. Reynolds, 1995
The ECU Quick-Advantage Entrepreneurship Program creates entrepreneurs. It is a non-degree certificate program created to work with any person wishing to create or expand a business.
The program comprises of three interrelated segments:- Course work
- Business Plan Development
- "Aftercare"
The program consists of four courses delivered on the ECU campus. The certificate of completion is awarded only to those individuals completing the four courses within the twelve-month time frame.
Courses
Each course in the curriculum is specifically designed to deliver a portion of the total set of tools you will need to successfully start and grow a new business or expand an existing business.02020133 Opportunity Recognition, will introduce the entrepreneur to the entrepreneurial process of creating or expanding a business for the purpose of taking advantage of a market opportunity. This student will learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, from conception to harvest of the new venture. Further, it will concentrate on identifying the difference between an opportunity and an idea, thereby reducing the risk of the entrepreneur.
02020134 Entrepreneurial Finance, focuses on the primary financial elements necessary in starting, growing and harvesting the venture such as: bootstrapping, creating the financing package, understanding cash flow, financial statements, and sources of capital. Topics will include valuation techniques; deal structuring; and sourcing capital (e.g. founders, family, friends, Angels, venture capitalists, and banks).
02020135 Marketing for the Entrepreneur, will focus on creating the most efficient and effective marketing plan for the new entrepreneur with scarce resources. This course will identify and apply the different marketing visions, approaches and practices used by entrepreneurs to compete in highly competitive markets.
02020136 Venture Creation and Growth, will provide the entrepreneur with a series of concepts, frameworks and analytical techniques that will enable the businessperson to manage entrepreneurially in rapid growth situations in organizations of all sizes and types. The entrepreneurs will learn to anticipate the specific problems that accompany the starting and growing of an entrepreneurial firm by creating value through innovation and opportunity capture, rather than by just efficiency.
Time after time, experienced entrepreneurs exhibit an ability to recognize a pattern and an opportunity while it is still taking shape. Timmons, 1996