For each lesson visit the forum & post your answers.  And, read what the other students have posted!

 

Lesson 1 - Anyone Can Be An Entrepreneur

1.     Consider this scenario:  You are a gifted piano player.  You would like to use your skills to make money.  Come up with 5 different business ideas that would allow you to use your skills to make money.

 

2.     Imagine you could have a booth at a local farmer’s market in your town.  Vendors at these events usually sell anything from food to flowers to crafts to art.  Plus, there are concessions for sale and entertainment and services.  What are 3 business ideas you can think of to do at a farmer’s market?

 

3.     Make a list of 3 people you know who are entrepreneurs.  Then, write out some interview questions that you’d like to ask them.  You can ask them about things like how they got into entrepreneurship, or what challenges they have come across, or what character traits they think are important for an entrepreneur…anything you want to ask them.  Then, interview these 3 people.  You’ll gain some very valuable information!

 

 

Lesson 2 - Seeing Opportunities

1.     One way to see business opportunities is to start with a problem you are having.  First, write a list of 5 problems you face in life.  These could be anything from being bored in the summer-time, to having to scrape ice of your car windshield in the winter to how long it mow the grass or anything else.  Once you’ve got a list of problems, pick 2 and try to think of some business solutions that solve this problem.

 

2.     Consider this scenario: You know that many people have old technology just lying around their houses not being used.  These could include things like old desktop computers, laptops, phones, tvs, keyboards, monitors, DVD players and lots more.  Most people will never use these devices again and eventually give them to a second-hand store or just throw them away.  Come up with 3 business solutions to solve this problem.

 

 

Lesson 3 - Types of Businesses

1.     As you consider the type of business you’d like to start, is a service-based or a product-based business more appealing?  What are your main reasons for this?

 

2.     Read this article about how Amazon made the move from a product-based business to a platform business model: https://www.visionaryentrepreneurship.com/img/Dissecting-Amazons-Platform-Play.pdf

3.     After reading the article in #2, consider this scenario: You own a website called BikeBikeShop.com.  Your website makes money in two ways.  First, you sell bicycle parts to customers.  Second, you have an online course for common bike repairs that people can pay a monthly subscription to access.  Make a plan for how you could grow your business model to include some platform functions.

 

 

Lesson 4 - Thinking Outside of the Box

1.     What are some inventions or business examples you can think of that make you think: “That was so simple…I should have thought of that!”?  What can you learn from these examples so that you’ll be more likely to think up simple and powerful business ideas?

 

2.     Here are some more challenging puzzles that will require some outside the box thinking…see how many you can figure out: https://www.visionaryentrepreneurship.com/img/Brain-Teasers.pdf

 

3.     We gave two examples in this lesson about how simple ideas significantly disrupted the hotel (Airbnb) and movie rental (Netflix) industries.  Here is a big challenge for you.  Can you think of an industry that has the potential to be disrupted with some outside the box thinking?  Put some effort into this as it probably won’t come quickly or easily.  You might need to do some research along the way as you get ideas and then explore them a bit to see if there is a better solution.

 

 

Lesson 5 - The Need to Innovate

1.     In this lesson we talked about the concept of Kaizen (continual improvement).  Pick an area in your life or your family that you feel is lacking efficiency.  How could you creatively improve this process to make it more efficient?  Maybe it is the way the dishes are washed or the dishwasher is loaded or unloaded.  Maybe it is the way something is organized.  Maybe it is the way your school schedule runs during the day.  Maybe it is the way a certain chore is done around the house.  Maybe it is the way you run your small business.  After writing out a plan to improve this process or area, show the plan to your parents and see if they are willing to implement it!

 

2.     Many small businesses struggle with innovating.  They are usually run by the owner who is very busy just trying to keep up with the demands of running the business.  Knowing this, let’s imagine you had developed some skills in web design or coding.  What would be some ways you could use this knowledge about the need to constantly innovate and your coding skills to make a business that could help owners innovate and stay competitive?  Write out a short plan for what your business would do, and how you’d convince the owners that they needed your service.

 

 

Lesson 6 - Generating Business Ideas Part 1

1.     One way to generate new business ideas is to simply innovate on a current product or business.  Think of a product or a business that already exists that you think could be improved.  Write out your plan for improving or innovating it.

 

2.     Another way to generate ideas is to find a successful pattern in one industry and then applying that to another industry.  Try to think of a successful business or business model.  Then, consider if there are other niche areas you could apply that same model to make a successful business.

 

 

Lesson 7 - Generating Business Ideas Part 2

1.     Try to think of a few clever inventions that would use strong magnets.

 

2.     Here is a helpful article about the many different ways to monetize a website: http://visionaryentrepreneurship.com/img/How-To-Monetize-A-Website.pdf

 

3.     Everyone is an expert about something (usually lots of things) because of their experiences and circumstances in life.  Make a list of at least 10 areas that you feel you are more knowledgeable than others because of your experiences. Then, pick two of these areas and spend some time generating as many business ideas as you can related to this area.

 

Lesson 8 - Generating Business Ideas Part 3

1.     When trying to come up with business ideas or vetting ideas you’ve already had, it is very helpful to brainstorm with someone else.  Make a list of a few people you could potentially brainstorm business ideas with or evaluate ideas.

 

2.     In this lesson, we discussed how reading can be a great stimulant for your thinking and help generate new business ideas.  Make a list of a few books you’d like to read that are in areas of business that you are interested in.  One book I’d recommend as a great starting point is “What’s Best Next” by Matt Perman.  This is a book about Productivity but also deals a lot with vocation and your calling and purpose in life and how business can fit with that.

 

3.     In this lesson we discussed some of the advantages of having a business partner. And, we discussed how important it is to have a like-minded business partner.  Make a list of the 5 most important character traits you feel any future business partner would need to have.