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ENTREPRENEURSHIP
- In your own words, define entrepreneurship.
Explain to your merit badge counselor the role of the
entrepreneur in the economy of the United States.
- Identify and interview an individual who has started his
or her own business. Find out how the entrepreneur got
the idea for the business and how the entrepreneur
recognized it as a market opportunity. Find out how the
entrepreneur raised the capital (money) to start the
business. How well is the business doing? Report what you
learn.
- Do the following:
- Write down as many ideas as you can think of for
a business. Get ideas from your family and
friends. From your list, select three ideas that
you believe are the best opportunities for you.
- Explain to your counselor why you chose these
three ideas rather than the others on your list.
- For each of the three ideas that you chose,
prepare a list of questions that you would ask
potential customers.
- For each of your three ideas, informally
interview potential customers, using the lists of
questions from requirement 3c. Report what you
learn.
- Using the information you have gathered, choose
the one idea that you feel is your best business
opportunity.
- Conduct a feasibility study of your business idea by
doing all of the following (briefly writing or explaining
each item to your counselor):
- Good or Service
- Identify your business goals.
- Tell how you will make the good or
perform the service. Determine whether it
is technically feasible (practical or
doable).
- Determine how you can make enough of the
good or provide enough of the service to
meet your business goals. Explain how you
will accomplish this.
- Identify and describe the potential
liability risks of your good or service.
- Determine what type of license you might
need in order to sell or to make your
good or service.
- Market
- Determine who your customers are.
Identify the type of person who would buy
your good or service.
- Describe the unique benefits of your good
or service.
- Tell how you will promote and sell your
good or service to potential customers.
- Finances
- If you are selling a good, determine how
much it will cost to make one prototype.
- Calculate the selling price of your good
or service. Explain how you determined
the price.
- Tell how you will sell your good or
service and make a profit.
- Determine how much money you will need to
start your business. Explain how you will
get the money.
- Personnel
- Determine what parts of the business you
will handle yourself. Describe your
qualifications for the work. Determine
how your business responsibilities will
fit into your schedule.
- Determine whether you will need
additional help to operate your business.
If you will need help, describe the
qualifications your helpers should have
and what duties they will perform.
- Do TWO of the following:
- Sketch a prototype of your good or write a
description of your service.
- Create the prototype. List all of the materials
you used to make your prototype. Calculate the
cost of all the materials and labor to compute
the total cost of making your prototype.
- Design a promotional poster or flier for your
good or service.
- Project (estimate) your sales through the first
three months of operation. Calculate the profit
you expect to make.
- When you believe that your business idea is feasible,
start your own business. Show evidence that you started
your business (sales receipts, for example, or photos of
the good). Report to your counselor the results of your
venture.