School for Startups Curriculum

Module 1 – Being an Entrepreneur

In this module, we will focus on some of the most important aspects of being an entrepreneur, timing and overcoming fears. This module consists of seven lessons, all of which will help you understand our basic philosophy of low risk entrepreneurship. We want to encourage you to start a business by overcoming some of your most basic fears of entrepreneurship. Also, this module is designed to present our overall philosophy for all of the lessons that will follow.
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Module 2 – Creativity & Finding New Ideas

Creativity is one of the words most frequently associated with entrepreneurship. However as we saw in the first module (lesson 1-5) we do not believe that creativity must be part of the entrepreneurial package. In this module we teach you how to become more creative, how to find your innate creativity, where to look for ideas, and how to, with your friends, engage in a brainstorming process to make a list of potential ideas.
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Module 3 – Choosing a Business Type

The legal entity that you will select for your new business is one of the most important aspects of beginning entrepreneurship. We will study all of the various types of entities that you can choose, and give the advantages and disadvantages of each particular type. Also, very importantly, we will go over the steps, in a 1-2-3 type list, of that you should do at the beginning of your entrepreneurial process. What do you do first? What do you do second? We will tell you.
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Module 4 – Funding & Raising Money

As we identified in lesson 1-4, the issue of raising money is one of the most important and intrinsic parts of entrepreneurship. In this module we tackle the role that money plays in starting a new business. Our philosophy is very simple, that raising money to start a new business is a bad idea. So, we introduce the idea of bootstrapping and show you how to start a business with little or no money.
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Module 5 – How to Find Products to Sell

Many of you are interested in starting a web-based retail business or some other type of sales operation. In this type of business, you will need a product to physically sell to your customers. Some of you maybe manufacturers yourselves, but most likely, you will need product to sell, or at least other products to augment your produced items. In module five, we discussed some of the ways of finding merchandise to sell in your own business.
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Module 6 – How to Sell Your Products

Module 6 is probably our most important, famous, and desired. We get hired to lecture on this topic more than any other. In this module, we will teach you how to sell your product or service, how to build a website, and in particular, and most excitingly, how to be number one on Google.
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Module 7 – How to Export Your Products

A recent study of small businesses in the United States showed that almost 75% do not export. This is one of the biggest mistakes that a company can make. You must be born global, which means exporting from the very beginning. In module 7, we discuss all of the benefits of exporting and how to get started.
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Module 8 – Service-Based Businesses

In module 8 we discuss the large number of service businesses and entrepreneurs are starting to day. Over 70% of America’s GDP is service-based, and in this module, we talk about ideal service businesses for entrepreneurs, how to get started, and the best way to proceed. One of the reasons we love service businesses for entrepreneurs is that they require almost no startup capital.
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Module 9 – How to Write a Business Plan

Even if you do not plan on raising funds from an outside source, it is still essential to write a business plan. A good business plan will prevent many problems and help lead you toward a successful startup phase of your business. In this module, we show you the essentials of writing a plan, what pieces it should include, what order to put them in and finally what to do with it once you are done.
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Module 10 – All About Franchises

Franchises are a great way to get started with your first business. They usually come with a how-to manual and the support of an organization designed to help you be successful. While there are disadvantages to franchising, we still believe that this could be a great first step in your entrepreneurial story.
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Module 11 – Buy a Business with No Money

Be sure you are using the best people and asking the right questions before buying a business. This module will help you do that.
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Module 12 – Social Entrepreneurship

Learn all about Social Entrepreneurship and how you can start a business in that arena.
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Module 13 – Valuations & Exit Strategies

What you need to know about exit plans and valuating your business.
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