Unit 1: The Entrepreneur and Small Business Ownership
- Describe the role of an entrepreneur and identify common traits and characteristics shared by entrepreneurs
- Evaluate entrepreneurship and business ownership as potential career options
- Research examples of past and present entrepreneurs and the innovations they introduced to society
- Discover the importance of entrepreneurship and small business to the overall performance of the economy
Unit 2: From Business Idea to Opportunity
- Explain how entrepreneurs generate new business ideas and shape them to create feasible opportunities
- Analyze the external environment to evaluate success potential in the marketplace
- Identify the elements of a business model and explore how this helps to shape the components of the company
- Describe important resources available to help analyze the best location for a new business
Unit 3: Business Formation
- Evaluate and compare various business formats
- Examine various forms of legal business ownership by assessing the implications of each
- Identify the sequence of legal and business steps required to create a new business entity
- Describe potential business launch and exit strategies while evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each
Unit 4: Navigating Laws and Regulations
- Describe how various government laws and regulations impact and guide business operations and ownership
- Identify regional and local licenses, permits, and regulations relevant to business ownership
- Determine the federal, state, and local taxes that are the responsibility of business owners
- Explain types of intellectual property and protective measures from competitors and consumers
Unit 5: Business Management and Leadership
- Explain the importance of business management and its key functions
- Describe the importance of business leadership and its key roles, which are required in a small business
- Identify the importance of business failure and ways that business owners can positively handle those failures
- Examine the importance and impact of ethics and sustainability in a business
Unit 6: People and the Organization
- Identify the key human resources functions required in a business
- Evaluate the various aspects of a new business’s organization plan with a focus on employees
- Describe how business owners recruit and hire new employees into the organization
- Determine different methods used to train and develop the people within the business
- Explain how leaders can motivate employees to achieve organizational success
Unit 7: Technology and Business
- Identify key technology trends and tools that assist business owners
- Explain how establishing e-commerce is important for small businesses
- Evaluate technology-based communication methods that are effective for a small business
- Describe key factors in developing an effective company website
Unit 8: Business Growth
- Identify key strategies that can help a small business achieve growth
- Describe how growth can be effectively achieved domestically
- Evaluate various strategies for a small business to expand internationally