The development of a great business plan for starting a new business or non-profit organization is the focus of this course. The Business Plan Lab is a service course especially intended for non-business students, minors in entrepreneurship, and students writing business plans for new ventures, including those entered in the Riata Business Plan Competition. You do not need to be entered in the Competition to take this course. Students enrolled in Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management (EEE 4513) should not take this course for credit without first talking with the instructor. The Business Plan Lab concentrates on the mechanics of constructing a creative, realistic and effective business plan for a new concept that the student team has generated and developed. Thus, it is intended as a “hands-on” experience that explores process that a person must go through to put together a proper business plan for a start-up venture. No business background is necessary.

Enterprise creation and problems faced by entrepreneurs in early growth stages of business ventures. An interdisciplinary problem-solving approach with emphasis on case studies and plans for new business ventures.

• EEE5113 Syllabus

This course will introduce entrepreneurship as a way of thinking and acting within the arts, including fine art, theatre, music and design. We explore what it means to be an entrepreneurial artist, and how it can enhance your life path. A comprehensive self-assessment will help students better understand their personal aspirations, and assess their unique skills and competencies. Students learn about opportunity identification, creative problem-solving, managing risks and leveraging resources, how to develop an audience to support your art, and much more. Focus is placed on understanding the world of art/music/theatre and how to make your place in this world.

A course taught by 32 entrepreneurs who debate and argue some of the great questions in entrepreneurship, such as ‘the dilemma of partners’, the ‘dilemma of starting a business out of school versus waiting’, ‘the dilemma of debt versus equity, and various ethical dilemmas.

At its core, entrepreneurship involves the actions of individuals—people who apply their own creativity, knowledge, skills, and effort to developing something that is both new and useful. This course explores the psychological foundations of such behavior—the psychological processes and factors that underlie thinking and acting entrepreneurially in a wide range of contexts.

The course explores the evolution of entrepreneurship in the health sector. The concept of Social entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship within the for-profit and non-profit health sectors is discussed. The theory of entrepreneurship in health will be investigated through the discussion of classic and current articles, books and guest speakers while entrepreneurship practices are explored through novel experiential learning activities. Throughout the course, students are given the opportunity to review historical and current roles of entrepreneurs in health and subsequently assess their personal entrepreneurial potential.

This course will look at design as being a competitive advantage in business and entrepreneurship. Design is the change of meaning for products, services, business models, and entrepreneurial process. Connections are drawn between design thinking, creativity, and innovation in growth-orientated ventures.

This course introduces students to the basics of entrepreneurship and evolving business models for media. It blends instruction in general entrepreneurship concepts with how the scope and velocity of technology change is transforming the media industry.

This course is an introduction to entrepreneurship within the context of the built environment and with direct application to architectural services, activities, and products. It affords students an opportunity to explore diverse roles and initiatives within the architectural profession through the lens of entrepreneurship.

This course addresses various aspects of environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship and the opportunities available to start-ups and incorporates to establish sustainable enterprises while enhancing the long-term ecological system.

Assessment of technologies and their marketplace potential. Issues in technology commercialization are examined from an entrepreneurial perspective. Students work on implementation issues surrounding actual emerging technologies originating at the university and in the surrounding community. Students in science and engineering are especially encouraged to enroll.

Examines the role of marketing in start-up ventures and the role of entrepreneurial thinking in marketing efforts. Customer needs as the driving force in entrepreneurship is the theme of this course. The course explores novel approaches to defining markets and market segments, examines inexpensive ways to conduct relevant market research, and identifies ways to leverage marketing resources and rely on networks to accomplish marketing tasks. Students are encouraged to focus on identifying unique approaches to creating value through each of the elements of the marketing mix.

• EEE5223 Syllabus

A look at alternative approaches to marketing; Examines the need for marketers to be revolutionaries; How to do more with less; Exploration of guerrilla, viral and buzz marketing; How to lead customers and create new markets;

• EEE5263 Syllabus

Students work in small teams and are assigned to an actual small business in helping them grow. Students spend a semester learning how to consult—how to solve real problems inside small companies; Provides the student with real world experience.

• EEE5313 Syllabus

This is a hands-on, nuts and bolts course that’s focused on the tasks that a new business owner must complete in the first 100 days of launching a business. Imagine you’ve conceived a business idea, written a business plan, raised seed capital, and are set to launch your business on October 1. Now, what would you actually do on October 1, October 2, October 3 and so forth? How would you set your priorities? Although the answer to this question will vary depending on the business, there are a set of key activities that all businesses must accomplish to get their businesses off to a good (and legally proper) start.

Social entrepreneurs change the world by addressing social needs and opportunities. They frequently start innovative ventures in the non-profit sector, such as Habitat for Humanity, Newman’s Own, and the Grameen Bank. While they must remain financially viable and require professional management skills, rather than generate a profit their focus is on social return in investment (homeless housed, freedoms preserved, pollution eliminated, wildlife protected, energy conserved, souls saved).

• EEE5200 Syllabus - Social Entrepreneurship

Examination of the challenges of managing small firms; Exploration of the realities of achieving growth; Also looks at family-owned firms and unique issues they face.

Credit Hours: 3 credits, graduate or undergraduate

6 credits total for this program, two concurrent components - EEE 5603 and EEE 5610. This course introduces students to the South African context, township entrepreneurship, the basics of the consulting process, the SEE consulting model, and creative yet practical approaches to addressing managerial issues in emerging enterprises. Approaches to addressing client issues in the areas of marketing, sales, economics, accounting, the business model, operations, financing, information technology, logistics, supplier relationships, human resource management and related areas are covered. The course is offered on the University of the Western Cape campus.

• EEE5200 Syllabus - Supporting Emerging Enterprises in South Africa

An experiential learning course; Students work on consulting projects, technology commercialization initiatives, entrepreneurial audits, feasibility studies, marketing inventions, as resource providers in incubators, and on other projects that interface with the entrepreneurial community.

Credit Hours: 3 credits, graduate or undergraduate

6 credits total for this program, two concurrent components - EEE 5603 and EEE 5610.This course provides interaction with township entrepreneurs over six weeks as part of structured consulting engagements. The consulting engagements start at the same time as meetings of the Supporting Emerging Enterprises course. Teams of three to four students are assigned to work on two projects each. Team members must develop a relationship with the entrepreneur, establish trust, learn as much as possible about the entrepreneur and his/her venture, determine priorities, select tasks that can be accomplished within the time of the consulting engagement, perform the necessary research and analysis on possible solutions to these tasks, and design detailed solutions and related action plans. There is heavy interaction and mentoring of the teams by the three faculty members involved in the program. A final consulting project report summarizes the teams’ assessment of each venture and the set of at least four deliverables produced for the clients. Students must also maintain journals of their experiences.

• EEE5610 Syllabus

Approaches to raising and managing money in emerging enterprises. Examination of the many sources of financing for start-up and early stage ventures. Attention devoted to determining financial needs of new ventures and formulating, determining valuations and formulating deal structures.

• EEE5653 Syllabus

How to understand and improve your creative abilities; The creative process is examined; Students learn of their own creative problem-solving style and its implications for success; Creativity is approached as something that is measurable and can be enhanced; Creativity is applied in entrepreneurial contexts.

• EEE5663 Syllabus

This course focuses on the context of innovation as well as on its processes and practices. Emphasis is placed on learning, applying and adapting various frameworks designed to capture and explain the nature of innovation and its management.

This course is designed as a broad survey of major topics in the field of entrepreneurship. The primary theoretical underpinnings of the field are covered as well as some of the common and/or promising methodological approaches to the study of entrepreneurial phenomena.

Current research that addresses important entrepreneurial questions and assesses “gaps” in those literatures. Strategies will be proposed to address these gaps. Focuses on refining students’ skills in “mapping out” and writing research papers.

• EEE6343 Syllabus - The Entrepreneurship Process
• EEE6343 Syllabus - Entrepreneurship: Its Foundations In – and Contributions to – Other Branches of Management
• EEE6343 Syllabus - Contemporary Research Topics in Entrepreneurship

This course is an exploration of the existing conceptual, theoretical, and practical links between entrepreneurship and other disciplines. It explores as well opportunities for cutting edge research on the boundaries of entrepreneurship and other disciplines.

Elements involved in creating and selling a successful new product in a complex environment, including internal organizational and external environmental influences.

• MKTG5973 Syllabus