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CTE/Business Curriculum Entrepreneurship
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Core Standards of the Course

STRAND 1
Students will identify the role and characteristics of an entrepreneur.

Standard 1
Students will explore the role of the entrepreneur within the economy.

  1. Define and differentiate between an
    • Entrepreneur: An individual who undertakes to start and run their own business with the intention of making a profit.
    • Entrepreneurship: Activity of setting up a business, taking on financial risks in the pursuit of profit.
    • Intrapreneur: Valued labor trait where an individual behaves like an entrepreneur to solve problems within an organization.
  2. Identify the characteristics and ethics involved in entrepreneurship
    • Common characteristics:
    • Hard Working
    • Risk Taker
    • Inquisitive
    • Goal & Action Oriented
    • Creative
  3. Understand the risk and rewards associated with entrepreneurship
    • Explore the risks and rewards within the entrepreneurial venture. Cover the following categories.
    • Financial
    • Career
    • Family/Social
    • Liability
    • Satisfaction
    • Explore the importance of failure within the entrepreneurial venture.
    • Growth Mindset to learn from each failure and grow from it

Performance Skills
Students will use critical thinking to explore the advantages and disadvantages of being an entrepreneur. They will identify characteristics of successful entrepreneurs through a report, SMART goal, or presentation.


STRAND 2
Lean Canvas Model: Students explore the Lean Canvas model or the use of a business plan to understand the impact that they have on the success of an entrepreneurial venture.

Standard 1
Students will understand idea generation through innovation and problem solving.

  1. Identify problems and create solutions in order to address consumers' needs/wants. The solution can be a product, service or idea.
  2. Identify problems to address needs and/or wants by using various methods of idea generation (e.g. identifying trends, brainstorming, brain writing, market research).
  3. Explore trends in entrepreneurship including:
    • emerging technologies
    • social entrepreneurship
    • green entrepreneurship
  4. Understand the importance of pivoting to solve entrepreneurial problems.
    • Opportunities that are created from problems
    • Adaptability to internal and external factors (e.g. supply chain, global economy, competition, and emerging technologies)

Standard 2
Students will understand how to solve your customers' needs and wants and identify what distinguishes a product/service from the competition while taking into the consideration the following factors

  1. Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development
  2. Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Clear statement that describes the benefit of your offer, how you solve your customer's needs and what distinguishes you from the competition .
  3. Competitive Advantage: Factors that put a company in a favorable or superior business position in comparison to its rivals.

Performance Skills
Students will complete these areas of the Lean Canvas model.

  1. Problem
  2. Unique Value Proposition
  3. Solution
  4. Competitive Advantage

STRAND 3
Economics Impact of Entrepreneurs: Students will understand how economic concepts affect decision making in an entrepreneurial venture.

Standard 1
Students will explore the role of entrepreneurship as a factor of production within the economy.

  1. Discuss why entrepreneurship is beneficial to the economy (local, national, global).
  2. Understand the government's role and effect in entrepreneurship within the free market system.
  3. (regulations, taxes, subsidies, as a consumer).

Standard 2
Students will understand basic economic terminology.

  1. Scarcity: Unlimited wants and needs and limited resources to satisfy those wants and needs.
  2. Determinants of Supply:
    • Cost and Price of a product
    • Availability of resources
    • Price related or substitute goods and services
  3. Determinants of Demand:
    • Price of goods and services
    • Income level of consumers
    • Preferences of consumers
    • Consumer expectations
  4. Opportunity Cost: the loss of potential gain from alternatives when one alternative is chosen
  5. Profit Motive: motivation to operate so as to maximize profits. The ultimate goal of a business is to make money.
  6. Import: Goods or services bought into one country that was produced in another.
  7. Export: Goods and services that are produced in one country then purchased and sent to another country.

Performance Skills (choose one)
Students will determine one of the following:

  1. Cost Analysis for a product or service
  2. Break-Even Analysis for a Product or Service
  3. Price Markup or Margin Analysis for a product or service

STRAND 4
Marketing for Entrepreneurs: Students will understand how marketing affects an entrepreneurial venture.

Standard 1
Students will understand the marketing functions.

  1. Identify the elements of the marketing mix as it pertains to Entrepreneurship.
    • Product - possibly the most important, can be a good, and service.
    • Price - amount of money requested or exchanged for a product, should cover expenses and allow for a profit
    • Place - activities involved in getting a product or service to the end user, may include: shipping, ordering processing, inventory storage, and stocking of goods. Describe that place can be both a physical location or online site.
    • Promotion - process of communication with customers and potential customers to inform, persuade, and remind about products, their price, and where they can be purchased
    • Explain how each component of the marketing mix contributes to successful marketing.
  2. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of possible locations for businesses
    • Brick-and-mortar stores: a business that operates conventionally rather than over the internet
    • E-commerce: internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions
    • Service industry including; Curbside pick-up, Delivery, Subscription-based services
    • Emerging trends in location decisions such as; commercial kitchens, delivery-only businesses, pop- up stores, shared workspaces, and incubators
  3. Understand the distribution channels available to effectively reach your customers.
    • Explain the consumer's experience through omni-channel defined as an approach to sales that focus on providing seamless customer experience whether the client is shopping online from a mobile device, a laptop or in a brick-and-mortar store.
  4. Explore market segmentation methods and the importance of determining your entrepreneurial venture's target market.
    • Demographics; Who? (Personal characteristics such as age, gender, income level, education level, race, and ethnicity)
    • Geographics/Location; Where? (Segmentation based on where people live such as natural or political boundaries, climate, cultural influences, and customs)
    • Psychographics/Interests; Why? (Involves grouping people with similar lifestyles, as well as shared attitudes, values, and opinions such as activities, attitudes, personality and values.)
    • Behavioral; How? (Looking at the benefits desired by consumers such as shopping patterns, usage rate, benefits--and not just the physical characteristics of a product)

Standard 2
Students will explore marketing strategies in relation to their entrepreneurial venture.

  1. Discuss the importance of building a brand and creating a brand image
  2. Discuss the importance of market planning and market research
  3. Discuss the importance of a company's online presence and digital marketing.

Performance Skills
Students will complete these areas of the Lean Canvas model.

  1. Customer Segments
  2. Key Metrics
  3. Channels

STRAND 5
Financial Concepts & Tools: Students will understand financial concepts and tools used by entrepreneurs in making business decisions.

Standard 1
Students will examine financial concepts and types of funding used to operate a business.

  1. Project expenses
    • Start-up costs: all costs incurred to start a business including the research, business licensing, website development, equipment, business logo and signage and more.
    • Variable costs: Costs that fluctuate based on units of production.
    • Fixed costs: Costs that stay consistent from month to month, such as rent, utilities, fees. Non production related expenses.
    • Operational expenses include: income, net profit, gross profit, and break-even point.
    • Working capital: represents a company's ability to pay its current liabilities with its current assets
  2. Discuss the profit formula: Revenue - Cost = Profit
  3. Describe common funding sources and identify the advantages and disadvantages of different types of financing options for entrepreneurs. Compare and contrast debt and equity financing.
  4. Debt Financing
    • Angel investors: family and friends
    • Venture capitalists: is a form of private equity and a type of financing that investors provide to startup companies and small businesses that are believed to have long-term growth potential
    • Crowdfunding: Methods of funding new business ideas and products that relies on receiving small contributions from many supporters.
    • Lines of credit: is a form of a flexible, direct loan between a financial institution - usually a bank - and an individual or business.
    • Small business loan: gives you access to capital so you can invest it into your business. The funds can be used for many different purposes including working capital or improvements.
  5. Equity financing
    • Bootstrapping: founding and running a company using only personal finances or operating revenue
  6. Describe entrepreneurship mentoring trends and entrepreneurship contests (e.g., boom start-up, incubators, business plan/pitch contests).
  7. Understand the importance of pitching in the fundraising process. Defined as a presentation by one or more people to an investor or group of investors, though it can also be an email, letter, or even an impromptu conversation during an elevator ride.

Standard 2
Students will understand how entrepreneurs utilize business records. Define Pro-Forma: Projected revenue and sources of revenue

  1. Identify and explain common financial statements
    • Income statements: a financial statement that analyzes the assets, liabilities, and Equity of a business.
    • Profit and loss statements: summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specified period, usually a quarter or fiscal year.
    • Balance sheets: a financial statement that covers revenue and expenses for a period of time.
  2. Understand the importance of sales and budget forecasting in business planning.

Performance Skills

  1. Students will complete these areas of the Lean Canvas model.
    • Revenue Streams
    • Cost Structure
  2. AND (Complete at least one of the following)
    • Calculate the break-even point.
    • Create a financial statement.
    • Compare and contrast various payment systems.
    • Use a spreadsheet tool (What-If analysis) for modeling, projections, and forecasting.

STRAND 6
Management Principles: Students will understand the role of management principles in an entrepreneurial venture.

Standard 1
Students will discuss the importance of goal setting for an entrepreneurial venture

  1. Vision Statement a broad, lasting and an inspirational message that communicates the purpose of the business to all stakeholders
  2. Mission Statement a short specific statement which is adaptable to the current purpose and direction.

Performance Skills
Students will complete one of the following:

  1. Create a mission statement and vision statement.

STRAND 7
Business Ownership: Students will analyze how forms of business ownership, government regulations, and legal regulations affect entrepreneurial ventures.

Standard 1
Students will compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of business ownership.

  1. sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is the simplest and most common structure chosen to start a business. It is owned and run by one individual with no distinction between the business and you, the owner. The owner is entitled to all profits and is responsible for all your business's debts, losses and liabilities.
  2. partnership: is an arrangement between two or more people to oversee business operations and share its profits and liabilities.
  3. corporation: is legally a separate and distinct entity from its owners. Corporations possess many of the same legal rights and responsibilities as individuals. It has limited liability, which means that its shareholders are not personally responsible for the company's debts.it may be created by an individual or a group of people with a shared goal.
  4. Limited Liability Company (LLC): is a business structure in the U.S. that protects its owners from personal responsibility for its debts or liabilities. Limited liability companies are hybrid entities that combine the characteristics of a corporation with those of a partnership or sole proprietorship.
  5. Non-profit: does not earn profits for their owners. All of the money earned by or donated to a non- profit organization is used in pursuing the organization's objectives and keeping it running.
  6. Identify organizations that support entrepreneurs (SBDC, SBA, SCORE, GOED)

Standard 2
Students will understand government and legal regulations that affect entrepreneurial ventures.

  1. Identify and define the essential licenses and permits that a small business must obtain to begin operations.
  2. Business license: allows the holder to engage in business activities within the local jurisdiction.
  3. EIN/FEIN: employer identification number (EIN) refers to a unique identifier that is assigned to a business entity
  4. Name registry: There are four different ways to register your business name. Each way of registering your name serves a different purpose, and some may be legally required depending on your business structure and location.
    • Entity name protects you at a state level
    • Trademark protects you at a federal level
    • Doing business as (DBA) doesn't give legal protection, could be legally required
    • Domain name protects your business website address
  5. Sales tax I.D: a number provided to you by your state tax authority after you register with them to collect taxes
  6. Occupational/professional license: any and all appropriate licensure, registration or certification required by a governmental entity in order for a person to perform professional services
  7. Food handlers permits: must obtain a permit from a local health department before they are allowed to handle food which will be served to the general public.
  8. Identify taxes businesses pay (income, sales, property, payroll).
  9. Identify ways of protecting ideas and inventions
  10. Copyright: protects creators of original material from unauthorized duplication or use.
  11. Patent: provides the inventor exclusive rights to the patented process, design, or invention for a certain period in exchange for a complete disclosure of the invention.
  12. Trademark: is an easily recognizable symbol, phrase, or word that denotes a specific product.

Performance Skills (choose one)
Students will use their knowledge and skill learned throughout the Entrepreneurship course to complete one of the following:

  1. Create a business/promotion plan (FBLA and/or DECA).
  2. Create an innovative business plan.
  3. Create a start-up business plan.
  4. Social entrepreneurship project.
  5. Create and share a presentation of how you or your team met the Entrepreneurship Performance Objective.
  6. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of buying an existing business, starting a new business, starting a partnership, or purchasing a franchise.


UEN logo http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Racheal  Routt and see the CTE/Business website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - THALEA  LONGHURST.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.