I am Mr. Filipinas, and some of you may know me as the Math Teacher / Virtual Enterprise Coordinator at DeWitt Clinton High School Over the next couple of weeks, you will become entrepreneurs, form companies, research and develop your ideas, and compete against each other for real prizes, bragging rights, and virtual fortunes.
You will learn the basics of the Entrepreneurship, Management & Marketing Strategy, Finance and Accounting, In addition, you will write documents using Word, construct financial statements and charts using Excel, and lastly, put everything together in PowerPoint presentation.
"SHARK TANK"
You will present your business plan in front of a panel of judges including Ms. McCabe & myself, where we play VENTURE CAPITALISTS (VC) looking for business opportunities in which to invest. You will have 10 minutes to present your idea, and then will have another 10 minutes to defend your business plan against questions from the panel. In addition, you will be judged by your peers based on your: 1.) Business Plan 50% 2.) Presentation & Salesmanship 50% who will also provide feedback on your presentation and business plan.
In "Shark Tank" the panel of venture capitalists provide funding for business ideas in return for in EQUITY, or ownership stake in the company.
See a example of "Shark Tank" from www.hulu.com:
http://www.hulu.com/shark-tank
Hulu: Shark Tank - Nervous
Hulu: Shark Tank - Urine Club
Hulu: Shark Tank - Passion
Hulu: Shark Tank - Frozen
Hulu: Shark Tank - Qubits
Hulu: Shark Tank - Fantastic Partners
Hulu: Shark Tank - Done
Hulu: Shark Tank - Pretty
CHOOSE YOUR GROUP MEMBERS & FORM YOUR COMPANY
1.) Since there are 24 students, split up into 8 groups of 3, no more, no less. If someone is absent, they will be placed in groups that are missing people today. The three of you will form a company.
2.) Decide on the type of business for your company. You can choose whatever you want your company to be, but it must be:
- PG Rated - Don't choose a company that will offend or embarrass others.
- Able to perform Internet research for it.
- Simple enough to complete within 8 days.
ORGANIZATION & COMMUNICATION & CHECKPOINTS
Organization and Communication is key to the success of your company. You will need to send me and your group members an email every day at the completion of a checkpoint. Each checkpoint is a task that will comprise part of the Business Plan portion of the judging criteria. Each Day's Checkpoint will be at the bottom of the day's webpage.
You need to make sure you CC (send a copy of the email & attachment (if applicable) ) to each group member so there will be no disruption in your group's ability to complete daily tasks. Losing a day due to an absence of a group member can be hard to recover from when the project must be completed in 8 days.
CHECKPOINT - DAY 1
1.) Email me at mr.filipinas@gmail.com & CC each member of your group:
- Company Name
- Brief description of the product or service that your company will sell or produce
- Industry
- First and Last Names, & email of the 3 group members
- Morning or Afternoon Session
2.) Research 3 - 5 companies that are similar to the company that you are trying to start. If you need help, go to http://www.hoovers.com in order to find companies that are in the same industry. Take notes (using MS Word) of the following information, and send as an attachment to me and your group (you will need this information for your presentation):
- Competitor Name
- Competitor URL (Website address - copy and paste the entire http://www.companywebsite.com)
- What are the goods or services that they sell?
- Who are they trying to market / sell to?
- How expensive are their goods / services compared to their other competitors?
- Where do they advertise (Internet, TV, Radio, Print, Billboard, Word of Mouth, etc.)
- Where do they actually sell their product or service (Internet, Retail Outlet / Kiosk / Storefront / , Combination of both, TV, Mail Order, Telephone Solicitation, etc) ?
- How easy is it for someone to start this business?
- Are there any products or services that can substitute for what the company sells. (example: Cars or Bicycles vs Harley Davidson)
- Are there any products or services that are technologically superior or obsolete to what the company sells? (Example: Blu-Ray Disc / On Demand Video / Tivo vs DVD vs VHS)
If you have a unique business idea, think about companies that could be similar to what you are trying to do, and think about the answers to the previous questions.
