TM9706 - Enterprise Project - business start-up

You will learn through workshops which are in the form of action learning sets and through your own experience of developing your venture, and you will be assigned an academic facilitator to guide you through the process on an individual basis of starting your own business. The action learning sets are small group workshops which allows you and your peers to work through the challenges and complexities of running a venture and becoming an entrepreneur. These action learning sets allow you to use your venture to decide which are the most relevant topics for your learning, and allow you to practise these topics which will develop your learning further. The facilitator will help you tailor this knowledge to your own venture and guide you through the practical steps of applying it to your business.

Support will be provided to you by a member of academic staff leading the module with subject specialists acting as individual facilitators. A facilitator will be assigned to you who is an academic member of staff with expertise in business start-up. This facilitator will provide you with guidance and feedback throughout your time on the module.

The module is supported by a Teaching and Learning Plan which provides guidance on the tutor-guided independent learning and suggestions for student independent learning. The eLp will be used as a resource for workshop materials as well as serving as a communication hub for relevant course information, assessment submission and discussion boards.
You will be provided with a specialist electronic reading list that comprises of various materials including reports, book chapters and journal article that showcases the application of a variety of subject materials.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Demonstrate your understanding of sales and marketing processes within the context of new venture development. (MLO1) (Addresses PLOs 4.1; 4.2; 4.3)

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Demonstrate the ability to apply sales and marketing processes to your own venture and evaluate the impact. (MLO2) (Addresses PLO 4.3)

• Evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems and propose solutions to problems arising from developing your own venture. (MLO3) (Addresses PLOs 4.1; 4.2; 4.3; 5.1 - IPSA 1, 2, 3, 4)

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Value curiosity, collaboration and analysis as keystones in the creation of new knowledge and practice necessary for an entrepreneurial career. (MLO4) (Addresses PLOs 1.3; 1.4; 5.2 – PVA2)

Formative assessment (MLO1,2,3,4)
You will be required to run your own action learning group session either individually or in a small group.

You will be required to report on your business activity.

You will receive feedback on the above through your action learning sets.


Summative assessment

You will be assessed through:
A video pitch on your business plan. You will need to develop a plan which is presented as a 15 minute video pitch.
20% of the module (MLO1,3)

An individual 11000 word report worth 80% of the module that comes in two parts. Firstly, you will develop a fully worked up business plan that will set out your proposal and that critically assesses its strengths and weaknesses, challenges and opportunities. You will need to critically analyse how you have developed a marketing and sales process in order to develop your venture; and set out a forecast for future trading and profitability along with growth projections (6000 words). Secondly, you will write a reflective piece on the development of your entrepreneurial capabilities, and the attributes you possess to make a success of your venture (2500 words). (MLO 1,2,3,4)

SM4004 Entrepreneurship: context, policy, and process

None

We have designed this module to prepare you to develop your own venture and use it as a practical application for your entrepreneurial learning. The module will focus on how engaging in sales and marketing can provide opportunities for you to develop your own entrepreneurial capabilities as well developing and sustaining your venture. Please note that the module SM4004 Entrepreneurship: context, policy, and process is a pre-requisite for this module so you will have needed have successfully completed SM4004 before you can commence this module (TM9706 Enterprise Project – business start-up).

Through the action learning sets you and your peers will work together on the challenges and complexities of developing a venture and becoming an entrepreneur. Using this method of learning allows you to direct and tailor your learning to enable a more transformative experience. Through this transformative experience you will be supported on an individual basis through specialist support from academic staff who have experience in business start-up.