Entrepreneurship Programs are about Business

The Focus Program is About YOU & Finding Your Path to Self-Employment

The Focus Program For Emerging Entrepreneurs is a completely unique approach to entrepreneurship. It focuses totally on helping prospective entrepreneurs better understand their potential FIT in the world of business ownership. And it does so by helping answer two critical questions: Should I really be self-employed, and if so, what type of business environment might best fit who I am? Our bottom line philosophy is simple: personal planning should always precede business planning. Nowhere else will you find this belief to be the driving force for prospective entrepreneurs.

The course consists of 36 well structured lectures including case studies and additional reading materials. There are no quizzes or tests in this entrepreneurship course, but you will be prompted to read, reflect and write about a number of subjects with the goal of creating your own ‘Personal Entrepreneurial Portrait’ (PEP) as the final result. The development of your own multifaceted Personal Entrepreneurial Portrait marks the difference between the Focus Program and all other entrepreneurship courses. It is the only course for emerging entrepreneurs that focuses entirely on the complex personal decisions every entrepreneur must (or at least should) make before launching into self-employment.

The sections and lectures are presented in a logical sequence meant to be completed over several days, if not weeks, in order to gain maximum personal insight on each topic.

Again, this is not a program dealing with business plans. Instead the focus is on you as an emerging entrepreneur. View the curriculum that follows and decide if these topics are critical to your future decisions.

Stated simply, the Focus Program is about the entrepreneur’s personal planning; something that should always precede business planning.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS INDEPENDENCE AT WORK.℠

Course Outline

Section 1: Orientation & Introduction
1 Stating The Problem 04:44
2 Foundation of the Focus Program 04:52
3 A Fundamental Truth About Self-Employment 03:17
4 A Formula for Successful Planning 03:31
5 Self Knowledge & Independence 08:41
Section 2: Entrepreneurial Types
6 Defining an Entrepreneur 05:42
7 Employee Manager, Intrapreneur, Franchisee & Business Opportunity Buyer 05:59
8 Independent, Practical Visionary & Summary 04:31
Section 3: Pathways to Ownership
9 Defining the Pathways 07:47
10 Purchased Format as a Start-up 04:12
11 Purchased Format as a Takeover 03:01
12 Independent as a Start-up 02:32
13 Independent as a Takeover 03:16
14 Special Considerations for Takeovers 06:09
Section 4: Aptitudes
15 Defining & Using Aptitudes 04:20
16 Aptitudes & Gifts of Intelligence 05:39
17 Generalist & Specialist 07:36
18 Introvert & Extrovert 03:22
19 Personal Frames of Reference 06:49
20 Spatial vs. Abstract Thinking 05:16
Section 5: Purchased Formats
21 Defining a Franchise 02:43
22 Traits of ‘Quality’ Franchises 05:05
23 Examining the Heart of a Franchise 04:26
24 Advantages of Franchising 02:22
25 Disadvantages of Franchising 01:51
26 Investigating via the Marketing Department 04:56
27 Final Thoughts on Franchising 05:07
Section 6: Case Studies
28 Using the Case Studies 01:43
29 Case 1. Delivering on an Entrepreneurial Vision 08:39
30 Case 2. Gradual Steps to Self-Employment 04:43
31 Case 3. Corporate Manager Finds an Entrepreneurial Home 06:25
32 Case 4. A Cautious Move to Independence 05:40
Section 7: Group Work, Planning Guides & Summary
33 Group Work 05:33
34 Personal Planning Guides 1 – 2 04:27
35 Personal Planning Guides 3-8 03:55
36 Summary 02:49