Today I took a new path with my career and education as I signed an internship contract with Whitworth College. This is kind of like a directed self-study where I will be doing all the work on my own, under the guidance of a Whitworth instructor. My study focus is on what I need to learn and know in order to open my own business. To accomplish this I had to come up with several goals for the study and they had to be approved by my Faculty Advisor. In addition, I have to complete at least 40 hours of work, study and reporting in order to gain one credit. I elected to sign up for three credits, which means I will have to put in 120 hours of work, basically three regular work weeks.
Here is a summary of my goals:
– How to measure the validity of a business idea: Marketplace Survey
– Investigating Business Expenses, material & Human Resources
– Break even Analysis
– Risk Assessment
– Financial Planning; loans, capital, etc.
The Work Site Goals are a listing of things we believe I need to do in order to accomplish the above goals, and they are:
– Research the market for fine-tuning the business idea and check for validity.
– Research brick & mortar space for operations: cost, terms, availability of necessary utilities, etc.
– Research cost of equipment: initial acquisitions, maintenance contracts, etc.
– Research cost of Human Resources: types of jobs necessary to run the business, necessary skills needed, costs associated with those jobs.
– Research ways to finance startup operations: bank loans, etc.
– Complete reports on paper, financial and otherwise, to determine go-no-go decision on business validity, and for use as presentation material for loan applications.
– Learn break-even analysis and estimate break-even volume.
So there it is, I just need to get rolling on it. Since I’m currently unemployed I should have plenty of time to do things. Let’s see how it goes.
Asa Jay
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