Introduction to entrepreneurship/IENT102/About

Course Name:

In this course you will explore different legal forms of business ownership, business planning and business ethics.

What will I learn?
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
 * Identify different legal forms for a business
 * Identify the questions to ask when choosing an appropriate form of ownership for a business
 * Choose and justify an appropriate form of ownership for a selected business start-up
 * Differentiate between moral, legal, and ethical business behaviours
 * Discuss how ethical behaviour impacts on business decisions for a selected business start-up
 * Describe some of the different types of professional adviser that a new entrepreneur may turn to for support
 * Explain the role of a business mentor
 * Assess what business advice you might need for your own business idea
 * Explain the purpose and benefits of a business plan
 * Outline the different elements of a business plan
 * Write an executive summary for a business plan, for a start-up business
 * Recognise different approaches for developing a business plan and the role of prototyping a product or service
 * Identify and reflect on the components of an effective business presentation

What's involved?
There are five learning pathways, each containing numerous resources and activities.

The learning pathways are:
 * Legal forms of business
 * Business ethics
 * Professional advisers and mentors
 * Business planning
 * Presentations

What prerequisites should I have, if any?
Anyone is free to participate in this course. An internet connection and basic web-browsing skills are recommended, with the ability to create a blog and microblog account (instructions and self-study tutorials provided.) You are requested to keep a personal learning journal, as reflection has been shown to markedly increase learning.

You will need to be proficient in English language (reading, writing and listening) to participate successfully in this course.

This is one of three micro-courses which together make up the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course. Each micro-course can be studied independently, but we recommend study in the following order because the later micro-courses draw to some extent on knowledge, skills and resources developed in the earlier ones:



All the micro-courses can be accessed and consulted freely online.

What assessment options do I have?
There are various options for assessment and certification of participation. Please refer to the Assesssment Overview for full information.