2018/19

BM6005. Enterprise: creating your Business

OM6001. Successful freelancing

Module leader: Antonio Revilla

CM.229
E-mail: a.revilla@bathspa.ac.uk
It is all about you!
 If you studied the Entrepreneurship
module in your second year…

Learning ABOUT
Last year
Entrepreneurship

Learning FOR
This year
Entrepreneurship
 In other words…

Focus on WHAT is a good

Last year
business venture

Focus on HOW to create

This year a good business venture
 It is all about your skills and mindsets

In a CABS newsletter, Kate Pascoe (University of

Northampton) argues that:

‘Regardless of the ideas a student arrives with, it is

imperative that we still develop the ‘skills set’ associated
with entrepreneurs, including spotting and evaluating
opportunities, attitudes to risk, reflecting on feedback
(which is usually a tough ask!).’
 The (messy) journey of your ideas

Idea Concept Plan Business

Assignment 1 (individual)

Assignment 2 (team)
 “Perfection is not attainable, but if we
chase perfection we can catch excellence”

Vince Lombardi (American football coach)

 Assessment 1: timing and
process are key!
1. Develop your original business concept in the first 2-3 weeks of the
module.
- Short video and 1 slide ‘prototyping’ or demonstrating your
business concept. Upload to Minerva by Oct. 29nd!

2. Test your concept in the following weeks. Get as much relevant

feedback as you can!
a) With your peers:
In class during the seminar sessions
In an online discussion forum
b) Test it with potential users, discuss it with experts…
Interviews, focus groups, experiments, online
forums, etc.

3. Reflect on the feedback in order to create a second iteration.

 Assessment 1: submission
Three-section report (2000 words, +/- 10%, plus video and diagram):

Section 1: Present an original business concept.

Short text (approx. 200-300 words) describing the rationale behind
the business concept, along with the visual representation and link to
the video.

Section 2: Discuss testing and feedback (approx. 1,000-1,200 words).

This section must also include a link to evidence of the process (e.g.
shareable link to Google Drive folder).

Section 3: Present a second iteration of the business concept (approx.

500-800 words), highlighting how it has developed from the original
idea as a result of testing and feedback.
 Assessment 1: deadline

19 th November 2018
 Assessment 1: what will you be marked on?

a) Ideation: entrepreneurialism and originality of your business

concept. THINKING.
(Not looking for revolutionary ideas, although why not?,
just original concepts that address opportunities, deliver
value, and have a clear USPs)

b) Testing: Proactive, purposeful, timely, and relevant efforts to test

the idea and gather meaningful feedback. ENGAGEMENT

c) Iteration: Thoughtful reflection, evolution of the original idea

substantiated in evidence and feedback. LEARNING JOURNEY.
The worst entrepreneurs in the world
 Peer Feedback
• Many students struggle with peer
feedback at first.
• Wen and Tsai (2006) found that
'students receiving peer feedback
are fearful of being criticised by
their peers’.
• We have one simple rule: negative
feedback is banned
I think you could improve by…

Student:
“We gained confidence in our ideas
through the feedback we received…
Wen M , Tsai C . University students’
perceptions of and attitudes toward (online)
peer assessment . Higher Education 2006 ; 51
: 27 – 44 .
13
 Student:
Cassidy (2006) suggest that “Yes, I agree, you do feel a
'appropriate student peer bit awkward at first, but it
doesn’t last long….
feedback may not occur for
several reasons, including: social
discomfort when identifying a
peer’s weakness; the associated
responsibility; inadequate
knowledge; and insufficient
training.’ Student:
“We are here to learn, the simple rule
of keeping it positive helps. Visibility of
seeing other students working hard is a
real motivator - it also provides a
model for others to use”.
Cassidy S . Developing employability skills: peer assessment in higher
education . Education and Training 2006 ; 48 : 508 – 517
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 XX

What is enterprise?
 The key word is NEW

Entrepreneurship is an activity that involves the discovery,

evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities to introduce
NEW goods or services, use NEW production or organization
methods, target NEW markets, or exploit NEW inputs, by means
of explicit organizational efforts (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000).

It involves the combinations of elements of innovativeness,

risk-taking, and proactiveness (Miller, 1983)
NEW things or NEW ways of doing things
 Uncertainty and ambiguity

a) Businesses are production units that transform inputs (raw

materials, components, labor, equipment, etc.) into outputs
b) There are infinite new combinations of inputs and outputs that,
they remain undiscovered

Entrepreneurs discover and exploit new mindsets that link inputs

and outputs, so that:
- they make better use of existing resources
- they satisfy existing uses with less valuable resources
What characterizes great entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs are extremely heterogeneous, but there

are three main traits that enable great enterprising
ideas:

a) Access to rich, valuable, diverse, and unique

information: life & work experience, personal
relationships, hobbies & interests, etc.
b) Alertness to opportunities. Keep your eyes open!
c) Cognitive process to recognize and evaluate
opportunities: intuition, foresight, representativeness
(i.e. the ability to make sense of limited info), creativity
 The ultimate goal is value creation

What does value mean?

When would you say that something is

valuable to you?

Every good business venture starts with a

good value proposition!
Meet Charlie and Lou Rowen
 As an entrepreneur, create
the perfect bike for Charlie and Lou
 Why do entrepreneurs need to
care for Design Thinking?
Entrepreneurs …. Design thinking mindest

… discover and create

new ways of doing Creativity
things…

… in a context of Tolerance for

uncertainty and ambiguity
ambiguity…

… aiming at creating Empathy

value for customers
 “Incorporating design thinking in
the business curriculum can
provide students and instructors
with a framework for dealing with
unstructured problems and for
managing the innovation process.

However, many business students,

like many business professionals, Student A
experience confusion and
frustration when engaging in design “Depends on the classroom
thinking projects for the first time.” environment, you need to feel
that it’s not the end of the world
(Glen et al, 2014) if you say something silly”
.
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