Introduction
In this assignment, you will continue to develop your business idea that will be the core of your Business Blueprint. You will examine the legal and regulatory issues that you will have to contend with in order to start your business and operate it on a day-to-day basis. And you will also determine and discuss your own strengths and weaknesses in relation to running the business. You will work on the following specific areas of your Blueprint document:
Your role as an entrepreneur or small-business owner
Analyzing a successful business (CSFs, SWOT, and financial analysis)
Business ownership formats
Canadian business laws and regulations
Part
Title
%
A
Your Role as an Entrepreneur or Small-Business Owner
30
B
Analyzing a Business
20
C
Business Ownership
35
D
Canadian Business Laws and Regulations, Customer Satisfaction
15
Total
100
Instructions
This segment of your business Blueprint will consist of four sections. Develop each section of your report by answering the questions that are applicable to your specific business idea. The word counts in each part give you a guideline about how detailed your report should be.
Send your completed assignment to your Open Learning Faculty Member when you have finished this module.
If you are unsure about what is required in an assignment, contact your Open Learning Faculty Member.
Part A: Your Role as an Entrepreneur or Small-Business Owner
What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses as a potential business owner?
What will you do to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses?
(Maximum 750 words)
Part B: Analyzing a Successful Business
Choose and identify a retail business where you shop in-person or online on a regular basis and conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats) analysis from your point of view as a customer. Try to be realistic in your comments and cover both the internal and external aspects of the analysis. See Pages 170173 re: SWOT Analysis.
(Maximum 1,500 words)
Using the Integrative Model of a Successful Business diagram in the textbook on page 5 and both the MIS Integration and CSFs described on pages165170 in Chapter 7, develop a list of critical success factors your business must have in order to compete in the industry your business is in and continue to be successful year after year.
(Maximum 500 words)
Part C: Business Ownership
Describe the pros and cons of each of the following forms of business ownership in relation to your business idea:
Sole proprietorship
Partnership
Incorporation, including a single owner corporation
Specialized formsco-ops and joint ventures
Franchise
Mergers and acquisition
Describe the form of business ownership you prefer for your business idea. Explain why you have made this choice.
(Maximum 2,000 words)
Part D: Canadian Business Laws and Regulations, and Customer Satisfaction
See the textbooks appendix.
Detail the Canadian business laws and regulations that govern your industry and your business. Include both Canadian and provincial laws and regulations. If your business will be covered by municipal bylaws, include those as well. If you are thinking about an Internet business, what special regulations will you have to consider?
(Maximum 1,500 words)
With reference to the CSFs and Achieving Success section in the textbook, describe five things you will do to assure customer satisfaction in your business. Be as specific as possible and give examples where applicable
(Maximum 750 words)
Module 2 : Building a Canadian Business
Your progress
This module covers chapters 6, 7, and 8, and the appendix in the textbook. In this module, we will continue looking at more of the factors involved in developing your business idea.
In the two parts of Topic 1, we will discuss the decision to start a business and look at the integrative nature of this decision. There are hundreds of sad stories of people who rush into business ownership without determining whether or not they have the skills, resources, or personality to be a business owner. It takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur or business owner. This is your opportunity to see if you are cut out to become a business owner.
In Topic 2, we will look at some ways to analyze a business and at what it takes for a business to become a success l and we will review some financial analysis tools.
In Topic 3, we will examine the different forms of business ownership in Canada and the implications that your choice will have for your business. The structure of your business organization will, ultimately, have an impact on the business models you choose, the financial performance of your company, and the numbers and kinds of government regulations you will have to contend with.
In Topic 4, we will look at corporate governance and cover how the Canadian legal environment and tax laws will affect your proposed business.
There are four topics in this module:
Topic 1: Part AEntrepreneurs Plus; Part BYour Own Small Business
Topic 2: Analyzing the Business
Topic 3: Forms of Business Ownership
Topic 4: The Canadian Legal Environment and Taxation
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
Evaluate the various forms of business organization and the pros and cons of each in relation to your business idea.
Inventory your skills, strengths, and weaknesses as a potential small-business owner.
Analyze any business, using a SWOT analysis and Porters 5 forces.
Review the CSFs that contribute to a successful and sustainable company.
Understand various strategies that drive a company toward achieving its vision and mission.
Determine the basics of the financial health of a company.
Recognize the various considerations required for business start-ups.
Detail the various Canadian laws, regulations, and licenses that pertain to your business idea (as shown in the textbooks appendix).
. Select to mark as complete.
Activities
Complete and check off the following:
Activity 1: Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship
Activity 2: Your Own Small Business
Activity 3: Business Organization/Ownership
Activity 4: Business Law
