Starting an Internet Cafe

Introduction

There are many ways to look at a problem. Thinking of solutions often opens up new opportunities.

A problem that is shared by many people can be a business opportunity.

Recognizing a business opportunity is one characteristic of entrepreneurial thinking.

Starting an Internet Cafe

Section 1Think Like an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur creates, operates, and assumes the risk for a new business venture.

Entrepreneurs have coaches or mentors to help just like you have an instructor to help you.

Like each of us, entrepreneurs are constantly making decisions. They minimize the risk of making a bad decision by using their mentors. They also follow a decision-making process to ensure they are considering all their options:

•They identify all their options.

•Then research the options.

•They evaluate the research.

•They make a decision.

Starting an Internet CafeSection 2

Plan Like an Entrepreneur

Good decisions take research.

You have to be aware of the environment around you. What is happening in your neighborhood, your town, and your country?

Businesses are effected by changes in their surroundings. New laws, new technology, new competition can change the way a business must operate.

Starting an Internet CafeSection 3

Decide Like an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs rarely make decisions without first researching and evaluating their options.

They must decide:

• What product or service to offer• Where the product will be sold• How customers will learn of the product• What they should charge for the product

Starting an Internet CafeSection 4

Writing the Business Plan

A Business Plan organizes and explains the decisions the entrepreneur has made.

Business plans are used to guide the management and to explain the business to people outside of the company.

There are usually five sections in a business plan:

• The Executive Summary• The Business Description• The Environmental Analysis• The Management Biographies• The Financial Section

Each section details a specific area of the business.

Passport21 to

Entrepreneurship

The case study characters adventure outside their normal routine to discover new opportunities in entrepreneurship.

Along the way they:

Recognize new business ideas

Learn new business terms

Use the decision-making process to reduce risk

Research and evaluate options to decide on the best opportunities.

We hope you enjoy their journeys.

You can interact with the characters through the Aspire interactive game. There is a link to the game on your student home page.

Have fun!