What is meant by the term efficiency as it relates to the financial management of a firm?
> What are the three steps involved in selecting and registering a trademark?
> Search the USPTO database and find three patents issued to Donald E. Weder of Highland Park, Illinois. Describe the patents. In what areas are most of Mr. Weder’s patents?
> What is a standard business model and what is a disruptive business model?
> What are the two primary rules for determining whether intellectual property protection should be pursued for a particular intellectual asset?
> What types of physical measures do firms take to protect their trade secrets?
> What information does not qualify for trade secret protection? Make your answer as thorough as possible.
> What is a copyright bug? Where would one expect to find the bug, and how is it used?
> What is a copyright?
> If you were interested in opening a musical instruments store near the college of university you are attending in order to sell guitars, drums, and other types of musical instruments, what online resources would you draw on to conduct secondary research
> What is meant by the term trade dress?
> What are the three steps involved in selecting and registering a trademark?
> What is meant by creating “buzz” for a company? Provide an example of a firm that has created effective buzz for its product or service.
> What is a tagline? What is your favorite tagline? Why
> What are some of the techniques a start-up can use to estimate its potential financial performance by comparing it to similar, already established businesses?
> What is a niche market?
> What is meant by the term guerrilla marketing? Provide an example of guerrilla marketing not provided in the chapter.
> What is a reference account? How can having a reference account help a new firm?
> What is meant by the term brand equity?
> Describe the most common sources of debt financing
> What are the most common sources of equity funding?
> Linda Toombs, who has considerable experience in the home security industry, is planning to launch a new line of home security alarms that she believes would be superior to other products in the market. Linda knows how to develop a concept statement and
> Describe the three steps involved in properly preparing to raise debt or equity financing.
> What is meant by the term sweat equity?
> What are the three separate components of financial feasibility analysis?
> What are the three most common sources of equity funding?
> Why is it so important to get a personal introduction before approaching a potential investor or banker?
> What are the three most common reasons most entrepreneurial ventures need to raise money in their early life?
> Why does having relevant industry experience help the founder or founders of a firm?
> What are the personal attributes that affect a founder’s chances of launching a successful new firm?
> What are the two potential pitfalls of using a team to start a firm?
> What are the differences between a heterogeneous and a homogeneous founding team?
> Jennifer Pisano just applied for a bank loan to finance an Italian restaurant she wants to launch. When visiting with the banker about the loan application, she was asked if she had conducted any primary research to assess the feasibility of her proposed
> What is liability of newness?
> What types of advice and counsel do SCORE volunteers provide?
> What are the attributes or characteristics of an attractive industry for a new venture?
> What is the purpose of SCORE?
> Why do new ventures often turn to consultants for advice?
> In what ways do lenders and investors lend legitimacy to a firm?
> Who are the primary participants in a start-up’s new-venture team?
> How does recruiting a well-known and highly respected board of directors lend legitimacy to a firm?
> What are the three formal responsibilities of a board of directors?
> What is the difference between inside and outside directors?
> What is a board of directors?
> Jackson Reed, a friend of yours, just told you an interesting story. He was at his parents’ house over the weekend. While there, his father saw the entrepreneurship textbook that is being used in one of the classes Jackson is taking this semester. He loo
> What are the reasons for completing a skills profile for a new firm?
> What are the five stages of the creative process for an individual?
> What is a new-venture team?
> On what factors or conditions do completely new firms base their forecasts?
> What is meant by the term stability as it relates to the financial management of a firm?
> What are the four main financial objectives of a firm?
> Why is a firm’s sales forecast the basis for most of its other forecasts?
> What is the purpose of a balance sheet?
> How does a firm compute its price-to-earnings ratio? Why does a high price-to-earnings ratio indicate that the stock market thinks the firm will grow?
> What are the two primary functions of the financial management of a firm?
> Charlie Berry, Shelly Toombs, Nancy Harder, James Ndofor, Jennifer Atwood, and Cliff Bell are all experienced software engineers. For some time, they’ve been talking about starting a company—the six of them—around a software solution in which all of them
> What are the changes to the demographic makeup of entrepreneurs in the United States that are described in this chapter?
> What is the difference between technological alliances and marketing alliances? Provide examples of both types of alliances and how they can increase a firm’s sales.
> What does evidence show us about the rate of failure associated with entrepreneurial ventures?
> What is the purpose of a nondisclosure agreement and the purpose of a no compete agreement?
> What are some of the more important criteria to consider when selecting an attorney for a new firm?
> What is the purpose of a code of conduct?
> What are some of the specific steps that can be taken in an entrepreneurial venture for the purpose of building a strong ethical culture?
> Why is it important for an entrepreneur to build a strong ethical culture for his or her firm?
> How is a C corporation subject to double taxation?
> Based on the information included in this chapter, in general, do entrepreneurs tend to overestimate or underestimate their knowledge of the laws that pertain to starting a new firm, and why?
> What might trigger a firm’s decision to change how it is legally organized?
> Why isn’t choosing a legal entity a one-time event?
> What is an example of a business that wouldn’t be suitable for franchising?
> What is mediation and how do entrepreneurs use it to resolve disputes?
> A friend of yours just completed a First Screen analysis for an e-commerce site that she hopes to launch to sell horse riding supplies, including saddles, tack, lead ropes, and feed buckets. She’s disappointed because she rated 10 of the 25 items include
> How can entrepreneurial ventures avoid legal disputes?
> When should your friend, who is considering launching a consulting firm to provide financial services to small businesses, think about the ethical climate she wants to establish in her venture?
> Why is it important for a business plan to follow a conventional structure rather than be highly innovative and creative?
> What are the differences between historical financial statements and pro forma financial statements?
> What is the purpose of an assumptions sheet?
> Why is the “Management Team and Company Structure” section of a business plan often touted as one of the most important sections?
> What is the purpose of the “Operations Plan” section of a business plan?
> What is the purpose of “The Economics of the Business” section of a business plan?
> What are the rules of thumb for determining whether franchising is a good choice for a particular business?
> What is the difference between a concentrated and a fragmented industry?
> Why should the executive summary, which is one of the first things that appears in a business plan, be written last?
> Marshall Hanson, the founder of Santa Fe Hitching Rail, a chain of nine steak restaurants in New Mexico, is considering expanding his menu, which is currently restricted to steak, hamburger, potatoes, and fries. He has just read a book about entrepreneur
> What is a business plan?
> How does rivalry among existing firms have the potential to suppress an industry’s profitability?
> How can the threat of new entrants suppress an industry’s profitability?
> What are the five forces that determine an industry’s profitability?
> What are the four primary categories of environmental trends?
> Identify three sources of competitive intelligence that entrepreneurial firms should feel comfortable using to better understand their competitors.
> Why is it important for firms to collect intelligence about their competitors?
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a franchise system?
> What is meant by the term competitive intelligence?
> What is the purpose of a competitor analysis?
> What is a global industry?
> Identify three start-ups, other than those discussed in the chapter and listed in Table 2.2, which were started to solve a problem. Briefly describe the problems the three start-ups are solving and how they are going about doing so.
> What is the primary opportunity for new firms in a mature industry?
> What are the characteristics of a mature industry?
> What is the primary opportunity for new firms in fragmented industries?
> How does the bargaining power of buyers have the potential to suppress an industry’s profitability?
> How does the bargaining power of suppliers have the potential to suppress an industry’s profitability?
> Study the popular social networking site LinkedIn. What growth strategies has the company employed? What are the most appropriate growth strategies for this firm to use going forward? Why?
