Entrepreneurship and Business Planning

The study is divided into lectures and practice lessons following problem- and project based learning principles. In the lectures, the parts of the entrepreneurial process are discussed with the students, which support the exercises and tasks performed in the practice class. In the lecture, the exercises are given the theoretical or conceptual background, for better understanding examples and cases from practice are given. In practice classes, the development of a business project takes place in teams, with students choosing the idea or problem solution themselves, using idea discovery methods. After selecting the idea and the team, the idea is developed into a project following the real-life situation and process. The following tasks are carried out for this: business model creation, marketing strategy planning, customer and competitor study preparation and execution, financial forecast planning, development and presentation of the business plan as a whole. In addition, the tasks and exercises also rely on the entrepreneurial competence model to support students personal development. To develop presentation skills, ideas are presented in different ways: presentation, poster, sales pitch, business model and business plan. Entrepreneurs and specialists from different fields of business are involved in the study to support the development of the idea regardless of the field. Every semester, the final event of entrepreneurship education "Business Ideas to Life" is held, in the framework of which students and mentors come together to receive feedback on business ideas as well as encouragement and guidelines for future activities.

NB! This course will take place in autumn semester 2024/2025 which starts on 2nd of September and ends 26th of January (you can find that information under Start date section). The real course start and end dates will be announced at the beginning of September at the latest.

After completing this course, the student:

• understands the entrepreneurial process and the company's economic activity;
• evaluates business opportunities based on sustainability principles;
• carries out a market and competition analysis based on the selected business opportunity;
• prepares a business model with break-even point calculation;
• plans the company's comprehensive marketing plan and process map;
• compiles justified financial forecasts and profitability analysis;
• practices teamwork and presentation.

Final assessment can consist of one test/assignment or several smaller assignments completed during the whole course. After declaring a course the student can re-sit the exam/assessment once. Assessment can be graded or non-graded. For specific information about the assessment process please get in touch with the contact person of this course. For specific information about grade transfer please contact your home university

• Neck, H.; Neck, Ch.P.; Murray, E.L. Entrepreneurship. The practice and mindset. 14th.ed. 2020.
• Teemakohased teadusartiklid ja konspektid Moodle'is.

lectures, exercises