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FastTrac® GrowthVenture™  Curriculum
Maximizing the Potential of Your Business

FastTrac® GrowthVenture™ helps entrepreneurs sharpen their strategic thinking skills as they plan for growth and build sustainable businesses. 

FastTrac® GrowthVenture™ introduces practicing entrepreneurs to the key elements necessary to build the knowledge and skills needed to grow their businesses and be profitable. Developed by the Kauffman Foundation by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, the FastTrac® GrowthVenture™ course will enable experienced entrepreneurs to effectively evaluate and develop their:
- Overall business strategy and vision for the future
- Ability to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace
- Changing role in managing the business
- Readiness for growth and profitability potential

The program assists entrepreneurs:

- Wanting to assess opportunities and identify which opportunities present the greatest potential.
- Seeking to re-evaluate their business strategies to align all aspects of their businesses using a   proven business planning process.
- Wanting to re-evaluate their processes, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and how those impact their vision for the future.
- Looking to assess the businesses' readiness for growth; how it will happen, how fast, and to what level.
- Recognizing their changing role in managing their businesses; how the work is managed, and how the team is motivated to create a healthy business.
- Seeking to maximize cash flow for future profitability.
- Seeking a practical approach to a business plan.
- Looking to develop their presentation skills to pitch their business plan and access capital to fund the growth of their businesses.

Finally, the most important benefit of FastTrac® GrowthVenture™ may be the enduring relationships that develop through the program. As entrepreneurs work with the facilitator, business coaches, guest speakers, and other participating entrepreneurs, they often forge networks that can last for years. FastTrac® is an experience!

All sessions will convene from 5:30  to 8:30 p.m.

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FastTrac® GrowthVenture™ Course Descriptions:

MODULE 1: Sizing up Your Business
Kick off your FastTrac® adventure by examining what success means to you and set goals to help motivate and guide you as you grow your business. Key outcomes:
Personal definition of entrepreneurial success
SWOT analysis
Core values, mission statement, three-year vision
Goals for the business

MODULE 2: Exploring Growth Opportunities
This module will focus on the question of growth: what type and amount are appropriate for your business at this time? What opportunities do you want to pursue? New markets? Product or service changes? You will identify your business' financial strength and stage of growth and learn how to conduct research on your industry's potential, trends, and changes in the marketplace. Key outcomes:
Assessment of business' readiness for growth
Skills to identify and analyze market opportunities
Evaluation of market opportunities to grow the business
Skills to conduct market

MODULE 3: Making Strategic Decisions
Participants will determine an overall business strategy that helps them sustain a competitive advantage in the market and achieve their business and personal goals. Key outcomes:
Strategy for achieving business and personal goals
Techniques for monitoring changes that affect your strategy
Competitive advantage identified
Exit strategy that supports business and personal goals
Assessment of business model’s alignment with business strategy and exit strategy

MODULE 4: Using Financial Tools
In this module, entrepreneurs will identify the financial implications of their vision and strategy by developing a three-year budget. This budget will concentrate on the primary financial components that determine overall profitability – Sales, Cost of Goods Sold, and Operating Expenses. Key outcomes:
Awareness of the impact of strategic decisions on the budget
Recognition of the benefits of designing a preliminary forecast
A three-year budget with projected financial statements
Ability to question and verify the accuracy of their budget
Ability to use financial statements to make financial predictions

MODULE 5: Strengthening the Product/Service
Participants will define the benefits of their products/services from their customer’s perspective. To strengthen competitive advantage, you will work on differentiating your products or services from those of your competitors. Entrepreneurs will evaluate their pricing and decide if they need to adjust prices to remain competitive and meet their goals. Key objectives:
Product/service features and benefits linked
List of potential intellectual property and how to protect it
Strategies for pricing products/services
Marketing Plan – Pricing
Product/Service Plan
Financial projections for the Product/Service Plan

MODULE 6: Seizing the Market
Building on the previous modules, entrepreneurs will develop a marketing plan, identifying how they sell, promote, and distribute their product/services. Participants will determine their anticipated return-on-investment of marketing resources, and identify ways to monitor and control their marketing efforts. Key outcomes:
Understanding the marketing cycle
Strategies and activities to reach target markets
Marketing Activities Schedule
Marketing Plan -- Marketing Penetration
Financial projections for the Marketing Plan

MODULE 7: Leading the Organization
This module will help entrepreneurs think about their changing role in managing the business. Topics will include leadership, motivation, managing a team, hiring, retention, compensation, and the legal form of doing business. Key outcomes:
Strategies to develop a healthy organization
Stronger leadership skills
Evaluation of appropriateness of current legal structure
Personal job description
Management and Organization Plan
Management and Organization Plan financial projections

MODULE 8: Managing Operations for Growth
This module concentrates on implementing the processes needed to monitor and manage the business according to expected outcomes. Entrepreneurs will design the flow of work to be accomplished and identify key success measurements. Participants will consider using advisory board, coaches, mentors, and peer mentors to guide their business. Key outcomes:
Work processes map
Scorecard of key success measurements
Performance standards for entrepreneur and key team members
Operations and Controls Plan

MODULE 9: Charting Financial Performance
In this module, the projected financial statements built throughout the program and generated by the Financial Template are used to analyze the business’s performance. After determining specific cash needs, entrepreneurs investigate potential sources of cash and prepare to seek the necessary funds. Key outcomes:
Specific changes to improve profitability based on the Three-Year Projected Income Statement
Specific changes to strengthen financial performance based on the Three-Year Projected Balance Sheet
Specific changes to increase the business’s overall wealth based on the company’s financial ratios
List of short-term and long-term cash flow needs based on the Three-Year Cash Flow Report
Skills to maximize the internal sources of cash available to support the business
List of external sources of cash to support operations and growth and a plan to request funding

MODULE 10: Making it Happen
Participants will identify the specific action steps they will take to achieve their companies' visions and strategies. During this final session, entrepreneurs present their plans, discuss action steps, and reflect on the value of having completed the business planning process. Coaches review and give feedback on the written plans the participants submit as well as presentations. Key outcomes:
Strategies for each functional area that require immediate action
Action plan for implementation
Commitment to the role of the entrepreneur: identifying changes and needed support
Completed Business Plan
Venture presentation (if applicable)

GRADUATION DINNER: TBA

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING:

Comprehensive manuals and online templates (these alone are worth the cost of the program) to help in the development of your business plan.

FastTrac® Financial Template that fits your type of business.

Three-month complimentary subscription to the James J. Hill Reference Library and HillSearch, a private non-profit library with a world-class collection of business information, resources and business knowledge experts, at http://www.jhill.org.

Comprehensive marketing at your fingertips.

The FastTrac® experience brings multiple levels of instruction each week, including:
     Non-traditional experiential learning
     Guest speakers who bring real-world experience to the program
     Hands-on coaching sessions
     Networking with peers, seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals