Spring 2019 

T - Th 12:30pm - 1:45pm 
Hillside House 
Professor: Rita Chesterton 
Email - ​rchesterton@muhlenberg.edu 
Office: Hillside House 
Office Hours: T - Th 2pm - 3:30pm and on request M, W, F 
Tel: 484-664-3028 
 
Business Plan Development Syllabus 
 
 
Decription​: 
 
This course provides real world, hands-on learning on what it’s like to actually start a company. 
Yes, you will learn how to write a business plan, but only after you have successfully launched 
a business.  
 
This is a practical class - essentially a lab, not a theory or a “book” class. My goal is to create an 
entrepreneurial experience for your with all the pressures and demands of the real world in an 
early stage startup. This class is designed to give you the experience to work as a team as you 
turn an idea into a company.  
 
You will be getting your hands dirty talking to customers, partners, and competitors, as you 
encounter the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup actually works. You’ll practice evidence 
based entrepreneurship as you learn how to use a b ​ usiness model​ to brainstorm each part of a 
company and ​customer development ​ to get out of the classroom to see whether anyone other 
than you would want/use your product. Finally, based on the customer and market feedback 
you gathered, you will use agile development to rapidly iterate your product/service to build 
something customers will actually use and buy. Each block will be a new adventure outside the 
classroom as you test each part of your business model and then share the hard-earned 
knowledge with the rest of the class. 
 
But you won’t just be validating an idea, you are ​required to build a new venture​. The only 
restriction is that your venture idea must somehow use the equipment in the makerspace 
(either to make your product or promote your product/service). You have two main goals with 
your business over the course of the semester: 
 
● To build a ​brand​ and a ​sustainable business​ that could be continued beyond the 
semester. 
● To generate $200 in revenue for your business before the end of the semester. 
 
This means that you must take a look at the skill set of your team and the resources that are 
available to you and determine what you can do in a short period of time. You then need to 
think about what you would need to do in order to turn the project into a sustainable business. 
(You cannot create a business making t-shirts/mugs/etc. for others.) 
 
As part of the project, you will be required to build a website for your business. You may 
develop an e-commerce site and try to generate revenue through your site, or you may 
develop an informational site you use for marketing, or something else. We will be covering 
the expectations and some basics on website development in class.  
 
Books: 
 
There are some case-studies that you will need to purchase from the HBC website. A 
link will be provided on Canvas. 
 
Course Objectives​: 
 
● Gain a strong experiential perspective on the Entrepreneurial process; 
● Introduce the scientific approach from moving from idea to business; 
● Learn to iterate fast and validate the assumptions of the business model; 
● How to generate assumptions about your customer segment and value proposition; 
● How to define and execute pass/fail experiments to validate or invalidate these 
assumptions;  
● How to find and reach out to potential customers and develop a customer contact list; 
● How to actually talk with potential customers and surface insight about their needs and 
motivations; 
● How to map customer segment personas and begin to recognize patterns that emerge 
during your discovery process; 
● Gain insight in how you move from student of entrepreneurship to career in business 
ownership; 
● Develop communication skills; 
● Develop critical thinking skills; 
● Develop an understanding of the full entrepreneurial process from ideation and 
planning, through execution (including all aspects of business ownership from 
including, but not limited to, sales, marketing and finance); 
● How to write a business plan to communicate the value of your business; 
● How to write a marketing and branding plan; 
● How to create a pitch to communicate the value of your business. 
 
 
 
 
Expectations: 
 
You will be expected to present the results of your weekly experiments and on the progress of 
your business. These presentations will be followed by critiques from both myself, other 
members of the class, and possibly outside entrepreneurs on occasion. The process is 
expected to build a healthy dialogue about building a successful venture. All students are 
expected to participate fully both when their team is presenting, as well as when other teams 
are presenting. This class requires your full attention at all times. (See Canvas for Presentation 
Expectations) 
 
Team Organization: 
 
This class is team-based. Working and studying will be done in teams. Teams will be self 
organized and each member of the team is responsible for contributing equality to the team 
dynamic. It is the responsibility of other members of the team to bring to my attention a 
student who is not participating as required. At the start of the semester we will be creating 
team expectations and contracts.  
 
Deliverables: (see Canvas for Descriptions) 
 
Presentations and Slide Decks to class 
Business Website 
Case Study Write Ups 
Final Reflection Video 
Final Pitch 
Final Business Plan 
Personal Reflection Blog 
 
Grading Criteria: 
 
15% Class Participation 
 
15% In-Class Presentations & plan drafts 
 
5% Website for your business  
 
20% Business Plan 
 
5% Team Lessons Learned Video 
 
10% Team Final Pitch 
 
15% Individual Case study Write-Up Answers 
15% Personal Reflection Blog 
 
 
Grade Scale -  
 
Letter Grade Percentage Points  
A+  100 – 97  
A  96.9 – 93  
A-  92.9 – 90  
B+  89.9 – 87  
B  86.9 – 83  
B-  82.9 – 80  
C+  79.9 – 77 
C  76.9 – 73  
C-  72.9 – 70  
D  69.9 – 60  
F Below 60 
 
 
Class Schedule: 
 
See Canvas 
 
 
General Course Information 
 
Assigned Readings​ – 
Assigned readings are to be done ​before​ the beginning of each class. Note the dates 
that readings are due. Case studies also have a written pre-class assignment, make sure to 
upload your answers to the case study questions to Canvas prior to the start of class on the 
day they are due. You need to bring the readings with you to class on the days they are to be 
discussed. Additional readings not on the syllabus may be assigned and listed on Canvas. 
 
Attendance -  
In order to succeed in this course you must attend classes. I will be taking attendance. 
Arrival to class more than 15 minutes late twice constitutes one absence. You are only 
permitted two unexcused absences during the semester. Please note this policy. 30% of your 
grade is class participation and in-class presentations. If you are absent, these will be 
impacted negatively. Attendance is particularly important due to the group and collaborative 
nature of the course. 
 
 
 
Course Participation -  
Entrepreneurship and learning are both activities that require doing. You are expected 
to participate fully in all discussions and in-class activities. You are also expected to participate 
in your group. We will create group contracts and you will be expected to follow them.  
 
Technology in Class -  
Please bring a laptop or tablet device to each class for classroom purposes. That being 
said, I reserve the right at any time to ask any or all students to put away their technological 
devices during portions of the course. Please be respectful digital citizens.  
 
Timeliness of Assignments​ -  
All assignments time and due dates are noted in Canvas. I do not accept late work 
without a doctor’s note or other legal document that shows circumstances truly beyond your 
control that kept you from turning in your assignment on time.  
 
Course Schedule -  
 
As this is a very hands-on and experiential course, the timing of the course may shift as 
learning requires. You will be informed on Canvas of any changes to assignment dates. 
 
 
Misc. Course Related Information 
 
Course Unit Instruction 
 
This class is scheduled to meet for 2 hours and 30 minutes of classroom instruction 
time per week. Additional activities for this course include attendance at specified College 
lectures and events and meeting with potential customers, partners, and competitors. These 
activities will add an additional 10 hours of instruction.  
 
Students with disabilities 
 
Students with disabilities requesting classroom or course accommodations must 
complete a multi-faceted application/approval process through the Office of Disability 
Services prior to the development and implementation of an Accommodation Plan. Each 
Accommodation Plan is individually and collaboratively developed with the Directors or staff 
of the following Departments, as appropriate: Office of Counseling Services, Student Health 
Services, and the Office of Disability Services. If you have not already done so, please contact 
the appropriate Department to have a dialogue regarding your academic needs and the 
recommended accommodations, auxiliary aides, and services. 
 
 
The Academic Integrity Code (AIC)​. 
 
  Students are expected to know and abide by the AIC and will be held accountable for 
their adherence to the code in this course by faculty, administration and fellow students. The 
AIC is printed in full in the Student Handbook. For the purposes of each student’s development 
and understanding in this course most written assignments will be completed individually. I 
encourage sharing ideas about assignments with your classmates, while ensuring that the final 
product is a result of your individual efforts, incorporating what you learned from collaborating 
with others, but not duplicating another’s work. Within the context of group work that this 
course requires, only the names of the contributing group members should appear on any 
assignment. If a group member has not significantly participated in the creation of the project 
or assignment, including their name on the final product will be viewed as a violation of the 
AIC.  
 
Technology 
 
The Office of Information Technology (OIT), provides free technical support for all 
students who may be experiencing issues with their computers or other devices such as mobile 
phones. Free services include: answers to general computing questions; virus and spyware 
removal; file recovery and reloads of operating systems (using your licensed DVDs); 
configuration of mobile devices for Berg WiFi and/or email; and printer setup with support 
(excluding wireless printers). Desktop Repair Services, also part of OIT, offers warranty repair 
as a free service on specific computer models. Desktop Repair Services can also perform out of 
warranty repairs for a quotable fee. 
 
The Student Help Desk is located in Ettinger 003 and is open Monday through Friday from 8 
AM to 5 PM and on the weekends as student worker’s academic schedules permit. Email 
helpdesk@muhlenberg.edu or call 484-664-3375.   
 
*** Please note that having a computer serviced at the Help Desk is not an excuse for missing 
assignments or official College communication via email. ***