Setting up my Business
This course targets domestic helpers interested in starting a business once back in their home country. It teaches them to plan for their business, introduces the basics of marketing, pricing and budgeting. Learners are shown how to maintain proper business records including cash flow, P&L, balance sheet and an accounting system.
Format:
The course consists of six 3-hour sessions. They can be spread over several months to take into account the availability of participants.
Learning Objectives :
- How to transform an idea into a business project
- Essential marketing notions
- How to write a business plan
- Costing and pricing
- Margins and profit
- Capital expenditures
- Understanding and improving a business’s economic model
- How to build a P&L, a balance sheet and a cash flow
- How to track records and set up an accounting system
- How to control cash
- How to manage stock and client credit
- How to make a budget
- How drive your business on a daily basis
Training methods:
The course explains the main concepts useful for setting up and running a business through a story: Zahra wants to get more money; she decides to open a paper flower business. But she fails. The students will analyse the reasons for Zahra’s failure and discuss how to set up a sound business step by step.
Business theory is explained and other games and activities will be used to illustrate the main aspects of setting up and running a business. Throughout the sessions, students will have “roll up your sleeves” time when they can apply what they have learned directly to their own business project.
Course Plan:
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Session 1: How to grow your idea into a business
- What is a business?
- What do I expect from my business
- How can I find business ideas
- Assessing the potential of my ideas
- What is my market
- What do I sell?
- Whom do I sell to?
- Who are my competitors?
- Family businesses
- Session 2: Organising your business
- Drawing a business map
- Work flows
- Organisation and time management
- How to set up my business
- How to write a business plan
- How to finance my business project
- Session 3: Costs, prices and profit
- Understanding my costs
- The various types of costs
- How to set up prices
- How to calculate my business profitability
- How to change prices.
- Session 4 : Accounting basics
- Basic double accounting entry
- The main financial statements (profit and loss and balance sheet)
- The main accounting documents
- How to organise my accounting
- Accounting software
- Month end processes
- Year end processes
- Session 5: Cash is king
- Profit is not cash
- Working capital needs
- How to manage customer credit
- How to manage stocks
- How to forecast short term cash needs
- How to finance short term cash issues
- Session 6: Controlling your business
- Basic internal controls
- How to write a budget
- Basic monthly reporting
- How to assess the financial impact of big projects
- How to grow my business