The School of Commerce & Enterprise · business, money & management
Entrepreneurship & Small Business
From the first paying customer to a firm that survives its founder's enthusiasm.
Find a real problem, test it cheaply, and earn the sale that proves the business.
Pick something sellable, price it honestly, and run a real enterprise after school.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~8 hours
Unit I — What Will You Sell
Services beat products for a first venture · Matching your skills to your neighbors' needs · Checking what others already charge
Unit II — Costs, Prices, Profit
Fixed and variable costs on one page · Setting a price you can defend · Break-even: how many jobs until it pays
Unit III — Getting Customers
The first ask: friends, family, flyers · Word of mouth and doing good work twice · Keeping promises and keeping appointments
Unit IV — Keeping the Books
A notebook ledger of money in and out · Setting aside money for taxes early · Deciding whether to grow, coast, or close
What to sell, what it costs, and where the extra quarters come from.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~6 hours
Unit I — The Big Idea
What could you sell on your street · What people already want on a hot day · Choosing one thing and doing it well
Unit II — What It Costs
Lemons, sugar, cups: adding up supplies · Borrowing money from a grown-up and paying it back · Why the price must be more than the cost
Unit III — Open for Business
Making a sign people can read across the street · Being friendly and giving the right change · Counting the money box at the end of the day
Profit is an opinion; cash is a fact. Managing the money that keeps the doors open.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~18 hours
Unit I — Cash Is Not Profit
The cash-flow statement in plain terms · Timing: why profitable firms still go broke · Building a thirteen-week cash forecast
Unit II — Pricing With a Spine
Cost-plus, value-based, and going-rate pricing · Discounts and what they really cost · Raising prices without losing the room
Unit III — Funding the Firm
Bootstrapping, loans, and outside money · What a bank wants to see before it lends · The true cost of a credit line
Unit IV — Watching the Numbers
Five numbers to check every Monday · Margins by product and by customer · When to hire, when to wait
The paperwork that protects you: entities, contracts, and the rules of hiring.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — Choosing an Entity
Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation · Liability: what is actually shielded · Taxes by entity type, in outline
Unit II — Contracts That Hold
Offer, acceptance, consideration · Reading a contract before signing it · When a handshake is enough, and when it never is
Unit III — People and Property
Employee or contractor: the tests that matter · Trademarks, trade secrets, and your name · Insurance: general liability and beyond