Unit 8 Course Materials

Welcome to Unit 8: Entrepreneurship! In this unit we will define entrepreneurship and understand how small businesses in the United States are vitally important to the health and stability of our economic system.

We will clarify what we mean when we refer to a business as “small” and review examples of how small businesses can expand rapidly or steadily over time. We will identify common traits of successful entrepreneurs and share examples of ideas turned to massive global organizations. We will examine the advantages and disadvantages of starting a small business, and seek to understand the steps of doing so, including reviewing and understanding the components of a business plan.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

  • Define small business
  • Discuss the contributions of small business to the U.S. economy
  • Define entrepreneur
  • Identify the different categories and common traits of entrepreneurs
  • List common reasons for choosing to be an entrepreneur
  • Describe the advantages and disadvantages of starting a small business
  • Explain why some business ventures fail

In order to successfully complete this unit, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Read this Open Educational Resource (free to access): Module 8: Entrepreneurship1
Please note: you do not need to complete the activities listed in this resource.

2. Read this article from Investopedia2 and watch the 2-minute video embedded in the article.

3. Watch this video from the Foundation for Economic Education on YouTube3 (also embedded below).

4. Watch the full feature film “The Founder” about the establishment of a restaurant chain we all know — McDonald’s! This is available for free through Swank, a service through the BMCC Library. You will need to sign in with your BMCC credentials to access this film. If you don’t know your credentials, you can visit this link to learn more about how to reset your password.

As always, if you need more information, you can ask me a question. For information on due dates, check our Course Schedule.

Sources:

1CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL Why It Matters: Entrepreneurship. Provided by: Lumen Learning and NGCC Team. License: CC BY: Attribution

2Hayes, Adam. “Business Essentials: Entrepreneur.” Investopedia. Feb 26, 2021.

3Foundation for Economic Education on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdG0x8uDEGc