Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Interactivity 2: By the Bootstraps. [WLOs: 1, 3] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4]

Overview

Financing a business venture often represents a significant challenge to the budding entrepreneur. The resource base of entrepreneurs is initially determined by who they are, what they know, what they currently have, and who they know. One effective way to get the job done and to increase the probability of success is bootstrapping, which focuses on finding ways to minimize start-up expenses by aggressively reducing costs and engaging in money-saving tactics. One bootstrapping tactic that has proven very effective for many entrepreneurs is to start with what you have rather than with what you need.

Note: This is the second of two interactive group discussions for the course. The group formed during the first week remains in effect unless you are notified otherwise by your instructor.

What to Do (and How to Do It):

Prior to beginning work on this discussion,Bootstrapping: Inc. Magazine’s Complete Series on Starting and Growing a Business (Links to an external site.) (TeleTime, 2013).

Welcome to the bootstrapping resource challenge! The objective of this exercise is to learn how to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to resource acquisition. You and your group are tasked with coming up with an innovative idea for earning the most profit possible with only $5 to spend and within a 2-hour period. Your idea must have a demonstrated value. You may define value in any way you wish.

• The rules governing this exercise follow:
  • You are not allowed to use additional money obtained elsewhere.
  • You cannot participate in illegal activities.
  • Raffles are not allowed, because that is boring and lacks imagination.
  • Buying lottery tickets is not allowed, because that is just lazy.
  • Other forms of gambling are not allowed . . . just because!
• Document your idea in a collection using Wakelet (Links to an external site.).
  • Consult the Wakelet Support (Links to an external site.) website for guidance in creating a collection.
• Your collection should answer the following questions:
  • What is your idea? How would it work?
  • Why is the idea of value to others?
  • How much profit would you expect to earn in only two hours? Justify your expectations.
  • What important lesson did you learn about resources?
  • Using Apester (Links to an external site.), create a poll that poses the question: “Would you invest $100 in this idea?” (Review this short YouTube video on Creating a Poll (Links to an external site.)).
  • Copy the link for your poll for posting to the discussion forum.
• Post a brief summary of your business idea to the discussion forum for Interactivity 2: By the Bootstraps, along with links to both your storybook and your Apester poll.
• Review and respond to the posts of at least two groups by Day 7
  • Provide a brief analysis of how effective you believe the group’s idea would be in generating profits.
  • Respond to the Apester polls for each of the groups you reviewed.
• A chart showing the poll results for each of the groups will be shared in a course announcement the day after the polls close. Good luck!

FAQs

May I participate in the Apester Polls for the other groups?

• You are welcome to view and vote on as many of the ideas submitted by the other groups as you wish. Enjoy!

I Need Help! I Can Help!

Do you have questions/issues with Wakelet, Apester, or this activity? Or maybe you have a helpful tip to share? Please post to the Ask Your Instructor Forum so others can benefit!

Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your response with examples from required materials and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond substantively to at least two of your classmates’ posts.