Frequently asked questions for Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur is a hands-on general business simulation in which students acquire and operate a retail clothing store. They choose how to finance the business, select a location and product line, and then manage the store through as many as 12 simulated quarters.

Students learn by doing as they connect decisions in finance, inventory, pricing, marketing, staffing, and operations.

Entrepreneur is designed for courses that introduce students to entrepreneurship and the fundamentals of running a small business. It can support:

• Introduction to Business
• Entrepreneurship
• Small Business Management
• Principles of Management
• Retail Management and general business courses

The simulation emphasizes practical, integrated decision-making rather than requiring advanced business expertise.

Students take responsibility for a retail clothing business and make decisions about:

• Business financing, location, and product line
• Inventory purchases and demand forecasting
• Store hours and return policy
• Prices, advertising, and promotions
• Staffing, wages, training, and employee management
• Financial performance and cash management

Entrepreneur brings together the essential skills needed to operate a small business:

• Planning and strategy: setting goals and building a coherent business plan
• Finance: choosing financing, managing cash, and reading financial statements
• Marketing: selecting target customers, pricing, advertising, and promotion
• Operations: forecasting demand, purchasing inventory, and managing store hours
• Management: staffing, compensation, training, and team decision-making

Entrepreneur includes up to 12 decision periods, with each period representing one simulated quarter. The recommended course experience is 8–12 periods, or at least two simulated years.

Instructors may shorten the experience by limiting the number of periods and selecting only the assignments and incidents that support their learning objectives.

The recommended team size is 3–4 students; for online courses, 2–3 students is recommended. Each team has a team leader who finalizes startup decisions and can lock period decisions before advancement.

Students may complete an individual practice experience before moving into team-based live play.

In direct competition, student teams share an industry and their decisions affect one another’s results. This format encourages students to study competitors and respond strategically.

Benchmark competition places each team in a separate but identical environment against simulated competitors. It is especially useful for individual practice rounds or self-paced work.

Instructors can adjust team structure, number of periods, scenario, type of competition, practice rounds, replays, incidents, assignments, decision deadlines, and the availability of creative design activities.

Six scenarios are available, allowing instructors to rotate market conditions between terms or maintain a consistent scenario for comparisons across classes.

The instructor shifts from lecturer to coach and consultant — helping students analyze financial statements, clarify goals, connect decisions to course concepts, and diagnose underperformance.

The guide recommends asking teams to explain their analysis and strategy rather than telling them exactly what decisions to make.

Before regular quarterly play begins, students decide:

• The company name
• The store location
• The clothing product line
• How to raise the additional $25,000 needed to acquire the business

Financing choices include a bank loan, a personal loan, or an angel investor, each with different implications for interest, repayment, ownership, and risk.

Each quarter, students coordinate decisions across several business functions:

• Operations: hours, product line, inventory purchases, and return policy
• Marketing: price, advertising, promotions, and creative materials
• Staffing: number of employees, wages, training, and hiring choices
• Finance: monitoring cash, profitability, debt, and the effectiveness of spending

Yes. The recommended setup includes two practice decision periods. Students can learn the interface and test decisions in benchmark mode before the simulation is restarted for live team play.

Practice results are erased at restart, giving students a low-risk way to learn without affecting the graded experience.

Entrepreneur includes short managerial incidents that ask students to respond to realistic business problems. Topics include ethical dilemmas, employee behavior, advertising practices, purchasing policy, community involvement, and promotional opportunities.

Instructors can choose which incidents appear and when, with a maximum of one incident per period.

Students can evaluate the business using measures such as sales, profit, cash, market share, inventory, employee productivity, customer satisfaction, and return on investment.

The instructor can also create a weighted simulation score aligned with course objectives rather than relying on a single measure or final ranking.

Entrepreneur gives students access to core small-business financial information, including:

• Income statement
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow and cash-position information
• Inventory and purchasing results
• Sales and operating performance reports

These reports help students see how operating choices flow through to profitability, liquidity, and the overall health of the business.

The instructor resources include a case quiz, concepts quiz, peer evaluation, and assignments such as:

• Business Plan and Naming Your Business
• Forecasting and Purchasing
• Staffing and Recruiting
• Financial Statements and Financial Ratios
• Marketing and Inventory Management
• Break-even Analysis and Management Audit
• Final Presentation and Bonus Recommendation

Interpretive administers the simulation logistics and responds to student technical questions. Instructors are paired with a customer relationship manager and receive faculty resources such as demonstrations, PowerPoint slides, assignments, teaching notes, and web-based performance comparisons.

This allows instructors to focus on teaching, coaching, and connecting the experience to course objectives.