Learning Activity 1: Tax Inversions.

Chapter 4 discussed different legal forms of ventures and (on page 33 I believe) the authors state that some companies move to Burmuda in an effort to lower their taxes and posit that this may be an ethical issue. "Tax inversions" have been in the news lately with some government officials advocating for taking action to stop firms from moving abroad for such reasons. More recently billionaire investor Warren Buffet has came out in favor of Burger King's effort to acquire Canada's Tim Horton doughnut chain and relocate its headquarters there but has reportedly spoken against such things in the past.

Learning Activity 2: What is Your Ideal Organization?

1) Team Rubicon. Before we consider our response to the broad question of what ideal organization you might like to start, let's first consider the example of an NGO (non-government organization) founded in 2010 by some former marines who were recently discharged and happened to be watching the news and saw a story about the earthquake in Haiti. They quickly used their network of contacts as well as the logistical and other skills they had learned on the battlefield to rapidly bring aid to the struggling nation (without even being aware of how to officially incorporate their nascent organization). Team Rubicon (named after the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" which originated with forces from the Roman Empire crossing a river considered to be the point of no return) has since gone on to assist with other disasters in the U.S. and elsewhere. Take a look at Team Rubicon's website and cofounder Jake Wood's TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) talk. (I have also used this interesting example in the small business management and entrepreneurship courses that I teach but it is also worth looking at here for students who do not take such a course in the future.)

Briefly, what do you think of the Team Rubicon organization and how it has evolved? Is there anything that the founders could have done better?

2) Your Ideal Organization. As we learned in our initial Introduce Yourself postings, most students have worked as managers or employees for some kind of organization whether it is a publically held firm, a family business, a nonprofit, a local/state/federal government agency, or even the military. A smaller number already own businesses. In just a couple of well-organized paragraphs with headings (not using bullet points such as the ones that appear here), tell us about the following:

Assuming that you would like to start your own organization (I realize that not everyone does and that is fine but for the purpose of this exercise let's try to think of one that we might like to create), what is your basic business concept (i.e., what type of organization would you like to start and what would it do)? It should be something that it is realistic and could actually be done, would have real growth potential, and would provide full-time employment for you and not just a hobby (students sometimes try to choose less viable businesses such as dog walking services or bars and nightclubs but they would be less likely to become real careers).

Make sure to explain what your motivation is for selecting this particular venture, what your role it would be, and why you think that it could be successful.

Provide enough detail that we understand whether it would be a manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or service organization, the types of products and services it may offer, and what the fundamental business model behind it is (i.e., what are the core ideas behind how it will make money or at least not go into debt if it is some kind of nonprofit). For instance, the organization may be a small one person consulting firm, a nonprofit that serves the needs of a community, and so on. Many will choose something based on their background and experience and others will be interesting in something new to them.

What need(s) would be met (i.e., what "pain(s)" or "problem(s)" that exist would your organization be trying to solve)?

What legal form would be best suited for your organization and explain why you believe that it would be preferable using concepts from the reading such as tax status, control, and so on?

What key personnel would you need and how would you acquire them?

What location(s) would you have and how might you go about financing the venture?

Who would your customers be? Who would your competitors be? (Even nonprofits have both of these.)

What would your so-called "competitive advantage" be?

What other unique things would be important for your venture to start off on the right foot and become successful and how long do you think that it might take to become profitable (note how quickly the concept of Team Rubicon developed so it is sometimes possible to rapidly implement an idea but most concepts take much more upfront planning)?

What are some of the main reasons your proposed venture could fail?

(Every so often in entrepreneurship classes we find that students are concerned that someone else will "steal their idea" so if you have a business concept that you really want to pursue and are concerned that someone else might steal you can choose a different idea to express here.)