Factors Related to Venture Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan Preparation
研究了人口统计、所有权/就业和创业因素与可行性分析及商业计划书准备的关系，对设计创业课程的教育者有用。
FACTORS RELATED TO VENTURE FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS AND BUSINESS PLAN PREPARATION In recent years, governments, educational institutions and private corporations have become increasingly involved in the process of educating entrepreneurs (McMullan 1988). There is some evidence in the literature to indicate that entrepreneurial education programs have a positive influence on aspiring entrepreneurs (Hornaday and Vesper 1982, Clark et al. 1984, Watkins and Morris 1981, McMullan 1988, Wyckham and Wedley 1989). Important components, common to many of these programs, and as yet not examined in the literature, are feasibility studies and business plan preparation. This study analyzes demographics, ownership/employment, and venture factors as they relate to feasibility analyses and the preparation of business plans. Educators designing recruitment, selection, and curriculum components of entrepreneurship courses may benefit from a better understanding of the factors related to successful venture feasibility analysis and business plan preparation. New Enterprise Program (NEP) graduates and their ventures are the focus of this research. The NEP, offered by Continuing Studies, the Faculty of Business Administration, and the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University, is a merket-responsive program aimed at current and aspiring entrepreneurs, research and development professionals, and corporate managers of new product development. Between the spring of 1985 and the spring of 1988, a total of 97 participants completed the NEP. Given that it is the objective of the New Enterprise Program to assist aspiring entrepreneurs to determine the feasibility of their proposed ventures and to help them prepare plans to launch and manage their businesses, three research questions were addressed: 1. Are participants able to evaluate the feasibility of their ventures? 2. Do they prepare business plans? 3. Are there demographic, ownership/employment, and venture factors which distinguish those who determine venture feasibility and those who do not, and those who do and do not prepare a business plan? EVALUATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION There are many ways to evaluate entrepreneurship education programs. Table 1 outlines some objectives of these programs which may be used to examine their output. In addition to these objectives, demand for spaces in entrepreneurship courses, the value of entrepreneurial consulting by students, and after-graduation course assessment may be used as foci for evaluating the perceived impact of education for entrepreneurs. Although only a limited number of measures are addressed, research results demonstrate that entrepreneurship programs can yield positive returns. For example, data suggest that entrepreneurship courses may influence career choice toward self-employment (Clark et al. 1984, Hornaday and Vesper 1982). In a study of graduates from one business school, Knight (1987) found that a significant proportion of the people who became entrepreneurs felt that their studies had prepared them for a career in entrepreneurship. And, graduates of entrepreneurship programs seem to be more likely to start their own businesses (Clark et al. 1984, Conner 1985, Hornaday and Vesper 1982, Watkins and Morris 1981), although Dimick (1986) did not find this relationship. Furthermore, courses in entrepreneurship are one of the factors related to increased venture spin-offs from universities (McMullan and Vesper 1987). Moreover, entrepreneurship education may be cost effective. A learning program for aspiring entrepreneurs working with established entrepreneurs resulted in positive returns (Long and Ohtani 1988). Similarly, increased taxes more than covered the cost of long-term counselling at Small Business Development Centres (Gatewood et al. 1987). The New Enterprise Program is analyzed in light of such evidence. …