Small Business Topics: Product Mix, Gantt Charts, Funding Programs, Cash Flow Projections and more

Product Mix for Dollar Stores

1. Discuss the product mix of Dollar Stores.  Explain why this is generally appropriate for their target market.
2. How could a Gantt chart be a good tool for students to plan and track their assignments and test?  Give examples of how two different small businesses could use this tool. (Do not use the example of a conference planner, used in the textbook.) 
3. Identify two Federal or Provincial funding programs for small enterprise. Explain the lending criteria and the application process for each. 
4. “Banks only lend money to those who don’t need it.”  Discuss how this old saying might apply to start-up entrepreneurs.
5. Explain how the business planning process is one of revision. Explain two clear examples of your own (not those in the textbook) showing how your calculations in the financial section of the business plan, may force you to go back and change elements in previous sections of the plan.
6. “The accountant is the most important advisor to an entrepreneur.” Discuss the validity of this statement, explaining a variety of ways an accountant assists an entrepreneur. 
7. Discuss why cash flow projections are so important to lenders and investors.  What common mistakes are new entrepreneurs likely to make in their cash flow planning?