Breakout worksheets · Digital workbook

Exercises & Breakouts

Every breakout from the student workbook, in order. Teams can work right on this page — answers save automatically in this browser (nothing is uploaded). Use it live in breakouts or as the master reference while building your pitch.

After Lecture 1

Breakout 1 · Idea & Market Research

Market research is an organized way to gather and analyze information needed to make business decisions. Lock your team's idea, then research the industry it lives in. Tools: IBISWorld, BLS, Google Trends (links on the Resources page).

Our business idea — “We help [who] solve [what problem]”

What industry is your product in?

Customers — what they want, like & need

Competition — what similar businesses are doing

Business environment — what's popular, what's selling, what's changing

After Lecture 2

Breakout 2 · Competitive Analysis & SWOT

Learn from the businesses already competing for your customers. A strong analysis covers: market share, strengths & weaknesses, your opening to enter, how much your target market matters to them, barriers to entry, and indirect competitors who could blindside you.

Competitor 1 — who they are, what they charge, their strength, their weakness

Competitor 2

Competitor 3 (include at least one indirect competitor)

💪 Strengths (internal, positive)

🕳️ Weaknesses (internal, negative)

🚪 Opportunities (external, positive)

⛈️ Threats (external, negative)

TA Workshop · Presentations

Elevator Pitch

30–60 seconds: your business idea, the problem it solves, and why it matters. Remember the 5/5/5 rule for slides and never open with “My name is…” — open with a hook.

Draft your elevator pitch

After Lecture 2

Breakout 3 · Unique Value Proposition & Target Market

Your UVP explains exactly why a customer should pick you over everyone else — including doing nothing. Then define who buys first: demand, market size, economic indicators, location, saturation, and pricing.

💎 Our unique value proposition (one or two sentences)

⚔️ Our competitive advantage

Demographics (age, income, occupation)

Psychographics (attitudes, interests, lifestyle)

Geographics (where they live & buy)

Buying patterns (how & when they spend)

Market size — how many people fit this profile?

After Lecture 2

Breakout 4 · Marketing Plan & the 4 P's

Three SMART marketing goals across the funnel — Awareness (attention–interest), Purchase (desire–action), Retention (satisfaction) — each with a channel and the key metrics that prove it's working.

Goal 1 · Awareness — goal, channel, key metric

Goal 2 · Purchase — goal, channel, key metric

Goal 3 · Retention — goal, channel, key metric

📦 Product — what you offer + key benefits

💲 Price

📣 Promotion — how customers learn you exist

📍 Place — sales channels & delivery

Optional breakout

Breakout 5 · Commercial

Write a 15–30 second commercial script that showcases your product in a persuasive, fun way. Punchy beats a polished — make the room remember you.

Commercial script

After Lecture 3

Breakout 6 · Finance Plan

Prove the engine runs: define your unit, total your costs, and find your break-even. The interactive calculators in Lecture 3 do the math with you.

🍕 Our “one unit” (what a customer actually buys, and for how much)

🧾 Startup expenses (one-time costs to open the doors)

📌 Fixed expenses (every month, no matter what)

📈 Variable expenses (grow with each sale)

Contribution margin = selling price − COGS

Break-even = monthly fixed expenses ÷ contribution margin

💰 Funding plan — which source(s) and why

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