20 students, five teams and one mission: to conquer the highly competitive surfboard market. In the elective course "Start Up - Business Simulation for Business Start-ups and Innovative Product Development", participants learn in a practical way all the things that need to be considered when setting up a business. The task: to set up and manage a company for the production and sale of surfboards in the fictitious surfer's paradise of Santa Beach.
From the development of the first idea to the design of the business plan to decision-making in the day-to-day business of a newly founded company, the students go through all the important stages on the path of an entrepreneur. Figures, data and facts are just as important as creativity, inventiveness and stamina. Should outside capital be raised or should investors be courted? Should the market be conquered through cost leadership or through differentiation? How much of the strictly limited budget should be spent on advertising and research & development?
The teams have to agree on questions of this kind and proceed strategically. As in the real economy, the decisions of all market participants constantly interact and change supply and demand. Last but not least, the participants must always react quickly and decisively to unforeseen events.
The initiator and head of the elective is Prof. Dr. Julia Künkele, a member of the Institute for Entrepreneurship. She received support in the implementation from research assistant Jessica Hartwig. Participation in the course is possible across all degree programmes from the main study period onwards and again enjoyed great interest this semester.
Due to the continuing strict contact restrictions, the course took place purely virtually via Zoom. Due to the great motivation of all participants, this did not detract from the course: the online format was in no way inferior to a face-to-face event in terms of creativity, exchange and enjoyment. "And you can see that in the results," says Prof. Dr. Künkele. "All teams managed to turn their business into profit after the six game periods. That doesn't happen too often and requires really getting to grips with the numerous and complex market information and coming up with a suitable strategy."
The learning curves of the participants were correspondingly high. They particularly liked the opportunity to apply the knowledge they had learned in their studies in a practical way. Again and again, there were aha experiences: "I was never aware before how important liquidity planning is. Of course I knew it from the lectures - but it was only in the simulation game that I realised how quickly you can get into trouble if you don't work carefully here."
The feedback from the participants was consistently positive: "I find it incredible how much you can learn and take away in two weekends. I have never had this great learning effect in other lectures. I thought it was great how motivated everyone was. This was also reflected in the group dynamics. It was finally a lecture again from which I could take something away that I will definitely need in my professional future."
The elective is offered every semester and is expected to take place next time in November 2021.
Source: https://startup.topsim.com/
The business idea
The guidelines
The marketing mix
The logos
