SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT LEARNING-BY-DOING PROJECTS
Web & Application Development
Success Story: Software development project focused on providing a logistics application for a car hauling company that successfully continued after conclusion of the class, eventually generating over 200 updated versions of the software and supporting 160 employees handling over 67,000 bills of lading.
Value Creation: 137 projects completed, representing over $80,000 in comparable market value.
Customer Acquisition & Guerrilla Marketing
Success Story: Over 500 warm leads identified, over 200 warm leads contacted, and over 20 positive responses received via social media outreach, representing nearly $10,000 in potential new revenue for a water recycling business.
Value Creation: 45 projects completed, representing over $70,000 in comparable market value.
Patent, Trademark, and/or Copyright Research & Paperwork
Success Story: Patent research project help niche local aerospace company define differentiation from existing patents better on a collision avoidance system which could prevent over $5 million in potential damages for the client company and other similar aerospace companies.
Value Creation: 4 projects completed, representing over $10,000 in comparable market value.
Competitive Research
Success Story: Project helped better define three competitors’ weaknesses and identified multiple, specific dissatisfied competitor customers possibly worth over $10,000 if attracted away from the competitor.
Value Creation: 2 projects completed, representing nearly $2,000 in comparable market value.
Industry Research
Success Story: Industry structure and trend insights helped a small janitorial services company change its product/service mix, potentially opening a more appealing market worth over $100,000 annually.
Value Creation: 1 project completed, representing nearly $1,000 in comparable market value.
Administration & Best Practices Research
Success Story: Students provided registration and logistical support for a local Chamber of Commerce event which raised over $10,000.
Value Creation: 5 projects completed, representing over $4,000 in comparable market value.
Accounting & Financial Analysis
Success Story: Negotiated roughly $10,000 in potential reduced costs with suppliers for a local restaurant.
Value Creation: 4 projects completed, representing over $3,000 in comparable market value.
Capital & Resource Acquisition
Success Story: Detailed grant funding application requirements identified for 14 different funding agencies disbursing approximately $30 million in annual State of California grant funding for a water recycling business.
Value Creation: 5 projects completed, representing over $7,000 in comparable market value.
