Progress 07/01/07 to 06/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Course Website Course materials were available through a password-protected website. The content which had been developed in 2007 was polished and changes, which had been suggested by previous participants, were implemented. The course was organized into content segments (Introduction, Industry Analysis / Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Competitor Analysis, Defining Your Target Market, Penetrating Your Target Market: Pricing Strategies, Developing Your Financial Plan, Protecting Your Intellectual Property). Each section was designed to be completed in approximately 90 minutes and involved reading, viewing a downloadable lecture and activities. Course Tools / Technology Downloadable lectures were again provided and several were revised after reading evaluation comments from the 2007 users. The downloadable format is regarded highly, as it lets participants view them at their convenience. Live web events were held to encourage interaction among participants and Purdue faculty/USDA staff. The first webinar concentrated on commercialization plan components and tips for applying to Phase II; the second webinar covered details of the review process. Webinar participation was high in 2008, with 47 participating in webinar #1, and 41 participating in webinar #2. Review of Commercialization Plans Participants who submitted their draft commercialization plans initially received written feedback from Ph.D, students in agribusiness. Participants then had the option of signing up for a conference call with either Dr. Fulton or Dr. Marshall for a one-on-one discussion. Out of the 25 participants who submitted draft commercialization plans for review, 21 signed up for conference calls with Purdue faculty. Additionally, three participants submitted a second commercialization plan draft for review by the Purdue team. In order to make sure all reviewers used the same evaluation criteria, an evaluation template was developed and utilized. Evaluation Participants completed an evaluation of the program directly after completing the program. The summarized evaluations follow at the end of this report. Overall comments were very positive. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience was Phase I SBIR recipients. The objective of this project was to deliver an integrated distance-based course to small business decision makers. The outcome of the project was to increase the level of success regarding better written commercialization plans. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The objective of this project was to deliver an integrated distance-based course to small business decision makers, (recipients of Phase I SBIR funding) that educates them on writing effective commercialization plans. The course consisted of a central web page, on-line downloadable lectures, two live webinars, commercialization plan review, and a course evaluation. In 2008, the course and accompanying commercialization plan review was offered to all 79 - 2008 Phase I awardees. From this group, 25 commercialization plans were submitted and evaluated by Purdue graduate students and faculty. The written comments from this evaluation were forwarded to each participant. Of the 25 participants who completed a commercialization plan,21 signed up for one-on-one conference calls with either Prof. Maria Marshall or Prof. Joan Fulton.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 07/01/07 to 06/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objective of this project was to develop and deliver an integrated distance-based course "Developing A Commercialization Plan" to small business decision makers, recipients of Phase I SBIR funding. The Commercialization Plan is a required component of the Phase II application. Course components consisted of a central web page, on-line downloadable lectures, two live webinars, commercialization plan review, and a course evaluation. Course Website: A password-protected course website allowed easy access to course materials. The course was broken down into content segments, each focusing on a commercialization plan component. Each of the commercialization plan components (Introduction, Industry Analysis / Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Competitor Analysis, Defining Your Target Market, Penetrating Your Target Market: Pricing Strategies, Developing Your Financial Plan, Protecting Your Intellectual Property) were designed to be completed in approximately 90 minutes. Each component involved reading the materials for that week, viewing a downloadable lecture and completing assigned activities. Course content was developed in consultation with the USDA SBIR staff through Dr. S. Sureshwaran, National Program Leader. Course Tools - Downloadable lectures - Agricultural Economics faculty built on extensive experience delivering downloadable lectures (from the online MS-MBA program Purdue delivers). Each participant downloaded the lectures and could view them at his/her convenience. Lectures were designed with an interactive feel and are an excellent alternative to providing information via text files. Webinars - Two live webinars were held to provide a different method of interaction with Purdue faculty and USDA staff. The first webinar concentrated on commercialization plan components and application tips; the second webinar covered details of the review process. PARTICIPANTS: The use of the Ph.D. students was very effective in providing good feedback to participants and was a good experience for the agribusiness students. Drs. Fulton and Marshall developed an evaluation template and then met with the two students to discuss the criteria for evaluating the draft commercialization plans, a process that was very effective. TARGET AUDIENCES: The objective of this project was to develop and deliver an integrated distance-based course "Developing A Commercialization Plan" to small business decision makers, recipients of Phase I SBIR funding. The Commercialization Plan is a required component of the Phase II application. This project was designed to help increase the success rate of Phase II funding. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
In 2007, 70 out of the group of 100 Phase I recipients participated in the Commercialization Plan Development course. Out of the 70 participants, 31 commercialization plans were submitted for review by the course instructors. All participants had the option of submitting a draft commercialization plan for review by Purdue faculty. All participants submitting draft plans received written feedback. The first round of review and feedback was provided by one of two Ph.D, students in agribusiness who were working on the project. For the second round of feedback, participants could sign up for a conference call with Drs. Fulton or Marshall for additional verbal feedback. Out of the 31 participants who submitted draft commercialization plans for review, 21 signed up for conference calls with Purdue faculty. Additionally, three participants submitted a second commercialization plan draft for review by the Purdue team.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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