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Entrepreneurship in health care system (EHC-201): Course Outline (EHC-201)

Focuses on leveraging innovative ideas, technologies, and business models to improve health services and systems

Course description

This course is designed to promote entrepreneurial spirit and outlook among students, encouraging them to think critically, identify opportunities and transform their ideas into successful ventures. It aims at imparting them with the requisite knowledge: skills and abilities, enabling them to seize the identified opportunities for initiating ventures and successfully navigating the challenges that come with starting a business and managing it. The course covers topics relevant to entrepreneurship including setting up and initiation of business (including requirements for registration and incorporation with regulators such as SECP and others), market research, opportunity identification, business planning, financial literacy for managing finances and securing funding, marketing and sales team building and innovation. Overall, the course is geared towards personal growth and professional development for pursuing innovative ideas, availing opportunities and initiating startups.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students shall have:

  • Knowledge of fundamental entrepreneurial concepts, skills and process;
  • Understanding of different personal, social and financial spots associated with entrepreneurial activities;
  • Basic understanding of regulatory requirements to set up an enterprise in Pakistan, with special emphasis on exports;
  • Ability to apply knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the course to develop a feasible business plan for implementation.

Course contents

1. Introduction to Entrepreneurship:

  • Definition and concept of entrepreneurship;
  • Why to become an entrepreneur?
  • Entrepreneurial process; 
  • Role of entrepreneurship in economic development.

2. Entrepreneurial Skills:

  • Characteristics and qualities of successful entrepreneurs (including stories of successes and failures):
  • Areas of essential entrepreneurial skills and abilities such as creative and critical thinking innovation and risk-taking:

3. Opportunity Recognition and Idea Generation:

  • Opportunity identification, evaluation and exploitation:
  • Innovative ideas generation techniques for entrepreneurial ventures

4. Marketing and Sales 

  • Target market identification and segmentation;
  • Four P’s of marketing;
  • Developing a marketing strategy;
  • Branding.

5. Financial Literacy:

  • Basic concepts of income, savings, and investments;
  • Basic concepts of assets, abilities, and equity;
  • Basic concepts of revenue and expenses;
  • Overview of cash-flows; 
  • Overview of banking products including Islamic modes of financing;
  • Sources of funding for startups (angel financing, debt financing, equity financing,g etc.)

6. Team Building for Startups:

  • Characteristics and features of effective teams 
  • Team building and effective leadership for startups.

7. Regulators Requirements to Establish Enterprise in Pakistan:

  • Types of enterprises (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, private limited companies etc.);
  • Intellectual property rights and protection;
  • Regulatory requirements to register an enterprise in Pakistan, with special emphasis on export firms;
  • Taxation and final reporting obligation.

Practical requirements

As part of the overall learning requirements, students shall be tasked with creating and presenting a comprehensive business plan at the end of the course for a hypothetical or real business idea. This practical exercise shall allow them to apply the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the course to develop a feasible business plan and where possible explore the possibility of implementing the plan with support and assistance from established business persons and entrepreneurs.

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