This area of small business management in agri-food industries is a unique topic and no single textbook that adequately covers all the required topics is currently available. Therefore, this custom textbook was developed as a resource for students to support a deeper understanding of the course concepts and achieve FRE 302 learning outcomes.
The Custom Textbook is available at the Copiesmart (103-5728 University Blvd, University Village). The cost for the custom textbook is defined by Copiesmart.
The Textbook is organized into SIX major topics, corresponding with the content we will cover in lectures:
- Business Planning Basics
- Entrepreneurship and Start Up
- Marketing Analysis
- Financial Management
- Marketing Strategy
- Financing & Risk
Why Purchase/Read/Use the Textbook if I can just come to class and study off the lecture notes?
Three good reasons:
- The text is an additional and more detailed resource to find answers for questions you may have throughout lectures.
- The same person who made the textbook is the one who is writing the assignments, quizzes and exams (me!). Thus, topics and themes that are emphasized in the textbook are ones that are most likely to be tested.
- The text will provide you with a deeper understanding of the concepts – this will serve you well when you encounter questions (whether in exam or real-world) which require problem solving.
*A Note About the Readings: Student often ask how they should review the readings in the custom textbook and the answer is to read this material for “big ideas” and “key details.” In other words, read (and take notes from the readings) while keeping in mind the following:
- course learning outcomes
- lecture objectives and examples
- questions for review from the factsheets
- key concepts (provided in the custom textbook for each reading).
Before you start to read, ask yourself a couple of questions to help identify your framework including What do I already know about this subject? AND – What do I want to get out of this reading? Once you have defined the framework, ask yourself what it is you want to get out of a reading assignment, then look around for those points. Research has shown that when students concentrate on a purpose for reading — e.g. locating main ideas and details, and forcing their selves to stick to the task of finding them quickly –both their speed and comprehension increases. You will remember more if you read with questions in your mind, rather than adopting the ‘sponge’ approach – simply trying to absorb everything.