(0.0) Introduction to the ERO™

Introduction to Financial Literacy

Thank you for checking out the Entrepreneurial Recipe Online™ (ERO). If this is your first time checking out a course in our ERO™ series than you’re in the right place. This module helps to set up everything you’ll need to know to get the most out of the other modules in out ERO™ series. After Module 1 – Introduction to Financial Literacy you can take the series in any order you’d like, or even just the modules you feel are best for you.

About Myself (Donald F. Connelly)

As I reflect on my decades of teaching experiences (from home school to adult education, and high school to college) I realize it was quite a journey, and great experience for a novel author. Field-testing text materials, and benefiting from adult student feedback offered opportunity to practice and perfect the ERO™ in many. Even now, at 81, I’m still working to make the ERO™ a resource our young entrepreneurs can refer back to for decades to come.

Personally, the performance of our youths is one of the most gratifying things to me. In my experience, from observing student participation in the classroom, that “light-bulb” moment, where a concept clicks in the head of a student, is why educators are so dedicated to their profession.

The goal of the Entrepreneurial Recipe Online (ERO)

We exist to provide interactive online self-paced educational materials to students and instructors. If we didn’t think we could do that well, well, we wouldn’t exist. Our curricula is designed to offer a diverse range of students the opportunity to research and develop a tailor-made business plan. Our intention is to guide the student down the path of a successful venture. The SCORE.org Business Plan Template will be your launching point. This is the single most important document for developing a successful business, and is an absolute requirement when seeking funding. Throughout this course you’ll work towards mastering skills as follows:

• Goal setting
• Financial literacy
• Cognitive learning
• Research applications
• Writing comprehension

Beth’s Bakery – Our Primary Case Study

Throughout this course we’ll be following the entrepreneurial journey of Beth Smith (aka. Beth Muehlhausen), and Bob Smith (aka. Fritz Muehlhausen – one of the ERO™ authors), and their children. We’ll see from start to finish how she was able to build a successful bakery, and pass that information along to her kids. So they could pursue their own ventures some day.

Beth started her journey as a part-time bakery employee working under Nancy (the bakery’s former owner). Due to health issues Nancy had decided to close the Bakery, but Beth and Fritz saw an opportunity. Five months later Beth had already procured funding, purchased, and reopened the Bakery as Beth’s Bakery (aka. Baker’s Peak). Baker’s Peak was extremely successful for more than decade.

I’d like to give special thanks to Beth for letting us follow her journey. The Entrepreneurial Recipe Online (ERO) wouldn’t be what it is today without her, and neither would her friend’s and family.