Entrepreneurship Opportunities

Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies Career Paths

The entrepreneurship program at The University of Akron gives all university students the ability to specialize in any entrepreneurial area.

Starting a Business
The program provides students with the skills and resources necessary to actually create their own business during or after their course work. A wide variety of startups have been created in the entrepreneurship program in numerous industries (e.g., Internet, computers, consulting, music, technology, real estate, landscaping, beauty salons, restaurant, insurance).

Buying a Business
Students have the opportunity to focus on the process of actually acquiring a small business. Through case studies, guest speakers, advisory board members, and professors who have experience in acquisitions, students learn about valuation techniques, negotiation strategies, structuring deals…financing, and exit strategies.

Franchising
Franchising is one of the hottest forms of business today. The University of Akron ’s Entrepreneurship Program has an expert on its faculty who has been through the acquisition process. Students study the dynamics related to the acquisition of a franchise or franchising an existing business, and will review the steps that a person has to go through to purchase a franchise (e.g., McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Domino’s Pizza, etc.).

Family Business
Through case studies, guest speakers, field trips, and the Institute’s advisory board, students learn about the dynamics of family businesses. Some of the areas covered include: financing, culture, ethics, exit strategies, growth, conflict resolution, and succession planning.

Growing an Existing Venture
Students working for an existing business or students who own their own business may choose this option. Every semester a handful of students enter the program with existing businesses. These individuals focus their efforts primarily on the growth of their existing business, which may include purchasing other businesses.

Corporate Entrepreneurship
Students gain the ability to understand the culture, reward system, entrepreneurial thinking, structure, and people that are needed to implement entrepreneurship effectively within a corporate environment.

Working for an Entrepreneurial Company
Eighty percent of all new jobs are created by small fast growth companies. The program gives students the ability to understand how to work in a small, fast growth entrepreneurial company.

Working for a Non-Profit Enterprise
This option gives students the opportunity to study and work for non-profit organizations.