Instructor Guide — GoVenture Entrepreneur

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Instructor Guide — GoVenture Entrepreneur

Document Link —

https://coda.io/@mediaspark/instructor-guide-goventure-entrepreneur⁠

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👈1. Start Here!

Instructors — get started quickly by watching videos or step-by-step directions (or both):

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📽️ Watch Videos

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1️⃣ Watch this 2-minute video on how to create your instructor account and get started. This video is for Online Subscriptions not Perpetual or SUITE Licenses.

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Create your account at

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

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2️⃣ Watch this 6-minute video to discover GoVenture Entrepreneur and the many resources available for you and your students.

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Video demo of Lemonade Stand —

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Video demo of Kiosk Business —

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Video demo of Full Business —

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Play GoVenture as a student right now.

If you don’t want to spend time setting up GoVenture and just want to try playing the game yourself right now,

click here to play the trial version⁠

. This version allows you to briefly play and quickly progress through all three business levels — Lemonade Stand, Kiosk Business, and Full Business. Or you can continue following this instructor guide and set up GoVenture just as you would for your students.

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3️⃣ Watch this 12-minute video to discover how to set up GoVenture Entrepreneur for your course and review student assessment options.

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4️⃣ Watch this 5-minute video for thoughts on your role as an instructor and coach when using simulation-based learning.

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5️⃣ See section 3.3 for how to onboard your students using a slide deck that is already prepared for you.

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📋 Step-by-Step Directions

These directions are for Online Subscriptions, not Perpetual or SUITE Licenses.

Watch the videos above.

Create your Instructor Account at

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

— you only need to do this once.

If you don’t want to spend time setting up GoVenture and just want to try playing the game yourself right now,

click here to play the trial version⁠

Create a Microlearning collection Over 140 microlearning modules introduce business concepts using video, knowledge checks, and quizzes.

Create a Group to keep student performance results separated by class, school, region, or any other grouping that you prefer.

If you want to play the game click Play as a Student in the Groups menu.

Student Accounts

K-12 Teachers: Use your GoVenture website to generate usernames for each of your students under Manage Students and give Usernames to your students. See section 3.3 for more details and a Slide Deck you can use to onboard your students.

College and Nonprofit Instructors: Contact MediaSpark to purchase Subscription Keys, or direct your students to purchase their own Keys. See section 3.3 for more details and a Slide Deck and Syllabus you can use to onboard your students.

Give students your Group Number and describe your expectations for them.

Monitor student Performance Reports using your instructor dashboard.

Review the Upgrade Log to be aware of any new features and modifications being made to the program —

view document⁠

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Details for all the steps above are described further in this document.

🌐 Online Subscription Versus Perpetual or SUITE License

The features available to you depend on the type of license that you have, as follows:

Online Subscription plays from the cloud in a browser on computers, Chromebooks, and tablets. Deliver your curriculum in person, online, or at a distance. All features described in this document are available with this version.

Perpetual or SUITE version is installed and plays on Windows and Macintosh computers in your school or organization. This version does not have an instructor website, Microlearning, or the option to adjust simulation settings. There are no student login accounts. Students save their progress on their computers and manually submit reports to the instructor.

Comparison Table

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GV Comparison Chart 2021-08-11_12-01-40.jpg

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2. List of Resources

This section provides a summary of the resources available.

See §Resources In Detail for more information.

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Product Description

GoVenture Entrepreneur is the most realistic small business startup and operations simulation in the world. Start with a lemonade stand, level up to a kiosk, food truck, and full business then build a regional franchise from the ground up. Ideal for players of all ages and levels.

GoVenture Entrepreneur can be used to enhance your current course or training or to build an entirely new course — everything instructors and students need is included to meet or exceed national and regional learning standards.

To find out more about GoVenture and other educational games and simulations, visit

GoVenture.net⁠

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Instructor Guide and Website

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This document you are reading now and a free instructor website for monitoring and assessing student performance. Also includes a

Curriculum Guide⁠

with scope and sequence options.

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Business Simulation

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Highly realistic small business startup and operations simulation where students gain years of business experience in minutes.

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Microlearning & Skill Assessment

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Over 100 microlearning modules that introduce business concepts using video, knowledge checks, and quizzes.

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Learning & Activity Book

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Business Superhero is a 240-page book that helps students learn the fundamental concepts of business and entrepreneurship, including a glossary of over 100 terms. Provided as Adobe PDF. The Microlearning modules use the same content from this book.

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Lessons and Activities

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Over 50 lesson plans and activities designed to bring business education alive in the classroom. Provided in two Adobe PDF formats— a format for printing on paper and a format that can be completed with a computer, Chromebook, or tablet.

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Videos

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Videos to enhance student learning — curated from around the world.

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Assessment

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Multiple assessment options allow instructors to perfectly match their grading and performance preferences.

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Award Certificates

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Printable certificates for rewarding learner achievement.

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User Guide

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View User Guide⁠

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Global Leaderboards

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Student simulation results are automatically compared to the best in the world and may appear on the global leaderboards. See section 6.7 for details.

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This above provides a summary of the resources available.

See §Resources In Detail for more information.

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3. Instructor & Student Accounts & Onboarding

Section 3.3 includes a Slide deck and Syllabus for instructors to use to onboard students.

3.1 Create Your Instructor Account

Once you have a Subscription Key, go to

PlayGoVenture.com⁠

and follow the links to CREATE ACCOUNT. Then log in using your username and password.

Review the instructor dashboard (website).

The instructor dashboard allows you to create Groups (see below), monitor student progress and performance, and play GoVenture as a student (so that you can experience GoVenture as a student does).

Screenshot of the Instructor Dashboard (website) with options for managing a Group

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3.2 Sharing Instructor Accounts

Instructors can share access to their accounts with other instructors or colleagues.

This allows you to view student progress and performance for students that are not under your own account. This can be helpful for co-teachers, substitute teachers, department leaders, and more.

View-only access or full access can be granted. View-only access allows viewing of everything in your account but no changes. Full access allows creation and editing of Groups, student accounts, and everything else the account owner can do.

There is no cost for this feature and any number of accounts can be shared.

To request this feature, both instructors must already have GoVenture accounts— they must both be instructor accounts not student accounts. Then contact us with the following information:

Email of the person whose account needs to be shared.

Email of the person who will have access to the account above — multiple people are possible.

If you want to grant Full access or View-only access.

3.3 Student Accounts

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Choose the type of account that applies to you (your type is displayed on your instructor dashboard as shown above):

3.3.1 Instructor Managed account — primarily for K-12 schools

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Watch the video above or follow the directions below to see how student accounts work.

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Use this slide deck⁠

to introduce GoVenture to students.

Instructor Managed subscriptions do not require students to create full accounts on GoVenture. Students do not have to disclose personally-identifiable information.

Instructors log in to GoVenture to create student accounts as they need them.

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When an instructor creates a student account, a unique USERNAME is generated for the student. The USERNAME is a multi-digit number that is automatically generated — the instructor cannot choose the number. Note that the instructor does not need to build or upload a roster or set student passwords.

The instructor provides the USERNAME to the student and directs the student to log in to the GoVenture website at PlayGoVenture.com. Students should not use the Create Account function.

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GoVenture will determine if this is a new USERNAME being used for the first time and prompt the student to set a PASSWORD and their name or student ID or pseudonym (if maximum privacy is preferred).

No personally identifiable information is required of students. But, it is important that students use a unique identifier that allows the instructor to know who they are for monitoring and grading purposes. Alternatively, the instructor can manually record student names with their assigned USERNAMES. NOTE: If you direct students to enter their full names, you may want to consider directing them to enter their last names first (such as "Smith John" or "Smith, John") so that your Performance Reports can be sorted by last name.

Once a student logs in to GoVenture, they have access to the User Guide, resources, and other help information. But, students need to join a GROUP Number to play the Simulation. Instructors must provide students a GROUP Number to join.

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Additional Information

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Use this spreadsheet⁠

to share usernames with students — click the link to view the document then choose FILE > DOWNLOAD for your own copy to edit.

The student uses their personal USERNAME and PASSWORD to log in to GoVenture.

Instructors can reset student PASSWORDS if needed.

Your school or District is assigned a maximum number of instructor accounts and student accounts that can be active at any one time (concurrently).

Instructors can DISABLE individual student accounts when they are no longer needed (such as at the end of the semester or year, or if a student drops out). Disabling a student account reduces the number of active student accounts, thereby providing room for another student account to be activated. Disabled accounts do not count towards the maximum number of concurrent accounts allowed. Disabling a student account retains all student progress and results, allowing the account to be activated again at any time.

Instructors can DELETE individual student accounts. Doing so permanently erases all student progress and results and the same student account cannot be activated again.

Instructors can EDIT student accounts.

A student account that is created by an instructor but never actually used by a student will not count towards the maximum number of student accounts allowed. (Used means a student has set a password.)

3.3.2 Learner Managed account — primarily for colleges, universities, nonprofits, and businesses

Students create and manage their own personal accounts using Subscription Keys.

Students can purchase their own Subscription Keys or organizations can purchase them for students using any combination of these three options:

Purchase keys individually or in bulk using a credit card or PayPal at

BuyGoVenture.com⁠

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To buy with a Purchase Order, use our Order Forms at

GoVenture.net/prices⁠

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To sell through a bookstore, review the information at

GoVenture.net/bookstore⁠

Give students the Group number you want them to join and your student roster will build automatically as students join your Group.

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Use this Slide Deck⁠

or this

Syllabus⁠

to introduce GoVenture to students— copy this content into your own course content and customize it to fit your approach (do not give students links to this document).

3.3.3 Perpetual or SUITE Licenses

There are no instructor accounts and no student accounts— no logins.

The GoVenture software runs from the computer on which it is installed, not online.

Student progress is saved on the computer hard drive, shared network drive, or USB drive. Students must maintain access to the save file location in order to resume progress.

Students should choose SAVE LOCATIONS that are unique or private to them, so that only they can access their own save files.

How Saving Works

When a student launches GoVenture, they will be presented with this message:

Your progress will be stored in a save file in the folder that you choose on the local computer, network drive, or external drive.

When you quit and restart this program, this same folder will be used to find the save file and resume your progress. Do not delete the save file or your progress will be lost. If you move the save file or folder, you will be prompted to choose the new location.

This save location will be stored in your Windows or macOS login profile. If this computer is shared by other people, you should choose a folder that is private to you. You should also log out of Windows or macOS when finished using the computer so that someone else does not use your save file.

If you play more than one GoVenture program, you will be prompted to choose a save location for each program. You may choose the same save location (separate save files will be created for each).

Technical Details — How to force GoVenture to prompt for a new save location

You do not need to follow these directions unless a student save file has been moved by mistake.

Quit GoVenture.

When a student selects a save location, GoVenture stores the path to this location in the appdata folder.

To find the appdata folder for the user that is currently logged in to Windows, open Windows File Explorer and type %appdata% in the address bar then press [enter].

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Find the folder with the same name as the GoVenture program you are using and double click it to open the folder.

Find and delete file Settings_x.x.x — the x.x.x will be the latest version number.

With the Settings file deleted, running GoVenture will prompt you to enter a new save location. If the save location you choose has a previously-saved simulation file, then GoVenture will resume that file.

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4. Groups

4.1 Creating Groups

For students to begin playing the Simulation, the instructor must create a new Group number. Groups allow you to keep student performance results separated by class, school, region, or any other grouping that you prefer. Students can join multiple groups.

Use the Instructor Dashboard to create a Group. Instructors have the option to focus students on specific activities.

Follow the on-screen directions to choose your Group settings.

Copy the Group number (7-digit number) and share the Group number with your students so that they can connect with you.

Instructors can also use the Group Number to play as a student.

Students cannot play GoVenture until an instructor provides them with a Group number. You must give students a Group number. Students can log in to view the Learning & Activity Book and the User Guide before they receive a Group number. This allows you to get students set up with their login accounts in advance of having them do a specific activity.

Instructors can play GoVenture as a student by clicking PLAY AS A STUDENT. It is highly recommended that instructors play GoVenture for a few minutes to experience the options available in the program.

See additional information under 6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

4.2 Group Settings

When creating a Group, you must choose the business type to include — Lemonade Stand, Kiosk, or Full. See additional information under 6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

To have students play a different business type, create a new Group — do not edit an existing Group to change business type. (In the future, multiple business types will be allowed in the same Group).

When creating a Group, you have the option to include Microlearning — see details further in this document.

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5. Microlearning

5.1 Microlearning Modules

GoVenture Entrepreneur is enhanced with over 140 microlearning modules that introduce business concepts using video and other media supported with knowledge checks and quizzes.

As students play the simulation they can choose to complete the microlearning modules (see more below).

Each module is only a few minutes in duration, ending with 2 or a few more multiple-choice quiz questions.

The entire set of microlearning modules includes nearly 5 hours of video plus 2 hours of review and quizzes.

Instructors can monitor the quiz results for each microlearning module through the Instructor Website.

Students earn 1 star for completing a microlearning module with 1 mistake made on the quiz questions for that module, or 2 stars if no mistakes made. 0 stars are earned otherwise.

2 stars are scored with 1 point while 1 star is 0.7 points.

List of All 145 Microlearning Modules

List of All 145 Microlearning Modules

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5.2 Microlearning Collection

Use the Instructor Website to create a Microlearning Collection. Click Microlearning in the ACTIONS tile on the main dashboard page.

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Then click Create New Collection

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A Microlearning Collection allows you to choose specific microlearning modules that you want to show or hide for your students. For example, you may want to show the Business Basic modules and hide the Accounting modules. You can also choose to show individual modules as optional or required, and you can grade students based on their scores. You can create any number of Microlearning Collections with different settings for each.

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Completion percentage and scores shown in the Performance Report are based on the modules set to be visible or required (you choose). Hidden modules will not be included. For example, if you set 50 modules visible and 100 hidden, students will only be scored on the 50 so a student completing all 50 will earn a 100% completion percentage.

Setting a module to be Required will show an icon next to the module to identify it as required. Prior to December 2022, this had no effect on the completion percentage or score— this was simply a visual marker. As of December 2022, instructors can choose their preferred scoring method.

To view a microlearning module, go to the screen shown above and click the orange number link.

Showing and hiding modules as your course progresses. Some instructors prefer to guide students by showing microlearning modules at specific times during a course schedule. You can change the selected microlearning modules at any time, allowing you to add or remove modules during play. If you do make a change, student Performance Reports will be updated automatically the next time a student plays one virtual day in the simulation. This triggers a save which updates the Performance Reports. Alternatively, students can click the SAVE button under MENU.

A list of all topics covered is included at the end of this document.

5.3 Assigning to a Group

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Once you have created a Microlearning Collection, you can assign it to one or more Groups (under Group Settings). Instructors have the option to create different Microlearning Collections for different groups of students.

You can choose to assign the same Microlearning Collection to multiple Groups. This allows students to continue their Microlearning as they move from one business simulation to another, without having to repeat modules that were completed previously. For example, if a student completes module 1.1 in Group Lemonade Stand, this same module will appear completed in Group Kiosk and Group Full Business if those Groups have been assigned the same Microlearning Collection.

Note— When using the same Microlearning Collection across multiple Groups, use the Microlearning results from the Group in which students have most recently played. Microlearning results shown in Groups students stopped playing may only show the Microlearning results as of when the student stopped playing, even though they may have continued making progress under another Group.

5.4 Student Access and Grading

Students can access Microlearning while playing the simulation by using MENU > Microlearning as shown below.

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Students may also access Microlearning using a button that appears on their GoVenture dashboard before they launch the simulation. This button will appear after they have joined a Group Number and started playing the simulation.

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Below is a sample report that shows stars earned for each topic, total score, and percent complete.

Students earn 1 star for completing a microlearning module with 1 mistake made on the quiz questions for that module, or 2 stars if no mistakes made. 0 stars are earned otherwise.

2 stars are scored with 1 point while 1 star is 0.7 points.

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More information on using Microlearning in assessment is available further in this document.

Important Notes:

If you make a change to a Microlearning Collection, your students will not see the change until they do one of these actions:

Refresh GoVenture (refresh the Internet browser while playing the simulation or doing Microlearning).

The feature below was improved in June 2022 to assure student results are always updated—

To make sure your instructor dashboard displays the most recent Microlearning results, direct your students to take one of these actions:

While playing the simulation game, click MENU then SAVE.

Advance the simulation game by one simulated day — reports are automatically updated after a student completes each simulated day in the business simulation (If a student completes Microlearning modules but does not return to continue playing the business simulation, your instructor dashboard will not update with the latest results until they do or save the simulation game).

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6. Gameplay

6.1 Basic and Advanced Versions

GoVenture Entrepreneur is available in two versions: BASIC and ADVANCED.

The BASIC version has a lower price and includes the Lemonade Stand and Kiosk businesses but does not progress past the kiosk business to the Full business —

video demo of Full business⁠

All included resources are the same in both versions.

6.2 Types of Businesses & Products

Students are able to choose from a number of business types listed below. Instructors can restrict students to specific business types using Group settings.

Lemonade Stand

Kiosk

Ice Cream

Tacos

Hot Dogs

Popcorn & Snacks

Clothing

Costume Jewelry

Electronics

Full Business

Business Type

Level

Description

Sell

Unique Features

Ice-Cream Parlor

Easy

Quick service restaurant that sells ice-cream sundaes, cones, and bars. Similar to Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry’s, Dairy Queen, and others.

3 Products 5 Inventory Items

Similar to Kiosk business with only a few products but with the advanced features of Full Business. This is a good practice or entry-level simulation.

Department Store

Moderate

Retail store that sells clothing, jewelry, housewares, toys, electronics, sporting goods, and more. Similar to Walmart, Target, and others.

31 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Retail businesses have many products but they do not require any type of assembly or combination of inventory items and they do not degrade in quality over time. This makes inventory management important but easier than food businesses.

Cosmetics Boutique

Moderate

Retail store that sells makeup, personal-care products, and more. Similar to L'Oréal, Clinique, and others.

31 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Fitness Gym

Moderate

Fitness gym that offers membership services for fitness classes and equipment. Customers pay a membership fee and may also purchase products. Similar to Planet Fitness, LA Fitness, and others.

4 Fitness Classes (services), 5 Fitness Equipment (services), 3 Products (same Inventory Items)

Membership-based pricing for all services. Some services require the business to purchase equipment while others require employees with the proper skill. Product sales are optional, so there is little inventory management.

Automotive Shop

Moderate

Retail store and garage that offers automotive repair services and sells automotive parts. Similar to Midas, Meineke, and others.

30 Products and 13 Services

Employees are needed to offer automotive repair services but all only require one skill. Any employee can provide all services. Additional employees are needed as the business grows. Specialized skills and equipment are not required to offer the services.

Convenience Store

Moderate

Retail store that sells food, snacks, and other convenience items.

32 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Online Retail

Moderate

Online retail store that specializes in same-day local delivery of common household goods.

31 Products (identical Inventory Items)

Coworking Space

Moderate

Shared workspace facility that offers membership services to entrepreneurs, content creators, and remote workers seeking flexible office space and related business services. Customers pay a weekly membership fee and may purchase consumable products.

7 Products and 7 Services

Microstay Hotel

Moderate

Lodging facility that rents rooms by the hour for individuals seeking brief stays, meetings, meditation, or rest during the day.

17 Products and 6 Services