Lesson series

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS

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Course Overview

This course provides learners with a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of business and its role in society. Through real-world examples, applied activities, and structured lessons, students explore how businesses operate, create value, and respond to economic, ethical, and social forces. The course emphasizes practical understanding, critical thinking, and real-world application to prepare learners for future coursework, career pathways, and entrepreneurial opportunities

What You’ll Learn

By completing this course, learners will be able to:
  • Understand what business is and how it functions within society
  • Identify different types of business ownership and organizational structures
  • Analyze stakeholders and the business environment
  • Apply ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility principles
  • Recognize the role of entrepreneurship, management, technology, and globalization in modern business

Learning Experience

This course includes a mix of:
  • Structured, lesson-based instruction
  • Real-world case studies and examples
  • Interactive activities and group discussions
  • Applied projects and assessments
  • Midterm and final evaluations designed to reinforce practical understanding 

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, learners will have a strong foundational understanding of business concepts and the ability to apply them to real-world situations. Students will be prepared to move forward with confidence into advanced coursework, workforce training, or entrepreneurial endeavors.

Course Lessons

Course instructor

Dr. Dawn Lindsey

Dr. Dawn Lindsey’s entrepreneurial journey began at age seven, when she first earned money guiding blind community members through town. Raised by a mother who successfully ran multiple home-based businesses with only a second-grade education, she learned early that ingenuity, determination, and work ethic create opportunity. Despite not completing high school, she founded Malotane Building Services, becoming one of the first Black woman-owned construction companies in South Africa and earning international recognition for her leadership in housing development. After immigrating to the United States with just $2,000 and her youngest child, she built Next Generation Fuel into one of the few Black woman-owned oil and gas companies supplying Fortune 500 organizations and later founded Vari-Tek LLC, serving infrastructure and construction markets.

Alongside building multiple successful companies, Dr. Lindsey earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business, a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, a PhD in Public Policy, and a Doctoral Certificate in Educational Leadership, and she is a licensed Business Educator with the Indiana Department of Education. Drawing on decades of business leadership and lived experience, she created the accredited Youth Entrepreneurial System (YES), the foundation of IndyEXCEL’s business education model, designed to equip youth and aspiring entrepreneurs with practical skills, economic knowledge, and pathways to ownership, independence, and generational wealth.