US business students are increasingly entrepreneurial, and many students desire to someday start their own business. In addition, today’s students prefer hands-on activities in the learning environment. One challenge in starting a business is forming the entity in which the business will be held. Not only must the business owner inform himself of the myriad legal implications associated with his choice of entity, but he also must comply with the legal formalities necessary to create that entity in his jurisdiction of choice, as laws vary state-to-state.In the Legal Environment of Business course, students learn the advantages and disadvantages ofthe different types of business entities and the general legal requirements of entity formation and operation. Many instructors stop here; however, students can apply that knowledge and master the concepts by researching entity formation requirements in their home state and drafting the documents required to form a small business entity under governing law. This paper discusses an innovative, real-world approach to teaching business formation and organization requirements that results in a synthesis of legal concepts and practical application, culminating in the preparation of a document set the student can retain and later use in forming his own business entity. This approachengages students and sparks interest in the subject matter far beyond memorization of legal concepts. Several students have filed their document set during the course to form a small business entity, becoming business owners even before graduation.