SETTING UP IN

BUSINESS

PRANEETH WICKRAMARACHCHI

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BEFORE STARTING UP A
BUSINESS
How much money do you have?
Can you attract outside investment?
Can you borrow money, (Assets/Security)?
What return do you expect on your
capital?
What expertise do you have?
What interests you?
Are you prepared to work long hours?
What are the market trends in your
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region?

SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Local Chamber of Commerce
Trade Shows
Suppliers
Networking Meetings
The internet
Local knowledge/connections

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WRITE A MISSION STATEMENT

A mission statement is a business's formal

declaration of its purpose and reason for

existence. A good mission statement
captures its purpose, customer orientation
and business philosophy in a clear concise
language.
A typical mission statement would be 1 to

2 sentences long.
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NAME YOUR BUSINESS

Your business name should be

straight forwards descriptive and

distinctive.

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TYPE OF BUSINESS
Sole Traders
Partnership
Limited Liability
Company
Public Liability Company
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SET UP A MANAGEMENT TEAM

The strength of the management team must be

articulated in your business plan. Balance within a

management team include behavioural, technical
and conceptual skills applicable to the
development, production and delivery of both
current and future products and services. The
management team must have skills in
management, marketing, finance and operations.

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CURRENT AND PROJECTED

FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Determine your cash needs, project your expenses,

and review your sales and profit objectives. Prepare a

preliminary balance sheet. List your assets and
liabilities to create a snapshot of what your company
looks like at a given moment. Your balance sheet is a
necessary tool for your banker and for your
accountant. Include financial projections on:

Profit & Loss Statement

Balance Sheet
Cash Flow
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ESTABLISH YOUR PRODUCTS &

SERVICES
Discuss your unique and specific characteristics of your products

and services.
How do they differ from similar products or services?
What customer reactions may be anticipated due to these
characteristics?
How will you satisfy customer needs and wants?
Describe any unique value-added characteristics your products and
services provide to the customer and how these will give your
company a competitive edge.
Describe how the product works or the service is used. Will your
product save your customer time or money?
Have any tests or case studies been performed that help you back
up your claims? (Obtain that vital information and document it in
your plan).
What is your product or services life cycle? Explain it to the
investor. Include the timefactors influencing your ability to make
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money andthe effects of economic cycles.

PRODUCE A BUSINESS PLAN

The business plan should be clean, conservative,

simple, clearly written and properly bound. Your

business plan is a reflection of the quality of your
business.
A business plan is a written document that

describesa business, its objectives, its strategies,

the market it is in and its financial forecasts. It has
many functions, from securing external funding to
measuring success within your business.

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PRODUCE A MARKETING PLAN

Who is your competition. What can they do/not do. Can your product outsell them,

is it cheaper, is it better, do you offer higher quality service/products? Do you have

a unique selling proposition that none of your competitors have?
You need to account for:
Your product's features
Nature of your customers
Geographical issues
Cyclical Issues
List any advantages you have:
Actual performance
Quality and reliability
Production efficiency
Distribution
Pricing
Promotion
Public image or reputation
Business relationships or references
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MARKETING STRATEGY
Marketing strategies are designed to enhance,

promote, and support the advantages, features

and benefits of your products and services

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

Everybody within an organisation should have a solid understanding

of what sets you apart from the competition.

Your USP is that single, unique advantage, benefit, essence, appeal,
or big promise that holds your product or service out to the
prospective customer one that no other competitor offers or
advertises. You should be able to articulate, in one or two crisp, clear
paragraphs, the USP of your businesss product or service. You should
consider the following comments:
Your USP is literally the unique advantage that distinguishes your
business from everyone elses. This is a concept that your entire
enterprise should be built around.
Without a USP, you cannot build a consistent and effective marketing
campaign.
Identify the unique advantage you should build your marketing efforts
Go ahead! Create a USP that lets people feel like they cannot live a

moment longer without your product or service.

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QUALITY CONTROL PLAN 1

Clearly understand Customer requirements, make sure the

requirements can be met, keep the Customer informed and

track Customer satisfaction;
Collect information, determine its meaning and make
improvements;
Control and maintain necessary measurement and test
equipment and use the equipment in the appropriate work
environment;
Control Customer property to prevent damage;
Create and maintain a satisfactory workplace, prepare people
for the job and provide resources for the system;
Define a quality policy, provide a vision and demonstrate
commitment;
Define and measure important product, process and service
characteristics against requirements;
Determine process functions and interactions ahead of time,
then control the processes;
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QUALITY CONTROL PLAN 2

Establish the responsibility for providing quality products and

services and keep everyone informed;

Examine internal operations and report the results to
management;
Identify good and bad items, preserve good items, keep bad
items away from good items and determine what to do with bad
items;
Keep track of delivered products and services and ship only
what was ordered; know what you need to purchase and checkout your Suppliers;
Know what you are designing and create a design plan, identify
measures for the success of the plan and review the design as it
progresses, verify the design does what it has promised and
control changes;
Make instructions available to Operators, keep the instructions
up-to-date and maintain necessary records of activities;
Say what you do and do what you say;
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When the product can't be checked then check the process to 15

SEMINAR ACTIVITY
TASK ONE
Form groups of 4 students. You are each a specialist in one of the following

professional disciplines: Quantity Surveyor, Construction Manager, Site

Engineer, Business and Financial Manager. Architectural Technologist, You
wish to come together to start a construction industry focused business.
TASK TWO
Produce an A1 /A2 poster, including:
Company Name
Describe the individual roles of your management team
Target a customer market, and identify your unique selling point
How you will fund your company start-up
Your Mission Statement
Type of company chosen with justification for choosing it
A bullet point summary of your Business Plan, and Marketing Plan
TASK THREE
You will display and explain your poster in tomorrow's seminar session.
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