Business Plan Proposal Report (Assessment Part Two worth 80 % points of the total mark)

Instructions, terms of reference and suggested template for the Business Plan

** Please Note Distance Learning Students ONLY – you will complete this assignment as an
individual

Introduction
Many countries in the world will be suffering from the recent pandemic and may well be facing deep
or partial recession. While the economy was growing rapidly it was relatively easy for many
businesses to flourish and for many entrepreneurs to start up new businesses. However, the real
test of entrepreneurial ability is to flourish and to start-up businesses in times of economic
recession. Your task is to work and to think of an idea for a new business which can be launched
during a recession. This means you need to think very practically and to consider the economic and
business context within which your business idea will be put into practice.

Terms of reference (this is essential)

You and your group will have to think of a business idea and over the period of the module create a
Business Plan proposal report which justifies your idea in terms of the prevailing market conditions,
and which would attract financial support from investors. Each group will have to assess and
evaluate the desirability, feasibility and viability of their new business idea and create a full business
plan (see templates on Moodle).
 The business idea needs to be practical and workable in the real world and under current
conditions.
 The business idea can be for any country in the world, but in all cases, there needs to be
evidence to support the desirability, the feasibility and importantly the viability of the new
venture business plan.
 Each member of the group is assumed to have £10,000 (or the equivalent in the currency
of the home country) to invest in the business (thus, a group of 4 will have a total stake of
£40,000 to invest).
 You can add to this stake by borrowing, however any borrowing would need to be realistic
and satisfy the criteria likely to be set by a bank manager or local lender.
 The human resources of the group will be your initial human resource within the group. Any
additional human resource needs to be justified, costed and be done legitimately.
 You need to think of your capacity to supply as well as estimating the likely demand.

Submission of the Business Plan

 The Business Plan should have a word count of between 3000 and 3250 words (excluding
references and diagrams).
 The Business Plan MUST be submitted through Turnitin (and include a template front cover
is shown in the next section – this template must be used).
 The names and banner numbers of all group members must be printed on the front cover.
 The company name must be on the front cover
 Failure to reference your work or to provide evidence of research and data used may result
in a fail grade.
 This is a serious business-oriented piece of work and must be presented as such. Spelling
errors will cost marks as will poor presentation and structure.
 Referencing: Harvard system (you MUST reference your work and all sources used. An
appendix may be used to include supporting material.)

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Suggested template
While every project will be unique there should be a common approach to how the Business Plan is
approached and written. The following is a guide only and should not be taken as prescriptive. It is
up to each group to decide which heading and sub-heading to use and its depth of analysis.

Avoid simply filling in the template. This is NOT the purpose of the exercise. Each group needs to
show the rationale underpinning each section and, very importantly, show the linkage between key
sections. For example, how was demand estimated? What assumptions were made? How does
demand estimation link with revenue estimates and break-even analyses?

You will need to think deeply about what it is that you are doing. Failure to show linkage and analysis
will result in a low mark.

You need to be selective and edit your material in order for it to ‘fit’ into the Business Plan. The
types of issue that where covered in lectures and tutorial material include:

1.What is the opportunity or need to be addressed?

2.Description of the Product
3.What are the unique benefits of your product?
4.What is the target market?
5.Completion of a competitor analysis
6.Demonstration of a sustainable competitive advantage
7.Awareness of the potential risks
8.Potential profitability, break-even and investment required
9.What conclusions can be drawn?
10.What are the recommendations e.g. go ahead but with modifications?

Remember, the Business Plan will contain much of what you have learned during the feasibility
stage.

 There must be evidence of research. For example, use of Mintel reports, trade association
publications, web searches, contact with key industry players etc. It is not enough to simply
state that you are going to sell 1,000 items. You need to place those sales in context within
the overall market.
 With the Internet there is no shortage of data and material on all industries. Government
web sites provide a wealth of information and research material as well as demographic
data.
 Business Plans that rely on un-attributable data and unfounded assumptions will be heavily
penalised. If you make a statement it must be verifiable.
 Deriving a target market must have foundations e.g. in demographics. Assumptions that
allow you to move from the national to the local to the target market must be sound.
 Consider what industry you are really involved in. For example, Rolex is not in the
watchmaking business. It is in the luxury business. This is why the core, tangible and
augmented approach can be helpful.

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Suggested range of issues to be covered in a Business Plan

Executive summary
Company description
Industry analysis (Very important. Need industry level data.)
 Industry size, growth rates, sales projections
 Industry structure
 Nature of participant firms
 Key factors for industry success (see benchmarking for this information)
 Industry trends
 Long-term prospects (remember all industries change. What causes the change?)
Market analysis
 Market segmentation
 Target market selection (why this segment?)
 Buyer behaviour (see core, tangible and augmented product. What is customer really
buying?)
 Competitor analysis (Local or national? See core, tangible and augmented.)
 Estimation of total market sales
 Estimation of market share (What is your rationale for this?)
Marketing plan
 Overall marketing strategy (show evidence of using strategy models.)
 Pricing strategy (very important. You need to justify the price.)
 Sales process or sales cycle (e.g. seasonal?)
Management team and company structure
 Management team
 Board of directors
 Skills base of team
Operations plan
 Operations model and procedures (how does your company work.)
 Business location (even if a web-based business.)
 Facilities and equipment required
 Operations strategy and plan
Product or service design and development plan
 Development status (some have pilot projects others have initial business to support a web-
development. In other words, some businesses start out as a means of supporting a larger
enterprise later.)
 Challenges (new product development, new competitors, new technology etc.)
 Costs
 Intellectual property
Financial plan for the first year of trading
 Sources of funding
 Assumptions made (these must be fully explained with supporting evidence)
 Profit and loss account
 Cash flow forecasts
 Balance sheet
 Break-even analysis
 Scenario / contingency planning
 Any key ratios that help clarify your business model
Appendices

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 Group Number:

New Venture Creation

(CRN )

Business Plan
Date:

Company Name:

Student Name Banner number

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New Venture Creation
Business Plan Marking Sheet*
Lecturer: Date:

Group Members Names and Banner IDs/ Business Name

Assessment criteria Range of mark per criterion (%)

** See below for rubric range explanation 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 WGHT

Total
Business concept: Strength of core idea (is the product desirable,
feasible and viable?). Is there evidence of creativity and innovation?

(weighted to 20 marks)
Business model: Explanation of what the business will do and how it
will do it is clear and concise, value proposition is well defined (key
activities, key partners, channels, customer relationships, revenue
streams, cost structure and key resources)

(weighted to 25 marks)
Finance: Appropriate and realistic funding package identified, financial
documents based on logical assumptions (profit statement, cash flow
forecast, balance sheet for a one year period, break even analysis),
sales projections realistic, achievable and justifiable.

(weighted to 20 marks)
People: Roles of team members, skills and qualifications that can be
used to best effect for the business venture, training needs analysis
carried out.

(weighted to 10 marks)
Market: Explanation and justification of the market chosen, market

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research conducted, industry analysis carried out, marketing plan,
chosen target market and customer segmentation.

(weighted to 25 marks)
Overall comments: Total
%

*The Business Plan must include references and follow the ‘Harvard
style’. Marks will be deducted where no references are provided.
Note: All Marks are provisional until verified by internal moderation and
external examination

% Marks Definition Descriptor

Range
90-100 Exceptional Student work is exemplary and exceeds the threshold standard by a significant margin. It displays
exceptional knowledge and understanding; insight, originality and exceptional ability in analysis, evaluation,
problem solving or other process skills
80-89 Outstanding Student work significantly exceeds the threshold standard. It displays a consistently thorough, deep and
extensive knowledge and understanding; originality and/or very high ability in analysis, evaluation, problem
solving or other process skills.
70-79 Excellent Student work is well above the threshold standard. It displays a consistently thorough, deep and/or
extensive knowledge and understanding; originality and/or very high ability in analysis, evaluation, problem
solving or other process skills
60-69 Very good Student work is clearly above the threshold standard. It displays a consistently very good level of
Commendabl knowledge and understanding; high ability in analysis, evaluation, problem solving or other process skills
e
50-59 Good Student work is above the threshold standard. It displays generally satisfactory knowledge and
Competent understanding in most key areas competence ability in analysis, evaluation, problem solving or other
process skills.

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40-49 Unsatisfactory Student work is marginally below the threshold standard. It displays some knowledge and understanding
but this is incomplete or partial; limited ability in analysis and other process skills.
10-39 Very Student work is well below the threshold standard. It displays very limited knowledge and understanding;
unsatisfactory evidences very limited or no analytical or other process skills.