School of Science and Technology

wou.edu.my
Technopreneurship
TEC210/05

wou.edu.my
Unit 2: Starting a New Business
Table of Content
2.1 Preparing to be a technopreneur  Why a business plan fail?
 Technopreneurial skills
 Strategies to start a business 1.3 Start-up Platforms
 Different types of business
2.2 Business Plan entities

 What is a business plan?  Location of your start-up: Physical,

non-physical and hybrid
 The importance of a business
plan  E-commerce

 Who needs a business plan?  Websites

 The essential elements of a good

business plan
 Guidelines for preparing a
business plan
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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Technopreneurial Skills
“Technopreneurs are involved in research and development and use
grant to operate their firms. Previous literature claims that
entrepreneurs are not well-educated. However, technopreneurs have
higher level of education compared to other types of entrepreneur
(Robert, 1991 cited in Bolton and Thompson, 2004).

Vivek (2008) states that technopreneurs holding bachelor’s degree are

92%, Master degree 31% and PhDs 10% from his survey on chief
executive officers from engineering and technology companies in the
United States.”
‒ Rahman (2009)

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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Technopreneurial Skills
1. Leadership & management
2. Creative & innovative
3. Complex problem solving
4. Technical
5. Motivation
6. Team building
7. Ability to plan
8. Communication
9. Interpersonal
10. Marketing
11. Personal effectiveness
12. Personal management.

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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Strategies to start a business

Figure 2.1 Steps of preparation for a business

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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Strategies to start a business
1. Technopreneurship activity planning
 Must know the proper time to venture.
 Find out their business survivability in the field by gathering facts
related to their target markets as well as assessing competitors.
2. Identifying the market
 Research the target market’ size etc.
 Identify the target market in terms of age, gender, location etc.
3. Price setting strategy
 Base on competitors or a price differentiation strategy.
 Other factors customer consider when making a purchase:
a. The time involved in selecting a product to purchase.
b. The physical effort involved in selecting a product to purchase.
c. Sensory and psychological costs.
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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Strategies to start a business
4. Marketing strategy
 Strategy to ensure the product or service is known to everyone,
especially target groups.
 Create interest among potential customers and inspire them to
continuously buy the product.
 The strategy includes:

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Unit 2.1: Preparing to be a Technopreneur
Strategies to start a business
5. Developing skilled manpower
 Select suitable employees, competitive salary, upgrade worker’s
skill by providing them with training.
 Avoid high absenteeism rate, retrenchment, creating conflict with
employees and taking measure that might cause dissatisfaction
and depression among employees.
6. Total project cost
 Consider total fixed property in hand that can be mortgaged and
cash that can be used as capital.
 Look into their financial resources, whether from their own
savings or loan from their family and financial institution.
 If the loan from a financial instituition, they must look at the
terms and conditions of the loan, the payment methods and the
payment period.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Introduction
Please read the blog by Odjick (2020), “Need a Roadmap? Here’s
How to Write a Business Plan You’ll Actually Use” and watch his
video about the business plan
https://www.shopify.com/blog/business-plan

Or you can go direct to his video in YouTube as per below link.

Title: How to Write a Business Plan: Start a Business in 10 Steps.

Duration: 14:03 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZi4A9pyJb4&feature=emb_log
o

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
What is a business plan?
 A detailed programme or roadmap outlining every conceivable aspect of
a technopreneur’s proposed business venture (Utton, 2001).
 A comprehensive, self-explanatory plan of what a technopreneur
intends to do; and how, when, and where he or she intends to it.
 Explains why the technopreneur believes the idea is viable and
profitable. It is, in essence, a structured guideline to achieving the
technopreneur’s gold in operating the business.
 Gives the technopreneur an opportunity to make a realistic forecast of
the business’ prospects and list the actions for taking the business into
operation.
 Helps the technopreneur to identify areas of strength and weakness,
pinpoint needs and details that the technopreneur may overlook, and
describe the opportunities to be gained and the threats to be faced.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
What is a business plan?
A business plan needs to be written against a framework of
the following 3 questions:
1. Where am I now?
Assessment of the technopreneur’s current positions; the people, resources,
assets and cash that he or she has to assist him or her in the business.
2. Where am in going?
The “visioning” part of the process. What are the technopreneur’s personal
objectives, why does he or she want to run a business? Where does he or
she want to be in five years’ time?
3. How am I going there? What are the milestones?
The steps to be taken by the technopreneur to achieve the vision or the goal.
The milestones describe the sub goals or challenges during the process of
achieving the goals.
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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
What is a Business Plan?
Purposes of a business plan
1. It encourages them to arrange their thoughts in a logical and structure
manner.
2. It helps them to create a business framework by defining the activities to be
undertaken, the responsibilities of the various stakeholders and the objective
to achieved.
3. It encourages technopreneurs to simulate reality and anticipate problems
before they actually occur.
4. It helps technopreneurs to develop strategies to meet their objectives.
5. It serves as an action plan or guideline in operating the business.
6. It enables them to identify constraints that they may face when running the
business.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
The Importance of a Business Plan?
1. It increases the chances of success
Among the considerations are:
a. The structure of the business.
b. The introduction of new technology and new manufacturing
techniques.
c. The development of employee training programme.
2. It describes the mission and vision of the business
The mission and vision statement will together act as a
“lighthouse” that enables the technopreneur to know exactly
where he/she is going.
3. It helps to determine the main competitor/s
This knowledge can be obtained by performing competitive
analyses to identify potential competitors’ product lines or
services as well as their market segments.
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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
The Importance of a Business Plan?
4. It helps to determine the right way of managing the business
Provides a space for technopreneurs and their employees to
develop effective strategies to run a business.
5. It increase stakeholder confidence
Every stakeholder in a business is eager to know the company’s
strengths in terms of its finance, resources and viability to
determine their return on investment.
6. It helps to determine the barriers to the business
It allows technopreneurs to think and plan ahead the necessary
actions to overcome these barriers such as the market research
to understand the customers’ needs.
7. It serves as performance tool
Provide the basis for evaluating and controlling the company’s
future performance in terms of profit, cost and quality.
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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Who needs a business plan?
1. The technopreneurs
Enable technopreneurs to consider the time, effort, resources
and support needed to achieve their goals.
2. The shareholders
Enables technopreneurs to inform shareholders about future
markets for their products/services, key employees, business
operation, financial projections and future plans.
3. The bankers or creditors
Enables bankers or creditors to give loan or extend the loan.
4. The customers
Enables customers to get information about the company, quality
and safety of the products for purchasing decision.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Elements of a Good Business Plan
1. Executive summary
 Briefly tell readers where the company is and where it wants to be.
 Among the elements included are:

• The mission statement. • A list of the product

• The date the business manufactured and/or
started. services provided.

• The name of the founders • Name of bankers.

and the roles played by them. • The progress of the
• The number of employees. company.

• The location of the business • The company’s financial

and the branches or status.
subsidiaries if any. • A summary management’s
• The description of plants or future plans.
facilities.
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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
2. Market analysis
 Provide information about the industry the company is involved in.
 This section should also include:
• An industry’s description and outlook.
• Target market information such as the size of the market in
terms of overall sales expected per annum for each
product/service.
• A list of the major players and their sales for each
product/service.
• Total potential sales for each product/service.
• The desired market share for your organisation.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
3. Firm and management organizational structure
 Describe the company organizational structure and details
about the ownership of the company, a profile of the
technopreneur(s) and the qualifications of the members of
the board of directors and key management personnel.
4. Marketing and sales strategies
 Define marketing penetration, sales, communication, business
growth and distribution channel strategies.
 An overall marketing strategy would include:
• A market penetration strategy.
• A strategy for growing the business.
• A strategy for the channels of distribution.
• A communications strategy.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
5. Service or product line
 Describe the uniqueness of the company’s services or
products.
 Focus on the areas where distinct advantages exist.
 The problems in the target market for which the services or
products provide a solution should be identified.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
6. Funding request
 Provide the amount of funding needed to start or expand the
business.
Banks or Special
second-tier financial
finance institution
Internal
Venture
company
capitalist
sources

Shareholders Merger and

and directors acquisitions

Sources
Self, family
and friends of Grants

funding

Figure 2.2 Sources of funding

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
7. Financial situation
 Provide profit and loss forecasts, cash flow forecast and capital
expenditure plan.
 Usually, three years forecasted of balance sheet, cash flow and
profit and loss account are included.

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Essential Element of a Good Business Plan
8. Appendices
 provide credit history, resume(s), pictures of product and other
legal documents or licenses.
• A credit history.
• Detailed resume(s) of the
technopreneur(s).
• Pictures of products.
• Letters of reference.
• Details of market studies.
• Relevant magazine articles.
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• Copies of licenses.
• Permits.
• Legal documents.
• Leases and contracts.
• A list of business
consultants, including
lawyers and
accountants.
wou.edu.my
Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Guidelines for preparing business plans

1
• Keep the business plan short

2
• Be focused

3
• Reveal the people involved and their roles

4
• Avoid the use of jargon

5
• Information should be based on studies

6
• Be realistic and objective

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Unit 2.2: Business Plan
Why business plan fails?

Figure 2.3 Why a business plan fail?

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
Different Types of Business Entities
1. Sole proprietorship
 Only one business owner and only Malaysian citizen or permanent
residents can register.
2. Partnership
 Two or more business partners combining their resources in a
business. Also for Malaysian citizen or permanent resident.
3. Private limited.
 Formed by several person and most common there are two types.
Private Limited Public Limited
• Cannot sell shares to the public • Source their capital by selling
• Distinguished by the shares to the public
appellation “Sendirian Berhad” • Distinguished by the
• Shortened to “Sdn. Bhd.” or appellation of “Berhad”,
“S/B”. • Shortened to “Bhd”.
• Min 2, max 50 members. • No maximum members.

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
Eight Reasons to Incorporate a Sdn. Bhd.
Please watch this video by K.C. Lau, on 8 Reasons to Incorporate a Sdn.
Bhd. in Malaysia for your Business, for more information about the
business entities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amvD3u3jKDM&feature=emb_logo

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
Location of Your Start-up
Question you should ask when considering the location of your business
are:

1. Do I need an office for customers and potential clients to visit?

2. If the business is production oriented, can the business the located in
a garage or industrial estate where the rent may be low?
3. If I were to use my house, which part of the house is going to be
used? Will customers be visiting my premises?

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
Location of your start-up
1. Traditional brick and mortar business
• This is the pure physical business where most operations are
conducted offline. The website may just to display information.
2. Online business
• Usually a business running from home office which lower the
start-up cost, take less time to start, work on your own time and
operate 24/7.
3. Hybrid models
• Both web for e-commerce and offline operation.
• Apart from these, there are also a lot of the hybrid of all three
such as those at the incubators and shared office which lower the
capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operation expenditure (OPEX).

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
E-commerce
 Factors that are facilitating the growth of e-commerce are:
1. The widespread use of personal computers.
2. The adoption of Intranets in companies.
3. The acceptance of the Internet as a business communication
platform.
4. Faster, more secure systems.

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
E-commerce
Using e-commerce
 Two possible ways to outsource an Internet business are to:
1. Hire Web developers to design, develop and maintaining a
Website.
2. Use packages for e-commerce available from various soft
companies.
 Two major components of internet commerce:

Front-end operations enable the Back-end operations involve

website’s functionality, such as integrating customer orders
its search capabilities, a with distribution channels and
shopping cart and secure manufacturing capabilities.
payment methods.

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Unit 2.3: Start-up Platforms
Websites
 There are several important features that every website should have:
1. Search capabilities.
2. Functions such as shopping cart, secure server connection and
online payment method such as credit card, FPX and e-Wallet.
3. Orders and other sensitive customers information should be
transferred only through secure servers.
4. An e-mail response system for customer feedback.

 A successful website has three characteristics:

1. Easy to use
2. Customized for specific target market groups
3. Compatible with different browser.

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THANK YOU

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