need business plan

Naïma Cherchem, Ph.D. 2019 © 1

MBA Entrepreneurship Course 641

Business Plan paper 20% AND Oral presentation 10%

Business Plan Over the duration of the course Entrepreneurship, you will work to develop a business plan for your start-up creation that MUST demonstrate: creativity and innovation, a unique value proposition and business model that can differentiate your business and its product/service from your main competitor (s).

The business plan is a crucial document through which you should target goals that are important to your key external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders; in which you present detailed information about your product/service, your business and its goals, your strategy marketing and the financial forecast (at least for the first year after creation).

The Business model should be a convincing, well-structured, well-written and well-researched document using recent statistics and feasible assumptions in order to define your pricing strategy and predict your financial flows.

The business plan must include the following sections:

Cover page

Table of contents

Introduction Tell shortly the “story” of how the start-up/business opportunity came into being to give to your reader and potential investors some sense of your business history.

Business description a. Vision, Mission and values statement

b. Legal Form of Business Ownership

c. Leadership: some background on the founder(s) and who will fill the key roles, and what their responsibilities will be

d. Number of employees, organizational structure (if any)

Naïma Cherchem, Ph.D. 2019 © 2

Value creation: Product / Service Plan a. The opportunity: Needs that your Product / Service wants to fulfill

b. Features and Benefits

c. Value Proposition

d. Key activities and key resources

e. Key Suppliers

f. Key partners

Market research a. The market analysis: PESTEL analysis, SWOT analysis, Porter’s 5 forces (+1), VRIO

b. The size and rate of growth of this market (if any)

c. Your perspective (s) on this market: Why do you think your start-up is bringing something new/competitive (e.g., technology, innovation) to the market?

Marketing and sales plan a. Customer Segmentation

b. Branding approach

c. Pricing Strategy

d. Sale Strategy and distribution channel

e. Advertising and promotion

f. Website/e-commerce strategy

Financial Projections a. Start-up costs

b. Sales Projections

c. Income Projections

d. Funding strategy

Naïma Cherchem, Ph.D. 2019 © 3

Conclusions and future perspectives a. What trends in the market does the company see, and what changes does the company

anticipate in the future?

Requirements • Your Business Plan should not exceed 20 pages, if needed you can add extra information, figures (e.g., Value Proposition Canvas, Business Model Canvas), tables in the appendices section.

• APA title page not required

• Index/Table of contents required

• APA reference page required

• APA in-text citation required

• A minimum of 10 sources – 5 academic and 5 non-academic. Wikipedia is not allowed.

• Limit this document of no more than 20 pages (excluding Title page, table of content and appendices)

Resources • Canada Statistics

• BDC.com

• Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas: https://strategyzer.com

Business Plan Oral Presentation (10%)

Ø This is a team presentation. The presentation will follow the 10-20 rule – 10 slides, 20 minutes (maximum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M13SObffog&t=53s

Ø The presentation demonstrates the key points of your written business plan. Ø The team will be required to get dressed in their business attire. Ø At the end of the presentation, the instructor will ask at least 2 questions about a point or points

from the presentation. Ø The instructor will end the presentation if it goes over the 20-minute limit. The person or

persons who have not presented will only receive the team mark. So, as a team, please practice and ensure all your team members have their chance to present.