3.5 fashion business
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Week15introtobusinessplanning2.pptxFBUY2003 Fashion Business
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS PLANNING:
Purpose and requirements of a Business Plan
Fiona Bailey
Week 15
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Today’s session:
In this session you will find out:
What a Business Plan is
Why plan?
The importance of business plans
Steps to take before a business plan is written
Idea generation
Initial Screening
Feasibility analysis
Formative task for week 17 brief
What is a Business Plan and why plan?
A business plan is a written document outlining what you plan to do as a business and how you plan to do it.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is:
An important tool that helps new businesses
A written document, carefully explaining every aspect of a new venture
Beneficial to both internal and external stakeholders
Helps convey the direction and vision of the business
Essential for funding / investment
Why plan?
Establishes a business focus
To open a bank account
To secure funding from investors
Attract executives
Introduce the business model
Present the business idea or product idea
Introduce the team and their experience
Highlights the risks, benefits and challenges
Ask students what the other option is
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Why plan?
| Internal Reason | External Reason |
| Forces the team to work together to hammer out the details of a business venture | Communicates the merits of a new venture to outsiders, such as investors and bankers. |
The benefits of a business plan
A business plan can help you:
Determine how to get from point A to Z
Keeps you focused
Plan out clear aims and objectives
Defines short and long term goals
And actionable steps to achieve these
Gain an insight into the market opportunity
Determines which resources you need
Proves the legitimacy of the business to potential stakeholders / suppliers / investors
The benefits of a business plan
The process of researching an writing a business plan is arguably more important than the final document.
It will point out the product and the teams weaknesses
help you anticipate and avoid problems.
In reality, a business plan is a working document.
It should be reviewed regularly as your business grows an changes.
Time should be spent each quarter comparing your plan to your current sales / financial situation.
This helps you, as an entrepreneur to stay focused and realistic.
Tip – websites such as www.entrepreneur.com offer guidance and resources for writing a business plan
Who reads a business plan
Who reads a business plan and what are they looking for?
INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
A firm’s employees (both management and rank-and-file employees)
Shareholders
Customers
Agencies (marketing & PR)
Freelance staff (designers)
Helps all employees operate consistently within the direction of the business
EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
Investors
Potential business partners
Suppliers
Banks
Accountants
Government grant awarding agencies
Potential employees
Idea generation and feasibility analysis
Figure 2: Three Sources of New Business Ideas
Figure 2 –Adapted from page 16, Chapter 1 of ‘Preparing effective Business Plans; An Entrepreneurial approach’, Barringer, Bruce.M (2009)
To create an effective business plan, the idea must:
Fill a need
Provide unique value to the customer
The most successful business ideas stem from one of 3 sources:
Environmental trends can be technological, economic, social etc. including lifestyle such as health and wellbeing, food trends, fashion trends, increased purchasing power of women, increased globalization, emphasis on sustainability and ethical fashion…
Unsolved problems: Every problem is a brilliantly disguised opportunity. Look for problems, the Marie Kondo decluttering movement, sports bras when working out, gardening clothes, scoliosis, Autism Matters jacket.
Gap in the marker place – niche clothing such as maternity wear, gender neutral, premature babies, plus size, petite or shorter men.
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Idea 1.
Changing Environmental Trends
Idea 2.
Unsolved Problems
Idea 3.
Gaps in the Market place
Task: Can you provide an example of a fashion business idea which is a result of: 1. Changing environmental factors 2. An unsolved problem 3. A gap in the market (or niche)?
Don’t jump straight in…
According to Bruce R. Barringer in is book ‘Preparing Effective Business Plans; An Entrepreneurial approach’, the work prior to starting to write a business plan is just as important:
‘Although the preparation of a business plan is essential, it is often an insufficient exercise through which to conduct a full and candid analysis of the merits of a new business idea.
Steps which logically precede the completion of a business plan, which include the preliminary screening of business ideas and feasibility analysis, are also important.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of identifying a business idea and then jumping directly to writing a business plan to describe and try to gain support for the idea.
This sequence often omits or provides little time for the important steps of critically investigating the merits of the idea before the business plan is written.’
Things to remember…
The business plan must:
Be realistic
An over confident business plan is more likely to be challenged
Overly optimistic projections undermine the business plan’s credibility
Clearly demonstrate the viability of the business
Show potential investors how they will get a R.O.I
Be written with empathy for the reader
Clear
Concise
Easy to understand the business
Include the results of a feasibility analysis, including market research and feedback from potential customers (within the appendix).
Feasibility Analysis
Figure 1 – The Comprehensive Feasibility Analysis / Business Planning Process
Adapted from page 16, Chapter 1 of ‘Preparing effective Business Plans; An Entrepreneurial approach’, Barringer, Bruce.M (2009)
Favourable results / proceed
Unfavourable results / stop or re-evaluate idea
Favourable results / proceed
Unfavourable results / stop or re-evaluate idea
Step 1:
Identify a Business Idea
Step 2:
Screen (or test) the idea to determine its preliminary feasibility
Step 3:
Conduct a full feasibility analysis
Step 4:
Prepare a written business plan
Step 5:
Present the business plan to investors and others (pitch deck)
Formative assessment Elevator pitch
Elevator pitch – Task for Week 17
By week 17 you should have some ideas as to your business idea or product idea.
You need to prepare an elevator pitch
This pitch will last no more than one minute
You should present your ideas to the class
If you have more than one idea, you can present your ideas to the class for feedback to help you choose one.
Please consider the following in your elevator pitch:
What – what is your product or business idea
Why – why would someone buy it or use it? What are the features and benefits
How – are you going to get this product to market?
Elevator pitch – Task for Week 17
Everybody will present an idea (ideas) in week 17
You should prepare a maximum of 2 slides
PowerPoint of PDF
You will need to share your screen and talk us through your idea
You will be required to feedback on other student’s ideas:
What you like about it / whether you would buy this product or use this service
What can be improved
Useful websites
www.entrepreneur.com offers information on Entrepreneurship including conducting a SWOT analysis
www.startafashionbusiness.co.uk offers tips and advice for starting and running a fashion business
www.score.org is a non-profit association whose members individually mentor aspiring entrepreneurs and small-business owners, offering training, workshops and resources.
www.fashion-enterprise.com is the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, which is London’s pioneering business incubator that supports and nurtures emerging fashion entrepreneurial talent
www.fashionentrepreneurreport.com for industry trends and reviews
Further Reading
‘Preparing Effective Business Plans’ by Bruce R. Barringer
‘Fashion and Textiles Business Entrepreneurship with Information Directory’ by Carol Brown
‘Entrepreneur’s Toolkit; Tools and Techniques to Launch and Grow a new Business’ by Rory Burke
‘Small Business Entrepreneur’ by Rory Burke
‘Consumer Behaviour in Fashion (2nd edition) by Michael R Solomon
‘Fashion Entrepreneur; Starting your own Business’ by Sandra Burke
‘Marketing Fashion (2nd edition), Strategy, Branding and Promotion’ by Harriet Posner
‘The Beermat Entrepreneur; Turn your good idea into a great business’ by Mike Southon & Chris West
‘Entrepreneurs – Talent, Temperament, Technique’ by WK Boulton & JL Thompson
‘Entrepreneurship’ by David Kirby
Industry publications such as Drapers Record, Business of Fashion etc.
‘Fashion Entrepreneurship: Retail Business Planning (2nd edition) by Michele M.Granger and Tina M. Sterling
‘Guide to Fashion Entrepreneurship; The Plan, the product, the process’ by Melissa G.Carr and Lisa Hopkins Newell
