Creating a Comprehensive Business Plan

· Coursework 2 requires you to write a full business plan based on the business idea you proposed for CW1.

The following must be included in your business plan:

· Your Proposed Future Business. – What is the product/service (i.e. provide a clear description)? What does it do? What innovations does your idea bring to the market? Appropriate intellectual property rights (IPR) in order to protect your business idea/enterprise, if applicable (10 %)

· Customers – identify your target customers. B2B or B2C? Who are the end-users? Who will buy your product/service?  What is the USP of product/service? What customer needs does the product/service meet? The underpinning research for the target market and an evaluation of the businesses’ position in the market (10%)

· Competitors – who are your competitors for the product/service? What market share do your competitors have? Why might your customers buy your product/service rather than that of the competitors? (15 %)

· Skills analysis – what skills do you have for developing and taking your business idea forward? What skills do you need?  How will you address any skills gaps that you might have? (10%)

· Projected 2 year profit and loss account and proposed 2 years cash flow forecasts including break even (15%)

· Finding, evaluating and selecting suitable sources of funding to grow the business opportunity (10%)

· Your plans for obtaining your resources, both tangible and intangible between now and either 1-2 year ahead.  This should include a breakdown of your start-up costs.  (10%)

· The type of organisation and the management information systems required to effectively control the business  (10%)

· Vision for your Business Idea – what future does your business have? (5%) 

The remaining 5% will go into assignment parameters such as structure, synthesis, references etc.