How Mrs Mop Can Access Government Funding After Surviving Covid-19

Background of Mrs Mop and its entrepreneurial beginnings

This is the second of two assessments on this module, and it weighs 60% of the total grade.

 

Read Aisha Mahmood and her mother’s business story below, and finish the task as their business consultant:

MRS MOP

 

Aisha’s family migrated to Huddersfield, UK from Pakistan in 2018. Her mother Memona is very entrepreneurial and used to own a market stall in Karachi, also dreamed of having a business in the UK. 

Aisha, inspired by this and being entrepreneurial herself, decided to partner with her mum to start a cleaning business after she turned 19. They planned and launched the cleaning business MRS MOP in February 2020. Unfortunately, the business took a big hit during Covid-19 pandemic which significantly impacted the financial, and operational landscape of their business.

In response to this, MRS MOP made some strategic decisions to reduce the impact of the global health challenge. They leveraged on small business networks to gain access to scarce resources because of panic buying (i.e., cleaning products). They also recognised the pandemic as a social problem that they may contribute to solving, by modelling their business to satisfying the health and safety concerns of their customers.

Luckily, the business survived the crisis attached to the Covid 19 pandemic till date. This is largely because of the perseverance shown by both Aisha and her mum, in adapting their strategies to the challenges posed by the pandemic. 

Following government’s uplifting of lockdown restrictions, the Kirklees Council decided to offer £5000 funding to support small businesses in re-establishing themselves within the area. This funding aims to support small businesses mainly hit by the Covid crisis, offering a pathway for their continued survival.

For businesses to access this government funding, they are required to submit a comprehensive and well-structured report on their business. It is expected that this report contains a detailed business plan, the company’s business model and its plans to contribute towards positive social and environmental impact.

MRS MOP has approached you as a small business consultant in their bid to seek this government funding. 

Instructions:

Prepare a 1500-word funding bid for Mrs Mop to access the £5000 Council funding.  In your bid, you must:

1. Systematically outline the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on Mrs MOP’s business and its business environment. 

2. Provide a detailed business model for Mrs MOP in the post-Covid 19 era (taking into consideration of the impact before, during and after the pandemic). You must consider using the Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas, framework or other models. 

3. Outline how Mrs MOP may deploy the £5000 to grow its business in the next 3 years (i.e., a 3-year business model plan). You must consider using the Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas template.

4. Discuss how Mrs MOP as a small Huddersfield Business will contribute towards sustainability related issues (environmental, social, and economic aspects).

 

All claims you make should be supported by strong argumentation and your discussions must draw on academic literature and theory covered in the module. You may also engage in wider reading by drawing on news articles and relevant journal papers.

Learning Outcomes

This section is for information only.

 

The assessment task outlined above has been designed to address specific validated learning outcomes for this module. It is useful to keep in mind that these are the things you need to show in this piece of work.

 

On completion of this module, students will need to demonstrate:

 

Please note these learning outcomes are not additional questions. 

 

1. Demonstrate critical awareness of the impact of different contexts in which business start-up and small enterprise operates.

2. Understand creativity and venture creation as a process, at a micro-level

3. Analyse the contribution of the entrepreneur in new venture creation

4. Critically evaluate the prospects of new ventures and small enterprises in terms of economic, social and environmental impact.

5. Utilise relevant theory in order to simulate and evaluate opportunity spotting and new venture creation

6. Present ideas for new venture creation

7. Generate and modify a business model to inform new venture creation