Professional Business Plan for a New Staycation Business in the UK

The Assessment Task

You are required to produce a professional Business Plan for a new venture in the UK’s hospitality sector. Please use a template below and answer all the sections required.

Scenario:

Many UK nationals are expecting to holiday more in the UK in 2020, according to research by Cambridge and Counties Bank. The top reason for the UK’s staycation trend is a drop in the value of the pound caused by Brexit, which makes foreign holidays more expensive. Other reasons include: a rise in the underlying costs of overseas travel; barriers to international travel such as stricter visa requirements; tougher border controls because of Brexit.

Some ideas could include but not limited to:

·Spartan holidays

·Yoga/mindfulness retreats

·Forest micro hotels

·Tiny holiday home rentals.

Task:

Write a professional Business Plan for the new staycation business in the UK, answering all the section. Please include a short Executive summary and the table of content.

1. YOUR BUSINESS IDEA

What will your business do and what is the opportunity?

Describe, in detail, the products and/or services your business will be selling, what channels you will use to sell them and who you will sell them to.

What does your brand stand for?

What is the business philosophy and values?

Include any pictures, drawings, or links that help bring this to life.

2. YOU AND WHY YOU’RE STARTING

Tell us about yourself, where the idea came from, and how your knowledge and experience will help to make the business a success.

3. MARKET RESEARCH

3.1 The Big Picture

Describe the wider market you are planning to operate in and identify where your company will sit in this landscape, as well as any key statistics or trends to support why you have chosen this area of the market. Include evidence of demand and as many details as possible to support your choice of new venture.

3.2 Competitors

Analyse your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.

Competitor 1:

·Name & Type of Competitor

·What will you be competing on

·Strengths of Competitor

·Weaknesses of Competitor

·Summary of How you will compete with them

Competitor 2:

·Name & Type of Competitor

·What will you be competing on

·Strengths of Competitor

·Weaknesses of Competitor

·Summary of How you will compete with them

Include information on 3-5 competitors.

4. CUSTOMER RESEARCH

Include information on test trading, direct research and evidence of demand etc.

Scenario

5. MARKETING

5.1 Customer Profile

·Description of Customer

·Why are they your Customer

·Channels you will use to market to them

·Activities within channel and related costs

5.2 Route to Market

5.3.  Launch Marketing & Growth Strategies

6. OPERATIONS

6.1 Premises

6.2 Staff (Job title; hours per month/week or FT; Cost; Month Start (1 – 12))

6.3 Suppliers and Third Parties

6.4 Risks

6.6 Legal and Regulatory

7. FINANCES

7.1. Capital requirements and funding options

7.1. Financials (Sales forecast, P&L, Cash flow, Balance sheet, Breakeven analysis)

8. RISKS AND MITIGATION

8.1. Strategic, Financial, Operational, Reputational, Compliance etc.

9. GROWTH STRATEGY

NB: Appendices included in your assignment submission should include: a list of references using Harvard referencing style, spreadsheets with financial data (P&L statement etc.) and any other additional information (e.g. applications of models, stats & graphs etc). 10% of overall mark is given to professionalism (use of sources & references, content clarity, use of supporting evidence). You can include up to 5 pages of supporting evidence in Appendices.

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes that are being assessed in this assessment are b, d, e:

b.Demonstrate the capacity for original thinking through the identification and evaluation of an unexploited market opportunity.

d.Communicate effectively with specialist and non-specialist audiences, using evidence-based approaches and selecting appropriate tools and strategies to convey meaning and purpose.

e.Build on a recognised opportunity to systematically evaluate the selected industry and produce a viable business plan.

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in the way relevant for this assessment. Please see the grading rubric at the end of this assessment brief for further details of the criteria against which you will be assessed.

Word Limits

The maximum word limit for this assessment is 2600 words (excluding appendices)

In accordance with the Assessment and Feedback Policy, as stated in section 4.40 where a submission exceeds the stipulated word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only be marked up to and including the additional 10%. Anything over this will not be included in the final grade for the assessment item. Abstracts, bibliographies, reference lists, appendices and footnotes are excluded from any word limit requirements.

In line with section 4.41 of the same Policy, where a submission is notably under the word limit, the full submission will be marked on the extent to which the learning objectives have been met.

Task

Assessment Support

Assessment support is provided through online sessions and face-to-face. Formative feedback on Feasibility study (formative assessment) will provide a basis for refinement of the business idea and further improvement.

Generic Grading Criteria

You will find the generic grading criteria for achievement at University Grading Criteria.  Also explained here are the meanings of the various G grades at the bottom of the grading scale.

Assessment Submission

To submit your work, please go to the ‘Submit your work’ area on the NILE site and use the relevant submission point to upload your report. The deadline for this is 11.59pm (UK local time) on the date of submission.

Written work submitted to TURNITIN will be subject to anti-plagiarism detection software.  Turnitin checks student work for possible textual matches against internet available resources and its own proprietary database.

When you upload your work correctly to TURNITIN you will receive a receipt which is your record and proof of submission.

If your assessment is not submitted to TURNITIN rather than a receipt you will see a green banner at the top of the screen that denotes successful submission.

N.B Work emailed directly to your tutor will not be marked. The only exception to this is when you are instructed to do so because TURNITIN is down.

Late submission of work

For first sits, if an item of assessment is submitted late and an extension has not been granted, the following will apply:

·Within one week of the original deadline – work will be marked and returned with full feedback and awarded a maximum bare pass grade.

·More than one week from original deadline – maximum grade achievable LG (L indicating late).

Extensions

The University of Northampton’s general policy with regard to extensions is to be supportive of students who have genuine difficulties, but not against pressures of work that could have reasonably been anticipated.

For full details please refer to the Extensions Policy.  The module leader can, where appropriate, authorise a short extension of up to two weeks from the original submission date for first sits only.

Mitigating Circumstances

For guidance on Mitigating circumstances please go to Mitigating Circumstances  where you will find detailed guidance on the policy as well as guidance and the form for making an application.

Please note, however, that an application to defer an assessment on the grounds of mitigating circumstances should normally be made in advance of the submission deadline or examination date.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity

Unless this is a group assessment, the work you produce must be your own with work taken from any other source properly referenced and attributed. The University of Northampton policy will apply in all cases of copying, plagiarism or any other methods by which students have obtained (or attempted to obtain) an unfair advantage.

If you are in any doubt about what constitutes plagiarism or any other infringement of academic integrity, please read the University’s Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy. For help with understanding academic integrity go to UNPAC  and follow the Top Tips for Good Academic Practice on the student hub.

Please note that the penalties for copying work from another source without proper referencing are severe and can include failing the assessment, failing the module and expulsion from the university