Developing an Advanced Business Development Plan

1. Knowledge outcome- You will be able to develop in-depth Understanding of the entrepreneurial process of finding valuable Opportunities and developing a business to pursue them.
2. Intellectual / Transferable skills outcome- You will be able to develop an advanced business development plan which demonstrates creativity, independent thinking and use of leading Scholarly literature.
You will be able to present your ideas in business level presentation

Instructions for assessment 
Parts A and B are compulsory and linked e.g. the material in Part A is carried forward into Part B modified using expert feedback and further learning. Feedback given in Part A and the response (i.e. follow-up) must be included in the summative. 
The marking Scheme (100%) is the same for both Parts A and B.  
High marks will be awarded to new, creative and innovative solutions that are clearly profitable and supported by details and evidence (research) that aim to attract finance: investment and/or loans. 
The main Value Creation e.g. Value Proposition Canvas and the Value Capture e.g. Business Model Canvas parts and other elements of the taught syllabus (which includes the readings) should be correctly understood and applied.  A superficial understanding (i.e. not at QAA level 6) will not pass. 
The syllabus contains many techniques to find and access new/innovative business opportunities that would be attractive to investors. 
Opportunities must be a) feasible (not based on fanciful ideas and assumptions) and b) financial viable i.e. clearly profitable based on evidence and c) have the potential in future to scale. 
Opportunities can a) be completely new or b) a re-engineered or re-imagined version of an existing business.   
Student must specify which techniques from the syllabus they used to develop the opportunity.  
Opportunities used in previous modules are not acceptable, opportunities that are copies, clones or close variants of existing opportunities are also not allowed.  
Students can create new value by a) discovering new ends e.g. unmet needs and/or b) applying new means yo solve existing needs e.g. i) Block-chain, ii) Artificial intelligence iii) Carbon neutral iv) Circular no environmental economy v) Social inclusion and equality. 
The emphasis in your work must be on: a) how you found the opportunity b) the novelty, uniqueness, creativity of the opportunity b) the financial profitability of the opportunity, c) evidence gathered using academic research methods, d) the realism and feasibility of the business development (value capture) plan. The value capture plan must be of a quality to gain the finance needed to bring the opportunity to reality.    
Students are advised to use diagrams (e.g. VPC, MVP, BMC and other models), tables and spreadsheets to support their plan (it also saves on word count). 
Do not cut and paste from lecture notes and websites etc., it doesn’t demonstrate understanding. All references will be checked during the marking process and should be from the taught syllabus readings or closely related sources.  
Marking Criteria  1. Creative application of accurately referenced academic principles, theories and ideas and from the module syllabus. (30%)  
Students must demonstrate engagement and study of the content of the taught syllabus and its core texts (Ries, Osterwalder and Pigneur, and readings e.g. Blank, etc. and other learning materials at a detailed level. The concepts used in this module are not self-explanatory and referenced definitions are expected at university level 6.  
Use of primary and secondary data to support your decisions (30%) 
You must engage with customers, suppliers and other partners using the VPC and MVP. Your decisions must be supported by primary and/or secondary data e.g. marketing research. Many students lose marks here by not providing evidence to support their plan.  The university provides access to several up to date professional secondary market research databases e.g. Mintel, Market Line, etc.   
Critical entrepreneurial/business evaluation (30%) 
Use of feedback and expert opinion. You must reflect upon (think about) and assess your choices e.g. different options and their strengths and weaknesses in terms of robust entrepreneurial judgement/business acumen. Show evidence of working with and sharing information with other C levels in your group as a C-level team, using experts, and tools e.g. Simventure (You can request a free evaluation license at: 
https://simventure.com/free-trial-software/) 
Logical structure, clear use of English (visual, spoken, written), font, referencing, and use of word limit.  (10%)   
Communication skills in English are a key learning outcome.  Reference your secondary data sources carefully not just ‘cut and pasted’ browser web links. Academic references will be checked and those not clearly from or connected to the taught syllabus, or are of low quality e.g. (tutor2u) will lose marks. 
See the assessment rubric at the end of this briefing for specific details of how to achieve a mark in your target grade banding e.g. a 1:1 (a 
First)