ENSC201 Team Project: Business Plan
ENSC201 Team Project: Business PlanStudents are required to organize themselves into teams. Your team should comprise members who do not know each other well. It is a good exercise to learn to work in a new team with unfamiliar people. (*see special instructions for Business Plan Competition). The ideal team size is 5 students. Additional guidance on team sizes, composition and formation will be given in class.
The team project assignments are intended to encourage team work in tackling a business challenge: i.e. planning and bringing a product to market. The team project assignments need not be submitted weekly except for the first assignment (see schedule). This assignment should be submitted in hard copy in person. Please use a proper business style when submitting. The other assignments should be accumulated. From time to time, you may wish to modify earlier assignments in light of new knowledge learned as the course proceeds. At the end of the course, the assignments should all be submitted together as one comprehensive document, coherently organized like sections in a business plan (not just a collection of answers to the weekly questions).
Do not - I repeat - do not divide up the assignments by having Jack do #2, Jill do #3, etc. Instead, work together on them. All sections should tie together. If you don't do them as a TEAM, it'll show and will, unfortunately, count heavily against you. Similarly don't take a section like the 4P's of marketing and have each member write up one of the P's. Do them together. Your final project presentation should be written as a team with one or two members taking on the job of editor(s) to ensure that there is a fluid style and consistency.
Since the weekly group assignments are not due until the specified date, you will need to impose on yourselves a certain degree of discipline so that you actually work on these as scheduled. If you do not do this, you may regret it later - because you will run out of time towards the end of the course to make updates and adjustments. Besides, you don't need the extra stress! Furthermore, the instructor and the T.A. are available to you as advisors and to encourage a discipline of keeping your work current, they will only answer questions on relatively current assignments. There may be random audits and quizzes as well to keep people on their toes.
PRODUCT CRITERIA:
Create or adopt a simple high-tech product.
It should be a "real" product which has a clearly identifiable market (i.e. user/buyer) and which has some unique (better than something already available) features. Perhaps a student project could be used for this. Electronic or mechanical gadgets serve this purpose well. Applications software would also be acceptable. You are not required to do any technical development or prototyping. You do NOT have to demonstrate your product. However, it must be technically feasible with current, existing technology. Avoid futuristic or complex devices or gadgets.
Definitions: A "technology" is the "know-how" that is needed to create and make a product whereas "product" is the physical device that you are producing and selling. Your product may use existing products (cellphones, laptops, gadgets) and components (chips, modules, etc).
GRADING:
The team project will count for 40% of your final mark. This grade will be consist of the team component (30%) and the individual component (10%). The individual part is essentially a modifier to the team part - to take into account above or below average individual contributions. This will be determined using a confidential peer review form and questionnaire. (See below for grading criteria).
These are the dates that you should be starting on these assignments (intended to help you pace yourselves). You should plan to complete them within two to three weeks. However, it is likely that you will be making revisions to these right up until the due date. The lectures will not always be exactly synchronized with these assignments. Please refer to "Business Basics" for additional reference material.
Dates:
Sep 5: DUE: Sept 12: Form Groups (5 people per group) and create a product. Prepare and submit a preliminary product datasheet (i.e. brochure). Include a cover memo with this in which you also communicate the team's name and all team members. You may refine your product (or team) or choose a new one up until Sep 19th (subject to approval). Please bring a hard copy of this to class. Also, email a soft copy to each instructor and each TA. Your product must be approved before you can proceed with it.
Sep 12: Start working on your market strategy (i.e. define the 4P's) - i.e. how you will distribute, price, and promote your product. Who are your target customers? Who are your competitors and how are you going to compete against them? What's the business opportunity (market & potential)? This is the toughest section of a business plan!
Sep 19: Define your business "structure" (i.e. unincorporated vs incorporated, subsidiary or department) and explain the rational behind the choice. Choose an appropriate name for the business. Who are the owners of the business?
Sep 26: Produce a 5 year financial forecast (plan) for your product. The first two years should be done on a monthly basis. Start with a sales forecast showing unit sales and revenues. Then estimate your monthly costs (fixed and variable). Estimate your start-up costs.
Oct 3: Produce a monthly cash flow forecast for at least the first two years. Now calculate your start-up costs.
Oct 10: Produce pro-forma financial statements (Bal sheets, P&L, Cash flow).
Oct 17: How will you finance this business?
Oct 24: Define the organization and structure (operations) of your company. Define the management roles and responsibilities. Who will do what to achieve the plan's objectives?
Oct 31:: What are the risk factors on your business? What is your intellectual property and how do you plan to protect it?
Nov 14: Submit your Business Plan in both HARD and SOFT COPY Formats BEFORE 2:45 PM SHARP ON NOV 14th. (e.g. PDF, WORD, POWERPOINT are all acceptable). If not 100% complete, submit "as-is". There are absolutely no time extensions allowed. Any team projects submitted after the due date and time will NOT be accepted - no matter what the reason. Please bring the hard copies to class. Please submit the soft copies on-line at WebCT (only one person from each team should submit online).
Your business plan should address all of the above-referenced items. For more suggestions, please refer to the article, "The Business Plan". Remember, though, that many styles and variations are possible. The content, and the effective communication of that content, is what counts. See also the Canadian Interactive Business Planner.
Regarding size, your business plan will likely number between 20 - 30 pages PLUS appendices (financial projections, datasheet).
Creative presentations (e.g. web-sites, CDROMs, videos, etc) are welcomed in addition to the required hard copy material.
Please submit in a hard-copy format on the due date to the TAs (BEFORE 2:45pm)
The emphasis in grading these business plans is on completeness and process - not on the actual merits of your product concept. We want to make sure that students understand what needs to be in a business plan and that it is thorough and complete.
The following grading plan will be used:
Overall (20%)
General presentation - organization of topics, logical flow, grammar, style, structure
(10%)
Executive Summary - should summarize the highlights (including key information and
numbers) from each major section of the business plan and include the mission, vision, and
"elevator pitch" (10%)
Management & Organization (10%)
Description of management, directors and officers - roles and responsibilities,
compensation (salary, shares, stock options), etc.
Discussion on business "structure" (i.e. unincorporated vs incorporated,
subsidiary or department).
Choice of name for the business.
Who are the shareholders?
Organization chart and operations of the company (how is production handled?).
Marketing (30%)
The "Four P's" of marketing - include product description (datasheet or
brochure should be included, e.g. in appendix), details on distribution (who are the
customers), pricing (rationale for pricing), promotion plan and strategy (include budget
for advertising).
Who are the target customers?
Who are your competitors and how are you going to compete against them?
What's the business opportunity (market & potential)?
This section should also demonstrate that some research was done in order to formulate a
meaningful market strategy.
Finance (30%)
This section should summarize and discuss the financial projections.
Include 5 years (your choice) of summary projections and balance sheets.
(NB - generally, detailed spreadsheets are included in an appendix as opposed to including
in the main section)
How much capital is required?
What are the sources (and uses) of capital?
What assumptions have been made?
What's the capital structure?
Risk Factors (10%)
Identification and discussion of all risk factors (and how mitigated?)
What is the intellectual property and how is it protected?