Project Description

For Project 4, which is inextricably linked to Projects 1, 2, and 3, you will be asked to research, draft, design, and polish a comprehensive Business Plan for your Project Manager's business idea. This project will be a collaborative effort with your entrepreneur teams, as formulated through projects 1, 2, and 3. This project will give you the opportunity to work both independently and collaboratively, situations you are bound to encounter in your future entrepreneurial exploits. Further, it allows you to gain, foster, and refine several necessary skills of any entrepreneur or business owner: research, data/information selection, critical thinking, writing, designing, etc.; what you are sure to gain from this project is virtually limitless (or, it could be).

Project Goals

Writing in Context

• writing for a range of defined audiences and stakeholders;
• negotiating the ethical dimensions of workplace and/or business communication;
• representing one's business goals and innovative ideas persuasively, in written and oral forms.

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing the important and necessary documents of entrepreneurship, including business plans, marketing materials, white papers, resumes, trademark applications, and grant proposals, both individually and collaboratively
• Select and use appropriate technologies that both effectively and ethically address professional situations and audiences.
• Build professional ethos through documentation and accountability.

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about workplace documents commonly used by entrepreneurs, including

• understanding and adapting to genre conventions and audience expectations;

understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout;

• interpreting and arguing with design;
• drafting, researching, testing, and revising visual designs and information architecture.

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork and collaboration, such as

• working online with colleagues;
• determining individual and group roles and responsibilities;
• managing team conflicts constructively;
• responding constructively to peers' work
• soliciting and using peer feedback effectively;
• achieving team and business goals.

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including

• analyzing professional contexts;
• locating, evaluating, and using print and online information selectively for particular audiences and purposes;
• triangulating sources of evidence;
• selecting appropriate primary research methods, such as interviews, observations, focus groups, and surveys to collect data;
• working ethically with research participants.

Technology
Use and evaluate the writing technologies frequently used in the workplace and for entrepreneurship, such as emailing, instant messaging, image editing, video editing, presentation design and delivery, HTML editing, Web browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Deliverables

In line with the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation's Business Plan Competition, the following parameters are suggested (obviously, the choices are ultimately up to you, the entrepreneur) for the Comprehensive Business Plan.  Ultimately, there are two deliverables for this project:1) the comprehensive business plan and 2) the group meeting minutes.

Basic Guidelines

• Business plan should be no longer than 15 pages, not including the appendices (typically, the financials, etc.)

It should also include

• an executive summary
• technical discussions, and financial information including additional research and development monies
• an appendix of no longer than 15 pages, which includes research results, technical drawings, or other appropriate materials
• In Sum, the business plan and appendix cannot be longer than 30 pages

Burton D. Morgan Suggested Format

• Executive Summary (2 page maximum)
• Your technology or concept
• The target market and size
• The target customers
• Your competitive advantage
• Barriers to entry of competitors
• Estimated technical challenges to overcome
• Estimated time to commercialization/profitability
• Three years of estimated revenues and net income
• Estimate future funding requirements

Business Overview

• Company description and business model
• Value proposition- financial
• Value proposition- technical
• Vision Current status
• Current or committed funding and all funding sources

The Market Opportunity

• Why is this such a great idea? Define the problem.
• Competitive analysis (how the problem is not being solved by competitors)

Market Solution

• Product or service
• Description of a working model or prototype, if appropriate
• How you this fulfill the market opportunity?
• Ability to create barriers to entry

The Market

• Identification of customer(s)
• Market size, analysis and forecast
• Industry analysis and forecast including competing products or companies

Management Team

• Founders and key management
• Industry experience, education
• Board of advisors (Critical-- it can augment team experience if needed)

Technical Analysis

• Outline the technical steps necessary for commercialization: What is the length of time?
• Is commercialization dependent on outside contingencies?
• What types of regulatory approval processes must be navigated?
• What are the risks of failure?

Financial Analysis Outline

• Overall financial model with detailed projections through year 3 including pro forma cash flow and budget analysis
• Other analysis, as appropriate (i.e. break even analysis)
• Discuss assumptions and capital requirements
• Future funding requests

Meeting Minutes

These must be taken during/after each group meeting and will include

• Date and location of meeting
• Names of all present
• A brief summary of the meeting's business
• Decisions rendered, actions assigned, etc.
• All minutes will be posted to the Team Forum

Grading for Project 4

• 55% - Content
• 25% - Aesthetics
• 20% - Execution