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Introduction
A business proposal is a document which explains a product or service considering the potential consumer’s needs and wants. It shows how the product/service will be of value to the customer and help to solve a specific problem. The aim of a business proposal is to attract potential clients to what an organisation/company is offering / selling.
Business Proposal
The business proposal technique is also known as entrepreneurship pitch, startup project, business plan presentation and innovation challenge.
Description
What is this technique/tool about?
This tool will provide an opportunity for individuals or groups of students to actively engage in the development of a business proposal / plan. This will give students a deeper and knowledge and understanding of the process involved for an entrepreneur and will also increase students’ likelihood of success as an entrepreneur into the future.
This tool will provide a step-by-step approach to developing a business proposal/plan and what elements need to be taken into consideration before preparing a plan.
For which purposes is it used
The purpose of preparing a business proposal is for students to:
- Gain an understanding of the steps involved in the process.
- Appreciate the importance of having a research driven proposal for a product/service backed up with statistical data and feedback.
- Understand that having a comprehensive business proposal is a key requirement for potential investors.
- Know that an in-depth business plan will be required when submitting a loan application.
- Recognise the importance of planning ahead and considering challenges and unexpected problems.
- Develop high-quality business writing skills.
Limitations
While this tool will support the development of key skills and competencies and go towards developing problem-solving and decision-making, it also has some limitations.
These include:
- Oversimplification: Working through a plan/steps/framework can sometimes over-simplify a more complex process which requires in-depth search.
- Lack of context: Developing a business plan on a product/service out of context can be challenging.
- Limited scope: The draft business play may only address the issues that are provided to or researched by students and other important information might be overlooked.
- Time Consuming: The process of developing a comprehensive business plan takes time and time will be limited to a number of classes for this project.
How to implement these technique/tools
Preparation, before the session:
- As a teacher, you should have a basic understanding of how business planning works. Familiarise yourself with its template (Appendix A) and its possibilities.
During the session:
- Discuss why a business should consider and prepare a plan for a product or service.
- Identify the key elements of a business plan – ask the students to use the template provided (Appendix A).
- Discuss the purpose of a mission statement - ask the students to research and write a mission statement for your business. Tell them to consider how to make the plan a SMART plan (with targets that are Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timebound).
- Details of the business – ask the students to list name and location of the business, type of business (sole trader or company), details of the owners – director(s) and employee(s).
- Unique selling points of the product or service being offered by the business - ask the students to provide a detailed description.
- Market research – ask the students to conduct a brief market research e.g. identification of need, detail of a gap in the market, detail of the target market, list of main competitors, marketing strategies, costs involved in production and promotion, detail of a sales plan.
- Finances information that might have for funding the business in the short-term and long-term - ask the students to provide any information they might have.
- Ask students to review the business plan and edit where necessary.
Follow-up after the session:
- Reflect on key learning from this activity and list this learning in a learning log.
Research tools – research articles, newspapers, online tools…
Meeting tools: Zoom, Teams, Meet…
Classroom resources – paper, pens, flipchart, markers….
Exemplars of business plans
Sample business plan templates
Use of online tools e.g. liveplan.com
Resources
Links:
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