Business Plan Assignment
Produce a business plan for a hypothetical business you might like to establish. This should be a small
business in scale and should be of your own design. While your business may be similar to other
established businesses it must not be a franchise. For purposes of this assignment the business should
also be a physical one and not purely online.
Your business plan should contain each of the following sections. For an example plan see Chapter 16 of
the textbook “Small Business Management in the 21st Century”.
Part One: Introduction
A: Executive Summary: Create a one page summary for your plan. Appears first but is done last. This is a
very important part of your plan and should include details about marketing, finance and operations.
B: Business Philosophy / Mission Statement: Outline the philosophy of your business and its mission.
C: Product/Service Description: Describe the products and/or services you will be providing. Outline the
customer benefits and why your chosen product/services will be successful. You must also include retail
prices in this section and estimate how many units you will sell for each product on a monthly basis.
D: Self Analysis: Explain why you are a good candidate for starting up your business. Ideas to ponder:
reliability, creativity, teamwork skills, education, list special talents such as computer skills etc
Part Two: Marketing Research
E: Conduct Secondary Research in the following areas:
1) Geographic Data: Population description that tells how many people live in a certain area.
2) Demographic Data: Statistics such as age, gender, income and marital status, family size.
You will want to include the data that will have a direct impact on your business.
F: Primary Research: Explain what methods of marketing research you will be relying on such as surveys,
focus groups or both. Include a copy of your draft marketing research survey questions.
G: Competition: As a new business owner, you must analyse your competition.
1) Direct Competitors: Businesses selling similar products and services
2) Indirect Competitors: Businesses selling different products while fighting for a customer’s
disposable income.
State why/how you will do a better job than your competitors.
H: Market Segment Analysis – Target Customer: Using the secondary data collected previously, help the
reader understand exactly who your target customer is and why this customer would want to purchase
your product/service.
I: Analysis of Potential Location: Please include the following information in narrative form.
1) The location of the business (this may be a town or small city or a neighbourhood/area of a
larger city)
2) Will you rent or buy the property?
3) Are you in a mall, free standing building, home garage etc?
4) What will your hours of operation be?
5) What do the parking facilities for staff and customers look like?
6) What access to mass transit do staff and customers have?
7) Is the area safe?
8) Will you be near one or more complimentary businesses?
Part 3: Organisation and Personnel Plan
J: Ownership Choices: What type of ownership (Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporations etc) have
you selected? Why have you selected this option?
H: Personnel Needs: State who will do what and who will report to whom. Create a simple
organizational charge that will show working relationships.
J: Hiring Strategy: How will you recruit staff members? What salary and conditions do you need to
provide to attract qualified staff?
Part 4: Marketing Plan
K: Proposed Product or Service Plan: Describe your business and your products in detail.
L: Proposed Pricing Policy: Describe your pricing policy
1) Proposed markup to cover costs?
2) Relationship to competitors: below, above, the same
3) Will you do any introductory discounting to attract customers?
4) Are you going to drive profits through volume or are you going for a prestige appeal?
M: Proposed Promotional Plan:
1) Personal promotion: Who will be doing the personal selling?
2) Non-personal promotion: Overall advertising strategy and short term promotional events to
create enthusiasm.
N: Place:
1. Describe your location in detail: What will it look like?
2. Distribution Plan: How will you get your product into your customer’s hands? Will you make and
sell your products on site (direct distribution) or will you include other intermediaries such as
manufacturers or producers (indirect distribution).
Part 5: Financial Plan
O: Income Statement: Produce an income statement based on the projected sales volumes and margins
you have identified in earlier sections. This should include:
1. Gross Revenue less returns/refunds
2. Cost of goods sold
3. Operating expenses (such as rent/mortgage, utilities, taxes, insurance, salaries, advertising &
promotion)
Marking
Each item B-O is work 3 points while section A (Executive summary) is worth 8 points. Points are
allocated as follows:
Section A
• 0 Points – omitted or incorrect
• 1 point – partial response
• 4 points – complete response that adequately covers all requirements
• 8 points – excellent rich response that covers all requirements in depth
Section B-O
• 0 Points – omitted or incorrect
• 1 point – partial response
• 2 points – complete response that adequately covers all requirements
• 3 points – excellent rich response that covers all requirements in depth
Business Plan Assignment
Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center.
Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.
Assignment 1: To Build or Buy
Due Week 4 and worth 240 points
Select a small business that you visit often (e.g., coffee shop, bookstore, sporting goods store, etc.). Write a 6-8 page paper in which you:
- Craft a brief (1-2 pages) strategy for a business concept that would directly compete with the small business you selected. Explain the rationale for the strategy in detail.
- Determine if it would make more sense to open the new business you describe or to purchase the existing business you selected. Explain your reasoning.
- Discuss the most appropriate form of ownership for your new business (assuming your current financial situation).
- Outline a business plan for your business. Visit http://www.sba.gov for tools and templates.
- Include at least two (2) references outside the textbook.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
- Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Analyze the nature of entrepreneurship, business ethics, and social responsibility in managing a successful small business.
- Analyze a business strategy and supporting business plan for a small business concept
- Describe and analyze the necessary activities and key decisions to start a small business.
- Use technology and information resources to research issues in small business management.
- Write clearly and concisely about small business management using proper writing mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills.
Click here to view the grading rubric.