Feb 26/29 Activities:
CMO task: In your Business Plan document, create a marketing plan using the 4Ps. Be detailed and consider how what you’re writing fits with and favours your business. See example below (and also Google other examples: there are many ways to show the 4Ps! (there shouldn’t be an apostrophe between P and s 🙂 This also does not necessarily have to be shown in a table or graph. You could use paragraph form, or for extra creativity, an infographic (Google search Piktochart).
Example:
CEO and/or COO task: Answer the following questions in your Business Plan document. Explain the methodology in which the market research survey is being conducted, including the following:
- Create “Survey Appendix” heading in Business Plan.
- Where / when / to whom / how did you ask the questions? Discuss any challenges you faced and also ways to improve.
- How many people did you ask? How many people responded? (write an estimate for now, which can be updated if you’re still surveying).
- How many people did not respond? Why not? What incentives did you give to get responses?
- How well does the sample survey represent your target market? Justify your claim and be detailed. Include references to our previous classes and/or google searches on the subject (surprise the judges with your knowledge!).
- Reflection: Discuss at least two things you would change to improve your survey questions.
- Include the Survey Questions from the market research in your Business Plan.
CFO and /or CTO task: Prepare the Survey Results with graphs and /or tables. (use Google sheets for this – I will give a short tutorial on using Sheets. These need to be informative (useful), colourful, and organized. Keep in mind your audience will be the Warriors’ Den judges: surprise them with your uniqueness!
Write (in your Business Plan Doc) about any other supporting evidence that show your business idea is ready to be executed (e.g. advertising posters, written permission from teacher/admin to run special event, sample handcrafts, etc.).
Feb 24 / 25 Activities:
CMO task: SWOT Chart
As a marketer, you need to be honest about what your business is good at and what things are going to impact it. This will influence your marketing and promotion strategy. Collaborate with other CMOs if you need help!
Create a SWOT chart. Create it in Google Drawing or Docs. Please add some colours and visual appeal. **Why not check on Google if there is a pre-made SWOT template you can use.
Step 1: start with the strengths (see ideas below). Then weaknessees.
Step 2: Work on opportunities and threats: these are external things which influence your business idea, in good or bad ways.
CEO and COO (or CTO) task: Competitor Analysis Grid.
As CEO, you are Mr or Mrs Strategy, and this means you need to know all about your competitors. Reflect on the mantra “Know your enemy”. As COO, you need to ensure your business runs smoothly, which means monitoring what the competition does better than you (or worse). Collaborate with other CEOs/ COOs if you need help!
Step 1: think of at least 2 competitors. (Ideally 3 competitors to get a high mark in this section of the Business Plan). For example, if my business revolves around making greeting cards for students, then I would likely search in Google for ” greeting cards Vancouver” and see what comes up. Are my competitors Hallmark and Carlton Cards? No. You want equivalent competitors. (my direct competitors will be boutique and locally-made card companies).
Step 2: In Google Sheets or Docs, create a table with enough columns for your business and competitors, plus the categories (eg, if you have 3 competitors, then create a table with 3 + 1 + 1 columns).
Step 3: Enter the competitor names and your business name in right side columns. Then add the rows listed below to the bottom of your table and fill in the blanks.
Step 4: If you want really high marks for this part of your business plan: create up to two categories on your own: the categories should be related to an aspect of your business’s competitiveness (the sillier and more creative the better 🙂
Categories which your business competes against competitors:
| Product Selection |
| Price |
| Quality |
| Location |
| Hours of Operations |
| Advertising |
| Target Market |
| Competitive Advantage |
CFO task: Finances
You live and breathe numbers and money: the CFO needs to ensure that all the business strategies make sense financially – ‘cos if they don’t, you’re hooped! In other words, can you turn a profit? If not, when will you turn a profit? (some businesses are unprofitable for many years, if they anticipate future big sales). Collaborate with other CFOs if you need help!
You’re going to work on the Financial Budget and Projections. Don’t be scared: it’s not as bad as it sounds! The budget breaks down your expenses and explains how the up to $100 loan will be used (e.g. capital, rent, inventory, wages, marketing costs, etc.). The projections are estimated earnings based on your market research survey (if you don’t have these results yet, just make an educated guess and update the numbers later if necessary). The budget and projections will allow you to estimate your net profits. This section will be reported in a table.
Step 1: Estimate how many customers you’ll have. This can be a percentage of your target market (e.g., 10% of 500 students, or 50 students). Justify your estimate – provide realistic reasons 🙂
Step 2: Describe in a short paragraph what sort of costs your business will incur. Feel free to Google “types of business costs” if you’re unsure, or go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost#Types_of_accounting_costs.
Step 3: In a Sheet or Doc (create a table if a doc), create a similar “income statement” like the one below. It doesn’t have to match exactly, just make it display all the costs, revenues, and net profit.
Estimated Spending
| xxxxxxx | $15 |
| materialxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | $5 |
| Total Expenditure: | $20 |
Estimated Earning
| $14 * 50 customers | $75 |
| Total Revenue: | $75 |
Estimated Profit
| Net Profit: | REVENUES MINUS COSTS |