Assignment 4: Business Planning

Assignment 4: Business Planning

 

1.0 Description

A business plan is a documented set of business goals, objectives, target market information and financial forecasts that you are aiming to achieve over a certain period. It is important to prepare a business plan when starting or growing your business and review it regularly to keep it up to date. In this assignment, you must write a Business Plan, in teams of two, for starting an Engineering-related business of your choice. As part of the Business Plan, you also need to consider Intellectual Property (IP) issues that may affect your product or service. The plan should be of a quality that it can be used potentially for obtaining necessary finance for the business and can serve as a guide for continuing with the start of the business and its subsequent operations. It should contain the following sections [1]:

 

Table 1. Proposed Business Plan sections

Cover page	Environmental and Industry Analysis	Marketing Plan and Future Directions	Benefits to the Community
Table of Contents	Products and/or Services Planned (Including IP Issues)	Management Plan	Critical Risks and Assumptions
Executive Summary	Marketing Research and Evaluation	Financial Plan	Timeline
Business Information	Business Operations Plan	Exit Strategy	Appendix

The appendix should contain a diary of all team meetings (i.e. agenda and minutes) and a personal/team reflection on the completion of the project. Some resources that may be useful in preparing the plan are:

1. The website of Victorian Government that helps business [2] with guides for business plans.
2. The NAB Business Plan [3]; other bank sites also provide assistance on writing business plans.
3. There are several books that provide helpful hints, such as Hatten [1] and Covello and Hazelgren [4].
4. USEFUL LINKS AND MATERIALS

 

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIoGLHT4wGE
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqch5OrUPvA
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hludN2e33TY
8. https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/develop-your-business-plans/writing-a-business-plan
9. https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/business/how-to-write-a-business-plan-201611.html
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsorYp67atg
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxEnToNXT8o
12. https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/start-your-business/business-structure/business-structures-and-types
13. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/Before-you-get-started/Choosing-your-business-structure/
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snzqy1qXXYs
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnutl0EDAQ8
16. https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/News/collaboration-hub-eighteen04-leveraging-strengths-hunter-region-boost-cleantech-and-smart-city
17. http://www.startupdaily.net/2012/09/startup-tech-engineers-set-to-save-lives/

 

18. USEFUL LINKS ON Intellectual Property

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL1xdzpX9iE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kAgd60OpXk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LGP1dagqRc

https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/

 

2.0Deliverables

On completion of this assignment, you are required to produce two deliverables:

A Business Plan Report: The report should adhere to the following guidelines:

• Teams of two. Approximately 2500 words. It must follow the standard academic report format with correct usages of vocabularies, grammar, and language. Paraphrase, i.e. use your own words. Do not copy or cut and paste information from sources. References must follow the IEEE referencing style. Provide in-text references for every source of information and a reference list at the end of your report.

 

Table 2. Report Marking Scheme

Criteria	Clarification	Marks
Structure	The format of the report	10
Presentation/Layout	The quality of physical presentation. Legibility & layout	10
Summary/Intro/Conclusion	The scope and quality of information in Introduction, Summary, and Conclusion	10
Language	Spelling, grammar, and attention to editing and proofreading	20
Content	The scope of the research, accuracy of the analysis, and quality of the information in the body of the report. Degree of detail.	30
Teamwork	Role of each team member & Participation & Team Self Evaluation	15
Referencing	The accuracy of references and in-text referencing	5

Table 3. Oral Presentation Marking Scheme

Criteria	Clarification	Marks
Structure	The organisation of the presentation	20
Content	The scope of the research and quality of the discussions	35
Delivery	The audibility and clarity of the presenters. Enthusiasm, preparedness, and motivation of the presenters.	25
Visual Aids	The quality of the Power Point slides developed for the presentation	20

 

This assignment carries a weighting of 35% towards your final grade. Extensions of longer than five working days are possible under a special consideration application only. The standard penalty for late submission, without an approved extension, will be 5% of the total possible mark per day. If the submission is overdue for more than ten working days, the work will not be assessed.

3.0 Timeline

The assignment due dates are as follows. Submit only one hardcopy to your tutorial instructor. Table 4. Assignment Timeline

Activity/Deliverable	Due
Business Plan Report Submission	Monday, Week 13
Oral Presentation	Tutorial Session, Week 12

4.0 Desired Learning Outcomes

 

On successful completion of this assignment, you will have the knowledge and skills to:

 

	Assignment Learning Outcomes
1	Investigate and analyse intellectual property matters affecting the engineering profession;
2	Compare business types, appraise regulatory requirements of starting a business and create a business plan with emphasis on securing funding;

5.0 References

 

• T. Hatten, Small Business Management, 5th ed., Mason, USA: South-Western, 2010.
• Business Victoria, “Business Victoria,” 2017. [Online]. Available: www.business.vic.gov.au. [Accessed November 2017].
• National Australia Bank (NAB), “How to write a business plan,” [Online]. Available: https://ift.tt/2ztapzs. [Accessed November 2017].
• Covello and J. Hazelgren, Your First Business Plan, 5th ed., Illinois: USA: Sourcebooks, 2005.

 

6.0 Review Criteria (Marking Rubrics)

The following rubrics will be used when assessing your reports:

	Levels
	Level 1 (Very Poor)	Level 2 (Poor)	Level 3 (Satisfactory)	Level 4 (Good)	Level 5 (Very Good)
	0-2 Marks	3-4 Marks	5-6 Marks	7-8 Marks	9-10 Marks
	No obvious structure. No title page. No summary. No table of contents.   No Introduction, Conclusion and References sections.   No consideration to Word limit.	Some structure. Title page present. No summary. Table of contents inaccurate.   No Introduction, Conclusion and References sections. No consideration to Word limit	Adequate structure. Title page present.   Only two of the Summary, Introduction, Conclusion and References sections.   Table of contents accurate. Word limit met.	Good structure. Title page present.   Only three of the Summary, Introduction, Conclusion and References sections in the report.   Table of contents detailed. Word limit met	Excellent structure. Title page professional.   All Summary, Introduction, Conclusion and References sections present in the report.   Table of contents accurate and detailed. List of Figures and Tables included. Word limit met
	0-2 Marks	3-4 Marks	5-6 Marks	7-8 Marks	9-10 Marks
	Very poorly presented. No clear margins. Text not justified.   No spacing or inconsistent spacing between paragraphs. No line spacing.   Inconsistencies in font size/style. Pages not numbered.   Very long paragraphs/sentences. Lots of empty space between sections.   Headings and sub-headings not labeled and distinguished. No Figure & table captions.	Poorly presented. Margins set but text not justified.   Inconsistent spacing between paragraphs. Inconsistent line spacing.   Inconsistencies in font size/style. Pages numbered.   Long paragraphs/sentences. Lots of empty space between sections.   Some headings and subheadings labeled and distinguished. Some figures and tables captioned	Adequately presented. Margins set and text justified.   Inconsistent spacing between paragraphs in some places. Inconsistent line spacing at some places.   Consistent font size/style. Pages numbered.   Appropriate length of paragraphs/sentences.   Appropriate spacing between some sections   Most headings and sub-headings very well labeled and distinguished. Most figures & tables captioned	Well presented. Margins set and text justified.   Consistent spacing between paragraphs at most places. Consistent line spacing at most places.   Consistent font size/style. Pages numbered.   Appropriate length of paragraphs/sentences   Appropriate spacing between most sections   All headings and subheadings very well labeled and distinguished. All figures & tables captioned.	Very well presented. Looks professional. Margins set and text justified.   Consistent spacing throughout the report between paragraphs and sentences   Consistent font size/style. Pages numbered.   Appropriate length of paragraphs/sentences.   Appropriate spacing throughout the report   All headings and sub-headings very well labeled and distinguished. All figures and tables captioned.
	0-2 Marks	3-4 Marks	5-6 Marks	7-8 Marks	9-10 Marks
	A very poor attempt at Summary, Introduction and Conclusion.   The Summary, Introduction and Conclusion address very few of the points outlined in Level 5	Some attempt at writing the Summary, Introduction and Conclusion. But, not to an appropriate level.   The Summary, Introduction and Conclusion address few of the points outlined in Level 5	Adequate Summary, Introduction and Conclusion sections.   They address some of the points outlined in Level 5	Good Summary, Introduction and Conclusion sections.   They address most of the points outlined in Level 5	Summary includes the purpose, scope, research methods, main arguments, and conclusions drawn.   Introduction includes the background information, purpose and scope.   Conclusion includes the purpose, the main investigated points, achievements, results, and recommendations
	0-4 Marks	5-8 Marks	9-12 Marks	13-16 Marks	17-20 Marks
	The written language is very poor and cannot be understood.   Full of grammatical and spelling errors. No attention to punctuation	Written so that it can be understood. Many grammatical and spelling errors. No attention to punctuation.	Written well   Few grammatical errors and no spelling errors. Some attention to punctuation	Written very well   No grammatical and spelling errors. Detailed attention to punctuation.	Written very clearly and precisely   No grammatical and spelling errors. Appropriate use of vocabulary. Detailed attention to punctuation.
	0-6 Marks	7-12 Marks	13-18 Marks	19-24 Marks	25-30 Marks
	Very little or no attempt in addressing the given project assignment requirements.	Some attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements. Some key points investigated and outlined.	Adequate attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements. Most key points investigated and outlined.	Good attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements. All key points investigated and outlined.	Excellent attempt in addressing the given laboratory or project assignment requirements. All key points thoroughly and systematically investigated.
	0-3 Marks	4-6 Marks	7-9 Marks	10-12 Marks	13-15 Marks
	No mention of the role of each team member. Only student initials on the Contents Page.	Brief explanation of the Role of each member. Student initials on the Contents Page.	Good explanation of the role of each team member. Student initials on the Contents Page.	Good explanation of the role of each team member. Some discussion of the how the team worked together including challenges and successes.	Detailed description of the role of each team member.   Detailed discussion of the teamwork process including challenges and successes.
	1 Marks	2 Marks	3 Marks	4 Marks	5 Marks
	No references. No paraphrasing. No in-text references.	Few references. Incorrect use. Incorrectly formatted as per the style guide.   No paraphrasing. No intext references.	Few references. Appropriately used. Correctly formatted as per the style guide.   Good attempt at paraphrasing with some in-text references.	Sufficient references. Appropriately used.   Correctly formatted as per the style guide.   Very good paraphrasing with sufficient in-text references.	Sufficient references. Effectively used. Correctly formatted as per the style guide.   Sophisticated paraphrasing with effective in-text references.

The following oral presentation Rubrics will be used when assessing your oral presentations:

	Level 1 Very Poor	Level 2 Poor	Level 3 Satisfactory	Level 4 Good	Level 5 Very Good
	0-4 Marks	5-8 Marks	9-12 Marks	13-16 Marks	17-20 Marks
	The presenters made very little attempt at structuring the presentation. No logical structure!   Topic not introduced. No objectives stated.   Presentation not concluded. Main points left unfulfilled.	The presentation has some structure but with no link between introduction and conclusion.   Topic not clearly introduced. Objectives of the presentation are unclear.   Presentation not effectively concluded.	The presentation has a defined structure with some links between introduction and conclusion.   Topic clearly introduced. Objectives of the presentation sufficiently clear. Scope is ill defined.   Presentation concluded.   The conclusion addressed the problem but not summarised the key points in the presentation.	The presentation has a good structure with links between introduction and conclusion.   Topic is clearly and accurately introduced.   Objectives of the presentation are clear. Scope is defined.   Presentation is concluded and covered all key points.	The presentation has a clear and coherent structure with strong links between introduction and conclusion.   Topic clearly and accurately introduced. Introduction grabs the audience’s attention. Objectives of the presentation very clear. Well defined Scope.   Presentation well concluded. The conclusion covers all key points facilitating clear understanding by the audience.
	0-7 Marks	8-14 Marks	15-21 Marks	22-28 Marks	29-35 Marks
	Very little or no attempt in addressing the given project assignment requirements.	Some attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements.   Some key points investigated and outlined.	Adequate attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements.   Most key points investigated and outlined.	Good attempt in addressing the project assignment requirements.   All key points investigated and outlined.	Excellent attempt in addressing the given laboratory or project assignment requirements.   All key points thoroughly and systematically investigated.
	0-5 Marks	6-10 Marks	11-15 Marks	16-20 Marks	21-25 Marks
	Inaudible and unclear.   Inappropriate use of language. Very tense and not confident.   Too dependent on notes. Reads from notes at all times.   No eye contact. Failed to answer any questions.   Insignificant contribution to the overall presentation.	Audible but unclear. Pace too rapid/slow.   Language is not precise. Tense and not confident.   Dependent on notes. Reads from notes at most times.   Occasional eye contact.   Failed to provide appropriate answers to questions.   Limited contribution to the overall presentation.	Audible and clear. Reasonable Pace.   Confident   Semi-dependent on notes. Reads from notes at some times.   Some eye contact.   Satisfactory contribution to the overall presentation.	Audible and very clear. Fluent and good pace   Confident   Not dependent on notes. Reads from notes occasionally   Good eye contact and body language.   Good contribution to the overall presentation.	Audible and very clear. An entertaining presentation.   Very fluent and very good pace.   Very confident   Not dependent on notes. Does not read from notes.   Plenty of eye contact and good body language.   Excellent contribution to the overall presentation
	0-4 Marks	5-8 Marks	9-12 Marks	13-16 Marks	17-20 Marks
	No PowerPoint slides	Poorly developed PowerPoint slides.   Too much text on the slides. Poorly structured and inconsistent (font size).   Pages not numbered.   No graphics or irrelevant graphics   Figure and table captions not labelled at all. No references to resources.   Headings and sub-headings poorly labelled.   No video clip	Satisfactorily developed PowerPoint slides. Some slides with too much text.   Some structure including the title, introduction and conclusion slides.   Pages numbered but inconsistently.   Few relevant graphics. Few figure and table captions.   Few references to resources   Some heading and subheadings labelled.   Poorly developed video clip	Well-developed PowerPoint slides. Appropriate text on all slides.   Good structure including the title, introduction, body and conclusion slides.   Pages consistently numbered. A number of relevant graphics Many figure and table captions.   Some references to resources used. Heading and sub-headings labelled.	Professionally developed PowerPoint slides. Precise and concise use of text   Excellent and coherent structure including the title, introduction, body, conclusion and references slides.   Pages consistently numbered and sequence graphically shown. Effective use of relevant graphics   All resources referenced. Figure and table captions properly labelled   Heading and sub-headings labelled.

 

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