Objective
Through the understanding and practical knowledge they will get through this course, students will be able to:
- Understand what is a Business Plan and why we need it and the importance of a well written business plan for the success of the organization
- Identify risks and potential hazards of a proposed business plan and are able to determine the worthiness of a potential new business idea in the market of information communication technologies
- Describe the basic structure of a business plan and it main components (including an executive summary, industry and market analysis, a marketing strategy and plan, operations plan, product/service development plan and company structure) and how it caters to market and organizational needs
- Apply the business plan development process to create a well-structured, convincing business plan covering all vital elements
- Evaluate the progress of the implementation of the business plan and take necessary corrective steps
Furthermore the course will provide the students with key competencies:
- Creative thinking and teamwork
- Market and strategy analysis
- Resource scheduling, financial analysis and budgeting
- Basic skills to create start-up companies in the information and communication technology market
Course Contents
- Introduction to Business Planning and to the methodology to develop a business plan.
The lesson will provide an overview of the business plan concept (describing all vital chapters of a successful business plan like executive summary, industry and market analysis (information and communication technology industry), a marketing strategy and plan, operations plan, product/service development plan and company structure) and a business plan development process (from industry analysis and opportunity identification to business model canvas and to business plan). - Decision of the focus and direction of the Business venture.
This lesson will help students visualize and form the business directions of their business plan describing their vision and mission statements. The students will understand how their self-motivation and mindset can influence their business direction and will learn how a successful industry analysis (industry status, competition, macroeconomic analysis) can help in the opportunity identification. At the end of the lesson the students will identify the business case and the products and services they will work with in the business plan development. - Use the Business Model Canvas to analyse the Business venture.
This lesson will introduce the Business Model Canvas which is a visual template with elements describing a company’s or product’s value proposition, partners, infrastructure and channels, customers, and finances (Cost Structure, Revenue Streams). The Business model canvas will help students to get an overview of their business models and thus develop their business plans. A web based Business Model Canvas template will be used so students jointly start thinking, contributing and discussing business model elements using their PCs. This process will help students set goals, objectives and strategies for achieving objectives, learn how to plan for growth (eg, subcontracting, franchising, licensing etc) and will boost their understanding, discussion, creativity, and analytic competencies. - Business Plan Development process (Part I).
This lesson will help students to acquire practical experience on the business plan development process. Initially a suite of business plan analysis and development tools and templates will be presented to choose those that will be used for the BP development process. Within this lesson we will start analyzing the executive summary and discuss approaches to risk management, identifying business risks through the SWOT and GAP analyses for the products and services of the business venture. The marketing plan concept (marketing requirements, marketing process, market research etc.) will be analysed as well. - Business Plan Development process (Part II).
This lesson will help students set up business operations writing an operation plan and realise the value of team creation by managing and organizing the human resource plans (skills and competencies of different staff) of the business plan. In this lesson also the students will identify expenses relevant to setting up and running a business venture by learning the concept of the financial planning (establishment costs, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements). In this lesson a discussion in class of the draft business plan that the team will work with will be conducted and relevant suggestions and comments will be provided.
- Business plan template and example: how to write a business plan: Business planning made simple, by Alex Genadinik, December 7, 2015, ISBN: 1519741782, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
- How to Write a Great Business Plan by William A. Sahlman, Harvard Business Review Classics, March 1, 2008