Bristol Business School
Academic Year: 09/10
Assessment Period: August
Assessment Type: Referral Coursework
Module Leader:
Module Number:
Module Name:
Word Limit:
Nick Kent
UMSCMJ-20-3
New Venture Creation
Element 1: 1500 words, Element 2: 4000 words
Coursework Submission Date and Time:
Assignments are to be submitted by 2pm Monday 16 August 2010 at the
assignment boxes near Cribs coffee shop (2B corridor). Please be aware
that there is NO 24hr or 10 day window this year.
If you wish to post your assignment, we recommend that you post it via
Recorded Delivery and obtain proof of the date and time of posting. Your
work must be in the post by the deadline.
Deadline:
Monday 16 August 2010
14:00
Assignment Instruction:
Component B:
Please note: if you have failed component B you need to retake BOTH
elements of component B, i.e. element 1 and element 2 as below. Element 1
is unchanged from the first opportunity hence, if you wish, you may resubmit
the same Feasibility Study that you submitted at the first opportunity.
Element 1:
The Second Assessment Opportunity for this element will be in the same
format as the first attempt (further attendance at taught classes is not
required).
This is a new venture creation Feasibility Study, an individual piece of work
which is worth 25% of the marks of the module. Word limit: 1500 words.
This piece of coursework requires the students to produce a Feasibility Study
for a proposed new venture. Paper-based start-up resources are: £5,000
capital plus a car or van (worth £4,000) and a reasonable personal computer
with printer (worth £1,000). Students are allowed to bring in additional external
funding, in which case this must be costed at market rates, and must be
discussed in the feasibility study. The aim of the assignment is to develop an
individual Feasibility Study which is convincing enough to be developed into a
full Business Plan (see below).
It is expected that the Feasibility Study will cover (but is not necessarily limited
to) the following areas:
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Generation of the business concept and explanation of the proposed
business model.
Primary or secondary research to establish the existence of a market for
the proposed product or service
Estimate of market size and a definition of the target market
Competitor analysis, including likely competitor action
Explanation of sources of finance if used (see above), and exit strategy.
Cash flow forecast, and break even analysis.
Identification of achievement targets and milestones. Clarification of major
areas of risk.
Characteristics of the product or service.
Intellectual property issues.
Consideration of the marketing mix: particularly plans for promotion and
distribution and pricing strategy.
The nature and location of the production/service process. Operations and
service management issues. Production layout, stock control and
purchasing policy
Overall assessment of feasibility and a review of proposed medium term
strategy for the business
Element 2:
The Second Assessment Opportunity for this element will be in the form of an
individual Business Plan, worth 50% of the marks of the module. Word limit
4000 words (further attendance at taught classes is not required). This will
usually be based on the Feasibility Study that you carried out as element 1 of
this component.
It is expected that the Business Plan will cover, but is not necessarily limited
to, (in addition to the areas covered in the Feasibility Study) the following
areas:
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Executive Summary
The Business
o The opportunity
o Description of the business
o Competitive advantage
Firm structure / Intellectual property /
Industry analysis
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Marketing plan
Operations plan
Financial plan
o Cash flow plans
o Capital requirements
o Payback and exit strategy (if external finance is used)
Critical risk factors
Source: Barringer and Duane Ireland 2008.