Business Planning and
Market Research
Who?
Jane Nolan MBE
Entrepreneur in Residence, Newcastle
University Careers Service
MD Venture Coaching and Consulting Ltd
First Year PhD
MARKETS approach
M – markets – need to understand and
objectively analyse the needs of the
marketplace, its size and dynamics.
What are the unmet needs, USPs,
benefits?
A- approach – how will you commercialise
the idea? What will people pay? What
would the business model be?
Markets Approach
R – returns – the rewards and risks in the
business and how the shareholders
and managers will be rewarded for their
efforts
K – knowledge – what is the uniqueness
of the business? Can it be protected in
some way through patents, copyrights
and trademarks
MARKETS approach
E – ethics – are the ethics of the team and
the business or industry aligned
T – team – skills, resources, capabilities,
shared values and vision, capable of
functioning well?
S – sustainability – long term sustainability
in order to compete effectively
Business Plan:
Format per Finance Tree
Idea
What is it?
Applications explored
Key Markets
Users/ Benefits
Environment / competition
Strategy
What is your goal
By When?
What type of business are you?
How do you make money (sales) ?
Revenue model
Delivery / production
Team and systems
Risks / risks managed
Finance
Cash flow forecast (cumulative)
Breakeven
Investment needed
Investment return
6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Exec Summary
Business Model
Mission
Ownership
Governance
Management
Risks
Key Personnel
Resources
Quality Assurance
Marketing
Products
Financial Model
Investment Offering
Need to Consider
Proposition
People
• How much Funding needed? - enough to
grow
Potential
• Financial return
Path to market
Proven
• Forecasts and exit
Is there a significant enough market?
Is it scaleable?
Do you have innovative, defensible products?
Do you have a strong management team?
7
Market research
Helps you decide whether setting the
business up is a good idea
Helps you understand the market better –
find your niche, identify opportunities
Helps you segment your market and
understand your customers and needs –
Improves chances of success
Target effectively, meet needs better
Market research
Market as a whole
Customers
Competitors
Collaborators?
Primary sources – from customers
Secondary sources – market reports and
studies
Know yourself and your niche
Guy Kawasaki - Founder and Managing
Director of Garage Technology Ventures
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInf
o.html?mid=1176
Who is your Customer?
- Segmentation
- Socioeconomic factors – profession,
income, age, gender, location
- Character – lifestyle, personality,
trendsetter/follower
- Behaviour – usage, convenience,
frequency of use
Who is your customer?
Business Markets- segmentation
Company size- SME, large
Industry type – Pharmaceutical, NHS,IT,
education, media, local government
Location – local, national, international
Competitor Analysis
•
•
•
•
who they are
what they offer
how they price their products
what the profile and numbers of their customers
are compared with yours
• what their competitive advantages and disadvantages
are compared with yours
• what their reaction to your entry into the market or any
product or price changes might be
Source: Business Link
Competitor Analysis
Companies House – check their accounts!
Annual Reports
Google
Look at
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/actio
n/layer?=en&topicId=1073900131
Collaborators
Who could you work with?
Who could help you establish yourself in
this market?
How could you benefit?
How could customers benefit?
Research process
Decide what market you are in
Agree the aim of your research
How will you record and analyse it? –
need to think it through as a team
Carry out the research – MCCC
Turn your research into intelligence
Build your plans based on detailed market
knowledge and understanding
Sources of secondary market
information
• COBRA (the complete business reference
adviser) is available through the Careers Service
and will be an invaluable source of information
for your business.
• Additional resources include:
– Business Link:
www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/sectorSiteMap
– Chamber of Commerce - business directories
Cobra – Practical Information Resource
(available online in The Elevator)
BIFs and BOPs:
Business Information Fact Sheets
Business Opportunity Profiles (market synposes)
e.g. No 59. Questions to help you choose a business idea, No 47. A
guide to sources of market and business information, No 4. a guide
to writing a business plan, No 174. A summary of sources of finance
for small firms, No 8. A guide to understanding profit and loss
accounts, No 54. A guide to costing a product or service etc. etc.
Useful Web Sites
www.Bl.uk – British Library (or
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/resources/other_catalogues/)
www.cim.co.uk – Chartered Institute of Marketing
www.scavenger.net – market reports (previously cobweb
information)
www.datamonitor.co.uk – market reports
www.marketresearch.org.uk – Market Research Soc.
www.mintel.co.uk – consumer market reports
www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk – local population
statistics
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/figures.phtml - university facts and
figures
Useful websites…continued
www.nisra.gov.uk – Northern Ireland statistics
www.statistics.gov.uk – Office for Nat. Statistics
www.the-list.co.uk – market reports
www.upmystreet.com– socio-economic information
for local population
www.ons.gov.uk – national statistics for social &
regional trends
www.datadepot.co.uk – as above
Useful Resources
www.ipo.gov.uk
Patents, Trademarks
Newcastle City Library – Patents Advice
Centre
Rise Up Intelligence – via the Elevator
Market Research
Needs to be an ongoing process
Curiousity and questioning
Listening
Watching trends – STEEP analysis
Markets, customers, competitors,
collaborators all keep evolving
Challenges and Opportunities
STEEP
S – Social
T – Technological
E – Environmental
E – Economic
P – Political
PESTLE (adds in Legal)
SWOT
SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats
useful analytical tool:
http://www.businessballs.com/swotanalysisfr
eetemplate.htm#swot-analysis-matrix
XING
A commercialisation and planning Tool
90 key decisions
Familiarises you with the terminology of
business planning and development
An opportunity to work on your idea and
consider how you would turn it into a
business
Consider your goals and how to achieve them
Business Structures
Type
Sole Trader
Description
Sole owner,
can employ
others
Advantages
Easiest and
cheapest to
establish
Price, A and Sarmiento, T, 2008
Disadvantages
Owner
personally
responsible
without limit
for business
losses. No
income if ill/on
holiday
Business Structures
Type
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Partnership
Joint
ownership
across
partners
Spreads risk,
more
attractive to
investors,
broader skill
and
knowledge
base
All partners
are
responsible for
the actions of
others, has
cost
implications
Price, A and Sarmiento, T, 2008
Business Structures
Type
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Limited Co
(Ltd)
Creates
separate legal
entity owned
by
shareholders,
Company has a
legal identity
Clear structure
for seeking
funding,
attractive to
investors,
limited liability
for debts
Higher set up
costs, accounts
are public and
must be filed
with
Companies
House
Price, A and Sarmiento, T, 2008
Business Structures
Type
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Limited
Liability
Partnership
LLP
Half way house
between
partnership
and Ltd Co,
mainly used
for firms of
professionals
eg Consultants,
solicitors
Separate legal
Identity, can
own and hold
property,
employ people
Liable for all its
debts to full
extent of
assets
Price, A and Sarmiento, T, 2008
Raising Finance
YOU (£0-£10k)
Seed Funds
– Friends and Family
(£0-£50k)
– Grants and Competitions (£0-£50k)
– Loans (£10k-£800k)
Equity Finance
– Angels (£20k-£500k)
– Venture Capitalists (£1m-£20m----?)
Initial Public Offering
– Company shares traded on the stock market
Xing
Idea in 10 words or less
SMART Goal
S?
M?
A?
R?
T?
XING
Idea in 10 words or less
SMART Goal
Specific
Measurable
Acheivable
Realistic
Timed
Xing themes
Strategy – Goals, structure, R&D, training,
eventual exit
Actions – practical actions – bank account, legal
entity, business plan, IP
Finance – how will you finance it?
Marketing – market research, brand,
understanding your market, pricing,
segmentation, distribution
People- wide range of skills needed
Rise Up – Careers Service, Kings Gate
Elevator – market research and other
resources
General discussion for the competition:
Jane.nolan@newcastle.ac.uk
To take forward your business idea in the
future: make appointment with
Development Officer