Demonstrate Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies Acquired from the Entire Program and Represents the Capstone Module for the Award Year: Business Planning Report, NUI, Ireland

Introduction

This assignment will require students to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired from the entire program and represents the Capstone module for the Award Year. The principal focus of the module requires students to plan, develop and present a Business Plan to a professional standard. It is expected that the business plan is aligned to a ‘start-up’ business and the subsequent plan to be prepared for viewing by a potential investor or a financial institution for funding purposes. Part of this assignment requires students to present an interim non-graded Elevator Pitch outlining their business idea and key focus areas.

The assignment is divided into two parts which are summarised as follows:

Business Plan (100%): is Café in Dublin Office area D4, a special coffee shop.

The business plan is the principal focus of this module and will be developed from a modified template supplied by the Dublin City Council Local Enterprise Office, to further the real-world experience of the development process. This template is available in Appendix 2 on Moodle. The business plan will be due at the end of the semester and may complement elements from other associated modules.

PART 2: BUSINESS PLAN (Addressing MLO 2, 3, 4, 5)

Using the supplied Business Plan template (Appendix 2 on Moodle), you are required to create a business plan for a business idea of your choosing. The business can take the form of a sole trader, partnership, or limited company and can be based in Ireland, or abroad or global. It is assumed that this business is new, and the purpose of the business plan is to seek initial funding or investment feedback. The business plan template supplied (Appendix 2) was downloaded from the Enterprise Ireland website to provide a realistic learning experience on the production of a business plan. However, the template has been modified to suit the basic requirements of the Business Planning module. The template contains sub-headings and guidance text – this is there purely for guidance purposes only and can be ignored or used within your specific business plan.

In addition to the business plan, you are required to provide an Appendix to capture your reflections during the entire process of creating and developing your business plan. Reflection-in-Action is a concept connected to Reflective Practice or Reflexivity. Reflecting-in-Action is a process whereby an individual makes a conscious effort to think about activity and to consider what was positive, negative, or challenging. This reflective process allows the individual to consider changing a course of action, to consider how an action can be enhanced or improved for now and in the future. The reflection-in-action element will take the form of an informal reflections appendix in which you can structure this as you feel necessary.

The major headings for your business plan must include the following: • Executive Summary • Company Description • Market Analysis • Marketing/Sales Strategy • Research and Development • Staffing and Operations • Financial Projections (this element can be drawn from the Management Accounting 2 module) • Appendix 1: Reflections

You are not limited to the headings above. You can create new headings or even rename the headings above so long as the context is not changed. The sub-headings provided in the Business Plan template are for guidance purposes only.