For Lisa’s project, students were tasked with creating a business plan with an idea that will help them solve a problem. A business plan is a very important strategic tool for entrepreneurs. A good business plan can be essential in helping entrepreneurs to focus on the specific steps necessary to make their business ideas succeed. Because this project is so research-focused, aspects of it could be completed online at home. A good business plan can:
- Help students make sound decisions
- Communicate students’ ideas with stakeholders
- Help to identify potential weaknesses
- Act as a tool to raise money for students’ business
The driving question for this project was:
What solution does your idea provide for your customers?
Lisa Galloway
Students develop a product or a service. They may actually make the product or a prototype. Students need to research the following:
- Their target market
- Their niche
- Advertising
- Where will they sell their product?
- Branding
- What type of test marketing will they do before going into full production to ensure that their product meets the needs of their target market? How do they plan to incorporate any changes? How much are customers willing to pay?
- What features (design, function, mode of sales or delivery, price, level of service) will differentiate their business ideas from the competition?
- Initial investment (a detailed break-down or list of costs/expense items)
- What will it cost to produce (one unit/dozen/package)?
- How much will they sell it for?
- What is their profit margin?
- How much of their product or service will they have to sell to breakeven?
- What is their next step? If their business plan is successful, what will they do next?
Challenges:
This is a time consuming project. Students work in pairs or in small groups and sometimes collaborating can be a challenge. Students also need to let go of their ideas sometimes and work with someone else’s ideas which can be challenging for some students.