Business Modelling & Planning SOLOPRENEUR: Self-Employability in Remote Regions of Europe

Business Modelling & Planning

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COU_8_EN

Title

Business Modelling & Planning

Keywords

Business, Model, Business Model, Business Plan, Planning, Products, Services, Company

Author

IDP

Languages

English

Objectives/goals

At the end of this module, you will be able to: â€¢ Develop a Business Model â€¢ Create an effective Business Plan following each sections â€¢ Managing financial data to fill in a Financial Planning â€¢ Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Description

This module analyses useful tools for a solopreneur: - Business model - Business plan - Financial planning - SWOT analysis The Business Model is divided in nine sections, analysing costs and revenues often with medium and long-term prospects. To write down an effective Business Plan, this module indicates the formal requirements and the sections in which the document is divided (Executive Summary, Company Summary, Product/Service Description, Market Analysis, Strategy Implementation, Management Summary, Financial Information). The module deals with the topic of financial planning, useful to control the set of financial investments choices that reflect the investor's life goals. Finally, the module analyses the four parameters of the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), useful to evaluate the potential strengths and weaknesses of a forthcoming advertising campaign, a planned content project, or even whether your company should be represented at a trade show or industry event.

Contents in bullet points

Unit 1 - Developing Business Models and Proposition Unit 2 - Effective Business Planning Unit 3 - Financial Planning Unit 4 - SWOT Analysis

Contents

COURSE BUSINESS MODELLING & PLANNING

DEVELOPING BUSINESS MODELS AND PROPOSITION

Business Model

Business Model

It’s a synthesis tool that describes the ideas,

the purpose, the gain, the costs, the activities

and the communication of the entire project.

Describes the logic with which an organization creates,

distributes and captures value.

•The key concept of each Business Model is the value offered

•The value perceived by the customer is given by the difference between benefits received and costs incurred

•Making a Business Model is like updating the computer's operating system. It is an operation we do when:

â—‹New threats come from outside (new competitors)

â—‹New needs arise that require different support (new possible customers)

â—‹The system is overloaded and the operations are slow and not very fluid (reduced margins in the case of the company)

Sections of a Business Model

Business Plan vs Business Model

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PLANNING

Formal requirements of a Business Plan

If you have a business idea, you need to elaborate a Business Plan.

In order to complete it, keep in mind the answers to these questions:

•What are the main characteristics and strengths of your business idea?

•What are the products/services that will be offered?

•Who are your potential customers?

•What is your market share?

•What is your sales turnover expected?

•What are your competitors?

•What are your distribution and promotional channels?

•What are your human, technical and financial resources?

•What is your forecast for generating profit?

Sections of a Business Plan

Business Plan must be divided into sections

1. Executive Summary

•Last section to elaborate in order to have a clearer and more comprehensive idea of your Business Plan.

•The executive summary is a sort of short presentation of your business idea to investors.

•Explain what you and the business are all about & make sure you sound convincing and qualified to run this business.

2. Company Summary: present your company, defining:

•Mission Statement → Why you want to create this business and what are your guiding principles

•Your business’ goals → Include at least 3 short & long-term goals

•Your market

•Legal status of your business → Seek help to know all different possibility for a company legal status and their implication

3. Product/Service Description

In this section you must explain:

•The business field you’re in (retail, manufacturing, service...)

•The detailed characteristics of the product that make them unique. Address the need they solve

4. Market Analysis

Perform an exhaustive Market Research, including:

•Economic data: What is the total size of your specific market? How many people in your target can you access?

•Growth Potential: It includes market size and further expansions

•Product: You will have to define its most important Features and Benefits

•Customers: Who are your potential customers?

•Competition: Who are your competitors? Be specific.

5. Strategy Implementation

In order to define your strategy you need to establish the following:

•Price: What is the selling price of your product/service? What is the production cost of that product/service? What do all the pieces cost? What is the delivery cost? Packaging? Are there and additional costs?

•Place: Where will you operate your business? How will customers contact you?

•Promotion: How will you promote your product/service? What is your communication strategy?

6. Management Summary

7. Financial Information

Defined all previous parameters you are now ready to fill in the economic aspects of your business, in particular:

•Cost of Supplies

•Economics of One Unit

•Monthly Sales Projections

•Average Monthly Operating Costs

•Projected Monthly/Yearly Income Statement

•Start Up Investment

•Financing Strategy

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Financial statements

Business at every stage of its development needs to express its activity in financial data which are used either for external or internal (managerial) purposes.

This financial data are contained in four financial statements from which we can obtain the raw material for further financial analysis:

1) The balance sheet

“Snapshot “of the assets used by the company and of the funds that are related to those assets. It’s a static document related to one point of time - end of months, quarters, years, etc. The balance sheet puts what the firm owns versus what it owes at any point in time.

2) The income statement (Profit and loss account/Income - expenses statement)

It measures the gains or losses from both ordinary and extra ordinary activities over period of time bounded by the two balance sheets (from the two subsequent periods).

It shows the firm´s financial position over a period of time (months, quarters, year) through the comparison between the in-resources (revenue and income) and the out-resources (costs).

3) The cash flow statement

The cash flow statement describes the actual net cash that flows into (cash inflow) and out of (cash outflow) a firm through its operation and finances

It would also show if would be any need for additional financing and which way would be possible to get them: through equity, loans, short-term line of credit and how and under which conditions they would be paid back

There are three separated components of the flow of cash and its equivalents: operating activities, investing activities, financing activities

4) The start up costs budget

This is important part for a business plan written for start-ups. It contains all of the expenses incurred to initiate the business, develop and run it

•It is important to take into consideration:

- What type of business you are? There are businesses that need smaller budget

- How much starting capital or seed money is needed to start business? Which costs are essential, and which are optional?

•The most effective way to calculate startup costs is to use a worksheet that lists both one-time and ongoing costs

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT description

•SWOT analyses are used at the organizational level to determine how closely a business is aligned with its growth trajectories and success benchmarks

•It can be applied to an entire company or organisation, or individual projects within a single department

•It’s a technique used to determine and define your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

•Conducting a comprehensive SWOT analysis provides a unique opportunity to gain greater insight into how your business operates

•This technique can be applied to a wide range of scenarios, not just as an overview of your business

•You could use SWOT analyses to evaluate the potential strengths and weaknesses of a forthcoming advertising campaign, a planned content project, or even whether your company should be represented at a trade show or industry event

Results

â€¢ Business Model: a synthesis tool to describe ideas, purposes and activities of a project â€¢ Nine sections of Business Model: - Customer Segments - Value Offered - Channels - Customer Relations - Revenue Flows - Key Resources - Key Activity - Key Partnership - Cost structure â€¢ Business Plan vs Business Model â€¢ Formal requirements for a Business Plan â€¢ Sections of a Business Plan - Executive Summary - Company Summary - Product/Service Description - Market Analysis - Strategy Implementation - Management Summary - Financial Information â€¢ Financial data contained in four financial statements - The balance sheet - The income statement / Profit and loss account / Income - expenses statement - The cash flow statement - The start-up costs budget â€¢ SWOT Analysis to determine how closely a business is aligned with its growth trajectories and success benchmarks â€¢ SWOT Analysis determine - Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats

Bibliography

Training Fiche PPT:
187_8.solopreneurship_businessmodelling&planning(idp).pptx