Project 3:  Business Plan Review

Due in Week 6

Project Purpose

In this project, you will write the beginning sections of a business plan that can be used to solicit investors or financing for the new business.  

The purpose of this assignment is to develop the critical thinking and entrepreneurial mindset necessary to translate the idea into a money-making business. Along with critical thinking skills, you will develop research, communication and data evaluation skills.

Outcomes You Will Meet by Completing This Project:

• apply the basic steps involved in developing a comprehensive business plan for both starting and operating a business by creating your own business plan
• describe and explain the environments that businesses operate in—social, economic, political, technological, environmental and legal
• develop your business vocabulary and knowledge of concepts, trends, and current issues by applying them in all course work
• demonstrate the use of software and Internet sources by researching and planning the start-up and operation of your business
• demonstrate the use of a marketing assessment process to develop a marketing plan and a marketing strategy

NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse.  You are expected to understand the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed. (Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated reference list only). 

Instructions

Begin to Write the Business Plan

Use the business idea chosen in Project One and the plan format used starting Week 4, (Writing a Business Plan for a New Venture), complete the following Business Plan Sections:

• Business Description
• Market Analysis
• Competitor Assessment
• Marketing Plan

Research:

Online research is needed to successfully complete this project. The research will be graded as a separate element so make sure you select credible data sources. The information retrieved from the research in the Action Plan is a good place to start but more depth is required to complete this assignment. Course material and research should be used to support all conclusions. APA in-text citations and reference list are required.

Instructor Feedback:

You will receive feedback from your instruction on this project.  You will then use that feedback to make revisions and submit the revisions as part of Project 4.  Points will be awarded in Project Four based on the revisions made.

Review the Paper

Read the paper to ensure all required elements are present.  Use the grading rubric to ensure that you gain the most points possible for this assignment.

Proofread the paper for spelling and grammatical issues, and third person writing. 

• Read the paper aloud as a first measure;
• Use the spell and grammar check in Word as a second measure;
• Have someone who has excellent English skills to proof the paper;
• Consider submitting the paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC).  The EWC will provide 4-6 areas that may need improvement.

Submit the paper in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment Folder will be considered a student’s final product and therefore ready for grading by the instructor.  It is incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission.  No exceptions will be considered by the instructor).

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How to Set Up the Plan 

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is double-spaced, 12-point font.  The final product does not have a page length but you are required to provide a title page and reference page.  

Write clearly and concisely.  The business plan must be typewritten and neatly packages in a form presentable to a financial institution or investor.

As some businesses are more complex, no specified number of pages is required. The key is to ensure that all critical portions of the plan are covered in sufficient detail to portray in-depth thought and effort. Some areas may not apply to all businesses.

Financial statements are important, and you are expected to provide pro forma balance sheets, income statements, break-even analyses, and cash flow projections.

The body of the paper should consist of a heading for each required element. 

APA and writing is a main focus of this paper and should be executed with the utmost attention to detail.  Even in this business plan, you will need to cite source information as you would need to be ready to explain from where information derived.  Should you need help in any these areas of APA or writing, please refer to the APA module located in the content area of the course or ask the professor for guidance.  

Use the grading rubric and instructions as guides. Be sure to cover all that is asked of you in the assignment and do so in a way that will guide the professor into giving a high grade.  Finally, all work that you submit for this project should be your own. Remember your pledge to uphold academic integrity in all work that you prepare and submit.

Requirements for the Assignment

Before you begin writing the plan, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements. 

• Read the grading rubric for the assignment.  Use the grading rubric while writing the paper to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.
• Third person writing is required.  Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).  If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this link: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
• Contractions are not used in business writing, so you are expected NOT to use contractions in writing this assignment. 
• You are expected to paraphrase and NOT use direct quotes.  You are expected to paraphrase, which can be learned by reviewing this link:  https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html.
• You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a reference list. 
• The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings to support ideas, reasoning and conclusions.  
• You may not use books as source material. 
• When using a source document, the expectation is that the information is cited and referenced with a page or paragraph number.   Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.