Assignment Instructions
Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to apply the concepts discussed in this course to the real world.
One outcome of this class is to create a business plan for a potential business. A business plan is utilized for planning the specific details of a business such as operational strategies, market identification, financial benchmarks, and much more. When crafting your business plan you can think about it as if it were a road map. Much like a map, a business plan guides the entrepreneur in the direction of his/her final goal. Also like road maps, some journeys are short and simple and some are long and complex.
Business plans can range from a single cocktail napkin to dozens of pages with formal sections, including a table of contents and a title page. However, the exact requirements will depend on purpose and for whom you are preparing the plan. For this class, you will create a business plan using the Lean Canvas Business Model. The Lean Canvas modeling system is open source and there are many resources available on the internet for additional information. It is an excellent resource for those new to the business planning process or wanting to utilize a fresh approach for conceptualizing the components of a business and putting them on paper.
The Assignment
For this week, concentrate on completing the Cost Structure and Unfair Advantage sections. This will be from 19:11-22:42 in the video (Lean Canvas Business Model – Compete). Feel free to pause the video as you go along to create entries for each section. These entries will either be phrases or short sentences describing your customer segments, aspects of the problem you are attempting to solve with your proposed solutions, and the unique value proposition you will present for your business. This “outline” will help you develop a one to two page summary, going into further detail regarding your business plan.
By the due date, you should submit a one to two page summary describing each of the sections. This will eventually be used to develop the complete business plan/model for your final project (likely at least 3-5 pages for the final). Submit the assignment in either PDF or Word format. You will receive feedback that will help you develop your final business plan which is due in module seven.
