Strategic Exploration of Entrepreneurial Directions

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Strategic Exploration of Entrepreneurial
Directions

• An opportunity to explore entrepreneurial
  opportunities and create a viable business plan

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The Task

• Appraise the Opportunities
• Plan the Enterprise
• Explore the Planning Process
• Explore Knowledge Needs Research
• Explore Financial Issues Strategy
• Explore Marketing Customer Strategy
• Explore Operational Resourcing Strategy
• Fund the Enterprise

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The Simulation

• Initial Familiarisation
• Appraising the Opportunities
• Plan the Enterprise
• Ratify your business plan
• Compare and discuss

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Prologue

• A cross faculty project
• Involving
• An engineering student
• A mathematics student
• A medical student
• The product

The Cuddl-MD
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A glorious failure!

• Unfortunately it proved impossible to
• Sterilise the Cuddl-MD between children
• And, even worse!
• Retrieve it after use

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The opportunities

• Three opportunities were identified
• Early Learning
• Companions
• Autistic Children

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The Business Situation

• Funding
• Clicks Mortar Distribution
• Product Manufacturing
• Marketing Promotion
• Human Resources
• Physical Resources

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Funding

• The Students
• Venture Capital
• Aunt-E
• Retired Business Person
• Source of Advice
• The Bank
• Overdrafts Loans

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Clicks Mortar

• Via the web
• Basic Information Only Site
• Basic Credit Card Sales Site
• Full Shopping Cart Site
• Via retail outlets

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Product Manufacturing

• Components
• Soft toy
• Electronics
• Software
• Instructions
• Packaging

Manufacture
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Marketing Promotion

• Direct Selling
• Advertising
• Public Relations
• Web Design
• Point of Sale Display
• Packaging

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Human Resources

• Executive
• Administrative
• Accounting
• Selling
• Production

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Physical Resources

• Office Equipment
• Production Equipment
• Transportation
• Accommodation

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Learning Process

• PC there to
• Provide opportunity research
• Provide (if needed) business advice
• Allow you to prepare plans
• Provide comments about the plans
• While you
• Think, discuss and argue
• The Tutors Role
• Answer questions

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Opportunity Research

• Select what you wish to research from a list
• E.G.    Market Potentials
• Web Pricing
• Outlet Pricing
• When you do this you will be provide some
  information and research details will be provided
  to the planning models.

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Policy Advice

• To support you and if necessary you can ask for
  business policy advice
• E.G. Promotion Policy Advice
• Selling Policy Advice
• Product Range Advice
• But, on the other hand, you may know all about
  this!

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Creating Plans

• You can create several plans that cover
• Market to Serve
• Finance
• Marketing
• Resources
• These will be analysed and several reports
  produced forecasting the outcomes.

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Comments

• Besides your own analysis and appraisal of your
  plans you can ask Aunt-E to comment on elements
  of your plans
• E.G. Pricing Decisions
• Promotion Decisions
• Staffing Decisions
• These comments are perceptions and not
  prescriptive.

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Using the Computer

• Choose a team name
• Research Plan
• Simulate (get research and forecasts)
• Repeat stages 2 3 (the planning cycle) until
  you are happy with the plan or time runs out!
• Each planning cycle takes one month of simulated
  time.

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Observations

• it takes time to understand
• but the opportunity must be analysed planned
• therefore your decisions will not be perfect
• time will be a constraint
• by the end you may (just) have created a viable
  plan
• your business skills will be challenged
• remember the purpose is to learn!
• so, take time to reflect review
• (and consider your priorities and work)
• and have fun!