You have recently met with a pair of young Canadian entrepreneurs. They would like to hire someone (hopefully you) as their project management consultant to assist them with a new venture that they have undertaken.
They intend to bring a new product (fashion apparel) to the marketplace that has the potential to generate millions of dollars in sales. They expect this product to sell initially in Europe and hopefully after success there expand to North America.
The genesis for this venture came from what they felt was a need in the marketplace.
From your meeting notes, the scope of this consulting assignment would be to:
a) Describe the areas in the contracting process that you would advise the entrepreneurs to follow, and what would you recommend be done in each of the steps identified. (The entrepreneurs work out of their home office)
b) Since your clients feel that they should have the product made, (in Canada) whom would you advise them to negotiate with during the contracting process and why?
c) Once your clients have identified the parties they need to sign an agreement with, advise them of the type of contract they should negotiate and the risks they might have to bear from the contract type.
d) Since timelines to get the product to market and quality will be paramount, what steps would you advise your clients to take to manage these factors.
e) Since funding and human resources are not major issues, identify three areas where you would advise your clients to pay careful attention to and why, to ensure success on their venture.
PROPOSAL
You have been asked to prepare and submit a written proposal. This proposal would describe how you expect to proceed with the assignment and why you are the best possible person to successfully complete it.
The proposal shall be submitted electronically in MS Word and should not be more than 1000 words in length. Use the meeting notes and marking guide as a roadmap for content and organization.
FINAL REPORT
You were successful in winning this consulting assignment and have completed it. Appropriate contracts and in place and the project is well underway. The clients have decided not to retain you during product manufacture and launch as they feel they can manage the contracts themselves going forward.
You have been asked to prepare and submit a final report. This report will describe how you proceeded with the assignment, the results obtained, lessons learned, and the remaining risks.
The report shall be submitted electronically in MS Word and should not be more than 3000 words in length. Use the meeting notes and marking guide as a roadmap for content and organization.
PRESENTATION
The clients have thanked you the Final Report. They now want you to make a 5- minute presentation to them and potential investors.
Any slides prepared shall be submitted electronically. Use the meeting notes and marking guide as a roadmap for content and organization.