Assignment:
Background
Charles Darwin University is offering a small business loan for a deserving student's entrepreneurial endeavour. It has been left up to the CDU representative to oversee the business case submissions and ascertain whether they are indeed viable and worthy of funding.
In order to receive the funding the project must meet the following criteria:
· It must benefit the community - either the community as a whole or a select segment of the population.
· It must be in Australia.
· It must be a unique endeavor (i.e. no franchises)
· It must be completed within one (1) year.
· It must have a budget between $25,000 and $50,000
· It must generate income (though not necessarily break even in the first year.)
· It must relate to my area of study (Humanitarian and community studies)
· It must not rely on any sort of sponsor, grants, donations or volunteer help. All staff, supplies etc. must be part of the allocated budget.
· All statements must have legitimate references. (Refer to School of Engineering's homepage for further details on preferred format.)
· The lecturer from Charles Darwin University is your project sponsor.
Business Case Proposal
1. Title page
a. Project title
b. Name and student number
c. Group (Wednesday, Thursday or External)
2. Table of Contents?
3. Executive Summary?
4. Overview
a. Reasons/Business objectives of this proposal
· Identify the problem to be solved or need to be filled.
· How does it benefit the community?
· What are the expected outputs?
b. Performance measurement (quantifiable)
5. Expected Benefits/Current situation and market opportunities
a. Market analysis
- Describe the current market and/or trends.
- Is there a market for this project?
b. SWOT analysis
c. Output analysis
- Summarise the market in relation to the SWOT analysis.
- Describe the specific target market and where this project stands in relation to that market?
- Dis-benefit
6. Project requirements
a. List and describe the requirements needed to carry out this project.
b. List and describe the possible assumptions for this project.
c. List and describe the constraints for this project.
7. Costs
a. How much does it cost? (Main costs and overall budget)
b. Identify the tools used for cost analysis
8. Major Risks
a. Identify five (5) major risks, to the best of your knowledge, in implementing this proposal
b. Discuss the risks involved and how they will be managed.
9. Timescale
a. How long will it take to complete the project?
b. List and describe the major milestones.
c. Schedule/Gantt Chart
10. Conclusion?
11. References
Appendix A
CHOOSING YOUR PROJECT
a. Area of Study - It's best to do something that is related to your degree program. It can also be related to your current work or profession. The reasoning behind this is that we want you to focus on Project Management and how it will relate to your area of interest.
b. Business case does NOT mean a business
Consider hosting an event or starting up a program. There are thousands of charities out there that undertake some sort of clever fundraising initiatives. Google away.
c. If you're still stuck on ideas, consider
Example:
Jane is studying business and works part-time as an assistant at a law practice. Ideally, she would choose a project that incorporates her studies and takes advantage of her working knowledge of the legal system (she's not a barrister so can't provide actual legal advice.)
Most likely, while in that office, she has come across a few areas that she has found to be lacking in support or in need of a bit more attention. (Think, "If only we had...."). Well, besides a coffee and muffin delivery service, she's not having any waves of inspiration.
Now, outside of work, Jane's interests include basketball, reading and painting. She even volunteers by teaching arts and crafts classes once a week at the local senior centre. While teaching, she hears about the woes that some of the elderly attendees have encountered with legal issues related to estates, medical bills, wills, etc. Hmmm, maybe she could work with some first year barristers to get them to come in and provide reduced fee services. It' would be a business and she knows the legal system. "Ok", she thinks, "There's an idea."
But, as she is walking around the senior centre's craft room she notices that a number of the students want to take their work outside, but because of their mobility scooters, it's proving a difficult task. If only there was a device that would allow them to attach an easel to their scooters or walkers. Hmmm, there's an idea.
Looking further, she sees that some of those scooters are looking a little worse for wear. Wouldn't it be funny if some of them were painted like V-8 racecars?
d. Choosing a less than ideal project for your assignment
Example
Jane also considers herself a pseudo-environmentalist. She recycles - but still isn't quite sure if pizza boxes can go into the recycling bins. She understands the benefit of a compost pile, but since she's in a city apartment, this isn't really feasible. She had fans installed around the unit so she could do without air conditioning. She's heard about solar farms and wonders if she could get something like that established in one of the rural senior centres she regularly visits. First though, she needs to figure out exactly what a solar farm entails.
Bottom line: Jane has great intentions, but let's face it, in the amount of time it will take her to learn all about solar farms - the logistics, the legalities, the zoning - she could have written a business plan for something of which she already has working knowledge.