Entrepreneurial Opportunity – Planning Template
Topic/Domain Key Questions Your notes and evidence
Name The name of the business
Product What products/services will be provided?
Features What are the product/service features?
Concept Statement A clear and succinct statement of the offer
Business Model How the business will create value?
What activities will be undertaken?
How will resources be used?
Micro-Market test – Segment
Who, precisely, are the customer who have the pain?
What customer pain will your offering resolve?
What differentiated benefits does your offering provide?
What evidence do you have that customers will buy?
What evidence shows that the target market has potential to grow?
What other segments could benefit from a related offering?
It’s important to incorporate marketing theory i.e. segmentation and differentiation
Market Carefully define your market
e.g. UK mobile phone market
e.g. European commercial vehicles market
Macro market test
RESEARCH
PESTEL Analysis for your specific market
How large is the market you are seeking to serve?
How fast has it grown?
How fast will it grow in the future?
What trends can you identify that will affect your business e.g. economic, demographic, technological, regulatory This must be based on research
Industry Carefully define your industry
What industry will you compete in?
Macro industry test
RESEARCH
Porters Five Forces
Is it easy or difficult for companies to enter this industry?
Do suppliers have the power to set terms & conditions?
Do buyers have the power to set terms & conditions?
Is it easy or difficult for substitute products to steal your market?
Is competitive rivalry intense or genteel? This must be based on research
Industry – micro –
VRIO (Sustainable Competitive Advantage)
Do you possess proprietary elements that other firms cannot likely imitate or duplicate?
Can your business develop and employ superior organisational processes, capabilities or resources?
In what ways from your customers’ perspective will your offering be better, faster, cheaper etc than competitors?
Is your business model economically sustainable? Can you show you won’t run out of cash quickly? Research you have carried out into market and industry will inform this section as well. Theory on sustainable competitive advantage is important here – resource based view of strategy, distinctive capabilities.
Mission Statement Write a Mission Statement
Team – Mission, aspiration, risk propensity
What’s your entrepreneurial mission?
What level of aspirations do you have for your entrepreneurial dream?
What sort of risk are you/are you not willing to take?
In what ways do your mission, your aspirations or risk propensity add new elements of risk to the venture? You might incorporate some entrepreneurship theory into this section
CSFs
Team – Can you and your team execute?
What are the critical success factors in your industry?
Write out CSFs in full
Can you demonstrate that your team can execute on these CSFs?
Have you identified what CSFs your team is not well prepared to meet?
What risks do answers to the above questions add to your risk list? The research you have carried out into market and industry will inform what the CSFs are
You might incorporate some entrepreneurship theory into this section
Team – your connections matter
Who do you and your team know up the value chain?
Who do you and your team know down the value chain?
Who do you and your team know amongst competitors and substitutes?
Where are any key gaps in your team’s connections and how can you fill them? You might incorporate some entrepreneurship theory into this section
Conclusion Overall assessment of the opportunity and the risks involved.
