Hello all! Graduate student here working on my capstone project for graduation and i've reached a gray area that I can't quite wrap my head around.
My project is to help my wife start up a business (I'll leave the specifics out of it). My professor cautioned me to make sure the project focuses on planning everything the business needs to launch, it just wont launch it. Maybe I am lost in semantics, but can someone explain to me what that means? Just want a azimuth check to make sure I am comprehending without going back to my instructor and sounding like an idiot. Saving Changes...
For my capstone, we had to describe what we would do to prepare a business plan and how we would get the information needed for it. Most of us struggled because we were trying to create the business plan. The desired deliverable was not the business plan; it was the plan for how we would create the business plan.
Does this describe your situation, and does my explanation make sense?
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1 reply by Douglas Pistorius
Feb 05, 2021 11:52 AM
Douglas Pistorius
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Aaron,
Thank you that does make sense to an extent. So if I am putting this together, and comprehending what you are saying correctly, should my focus be more on all the building blocks needed (Materials, staffing, logistics, advertising?) to build the business?
Sorry if I sound ignorant. I am a government employee so never really worked in the business field. Thats why I picked this for my capstone to broaden my experience
The professor likely wants you to consider the project as covering both the planning of how to launch the business as well as the execution work of actually launching the business.
He doesn't want you to just focus on the planning aspect or just the launch aspect.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Douglas,
"make sure the project focuses on planning everything the business needs to launch, it just wont launch it"
sounds to me - similar to what Aaron said - the project is about planning the business launch. A business plan is required but may be not sufficient.
The thesis may include a rough business plan, looking at market analysis, funding, viability, legal, resources, exit strategies, entrepreneurship etc.. I had a student writing his master thesis about starting his brother's business in Mexico city with those topics.
For a thesis, think about your hypothesis. Saving Changes...
For my capstone, we had to describe what we would do to prepare a business plan and how we would get the information needed for it. Most of us struggled because we were trying to create the business plan. The desired deliverable was not the business plan; it was the plan for how we would create the business plan.
Does this describe your situation, and does my explanation make sense?
Aaron,
Thank you that does make sense to an extent. So if I am putting this together, and comprehending what you are saying correctly, should my focus be more on all the building blocks needed (Materials, staffing, logistics, advertising?) to build the business?
Sorry if I sound ignorant. I am a government employee so never really worked in the business field. Thats why I picked this for my capstone to broaden my experience
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1 reply by Aaron Porter
Feb 08, 2021 11:28 AM
Aaron Porter
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No need to apologize. IF your capstone is similar to mine, your focus would need to be on how you would develop each section of the business plan. So, you wouldn't develop the vision and mission for a fictional company, you would describe what you would do to develop the vision and mission. You describe your product/service and how you would come up with your pricing. What research would you have to do to 1) develop your marketing plan, and 2) understand your competition. Then you have your operational plan, your management ant organization, startup expenses, capitalization, financial plan, and eventually the executive summary. These are examples of areas that might be required in your business plan capstone; I'm not sure what your actual requirements are. Again, the big IF is IF your capstone is like mine was, in 2008, you're not creating the plan, you're describing the research, steps, decisions, etc, needed to create each part of the plan.
The business plan merely shows that it is a viable business. It considers the non-recurring costs to launch the business, plus the recurring cost to run the business, and the incoming revenue stream to finance continued operations. Usually this is done using net present value over some fixed time period.
The project needs to consider not only all the work needed to launch the business, like developing some product, and setting up the office but also must plan the recurring part of the business, like sales and marketing, ongoing operations, billing, etc. This might be like a 5 year operations plan for how to maintain the business so that it follows the original business plan.
For reference, look up an OV-1 diagram. It's from engineering but it is an illustration of how some system (like a business) is supposed to operate. You should consider all the elements of the OV-1 in your plan. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
To put your question in the framework of PMI what you need is to review all related to Business Analysis, not Project Management, mainly take a look to Practice Guide for Business Analysis. To start a business is a matter of business analysis and you will find into the guide valuable information to help your wife. You will create something that will deliver value to some segment of one market thanks to give that segment a solution to their problems. That´s key. Then forgive to make too much plans. Go for creating a "prototype" of the solution and start getting feedback mainly if you have uncertainty about how much the solution your wife´s business will deliver will solve a problem to the market segment. Saving Changes...
Thank you that does make sense to an extent. So if I am putting this together, and comprehending what you are saying correctly, should my focus be more on all the building blocks needed (Materials, staffing, logistics, advertising?) to build the business?
Sorry if I sound ignorant. I am a government employee so never really worked in the business field. Thats why I picked this for my capstone to broaden my experience
No need to apologize. IF your capstone is similar to mine, your focus would need to be on how you would develop each section of the business plan. So, you wouldn't develop the vision and mission for a fictional company, you would describe what you would do to develop the vision and mission. You describe your product/service and how you would come up with your pricing. What research would you have to do to 1) develop your marketing plan, and 2) understand your competition. Then you have your operational plan, your management ant organization, startup expenses, capitalization, financial plan, and eventually the executive summary. These are examples of areas that might be required in your business plan capstone; I'm not sure what your actual requirements are. Again, the big IF is IF your capstone is like mine was, in 2008, you're not creating the plan, you're describing the research, steps, decisions, etc, needed to create each part of the plan. Saving Changes...
Appreciate all the help and guidance! Definitely gave me a better path to go forward with my project. I will keep you updated on the results! Saving Changes...
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