The plan should be a maximum of 9 pages, including financial information as per below, but excluding references.

ANY MATERIAL BEYOND THE PAGE LIMIT WILL NOT BE MARKED.

Each plan must contain the following elements:

1/ A one-­‐page summary of your business plan [max 1 page]

2/ The business opportunity [max 2 pages]

3/ The sales and marketing strategy [max 2 pages]

4/ The operational strategy [max 2 pages]

5/ The financial plans [max 2 pages]

6/ References [Not included in page limit]

The plan should also be presented in a logical and appealing manner.

Apart from the one-­‐page summary (which can be in whatever format you wish), you should use 12 point Arial font and line spacing should be minimum of 1.15. Standard margins should be used (top and bottom 2.54cm; left and right 3.17cm).

The assignment will be marked by tutors. Assignments should be submitted online via iLearn.

YOU MUST INCLUDE A SIGNED COVERSHEET

No coversheet = 10% mark deduction

The coversheet is available here: http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/current_students/undergraduate/a

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your  business   plan  will  be  available to  your  student  peers, as well as staff of Macquarie University. If you have a business idea that you wish to keep confidential DO NOT submit this idea as part of this unit. Macquarie University accepts no liability for cases where a business plan submitted by one student is subsequently executed by another student.

Assignment 1: Business Plan Report FAQs

1/ Do I have to reference my sources?

Yes -­‐ if you are referring to external information -­‐ industry reports, statistics etc. then they should be properly referenced.

2/ Do I have to follow a particular referencing format?

No, as long as it is consistent. However we recommend using APA 6. For more information about this style and help with referencing refer to this library blog post:

3/ Does my reference list count in the 9-­‐page limit?

No. It should be included as an appendix.

4/ My amazing financial report / awesome marketing plan / brilliant idea can't possibly fit into the page limit.

We realise that you will have lots more detail behind what you are submitting. But you have to make it concise, punchy and to the point.

5/ I've got to the end of the process and I realise that my idea isn't going to make that much money (in fact I now think it sucks). What should I do?

We are not judging the quality of your idea, but rather how well you can put together a business plan. So don't worry and submit your plan anyway. Include a comment in the plan that makes it clear that this is not a profitable opportunity, but point to areas that might warrant further exploration (and don't quit your day job just yet).

6/ How realistic should my plan be?

It should be as realistic as possible. If you really think you can get equity finance of a few billion then sure, present your plan for beating Apple at making phones.

Otherwise  present  something that  you  might  just  be able to pull off (with a bit of luck).