Final Projects: The Business Plan
Over the course of my undergraduate career, I’ve had the joy of having quite a few different and often interesting final projects (though none quite as taxing/epic as Nathan’s). This year, for Managerial Studies 194: Survey of Entrepreneurship we had a group project we worked on all semester in which we created a business and then developed a business plan for that company. Though it was definitely stressful at times, it’s pretty awesome to say I’ve helped essentially create a company and mapped out the first three years of its existence.
Our company was called Heart2Heart Care Packages–and our mission statement is to strive to craft personal packages that recipients will love with the convenience the sender will appreciate. Our group of six (including fellow blogger Samantha!) worked on the project throughout the semester, culminating in a 30-page business plan and a 12-minute presentation in which we had to propose our idea to a bank (aka a panel consisting of our TAs and teacher) in an effort to get funding to start our business.
The project really felt like we were starting a company–we had to find a potential location to rent, created a logo, designed the interior of our store and what our care packages would look like, and mapped out our inventory and who would have what role in the company. My role was to be in charge of inventory and supplier relations, so I had to talk about what companies we would establish relationships to buy wholesale from and more.
As the resident English major of the group, I had the immense joy of reading over the entire business plan and making sure it was cohesive/without error. Though this was a lot, it’s really awesome for me to know that I now know what a business plan looks like and how to create one for a company that started from a simple idea. Though I don’t know if I will ever necessarily start a company of my own, MGRL 194 has definitely been a fantastic opportunity to go behind-the-scenes of how businesses start.