Unit information: Project:Business Plan in 2011/12

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Unit name Project:Business Plan
Unit code COMSM0306
Credit points 10
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Professor. McIntosh-Smith
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None
Co-requisites

None
School/department Department of Computer Science
Faculty Faculty of Engineering

Description including Unit Aims

This is the course description for the Enterprise module of the 4th year Computer Science degree course at Bristol University in 2011. The course consists of 12 weeks of 3 hour lectures covering all the aspects of knowledge necessary to achieve a basic understanding of all of the components of a start up business. The students are assessed on a business idea derived from their course project, the quality of the business plan they produce and their final presentation to the assessment panel.

Objectives

  • Equip students with skills they need to accelerate their path to becoming an Entrepreneur
  • Enable those students with no Entrepreneurial desire to have, at least, a good level of background understanding of business principles.

Intended Learning Outcomes

The students should leave the course with

  • Knowledge of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial teams
  • An understanding of the various key components of a business
  • An overview of the forms of hi tech venture, manufacture, technology licensing and services.
  • An understanding of marketing, market projections, R&D strategies, business plans, financing, investors and exits
  • An understanding of IP value and its role
  • An understanding of the process of assessing hi tech ventures
  • Experience of going through the whole process of developing an idea through to a complete business plan

Teaching Information

The course consists of a series of structured modules which build towards the presentation of a business plan to a panel of investors. A significant amount of time is spent in practical exercises exploring many aspects of business creation, planning, and necessary skills to succeed in business. Practical exercises encompass analysis of successful companies, past winners of the business plan competition, executive summaries as well as full business plans, and practical skills development exercises like IP workarounds and elevator pitches. For the exercises students work in small teams studying an aspect of the case study and present their findings at the end. All students will present on behalf of the team at some point during the course.

Assessment Information

The major challenge for students is the requirement to take their research project and turn this into a business. The students must develop the plan as the course proceeds and many of the exercises are designed to help them plan and draw out the necessary information which will contribute to the plan. They present at the end of course to an investment panel looking for the investment potential and subsequent enterprise value of the business proposition.

The assessment panel is judging on four dimensions at each stage; 1.Credibility, feasibility and Novelty of the business idea 2.Technical novelty, IP protection, Computer Science content 3.Quality of the written business plan (20+ pages) 4.Panel presentation by the individual

Reading and References

The Google story, David A. Vise 0-330-44005-5 Crossing the chasm, Geoffrey A Moore 0-06-662002-3 The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell 0-349-11346-7 The Definitive Business plan, Financial Times,Richard Stutely 0-273-71096-6 Smarter ventures a survivors guide, Ms Katharine Campbell 0-273-65403-9 The Small Business guide to starting your own business, Daily Telegraph 1-4050-0677-3

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