• Institute Cover Page [This is essential and must be completed accurately]
• Summary of the findings.
• Objectives of the business plan.
•  USP the unique selling point of the business.
• SWOT a brief analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
•  Market an analysis of the market for the products or service.
• Research undertaken.
• Cashflow projection.
• Marketing mix- classic 4 p’s.
•  Conclusion.
• Page Numbers must be used.
• Reference List at the end must be in the Harvard format
• When finalised, students must submit an electronic copy ONLY onto Blackboard via Safe Assign (Self Check) using the final submission links by the due date. The percentage of similarity from the Safe Assign report is expected to be Low or Medium.

A

Knowledge and Understanding

Upon successful completion of  this module students will be able to:

1

Identify and define what a business is and it operating functions in terms of business costs

2

Identify and describes the basic concepts of marketing, the marketing mix and product life cycle

B

Cognitive/Intellectual Skills

Upon successful completion of  this module students will be able to:

1

Define what a business is and its functions; from securing external funding to measuring success within a business.

2

Demonstrate how to prepare a basic business plan for a product/service and present that information in a coherent form both orally and in document.

3

Identify and describe concepts of marketing in the 21^st century and their potential application to business.

4

Identify and describe the marketing mix and collate/ analyse market information from a variety of sources.

Grade

Classification

Mark (%)

Criteria

A

High Distinction

80% - 100%

Within 10% of word limit + or –

 Contains; Summary, objectives, USP, SWOT, market, research, cashflow ,marketing mix

Sound, focused analysis and well-supported evaluation that:

• is well organised, showing sound knowledge and understanding of business concepts and principles with few, if any, errors
• includes good application of relevant economic principles and, where appropriate, good use of data to support the response
• includes well-focused analysis with clear, logical chains of reasoning
• includes supported evaluation throughout the response and in a final conclusion

B

Distinction

70% - 79%

Within 10% of word limit

Contains 6  features out of Summary, objectives, USP, SWOT, market, research, cashflow, marketing mix

Sound, focused analysis and some supported evaluation that:

• is well organised, showing sound knowledge and understanding of business concepts and principles with few, if any, errors
• includes good application of relevant economic principles and, where appropriate, some good use of data to support the response
• includes some well-focused analysis with clear, logical chains of reasoning
• includes some reasonable, supported evaluation

C

Credit

60% - 69%

Less than 600 words

Contains 5  parts out of Summary, objectives, USP, SWOT, market, research, cashflow, marketing mix

Some reasonable analysis but generally unsupported evaluation that:

• focuses on issues that are relevant to the question, showing satisfactory knowledge and understanding of business terminology, concepts and principles but some weaknesses may be present
• includes reasonable application of relevant economic principles and, where appropriate, some use of data to support the response
• includes some reasonable analysis but which might not be adequately developed or becomes confused in places
• includes fairly superficial evaluation; there is likely to be some attempt to make relevant judgements but these aren’t well-supported by arguments and/or data

D

Pass

50% - 59%

Less than 500 words

Weakly describes at least 4  features out of Summary, objectives, USP, SWOT, market, research, cashflow, marketing mix

A fairly weak response with some understanding that:

• includes some limited knowledge and understanding of economic terminology, concepts and principles but some errors are likely
• includes some limited application of relevant business principles and/or data to the question
• includes some limited analysis but it may lack focus and/or become confused
• includes some evaluation which is weak and unsupported

F

Fail

Less than 49%

A very weak response that:

Less than 400 words

Contains less than 4 key parts such as; Suary, objectives, USP, SWOT, market, research, cashflow, marketing 

• includes little relevant knowledge and understanding of business terminology, concepts and principles
• includes analysis which is, at best, very weak
• includes attempted evaluation which is weak and unsupported