[Venture/project name]

1. [Venture/project name] [Team name] Workshop 4: Final Business Case[date of your workshop]

2. Instructions – objectives of your presentation This presentation is your final business case. In the previous stages you have worked to: • Identify a market • Survey your competitive and industry environment • Understand the protectability of your idea • Define a value proposition and a business model based on these market, industry and appropriability characteristics In this final stage you will add information about: • What needs to be done technologically and operationally to realise the business model and achieve sales, and the human resource needs (roadmap) • What kind of financial resources are needed (financial plan) • How the financial resources can be obtained and at what cost of capital (valuation and likely sources of funding) • How the parts all fit together – your overall business case And ultimately assess whether this venture is commercially, operationally and financially feasible (positive or negative business case).

3. Delivery At this stage, if you really believe that your venture is feasible, you can begin to ‘sell’ it with a view to persuading a potential investor or stakeholder. However, be aware that you may be challenged on your assumptions, so you must still present convincing justifications for your pitch. Your assertions must be backed up by your research. If you are making a negative business case, likewise you have to explain convincingly why the project is not feasible, based on your research and projections, and show that you have examined possible solutions before reaching your final conclusion. You may also make recommendations for ‘next steps’ that could increase the proposition’s feasibility or alternative uses for the technology or idea.

4. Presentation format • Plan to present for 20 minutes. Be concise. Practice in advance if necessary. Know your information. • It is your responsibility to make sure you do not overrun the time allocated. It would be a shame if you could not finish your final presentation due to time overrun, so practice with a stopwatch! • Do not overcrowd slides with text as your audience cannot read everything on screen in the presentation time available. Use verbal explanation and prepare ‘appendix’ slides for details and ‘filling in’; show key headline information in your screen presentation. • Use visual aids where possible to make the message easy to read and engaging. • Bring any prototypes or storyboards – potential investors like to see as much evidence of development as possible, so this is good practice.

5. Introduction to the business This is your ‘elevator’ pitch Summarise in one statement: • Your product or service offer and its relevance to customer needs • A clear opportunity and a bottom-up estimation of market size. • Type of customers and users • Your viable business model and how it fits within your industry structure • What makes this offering competitive against other options available to customers For a negative business case, describe what the original business idea or technology was and list the hypothetical business model(s) you investigated

6. Opportunity and Business Model Based on your further market research: • What is the opportunity that your business addresses? (e.g. A verified customer need not being met by current supply) • What is your proposed Business Model? • Means and channels to source your supplies sell your product offering, pricing model. • Benchmark this model against your competitors to explain how it will build and retain a sustainable market • How is it novel or better, compared with competing offerings? • How does it capitalise on the opportunities uncovered by your research? • Why will enough customers be willing to buy? • How will you protect it from encroachment by competitors? For a negative business case, you may explain what (missing) factors would be required for the business model to fulfil the identified opportunity.

7. Market Summary Describe the market you are addressing: • Your selected target customer segment(s) – who, why, where, when, etc. • Size of market and value (breakdown for different segments and/or revenue sources – do not just give overall market size) • Why is this market attractive for your business? • Show key figures and charts in your presentation

8. Market Research Describe the market research that led you to your conclusions about your target market segments. • i.e.: back up your estimates about market type and size by explaining how you collected your information and made your estimate, your sources, tests you performed, and also discuss what you do not know yet if applicable.

9. Customer profile • Characteristics of customers, for instance • a ‘pen portrait’ (see http://www.aqr.org.uk/glossary/?term=penportrait) to describe a consumer or type of business customer • For B2B, names of companies (esp. if well known) that fit these characteristics • Value proposition • Decision maker in the buying process • For B2B, see your materials on Entrepreneurial market research • For consumer, could be head of household, children, parent, etc., as well as distributors or retailers. • How hungry for solution? (Pre-orders, quoted testimonials, etc.) A negative case may discuss why the product/service offering would not be able to meet identified customer requirements.

10. Industry and competition • Show your industry value chain, your position in the chain, and why you would choose this route for your venture. • Discuss competitive factors, risks and ways you expect to address these (including protection strategies).

11. Product/service offering As applicable: • Describe the product or service offered • Describe the technology or design and its competitive advantage • Describe or show any prototypes or simulations • Describe the value added for the customer

12. Roadmap: Summary of Goals, e.g.: • 1st year • Revenue: €[#] • Burn: €[#] • Headcount: [#] • Customers: [#] • 2nd year • Revenue: €[#] • Burn: €[#] • Headcount: [#] • Customers: [#] • 3rd year • Revenue: €[#] • Burn: €[#] • Headcount: [#] • Customers: [#] • 4th year • Revenue: €[#] • Burn: €[#] • Headcount: [#] • Customers: [#]

13. Milestones As Applicable, list key technological, operational and financial milestones required to achieve your goals. These may include: • Product development • Funding • Commercial/market development • Team development E.g. : Date 1 – raise initial round of funding Date 2 – develop production-ready prototype Date 3 – secure a manufacturer Date 4 – hire sales director and expand sales and marketing team Date 5 – acquire first customer pre-order Date 6 – begin production and distribution Date 7 - acquire X number of customers... etc. A negative case may discuss why the product would not be able to achieve the milestones demanded by current market conditions, for instance because competitors are already closer to launching a marketable product in the time required.

14. Marketing Plan • Target Market/Demographics: [Segment Descriptions] • Distribution and sales channels • Pricing and positioning • Branding and strategic position • Marketing Mix: [Web Ads/Magazine Ads/Trade shows/ Billboards/ TV/Radio/ PR/ viral?] • Marketing and sales team development/hiring A negative case may discuss factors that prohibit effective marketing of this product/service or technology.

15. Financial Plan (1) Financial highlights, e.g.: • Pricing Model Fundamentals • e.g. [Product/Service]: £[#] per [unit(s)] [detail price evolution over time] • Stabilised gross margins • Gross revenue, net income and growth by year • Profit breakeven point • Cash flow, cash breakeven point and capitalisation needs • Return on capital A negative case may show why the financials will not be feasible (e.g. not possible to realise a profit, too much time to cash breakeven, etc.)

16. Financial Plan (2) Insert a graph or spreadsheet of revenue/expense or cash flow projections.

17. Expansion Potential If there are things that can be done in the future to take the business into broader or additional markets, list them.

18. Financing the business List: • Immediate and long-term resource needs; • If seeking funding, state specifics of your funding plan over time and your present equity-for-funding offer • e.g. ‘We require £X equity funding for the first 18 months to reach ‘milestone A’. Based on a valuation of £Ymn for this venture, we offer a stake of 40% for this amount.’ • If subsidies or other cheaper options are available to fund the early venture, discuss. A negative case may explain here why the venture would not be an attractive investment. Or, if the investment potential is very uncertain at such early stage, you may discuss what critical success factors are required for the investment to become attractive, and how much might be invested at risk to reach a stage where the investment return prospects will be clearer.

19. Team at present and in future Describe the team needed to develop this business. • Skills and experience • Roles in the business • Industry/market/financial connections to implement your plan Describe the present team members, their skills and experience, and what roles you would be suitable for if you were to be on this team.

20. Optional: supplementary slides Supplementary slides might include: • Detailed breakdown of financial projections – your coaches may ask you for explanations about your financial assumptions. • your sources of information (such as preferred witnesses), quotations • a more detailed breakdown of relevant statistics or research figures, for instance for your market. You can have these slides to hand if asked by the coaches to justify some of your assumptions. This could help you manage your presentation time while knowing that you have detailed information ready if needed. This is not a requirement but a suggestion; preparing supplementary slides does not automatically mean that you will get to use them, particularly not if time runs out.