Paper details:
**Please review the attached textbook for information needed**
Instruction:
(A) OVERVIEW – The purpose of this assignment is to help you to consolidate your knowledge of the different functional areas of social economy
organizations in a very tangible way. Specifically, you are to develop a business plan for a social economy business which incorporates an understanding of
the challenges and approaches to reconciling social economy objectives, values and principles with operating a successful (effective and efficient) business.
The plan should be for a start-up, and it should be realistic (that is, it should be a business that you could develop shortly after graduation, based upon
contacts that you already have. Remember, social economy businesses do not have outside investors that can inject large sums of money).
For the purpose of this assignment, the following will be considered social economy businesses:
• marketing (producer) cooperatives
• user (consumer) cooperatives
• worker cooperatives
• multi-stakeholder cooperatives (having more than one member category)
• commercial (or quasi-commercial) not-profits
• social enterprises supporting a parent non-profit organization
• social economy businesses owned collectively by an aboriginal community
• community supported agriculture and fisheries
(B) STEP ONE – THE PROPOSAL – To make certain that you get off on the correct foot and start the assignment in a timely fashion, you are to submit a
short proposal (one paragraph) to your Tutorial Leader by Mar 17th. The proposal, to be submitted through Canvas, should indicate the following:
(a) the type of social economy business you are planning on developing;
(b) the economic sector in which the business will be operating;
(c) the social objectives of the business;
(d) a few basic goals that you hope to accomplish.
(C) STEP TWO – THE PLAN – There are a number of different formats for developing business plans. These may have different numbers of components (and
may combine components in different ways). You should A list of key components should include:
1) An Executive Summary (1 point)
2) A Mission/Vision Statement (2 points) – This should include: (a) the basic social objective(s) to which the organization is committed; (b) some goals that
it hopes to achieve; (c) its primary target beneficiaries and consumers; (d) the basic product(s) and/or service(s) to be offered, and (e) the geographic scope
of its operations.
3) A Descriiption of the Team (2) – This should include a (short) list of the incorporators/the initial board of the enterprise (with credentials, experience, etc.).
You do not need to provide the details of actual people, but profiles of the type of partners that you can realistically hope to assemble. You should also
include here other supporters (individuals, organizations).
4) SEB Type and Organizational Design (5 points) – This should indicate: (a) the type of SE business that you are developing; (b) the type of organizational
design you will be employing (including the roles of/relationships between board and management) and; (c) key policies/practices that you will be adopting.
5) Market Analysis (5 points) – This should include (a) an overview of the product/service market in which you are competing; (b) an indication of the size of
the market (e.g., annual sales); (c) how competitive the market is (and dominant actors); (d) whether there are any niche markets (e.g., high quality products,
ethically and/or environmentally sourced products), and (e) your key competitors, etc. Tables or figures might be appropriate here. You might want to
considering a specific template for your analysis (e.g., PEST, PESTLE, STEEPLE, STEEPLED, etc.)
6) A Business Strategy (5 points) – This should include; (a) your broad strategy (e.g., cost competition, product specification, market focus, etc.); (b) specific
components of your strategy (e.g., branding strategy, marketing strategy, cost control strategy, product development, etc.); (c) specific comparative
advantages (disadvantages) which facilitate (inhibit) the successful implementation of your strategy (e.g., access to resources, a well-educated workforce, a
good story, name recognition, etc.); and; (d) a
more detailed account of your products/services. There are, of course, different ways of organizing such a discussion (e.g., SWOT analysis, competitive
forces analysis, etc.).
7) A Marketing Plan (5 points) – This should include (a) the selection of media/approaches (e.g., direct marketing, advertising, trade-shows, on-line
marketing, etc.) and the rationale for the type of approach you are adopting; (b) determining the product mix (product, price, place and promotion); (c) the
goals and the timeline for the plan, and; (d) a method for monitoring the plan and evaluating success.
8) A Financial Plan (5 points) – This should include: (a) a budget (for start-up costs, staff, etc.) as well as; (b) a list of potential financiers (including possible
in-kind donations) and;(c) some rationale for the financiers (donors) you are hoping to engage.
9) Financial Projections (5 points) – This should include projections for 2-3 years, giving some indication of when you expect to begin generating a surplus.
10) Reporting Methods (5 points) – In additional to conventional reporting methods (e.g., balance sheets, profit-loss statements), social economy business
will typically provide some form of social and/or environmental (impact) reporting. These might involve qualitative and/or quantitative methods. You should
indicate the types of social and/or environmental impact reporting that you will be using. (D) KEYS TO SUCCESS
(1) Draw upon course materials (the text, lectures, videos, etc.) when developing your business plan.
(2) Be aware, and highlight how operating as a social economy business impacts the different facets of how you do business (e.g., finance, management,
marketing, sales strategy, reporting, etc.) make certain that you include all the key components necessary for an effective business plan.
(3) In developing your business plan, you need to be specific. For example, when talking about funding sources if is not sufficient to say that you will seek
funding from government programs or (private or community) foundations. You need to indicate which government programs or foundations you will
applying to (along with the amounts that you are applying for), and why you think you might be successful in getting funds from these sources. Similarly,
when talking about your organizational type and management structure, as well as your product offerings, and marketing and sales plans, you need to
indicate whether and how these aligns with the mission, vision and values of the business.