ALL YOU DOING IS THE competitive analysis SLIDE & REPORT
Now that you have each proposed a media innovation, you will work as a team to choose the one you collectively feel most passionate about and develop it through the business plan and pitch stages. This is your chance to apply all of our course lessons and discussions to practice, and perhaps even bring your idea to life.
The course project is based on a new (social or digital) media innovation that you want to create and that you need money in order to build. You will be working collectively as a startup team and pretending that you are trying to raise money for the innovation. The project will result in a report and presentation to funders who may or may not give you money, depending on the quality of your project. You will be working on various parts of this project over the course of the rest of the semester, but ultimately, you will be responsible for putting together the entire package (report + presentation) by the last live session. The project is comprised of two components including:
Business Plan – The bulk of the report will be dedicated to the business plan, which you need in order to prove that you have done your research. The business plan also provides the backup information for the pitch presentation. Research is required. Document citations with a consistent style (APA or MLA is fine). You will work on this as a group; it is suggested that you assign sections to members of your team. We will spend time in class learning and discussing proper elements of a business plan, but in general it should be a formal and professional document that covers the below areas in detail. Refer to the lecture on Business Models for specific content and don’t forget to apply some of the models and tools we have already discussed to appropriately flesh out these sections.
Cover page and table of contents
Executive Summary – an overview of the problem and how you will solve it
Business Description – description of business, business model, operations overview
Environmental Analysis – analysis of industry, competition, and state of the market
Marketing Plan (focus on social media marketing)
Management summary
Attachments, milestones, financial projections (if applicable)
Elevator Pitch and Pitch Presentation – this is the brief presentation you will give to investors and others interested in your product/service. Refer to the course lecture on pitching for more detailed instructions and resources to help guide your pitch project. You will present your pitch deck to “investors” during our final live session. The pitch presentation will be based on the business plan and should include:
Brand Identity (image, tagline)
Problem-solution Narrative
Key Features
Value Proposition
Product-Market Fit
Expertise: Your story and why you?
Business Model: Key Revenue Streams
Market Approach & Strategy: How you grow your business
Competitive Analysis
Financial Projections and Investment: Your ‘Ask’ for funding, Basic use of funds (if applicable)
A note on group work:
