workshop 6 putting your business plan into action

NORTHUMBRIA COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES INNOVATION CAMPUS

Stephen SlaterPartner

Business Plan - Key Areas• Executive Summary• Introduction & Background• Content – Management• Content – Market• Content – Product• Content – Business Operations• Financial Projections• Appendices


The Do’s• Research the market thoroughly• Ensure you cover all areas of the business• Use a spreadsheet or forecasting software• Use realistic and conservative assumptions• Flex the key assumptions• Produce appropriate projections


The Do’s• Make it punchy and concise• Attractive and easy to read• Put sections in the appropriate places• State sources of information – adds credibility• Make it easy to update – it is a working document


The Don'ts• Rush into it• Forget the possibility of economic changes –

inflation, tax, interest rates etc.• Do it all yourself• Get somebody else to write it for you• Overestimate demand or underestimate costs• Ignore advice


Common Faults - NEL• No or poorly constructed executive summary• Weak management and controls• Bottom up financial projections• Poorly thought through strategy• Inconsistencies and spelling mistakes• Lack of market knowledge• Lack of financial detail• Too little emphasis on the main issues



Approach to funding•Research each potential funding provider

•Establish early contact

•Ensure you meet the criteria for investment

•Review your business plan before submission

•Engage with professional advisors (if necessary)

•Do you know any of their previous investments?

•Make the best first impression

•Expect complications

•Never assume anything!


Building your professional advisor team – how can they help?

•Specific technical expertise – financial, legal, IP, commercialisation

•Previous experience and success

•Geared up to working with early stage businesses

•Contact sphere

•Making the process smoother and quicker


Contact Details

[email protected]

0191 256 9500


Ross Golightly


Product Development and Prototyping in the Commercialisation Process

• Start with the end in mind (outcome orientation) – define your desired outcome, potential business model (e.g. licensing / manufacturing etc.) and overall funding requirement, including time and resource requirements.

• All R&D and IP must be commercially focussed with the potential to be realised as an actual product/service or a technology to improve existing products/services.

• Start with the definition of a need and seek to create a temporary monopoly – uncontested market space that is uniquely yours.

• Don’t operate in a vacuum – start-up’s face a myriad of decisions and challenges and building a professional advisory “cabinet” can be one of the best investments you make.

• Prototyping is crucial – it provides something tangible for an investor, market partner or licensee and increases your negotiating position with licensees because they aren’t assuming the R&D costs to finish the development.


Product Development and Prototyping in the Commercialisation Process

• Consider the merits of different exploitation strategies: licensing requires less funding but is less equitable; building a scalable business is more equitable but requires high financing and is time and resource intensive.

• Effective commercial strategies should look at how you displace the major players – think cost, differentiation or focus and a strategy based on concentration or differentiation within specific market segments.

• Overall, YOU must be believable – the first sale is always to yourself. If you don’t believe it, no one else will!


Thanks for Listening ...

Q&A

Ross [email protected]

Tel: 07984 379 558 / 0191 4604126www.twitter.com/RossGolightlywww.spheraconsulting.co.uk

Take home tips...

Matthew RipponBHP Law

Claire RutherfordMurgitroyd & Company


Internal relationships - how do we make sure everybody gets on? Internal relationships - how do we make sure everybody gets on?


External relationships - looking for control at those key interfacesExternal relationships - looking for control at those key interfaces


Don’t shoot yourself in the foot - a Patent Application can only be filed if the invention is new and has not been publicly disclosed

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot - a Patent Application can only be filed if the invention is new and has not been publicly disclosed


Ownership – be clear from the start who owns the IPOwnership – be clear from the start who owns the IP


Choose the right name – stand out from the crowdChoose the right name – stand out from the crowd


Any Questions?


Plumchit Dental Supplies Ltd• Plumchit Dental Supplies Ltd is a long established business. For

years it has retailed equipment and consumables to dentists around the country (well, someone has to).

• Whilst attending a dentistry conference in West Bromwich, Plumchit’s managing director, Bill Bailey, met Sean Locke, a salesman working with a supplier. Over a glass of pinot grigio the two get talking and it turned out that Sean had been developing an idea for a new range of false teeth made from a revolutionary new resin developed in the Russian space programme, which he calls ‘Space Teeth’.

• Bill offers Sean a role with his organisation whereby Sean is to come to work for Bill and they are going to work together to develop this new product range.


• What possible challenges do Bill and Sean face?• How might they best go about taking this product to

market?• Are there any issues that Bill needs to think about?• Are there any issues that Sean needs to think about?• What kind of business structure could Bill put in place to

protect the idea and incentivise Sean?• What types of financial assistance would be available for

Professional advice – what kind of advice?Developing the idea


Funky Tunes• Adam and Joe have been friends since their days at university.

They started their business in 2003, writing jingles for radio stations and advertising campaigns. They now employ 2 others and turned over a little more than £1.5 million last year and are doing very nicely thank you.

• Adam has come up with a new idea that will enable people to compose their own jingles based on a series of standard musical themes that Adam and Joe regularly use in their work. Joe doesn’t like it but knows a geeky software type, Phil, who can put together the coding for them. Phil runs his own sole trader software consultancy and provides this kind of service for many other businesses. Phil is confident that he can deliver the system Adam and Joe need to deliver this product.


• What are the options here for taking this product to market?

• What are the IP issues here?• Bearing in mind Joe is not confident that this is

going to work, how might this venture be structured?

• What role is Phil going to be playing in all this?• Should Phil be considering his own business

structure?• What funding maybe available to develop the

product?


workshop 6 putting your business plan into action

Education