Professional Engineering Practice Team Project for Semester 1, 2017
(Final Report to be submitted in Week 12)

Team: A team of 4 or 5 members would be ideal. There can be more or less in a team, with special permission.

Task: Write a Business Plan for starting an Engineering-related business of your choice.

The plan should be of a quality that it can be used potentially for obtaining necessary finance for the business, and can serve as a guide for continuing on with the start of the business and its subsequent operations. It may contain the following sections (taken from Hatten 2010, for details, consult the book):

1) Cover Page
2) Table of Contents
3) Executive Summary
4) Business Information
5) Environmental and Industry Analysis
6) Products and Services Planned
7) Marketing Research and Evaluation
8) Business Operations Plan
9) Marketing Plan and Future Directions
10) Management Plan
11) Financial Plan
12) Exit Strategy
13) Benefits to the Community
14) Critical Risks and Assumptions
15) Timeline
16) Appendix

In addition, the submitted report should contain:
1. A diary of all meetings and individual work performed in carrying out this project.
2. A set of power point slides that may be used to present the plan to an examining audience (students can use these power points for their oral presentation).
3. An indication of individual team member’s contribution towards different sections of the
report.
4. A personal/team reflection on the completion of the project, and the problems faced.

Size of the Report:
The report should normally be about 30 A4 pages, typed, single spaced, font size 12, without the Appendix, and the references. A report less than 25 pages or more than 35 pages may not be accepted, unless there are specific convincing reasons.

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Some resources that may be useful in preparing the plan are:
1. The website of Victorian Government that helps business (www.business.vic.gov.au); the site contains guides for business plans.
2. The NAB Business Plan (https://www.nab.com.au/search?queryString=Business+Plan); other bank sites also provide assistance on writing business plans.
3. There are several books that provide helpful hints. For example:
[1] T. S. Hatten, Small Business Management, 5th ed. Mason USA; South-Western, 2010.
[2] J. Covello and B. Hazelgren, Your First Business Plan, 5th ed. Illinois, USA: Sourcebooks, 2005.

Submission (Team Task):

1. NOTE THE DATES. In the coming lecture and tutorial periods, times will be allocated for consultation and work on the team project. Regular monitoring of the progress of each team will be conducted by the lecturer and tutors, and it will have an impact on the final marks. A draft written report (hard copy, one report per team) has to be submitted in the respective tutorial in Week 10 (starting Monday 8th May 2017). Instant feedback will be provided on the report in the lab and tute. In the labs/tutorials of Week 11 further feedback will be provided. A hard copy of the full final report, suitably bound, should be submitted to the tutors in Week 12 by Friday 26th May 2017.

2. A soft copy of the complete report must also to be uploaded on VU Collaborate by 2nd June 2017 by respective team leaders, on behalf of each team.

3. Each member of a team has to present their work in an oral presentation during examination period, during the week 19th June to 23rd June 2017. Details will be announced later. Attendance in the oral presentation is compulsory.

4. A group assignment cover sheet, signed by al members, has to be used in the hard copy.

5. The IEEE style of referencing is to be used.

6. Plagiarised work will be severely penalised.