Business Plan

You have journeyed through so many stages of bringing your tech idea to life – identifying a problem, understanding users, planning your app (MVP), thinking about marketing, finances, maybe even building prototypes and training AI models! Now it’s time to bring all of that incredible work together into one important document: the Business Plan.

This document is your chance to tell the complete story of your project – what problem you’re solving, how your app works, who it’s for, how it will reach people, and how it can be sustainable. It’s a crucial part of your Technovation submission and shows the judges the depth of your thinking.

Lesson Topic: The Business Plan

Section 1: What is a Business Plan & Why Write One?

A Business Plan is a formal written document that describes:

• Your project/company idea.
• Your goals (both social impact and potentially business goals).
• Your strategy for achieving those goals.

Think of it as the detailed map and instruction manual for your venture. For Technovation, writing it helps you:

• Organize Your Thoughts: Puts all your ideas and research in one logical place.
• Communicate Your Vision: Clearly explains your project to judges, mentors, and potential future supporters.
• Meet Submission Requirements: It’s a key deliverable for the competition.
• Identify Gaps: Writing it down often reveals areas you need to think about more.
• Guide Your Team: Acts as a reference point to keep everyone aligned.

(The lesson links to a video about crafting a powerful business plan – make sure to watch it!)

Section 2: The Ingredients (Sections of the Technovation Business Plan)

Your Technovation Business Plan needs to cover several key areas. You’ve already done the thinking for most of these in previous lessons! Now you need to write them up clearly and concisely. Here are the typical sections:

1. Executive Summary:
   • What it is: A brief (usually 1 page or less) overview of the entire business plan. It’s the first thing someone reads, so make it compelling!
   • Content: Briefly introduce the problem, your solution (your app), your target market, your core mission/goal, what makes your solution unique, and maybe a key financial highlight (like projected sustainability).
   • Tip: Write this section LAST, after you’ve written everything else, but place it FIRST in the document. (See the Cerebrate team example linked in the lesson).
2. Company Description:
   • What it is: Introduces your team/venture.
   • Content: State your Mission Statement. Describe your structure (e.g., Social Enterprise, Non-Profit). Briefly introduce your team and roles (optional here, can be separate). Share the origin story – how did you identify the problem and come up with the idea? What are your main objectives for the near future? (See the RecycleRight example).
3. Products and Services:
   • What it is: A detailed description of your app.
   • Content: Explain your MVP features clearly. How does the app work from a user’s perspective? What technology did you use (Thunkable/App Inventor? Specific components? AI model details?) Mention key UI/UX design choices (why it looks/feels the way it does). List planned Future Features. Include screenshots of your prototype or app if possible! (See the Cerebrate example).
4. Market Analysis:
   • What it is: Shows you understand your users and the environment you’re operating in.
   • Content: Describe your Target Audience in detail (use info from your user research – personas are great!). Include your Market Size and Market Opportunity estimates (from Lesson 6.2). Analyze your Competitors (from Unit 3) – who else is working on this? What are their strengths/weaknesses? How is your solution different or better? A simple SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for your own project can be very effective here. (See the Cerebrate example).
5. Strategy and Implementation:
   • What it is: How you will reach users and make your project happen.
   • Content: Detail your Marketing Plan (goals, strategies/channels you chose in Lesson 6.1). Explain your Distribution Plan (how users will get the app – the ‘Place’ from your 4 P’s). Describe your Branding (logo, name, colors, and why you chose them). (See the RecycleRight example).
6. Financial Plan and Projections:
   • What it is: Your project’s numbers.
   • Content: State your chosen Revenue Model (Lesson 6.2). Include your 5-year Revenue Projections table/worksheet. Include your 5-year Operating Cost Projections table/worksheet (previous lesson). Include your 5-year Profit Projections table/worksheet (Profit = Revenue – Costs). Crucially, explain the key assumptions you made when estimating your numbers (e.g., “We assumed 10% user growth per year based on planned marketing,” “Internet costs estimated based on current MTN bundle prices”). (See the Cerebrate example).
7. (Optional) Team Members:
   • What it is: Introduces your amazing team!
   • Content: List each team member, their role on the project (e.g., Project Manager, Lead Developer, Business Manager, Marketing Lead), and maybe highlight relevant skills or experiences they bring. (See the Kap team example).

Remember: You can use charts, graphs, screenshots, and images throughout your business plan to make it more engaging and easier to understand!

Section 3: Putting it All Together (Activity – Plan & Write)

This is a significant task, so break it down!

Your Mission: Compile all your previous work and write your Business Plan draft.

Tool: Use the worksheet provided in the lesson primarily as a Checklist to ensure you cover all sections. Use a word processor (like Google Docs or Microsoft Word) to write the actual document.

Process:

1. Gather Your Resources: Collect all your notes, worksheets, research summaries, marketing plan, financial projections, etc., from Units 2 through 6.
2. Structure Your Document: Create a new document with headings for each required section of the business plan (Executive Summary, Company Description, etc.).
3. Write Section by Section: Tackle one section at a time. Use your collected information from previous lessons to write the content for each part. Don’t worry about perfection in the first draft; focus on getting the information down clearly.
   • Example: For the ‘Market Analysis’ section, pull out your user persona descriptions, competitor notes, and market size estimates. Write paragraphs summarizing them.
   • Example: For the ‘Financial Plan’, insert the table/worksheet you created and write text explaining your revenue model and key assumptions.
4. Write the Executive Summary LAST: Once all other sections are drafted, write a concise and compelling summary of the key points.
5. Allocate Time: Plan for multiple work sessions to complete this. Don’t try to do it all in one sitting!

Section 4: Polish and Finalize (Reflection & Review)

A draft isn’t finished! Polishing is key:

1. Get Feedback: Crucial step! Ask your mentor(s), a trusted teacher, a parent, or another knowledgeable adult to read your draft. Ask for honest feedback on clarity, completeness, and persuasiveness. Is anything confusing? Are there gaps?
2. Incorporate Feedback: Discuss the feedback as a team. Decide which suggestions to incorporate and revise your draft.
3. Team Read-Through: Read the entire business plan aloud together. This helps catch awkward phrasing, inconsistencies, and errors.
4. Final Checklist & Proofread: Use the lesson’s worksheet one last time to ensure all required components are included. Proofread meticulously for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and typos. Getting help from someone with strong English skills for proofreading can be very beneficial. A polished document makes a much better impression!

Section 5: Quick Review (Key Term)

• Business Plan: A formal document detailing your company/project, goals, strategies, market, and financial projections. It’s your project’s blueprint and story.

Section 6: More Examples & Resources

The lesson provides links to full business plan examples from past Technovation teams and some general business examples. Use these for inspiration on structure, level of detail, and presentation style – but remember to tell your own project’s unique story!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Technovation Team Complete Examples

• Team ONE WORLD Beyond Pandemic – Goal Shadowing
• Team RecycleRight -RecycleRight
• The Wave Team – Cerebrate
• Team Aguacates Unidos por México – Kap
• Team GirlEsc – EnGuard

Non-Technovation Examples

• Gobi (materials provided by Accenture)
• Coffeehouse
• Agriculture Farm

Creating a comprehensive Business Plan is a major accomplishment and a huge step towards finalizing your Technovation submission. It pulls together all the strategic thinking you’ve done over the past weeks. Work together as a team, use the resources and examples available, get feedback, and polish it well. This document is a testament to your hard work and vision! Mbasuubiza Obuwanguzi! (I wish you success!)