Scenario

You and your business partners have bought/leased an old property in the country which you intend to set up as a tourism attraction. It is set in a beautiful area with mountains and a stream and there is good access via a sealed road. There is a large old homestead which you can use for accommodation and an old winery, some fields and a barn for animals.

You plan to provide guests with a complete ecological country experience.

You can accommodate up to 12 guests at a time and plan to provide breakfast and an optional packed lunch each day, and a complementary 'farm dinner' as part of the package. All meals will use locally-grown produce where possible. You will grow herbs and some vegetables in the garden.

You are looking at options for activities. You are considering hikes in the local area, horse riding, 'hay rides', and canoeing. Down the track you would like to harvest the grapes from some of the old vines and make wine. Your guests can participate in the picking, production and tasting. You are also considering the option of keeping bees to produce honey.

You anticipate that you will need a cook, wait staff who can also serve drinks, make coffee and assist in catering, a couple of gardeners and one person to assist in setting up some of the attractions. You will also need a cleaner and housekeeper to assist with the laundry. Your partners may decide to take on one or more of these roles. You intend to use both part-time and full-time staff as needed. You will employ tradespersons to any construction or heavy or specialised work. The place looks reasonably attractive but will need painting and some renovations.

You will need to purchase a range of large and small equipment including a commercial fridge, a commercial stove, a microwave, small kitchen equipment and crockery and cutlery. You will also set up a small bar area. You also need bedding, towels and other linen.

There are no competitors that you are aware of in the immediate area. However, there are many similar establishments in the State, and you have researched and know that this type of place is very popular, with backpackers, older travellers and families, particularly from overseas. You need to check tourism statistics to confirm that this type of tourism attraction will continue to grow, as the market is continually changing.

Tasks

Stage One: Developing the business plan

1. You first need to meet with your business partners to confirm the exact type of business, the location and the products and services you will be offering. Conduct research into other businesses similar to your proposed business and the location.

You should also look at examples of strategic, business and operational plans of similar businesses from the website to get some ideas.

Make notes as you do research as you will be needing this for your business plan.

2. Meet with your partners to discuss and analyse the business vision, mission, values, goals and objectives of your planned business. Write these up as clear statements. (You may need to change these as you continue with your planning.)

3. Decide who your business stakeholders will be and a list of those you need to consult with in doing your planning and research. Consult with key stakeholders such as potential suppliers, local business owners, council or regulatory bodies. Make notes and take records of your meetings, emails and phone calls.

Note: Your trainer/assessor will observe you on at least one occasion when you are consulting and will assess your communication skills.

4. You now need to review the market requirements for the product or service. Decide on the product and services, product type, market position, pricing strategy, value to customer, growth potential.

5. Profile the market. Include:

profile of your intended customers

customer demographics

who are your competitors?

the various pricing options

your marketing approaches.

You may need to do some research to position this well. Describe the research you did and cite any sources you used.

6. Conduct a SWOT analysis to look at the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for your business, together with your business partners.

7. Identify the planned operations: suppliers, plant and equipment, technology, trading hours, communication channels, payment type

8. expansion

9. Identify the staffing requirements. Include required staff, recruitment options, training programs, proposed organisational structure, management arrangements

10. Identify the physical and financial resource requirements for the business. Develop a start-up budget.

11. Identify any permits or licences that may be required for your new business and any legal requirements.

12. Write business plan using the template on the following pages. (You may use your own template but must include all the required sections and information.)

Your plan must include:

a)Executive summary

b)Business details and registration

c)Permit and licence requirements, legal requirements

d)Business premises, location

e)Products and services

f)Market research and planned marketing activities

g)Operational planning

h)Staff and key personnel

i)SWOT analysis

j)Future goals and objectives

k)Finance, funding and resource requirements

l)Financial indicators, productivity and performance targets for key result areas

m)Strategy for monitoring and reporting on performance