BUSINESS SIMULATION: DESIGNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Challenge:

You have decided to open a Coffee Shop in the Cambridge area and are busy preparing for the grand opening in 3 months. Over the next two weeks you will have a number of the business plan elements to completed including the executive summary, profit projections, posters and a company website.

Overview:

This simulation will require the use of several business applications including Word, Excel, Publisher, CorelDraw, Flash and Dreamweaver.

You will have only class time to complete your tasks. If you are ill, a doctor's note will be required for you to be given extra time.

Project Plan - Word and Excel

In Word, create a table to hold your plan for your final evaluation. The plan must include all the tasks you are to complete (including creating the plan), an estimate of how many classes each task will require and the date you will start each task.

Place this information into an Excel spreadsheet. Use this Excel spreadsheet to create a gantt chart for you work during the final evaluation. Be as realistic in your time estimates as possible.

In Word, below your plan, create a second table to track your daily progress. The progress table must have a column for the date and a column for work completed. At the end of each class, update this progress table with the day's date and a short paragraph of what you accomplished. Also comment as to whether you are still on schedule.

On the last day of the evaluation period, write a reflective paragraph on how well you stayed on schedule.

Company Logo - CorelDraw

Use CorelDraw to create an original logo for your coffee house. You may include some clipart or graphic from the Internet, but your image must modify any art you include.

Balance Sheet: Company Profits for the first 3 months

Use Excel and input the following income, expense and profit values  below.  

1. Use functions to calculate the average and maximum value for each row entry (do not type the numbers shown below)
2. Use a formula to calculate Profit by subtracting your Expenses from the Income.
3. Complete a bar chart that displays the income, expenses and profit for the month of Feb.
4. Complete a pie chart displaying the profits for all three months.

Advertising Poster using Publisher

In order to attract customers for the grand opening, you need to create a one-page ad to be delivered to the local area. For the openning, a celebrity of your choice has been invited, that will attract the type of customers you want. Make it catch the reader's attention and make sure you include the 5 W's:

• Who - Name of Business with logo
• What - Grand Opening
• Where - Address and Phone Number
• When - specific date of Grand Opening and promote the celebrities that will be attending
• Why - special promotion, price, discount offered.

This advertisement should promote the Business and attract customers.

You must plan the design, the message, and any graphic you might include. A picture of the building itself is a must.

Dreamweaver Web site

Flash Logo Animation

Using your idea for your logo, create a Flash animation, which can be included on your website. Your movie can either be designed to be a small animation that might appear in the upper corner of each page, or as an entire page itself.

Executive Summary - MS Word

An executive summary is a one page summary or overview of the business, whose audience is the executive of the company. It will explain:

• how the product/service is different from similar product/services (theme)
• target market
• location and size (pick an actual location in Cambridge)
• philosophy
• a financial analysis projecting profits and expenditures over 3 years.

Form Letter to Suppliers inviting them to Grand Opening

The purpose of the letter is to invite your suppliers/investors to the grand opening of your Coffee House. Include the who, what, where, when and why's of the event (see poster). Be sure to mention the 'High profile' person  that will also be attending to help promote your venture. Be sure to set up your business letter in proper business letter format (Block Style - see below), and to proof read and spell check the document. Your letter must include your company logo.