PARUL VASHISTHA

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT SKILLS

UNIT-4
Code: BULCHU5202
 Creating Business Plans: Problem Identification and Idea Generation

How to write a business plan

Investors rely on business plans to evaluate the feasibility of a business before funding it,
which is why business plans commonly are associated with getting a loan. But there are
several compelling reasons to consider writing a business plan, even if you don’t need
funding.
Planning. Writing out your plan is an invaluable exercise for clarifying your ideas and can
help you understand the scope of your business, as well as the amount of time, money, and
resources you’ll need to get started.
Evaluating ideas. If you’ve got multiple ideas in mind, a rough business plan for each can
help you focus your time and energy on the ones with the highest chance of success.
Research. To write a business plan, you’ll need to research your ideal customer and your
competitors—information that will help you make more strategic decisions.
Recruiting. Your business plan is one of the easiest ways to communicate your vision to
potential new hires and can help build their confidence in the venture, especially if you’re
in the early stages of growth.
Partnerships. If you plan to approach other companies to collaborate, having a clear
overview of your vision, your audience, and your growth strategy will make it much easier
for them to identify whether your business is a good fit for theirs—especially if they’re
further along than you in their growth trajectory.
Competitions. There are many business plan competitions offering prizes such as
mentorships, grants, or investment capital. To find relevant competitions in your
industry and area, try Googling “business plan competition + [your location]” and
“business plan competition + [your industry].”
Know your audience. When you know who will be reading your plan—even if you’re
just writing it for yourself, to clarify your ideas—you can tailor the language and level
of detail to them. This can also help you make sure you’re including the most relevant
information and figure out when to omit sections that aren’t as impactful.
Have a clear goal. You’ll need to put in more work, and deliver a more thorough plan,
if your goal is to secure funding for your business versus working through a plan for
yourself or even your team.
Invest time in research. Sections of your business plan will primarily be informed by
your ideas and vision, but some of the most crucial information you’ll need to include
relies on research from independent sources. This is where you can invest time in
understanding who you’re selling to, whether there’s demand for your products, and
who else is selling similar products or services.
Keep it short and to the point. No matter who you’re writing for, your business plan
should be short and readable—generally, no longer than 15 to 20 pages. If you do have
additional documents you think may be valuable to your audience and your goals,
consider adding them as appendices
Identify a Problem or Need:
Start by identifying a problem or unmet need in the market. Consider what pain
points potential customers are experiencing or what inefficiencies exist in current
products or services.
Conduct market research to validate the existence of the problem. Look for data,
statistics, and customer feedback to support your findings.
Idea Generation:
Brainstorm potential solutions to the identified problem. Encourage creative
thinking and consider various angles and perspectives.
Look for opportunities to innovate and differentiate your business from
competitors. Think about how you can offer a unique value proposition.
 Design Thinking: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

Design Thinking is a human-centered problem-solving approach that emphasizes

empathy, creativity, and iterative prototyping to transform challenges into
opportunities. It is widely used in various industries to innovate, develop new
products or services, and improve existing ones. Here's how Design Thinking can
help you address challenges and create opportunities:
1. Empathize:
Start by understanding the problem deeply from the perspective of the people who
experience it. Engage with your target audience, conduct interviews, surveys, and
observations to gain insights into their needs, desires, and pain points.
Develop empathy for your users and immerse yourself in their experiences to
uncover hidden issues and opportunities.
2. Define:
Define the specific problem or challenge you want to address based on the
insights gathered during the empathize stage. This involves reframing the
problem in a human-centric way.
Create a clear and concise problem statement that serves as a guiding light
throughout the design process.
3.Ideate:
Encourage brainstorming and idea generation sessions with a diverse group of people,
including designers, users, and stakeholders.
Use techniques such as mind mapping, brainstorming, and "How Might We..." questions
to generate a wide range of creative solutions.
Quantity and diversity of ideas are more important than quality at this stage.
4. Prototype:
Build low-fidelity prototypes of your ideas. These can be sketches, paper models, or
digital wireframes that allow you to quickly visualize and test your concepts.
Prototyping helps you explore different possibilities, identify flaws, and gather feedback
from users early in the process.
5. Test:
Put your prototypes in front of real users and gather their feedback. Observe how they
interact with your solutions and listen to their insights.
Iterate on your designs based on user feedback and continue to refine your prototypes.
6. Iterate:
Repeat the prototyping and testing stages as many times as necessary to refine your
solutions. Each iteration should bring you closer to a viable and user-centered solution.
Don't be afraid to go back to earlier stages if you discover new insights or need to
reframe the problem.
 Creative Thinking & Analytical Thinking: Presentation
Creative Thinking:
Definition: Creative thinking refers to the ability to generate new and
novel ideas, solutions, or approaches to problems. It involves thinking
"outside the box" and often involves breaking away from conventional
or established patterns of thinking.
Characteristics:
Divergent: Creative thinking diverges from the norm and explores a wide
range of possibilities. It seeks to find multiple solutions or perspectives.
Imagination: Creative thinking often involves imagination, intuition, and the
use of metaphors and analogies to connect seemingly unrelated concepts.
Risk-Taking: It can be associated with a willingness to take risks and
explore unconventional or untested ideas.
Non-linear: Creative thinking is non-linear and may involve leaps of thought
or sudden insights.
Open-Ended: It doesn't necessarily have a predetermined endpoint or a
single correct answer.
Applications:
Creative problem solving
Artistic and creative endeavors
Innovation and product development
Brainstorming and idea generation
Storytelling and creative writing
Analytical Thinking:
Definition: Analytical thinking, on the other hand, is the process of breaking
down complex information into smaller, more manageable parts to understand
it better. It involves critical examination, evaluation, and logical reasoning.
Characteristics:
Convergent: Analytical thinking converges toward a specific solution or
answer by systematically evaluating and eliminating possibilities.
Logic and Evidence: It relies on logic, evidence, and structured thinking
to make sense of information and draw conclusions.
Problem Decomposition: It involves breaking a problem into its
constituent elements to analyze and solve it step by step.
Precision: Analytical thinking requires precision and attention to detail.
Quantitative: In some cases, analytical thinking may involve quantitative
data and mathematical reasoning.
Applications:
Scientific research and data analysis
Critical thinking and decision-making
Problem-solving in structured environments (e.g., engineering, finance)
Legal reasoning and analysis
Quality control and process improvement