BUS357 Copyright © 2020 Singapore University of Social Science.docx

BUS357 Copyright © 2020 Singapore University of Social
Sciences (SUSS) Page 1 of 11
ECA – January Semester 2020
BUS357
End-of-Course Assessment – January Semester
2020
Starting and Managing a Business
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:
1. This End-of-Course Assessment paper comprises ELEVEN
(11) pages (including the
cover page).

2. You are to include the following particulars in your
submission: Course Code, Title of the
ECA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.
3. Late submission will be subjected to the marks deduction
scheme. Please refer to the
Student Handbook for details.
IMPORTANT NOTE
ECA Submission Deadline: 09 March 2020, 12noon
ECA Submission Guidelines
Please follow the submission instructions stated below:
A - What Must Be Submitted
You are required to submit the following THREE (3) items for
marking and grading:

highest weightage).
o SUSS conducts Hands-on workshop on how to record ECA
video presentation for SBIZ
students every semester. Students will receive an invite to the
workshop via Student
Portal, Canvas as well as email, a month before the ECA cut-off
date.
o The ECA video recording and submission guides are also
available as an external
links/downloads in the invite.
the video presentation is
based.
Please verify your submissions after you have submitted the
above THREE (3) items.
B - Submission Deadline
Summary are to be submitted by
12 noon on the submission deadline.

-off date for
each of the THREE (3) items.
subjected to mark-deduction
scheme by the University. Please refer to Section 5.2 Para 2.4
of the Student Handbook.
C - How the (3) Items Should Be Submitted
Canvas via TurnItIn (for
plagiarism detection)
for the user guide)
o submit online to Canvas via TurnItIn (PPT must be converted
to PDF and submission
is in PDF only)
o The PPT must contain at least 20 words
o Refer to workshop invite for the user guide
video files. If you are using
public wireless (WiFi) connection (e.g. SG Wireless at public

areas), you might encounter
a break in the connection when sending large files.
D - Additional guidelines on file formatting are given as
follows:
1. Report
generated by
Microsoft Word 2007 or higher.
2. Video
NOT
required.
minutes

There are two methods for ECA video assignment submission;
either
Record Media or Upload Media.
For Record Media
Video can be recorded via Canvas through desktop/laptop with
built-
in webcam and microphone or through Canvas mobile app.
For Upload Media
Video can be recorded using other recording devices and
uploaded as
a media file. Do ensure that your video file conforms to these
requirements:
a) File Format: .mp4
b) File Size: No more than 500MB
Note: You will receive an invite to the ECA Hands-On
workshop via
Student Portal, Canvas as well as email, a month before the
ECA cut-
off date. The invite will allow you to register for the workshop

as well
as download a copy of the user guide.
3. Presentation
Summary
to
PDF format before you submit.
ximum number of slides is fifteen (15).
templates from the Internet.
E – Please be Aware of the Following:
Submission in hardcopy or any other means not given in the

above guidelines will not be
accepted. You do not need to submit any other forms or cover
sheets (e.g. form ET3) with your
ECA.
You are reminded that electronic transmission is not immediate.
The network traffic may be
particularly heavy on the date of submission deadline and
connections to the system cannot be
guaranteed. Hence, you are advised to submit your work early.
Canvas will allow you to
submit your work late but your work will be subjected to the
mark-deduction scheme. You
should therefore not jeopardise your course result by submitting
your ECA at the last minute.
It is your responsibility to check and ensure that your files are
successfully submitted to
Canvas.
F - Plagiarism and Collusion
Plagiarism and collusion are forms of cheating and are not
acceptable in any form in a

student’s work, including this ECA. Plagiarism and collusion
are taking work done by others
or work done together with others respectively and passing it
off as your own. You can avoid
plagiarism by giving appropriate references when you use other
people’s ideas, words or
pictures (including diagrams). Refer to the APA Manual if you
need reminding about quoting
and referencing. You can avoid collusion by ensuring that your
submission is based on your
own individual effort.
The electronic submission of your ECA will be screened by
plagiarism detection software. For
more information about plagiarism and collusion, you should
refer to the Student Handbook
(Section 5.2.1.3). You are reminded that SUSS takes a tough
stance against plagiarism or
collusion. Serious cases will normally result in the student
being referred to SUSS’s Student
Disciplinary Group. For other cases, significant mark penalties
or expulsion from the course
will be imposed.

Important Note: Grading of TMA/GBA/ECA Submissions
Marks awarded to your assignment are based on the following
guidelines:
1. 80% of the marks are allocated to the content of your
answers:
extent to which they
cover the key points that correctly and comprehensively address
each question.
course materials and,
wherever relevant, from other credible sources.
2. 20% of the marks are allocated to the presentation of your
answers:
Wherever applicable, the marks awarded to how your answers
are presented depend
on the extent to which your answers:
clear, logical and succinct

manner;
rovide proper and adequate in-text citation and referencing
to content drawn from
course materials and other credible sources;
particular for:
-text citations and end-of-report references;
terminology commonly used in
discussions about the topic(s) covered by each question;
report;
syntactically correct;
numerical formulation and results
in a logical manner that follow the APA formatting and style
guidelines;
APA formatting and style
guidelines;

r page;
guidelines, if any
is prescribed;
margins;
include page numbers and appendices, if necessary.
1 You can find a short tutorial on the APA formatting and style
here: https://is.gd/mgEOnC . Additional
details (pertaining to tables & figures) can also be found here:
https://is.gd/O4vDdT .
https://is.gd/mgEOnC
https://is.gd/O4vDdT
Video Presentation Evaluation Criteria
Note: Students will be assessed on the quality of the
presentation and not the quality of the video
recording. However, the recording is expected to have video and
audio clarity. Showing

your PowerPoint projection in the background is NOT required.
Organisation of Presentation /8
• Logical flow of presentation
Posture & Body Language /5
• Posture: Standing, straight back etc…
• Body language:
– Hand gestures supporting oral arguments, etc…
Eye-Contact /5
• Looking at the video camera
• No reading of slides or notes or cue cards
Pace & Articulation /7
• Pace: Speaks neither too fast nor too slow
• Articulation: Oral expression is clear and confident in the
presentation.
TOTAL /25
Presentation Summary Evaluation Criteria

Format and Style of Slides /3
• Layout, clarity of text elements, colour blends, graphical
enhancements
Clarity and Coherence /4
• Proper flow - title page, introduction, body, results,
recommendations /
discussion points, conclusion/summary; quick to understand,
free from
grammatical errors
Creativity /3
• Ability to use creative elements to value-add to the
presentation so as to
enhance understanding and clarity of difficult concepts
TOTAL /10

SECTION A (Total 65 marks)
Question 1
You are to formulate a business plan to analyse the
opportunities for launching a local or
overseas-sourced franchised business at Paya Lebar Quarter
(PLQ) Mall. Your chosen
franchise must be in line with PLQ’s unique WELL certification
in promoting “health and
wellness”.
In your comprehensive business plan, it should use a SWOT
analysis framework to discuss the
business internal and external environmental and examine the
market segmentation. You will
need to design a marketing plan and the organisation structure
and discuss the legal issues
relating to obtaining and operating a franchised business.
As part of the financial analysis, you need to apply a break-even
analysis, including designing
a strategy for capital funding in relation to the expected

financial returns.
The business plan needs to be well written to appeal to Angel
Investors for their consideration
in investing in your business.
(65 marks)
Background
Slated to be opened in the fourth quarter of 2019, the S$3.2
billion Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ)
will be the newest addition in transforming the Paya Lebar
Central precinct into a vibrant
business and lifestyle hub. Adjacent to the Paya Lebar MRT
interchange, PLQ will serve an
estimated working population of about 22,000 within a seven-
minute walk and more than one
million residents in the area.
The four-hectare mixed-use development comprises of three
office towers (PLQ Workplace),
three residential towers with 429 apartments (Park Place
Residences @ PLQ) and a retail

complex with over 200 shops covering 340,000 square feet of
retail space (PLQ Mall).
A uniqueness of Paya Lebar Quarter is that it is the first in
Singapore to be awarded the WELL
Core and Shell Certification issued by the International WELL
Building Institute (IWBI). The
WELL Building Standard (WELL) is the world’s first building
standard focused exclusively
on promoting the overall well-being, health and productivity of
occupants
(www.wellcertified.com). The integrated development will have
a wellness theme with
100,000 square feet of green public spaces and a 20,000 square
feet covered event space outside
the mall. There will also be a 6m-wide cycling trail and
pedestrian pathway within the
development that will link to the Sims Avenue park connector.
You are considering obtaining a franchise as a way to start a
business. An advantage of
established franchises is the strong brand-name appeal that is
backed by a proven track record.
Coupled with the training and guidance provided by the
franchisor, the chances of success are

higher. The Franchising and Licensing Association (FLA)
Singapore offers details of the
various franchises available in Singapore
(www.flasingapore.org).
http://www.wellcertified.com/
http://www.flasingapore.org/
Guidelines and Assumptions
1. The ECA shall be typed in Times New Roman font size 12
with 1.5 line spacing and
block format. All graphs and tables must be numbered, have a
title and in-text citations
and an end-text reference list. Please upload your report in a
Microsoft Word doc format.
All students have to follow the report format provided in this
document.
2. Ensure that your ECA is convincing. Refer to the relevant
sections in the textbook, study
guide and other notes given by the course delivery team in order

to complete the report.
3. You are free to conduct library research, field research,
interviews, etc. during the writing
of the business plan.
4. The selected franchise should fulfil a key criterion of the
lease agreement of providing
“health and/or wellness” related products and/or services that
complements PLQ’s WELL
certification. How this criterion shall be met by the franchise
concept must be clearly
articulated in the “Description of the Franchise and its Unique
Selling Point” (section 2.1).
Franchised concepts that do not fulfil this requirement (example
wholly F&B and
convenience stores) will not be accepted.
5. The first month of operations is the gestation period of the
new business, e.g., staff
recruitment, renovation, staff training and etc. The first revenue
can only be received by
the new business from the second month onwards in the
financial forecast.
6. The depreciation for any capital investment is a straight line
over three (3) years.

7. Your business will be situated at PLQ Mall. The unfurnished
unit of 1,200 square feet is
available at a monthly rental of $18,000, fixed for a minimum
3-year lease. Rental deposit
required is equivalent to 2 months’ rental, to be paid together
with the first month’s rental
upon commencement of the lease. Sub-letting is not allowed by
the management.
8. The Cost of Capital (Weighted Average Cost of Capital,
WACC) formula is:
WACC =
E
x Re +
D
x Rd x (1 – Tc)
V V
Funding from Equity

*Specific Tax Exemptions, Credits & Reliefs (e.g., Tax
Exemption Scheme for New
Start-Up Companies), Concessions, Rebates, Loss-Carrying
Forward and similar
Schemes are to be ignored in computations
This is the full equation of the WACC formula and it must be
used in this ECA. If any other
simplified WACC formula is used in this ECA, no marks will be
awarded.
9. The ECA business plan and other outputs should be written
and presented from the three
viewpoints – the Entrepreneur’s, the Marketplace’s and the
Investor’s.
10. Assumptions made must be supported by appropriate
references shown in the appendices.

All sources must be properly cited in the text, and included in
the reference list.
11. The report length must not be more than 20 pages
(excluding appendices). Executive
Summary must be only one (1) page long.
All the three financial statements (Income Statement, Cash Flow
Statement and Balance
Sheet), together with the key major assumptions made, must be
included in the main
report. These three financial statements must be inserted and
properly resized as an
embedded object clearly displayed in MS Word (use “INSERT >
OBJECT” function)
and NOT as a picture, image, link to an external document or as
an attachment.
Approximately 10 marks may be deducted for every additional
page that exceeds the
maximum length of 20 pages. The quality of content is more
important than the length of
the report.

ECA REPORT FORMAT
(Maximum of 20 pages; excluding Appendices)
Table of Content
1 Executive Summary (Maximum 1 page) 9 marks
Note: In this section, summarise the key messages from each of
the sections below to
support the viability of the business plan. It is the most
important page of your report
for potential investors and partners.
2 The Business Concept (2 pages) 6 marks
2.1 Description of the Franchise and its Unique Selling Point
2.2 Goals and Potential of the Franchise
3 Research and Analysis (3 pages) 8 marks
3.1 Target Market and Their Needs
3.2 Market Size and Trends based on Research Data

3.3 SWOT Analysis
4 Marketing Plan (3 pages) 7 marks
4.1 Product(s)/Service(s) of the Franchise
4.2 Pricing Strategy
4.3 Promotional Activities
5 Organisation / Management Design (1 page) 4 marks
5.1 Personnel Requirements and Perceived Gaps
5.2 Legal Responsibilities and Obligations of the Franchisee
6 Financial Analysis (6 pages) *challenge question* 18 marks
6.1 Projection of Financial Statements for 3 years
6.1.1 Income Statement
(1st year on Monthly Basis; 2nd to 3rd year on Quarterly Basis
6.1.2 Cash Flow Statement (Quarterly Basis)
6.1.3 Balance Sheet (Yearly Basis)
6.2 Break-even Analysis using the Graphical Method
7 Investment Proposal (3 pages) 9 marks

7.1 Capital Requirement: Amount, Proportion and Sources
(Debt and Equity)
7.2 Expected Financial Returns: Valuation, NPV and IRR
(Assume: Cost of Debt = 4%; Cost of Equity = 10%; Corporate
Tax Rate = 17%)
7.3 Total Capital Required from Angel Investors & Percentage
Shareholding Offered
8 Critical Risks (1 page) 4 marks
8.1 Potential Obstacles and Risks
8.2 Alternative Courses of Action
ECA Written Report / Business Plan Total = 65 marks
Number of pages indicated above for each section are indicative
(except for the Executive
Summary – maximum 1 page). Total pages must not exceed 20
pages (excluding Appendices).
SECTION B (Total 25 marks)

Prepare a video recording of the presentation of at least 3
minutes but not exceeding 6 minutes.
There are two methods for ECA video assignment submission;
either Record Media or Upload
Media. For Upload Media, please note that your file size should
be no more than 500MB and
the format is in .mp4.
(25 marks)
SECTION C (Total 10 marks)
Prepare a set of PowerPoint presentation upon which the video
presentation is based. Please
note that the PowerPoint must be converted to PDF before
submission to SUSS (Canvas).
(10 marks)

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