1 Assignment 1 1) Our business idea is to start a company that embeds solar cells inside infrastructures to produce solar energy which is a renewable source of energy. We want to do so to reduce the wastage of non-renewable resources and protect our planet by fighting climate change. 2) A) There is a gap that exists in this market as there are not a lot of companies that provide affordable ways to generate solar energy. Providing solar energy at reasonable prices and making it available to all is our idea. B) Solar panels are usually put up on the roofs of houses but according to us, any ground surface might be converted into a strong, dual-purpose electricity-generating surface that uses solar energy. We want to make these surfaces dual-use and money-making so that we can get a return on our investment. C) We have an innovative product as the solar panels we will produce will be installable on any surface. If utilized properly our product will be able to power the whole city. For this, our solar would need to be installed on the sidewalks, public squares, and all other establishments. This will enable us to meet clean power targets and make the earth a better place. D) Our solar panels could be implemented around the city by partnering with government agencies so that all people can use solar energy for an affordable price. We could also look to partner with franchises to install our panels at all their outlets. E) We have explored the possibility of buying out a business but our product is very unique so buying out a company would not be very reasonable for us. We want to build our own company grounds up which will help us have all the control from the beginning. 2 Assignment 2 3) Porter's five forces analysis - Entry barriers are high - As developing solar panels efficiently requires significant R&D expenditure and substantial investments to remain competitive. So there is little threat from new competitors (Barrow et al., 2018). Power of suppliers is high - It is High as there are not many companies in this field. Very few companies in this sector are actually successful. Due to the lack of alternative sources the power of suppliers is high. Power of buyer is low - As lease contracts are lengthy and expensive to end, clients have a difficult time switching providers. It is quite rare that customers who have purchased solar panels will sell them and purchase them from a different supplier (Barrow et al., 2018). The threat of substitutes is medium - This industry is threatened by substitutes to some extent, mostly due to competition with power plant contractors for alternative energy sources (e.g., natural gas). However, due to government subsidies for renewable energy, competition from contractors for fossil fuel power plants has decreased during the last five years (Barrow et al., 2018). Rivalry among existing competitors is high - Due to intense p.

1. 1
Assignment 1
1) Our business idea is to start a company that embeds solar
cells inside infrastructures to
produce solar energy which is a renewable source of energy. We
want to do so to reduce
the wastage of non-renewable resources and protect our planet
by fighting climate
change.
2) A) There is a gap that exists in this market as there are not a
lot of companies that provide
affordable ways to generate solar energy. Providing solar
energy at reasonable prices and
making it available to all is our idea.
B) Solar panels are usually put up on the roofs of houses but
according to us, any ground
surface might be converted into a strong, dual-purpose
electricity-generating surface that
uses solar energy. We want to make these surfaces dual-use and

2. money-making so that
we can get a return on our investment.
C) We have an innovative product as the solar panels we will
produce will be installable
on any surface. If utilized properly our product will be able to
power the whole city. For
this, our solar would need to be installed on the sidewalks,
public squares, and all other
establishments. This will enable us to meet clean power targets
and make the earth a
better place.
D) Our solar panels could be implemented around the city by
partnering with government
agencies so that all people can use solar energy for an
affordable price. We could also
look to partner with franchises to install our panels at all their
outlets.
E) We have explored the possibility of buying out a business
but our product is very
unique so buying out a company would not be very reasonable
for us. We want to build
our own company grounds up which will help us have all the
control from the beginning.

3. 2
Assignment 2
3) Porter's five forces analysis -
Entry barriers are high - As developing solar panels efficiently
requires significant R&D
expenditure and substantial investments to remain competitive.
So there is little threat from
new competitors (Barrow et al., 2018).
Power of suppliers is high - It is High as there are not many
companies in this field. Very few
companies in this sector are actually successful. Due to the lack
of alternative sources the
power of suppliers is high.
Power of buyer is low - As lease contracts are lengthy and
expensive to end, clients have a
difficult time switching providers. It is quite rare that customers
who have purchased solar
panels will sell them and purchase them from a different
supplier (Barrow et al., 2018).
The threat of substitutes is medium - This industry is threatened

4. by substitutes to some extent,
mostly due to competition with power plant contractors for
alternative energy sources (e.g.,
natural gas). However, due to government subsidies for
renewable energy, competition from
contractors for fossil fuel power plants has decreased during the
last five years (Barrow et al.,
2018).
Rivalry among existing competitors is high - Due to intense
pressure to innovate across all
segments of the new sector, competition among existing
competitors is high. When we
examine the profitability, we can find proof of this. In reality,
most businesses in the solar
industry are losing money.
4) As our idea is unique, we will be the first ones in the market.
This will help us gain first
mover’s advantage. Upon receiving customer feedback, we will
be able to respond and
3
make changes as soon as possible. Being first in this segment

5. we will be able to gain
market share very fast if our product catches on.
5) Our primary strategic direction would be to make solar
energy affordable for the masses
(Barrow et al., 2018). Currently, solar energy harvesting can be
very expensive. Very few
people can actually such an amount of money but with our
product, we will provide a
solution to this problem. Customer satisfaction will always be
our priority. Our product
will also aid in the reduction of global warming which will help
us fight climate change.
6) The strategic option we are going in for is cost leadership
(Barrow et al., 2018). This is
due to our capability to reduce costs of production to deliver
quality products at low
prices. We have conducted extensive research in this field
which has enabled us to reduce
our cost of production significantly. We also plan on purchasing
our raw materials in bulk
which will help us the in reduction of costs.
7) Global warming and climate change have caused extensive
damage to our planet. When

6. non-renewable sources are used, they release harmful particles
which pollute the
environment. Solar energy harvesting will enable us to preserve
the environment while
going on with our lives as usual. We arrived at this proposition
as We wanted to protect
the environment by providing solar panels to the masses at
affordable rates.
8) We believe that the solar panel business will succeed as
people want to contribute to
saving the environment as it is a clean, green source of energy.
Solar power is a great way to
reduce our carbon footprint. This method of energy harvesting
will be inexpensive for people
as they will not have to pay high electricity bills. The solar
panels will enable people to use
their unutilized land to generate electricity. The business will
succeed once people realize
how valuable solar energy harvesting is over traditional energy
generation.
4

7. 9) The mission statement for our company would be 'Humanity's
betterment through solar
energy.' This would be our mission statement as solar energy is
for the future. People cannot
rely on non-renewable sources for too long as climate changes
have already started affecting
our lives. People will have to shift to renewable sources of
energy as soon as possible to
minimize global warming (Barrow et al., 2018).
10) The vision statement for our company will be 'We will be a
premiere in this industry by
providing affordable solar energy solutions with extraordinary
customer service while also
protecting the environment.'
Our value statement will be 'Our company operates by the
following guiding principles:
excellence, innovation, customer support, and environmental
conservation.'
11) Our short-term goal is to provide an immediate alternative
to non-renewable energy
generation methods. Our goal is to reach as many people as
possible and spread our idea.
Another short-term goal is to achieve profitability by the end of

8. the year.
Our long-term goal is to become one of the most recognized
companies in the industry.
Another long-term goal is to help people reduce their carbon
footprints. Our company will
contribute to a sustainable future.
12) Business Action plan for our company -
Goal - Setting up and running the company.
Tasks - getting all the paperwork done for the registration of the
company, setting up a
production and assembling facility, getting the raw material
quotations from the suppliers and
choosing the one which suits our demands, hiring employees for
the purpose of production,
and advertising our product to the customers.
5
Assignment 3
13) We got the idea of setting up this company when we read a
report about how the use of

9. non-renewable energy was destroying our planet. Non-
renewable energy sources release
pollutants into the environment which causes the depletion of
nature and wildlife around us.
This made us think about how we could help in this situation.
We came up with the idea of
releasing affordable solar panels in the market which would
enable the people to make their
contribution to saving the planet. It has been realized that solar
panels can be used as a source
of renewable energy in the future.
14) The name of our company is Solar Earth. We chose this
name as our solar panels can be
put anywhere. Earlier solar panels were only put up on the roofs
of buildings but our solar
panels are very versatile and can be put anywhere like on
rooftops, sidewalks, roads, parking
lots, and more.
15) We have prior experience in this field as we studied solar
power engineering in college.
We have an understanding of electrical systems which assists us
in the development of these
products. We have earlier worked for a company that used to

10. produce solar cookers so we
have some prior experience in this field. We have also attended
a course where the topic of
discussion was solar power schematic development. We are also
familiar with the safety
guidelines that apply to the solar power engineering sector.
16) We will be starting this venture with a friend of mine who
was in the same college as me.
He also studied solar power engineering in college. He has prior
experience working in a UK-
based company that produces solar water heating systems.
17) We plan on hiring a lawyer to help us file all the required
documents for setting up the
business. A lawyer can provide us with timely legal guidance on
how to handle compliances
6
required by both the law and different agreements. We will also
file for a patent and for that
we will be hiring a patent agent who will help us in this
process.
18) The legal form of our business would be a private company.

11. In the future, we will decide
if we would like to continue as a private company or become a
public company.
19) Our business has not yet started trading but we plan on
starting as soon as the
documentation process is completed. We have already started
contacting the raw material
providers to start our business We have also started the
marketing process for our business.
By conducting research, we got to know that more than 43,000
solar (PV) energy installations
on residential, commercial, and industrial rooftops in Canada
currently supply these
buildings' homes and businesses with electricity. This tells us
that very few people use solar
energy in Canada. This suggests that a large part of the
Canadian market is still untapped.
Assignment 4
20) We plan on starting our business in Vancouver and then
spreading it to other parts of
Canada. After Canada, we plan on supplying our products to the
neighbouring countries.
21) Our product can satisfy the needs of various customers. It

12. can help people reduce the
hefty electricity bills that they need to pay every few days. It
will also help in satisfying the
need of people that want to be environmentally conscious. It
will help them satisfy their need
of protecting the planet by using renewable sources of energy.
Customers who are enthused
at the possibility of not needing electricity from another source
will also benefit from our
solution. This indicates that they seek to control the production,
storage, and use of
electricity.
7
22) Types of customers for our product -
Individual customers - These customers would purchase our
solar panels for their homes or
offices to reduce their electricity bills or to play their part in
the conservation of our planet.
Business owners - The business owners might be one of our
major customer bases as they
may purchase our solar panels for their place of business (shops

13. or factories) to reduce the
electricity bill to lower their cost of production. Using solar
panels will also play a part in
their corporate social responsibility initiative.
23) Our priority will be serving the business owners as their
energy consumption is much
higher compared to that of individual households. As the
business will start using solar panels
the pollution problem will reduce a lot in a short amount of
time. By making serving the
businesses a priority we will get lots of orders in a short time in
contrast to serving individual
customers one by one.
24) The market segments that we have chosen are individual
households and businesses. The
feature of our product that will provide the most benefit to the
individual households is the
reduction of electricity charges that they have to pay on a
regular interval as harvesting of
solar energy is free and the customers only have to pay a small
amount for the management
of the solar panels. The feature that will provide benefit to
businesses is that the solar panels

14. do not produce any sort of pollution and this enables the
business owners to fulfill the
requirements of corporate social responsibility.
25) One of the biggest innovators in this field is Elon Musk who
is the owner of Tesla Inc.
Over the last few years, Tesla Inc. has worked to expand its
presence in the alternative energy
sector. With their design-stage offers, Tesla is advancing the
solar power business, but the
market is also occupied by industry veterans who are hoping to
profit from its steady
expansion.
8
26) The most important factor in a customer's decision to buy or
not to buy our products is
the one-time installation cost. This cost can be a bit high for the
customers so they might not
want to pay it. Another factor is their electricity bill. If they are
already paying very less for
the electricity they might not switch to our products.
27) The market that we are aiming at has seen a rapid rise over

15. the past few years. Over the
last five years, there has been an upward trend in the market.
28) Initially, we are aiming for a 3% market share. As this
sector is very young, gaining
market share early will enable us to have significant control
over the market.
Assignment 5
29) The biggest market share holder in the Canadian solar
energy industry is Canadian Solar
("Canadian Solar – Global", 2022). This is the main company
that we will be competing with
directly.
30) Canada Solar is Canada's biggest solar company. It is a
public company listed on the
stock market. It has two factories and employs over 9000
employees. Canadian Solar
reported a gross profit of $480 million and a net income of $114
million for the second
quarter of 2022, compared to a gross profit of $234 million and
a net income of $11.5 million
for the first quarter. Canadian Solar sells its products both to
individual buyers and

16. multinational companies.
31) Canada solar is one of the most recognized companies in
Canada. Given its position as a
global leader in both module production and solar project
development, Canadian Solar has a
distinct edge in capturing significant market prospects for
energy storage ("Canadian Solar
9
Inc. [SWOT Analysis] Weighted SWOT Matrix", 2022). This is
likely to make the
competition more difficult for us as we are a new company.
Canadian Solar's profitability ratio is below the industry
average ("Canadian Solar Inc.
[SWOT Analysis] Weighted SWOT Matrix", 2022). This will
enable us to capture the market
share faster.
32) The critical factors for success in this industry will be
branding strength to convey the
value of our products to our clients, cost structuring to maintain
the cost of production, and
vertical integration to create firm partnerships with others in the

17. value chain.
33) The unique thing about our product is that it can fit
anywhere. By embedding solar cells
throughout that infrastructure, it can function on sidewalks,
highways, car parks, terraces,
harbours, and more. Our product has endless possibilities.
Assignment 6
34) We have the following pieces of information -
Customers - More and more customers are looking to purchase
solar panels as people are
tired of paying high electricity bills. As climate change is also a
pressing issue now more
people are realizing the benefits of solar energy.
Competitors - Competitors are making rapid developments in
this field. They are working
hard to make solar panels a mainstream product in Canada.
Market - The market for solar energy harvesting products is
expanding at a rapid pace.
Individuals and businesses both are looking to purchase solar
panels for their establishments.

18. 10
35) We need to find out the approximate percentage of people
that would be interested in
purchasing our solar panels. This information is needed to
understand how many pieces we
need to produce as over or underproduction can hurt the
business.
36) For the desk research, we plan on checking the customers'
reviews online in regard to
solar panels. This will help us understand what customers want
in their solar panels. Upon
learning this we can design our products according to their
needs.
37) For the field research, we will be conducting surveys using
questionnaires to identify our
potential customers. By doing so we will be able to know how
many people would be
interested in buying our product.
38) The market research will take approximately two months as
we plan on conducting this
research in all the Canadian provinces. The marketing research
will cost us around $10,000.

19. 39) Due to their expertise in this area, we intend to hire a third-
party business that specializes
in market research.
40) All the key marketing research information will be available
in ten weeks. The data
collection will take around eight weeks after which it will take
two weeks to analyse the
collected data and derive conclusions from it.
11
Reference
Canadian Solar – Global. Canadiansolar.com. (2022). Retrieved
1 October 2022, from
https://www.canadiansolar.com/.
Canadian Solar Inc. [SWOT Analysis] Weighted SWOT Matrix.
Fern Fort University. (2022).

20. Retrieved 1 October 2022, from
http://fernfortuniversity.com/term-
papers/swot/nyse/3457-canadian-solar-inc-
.php#:~:text=Weakness%20of%20Canadian%20Solar%20Inc.&t
ext=Days%20invent
ory%20is%20high%20compare,a%20lot%20to%20be%20desired
.
Solar Earth Company - Powering the pathway to Net Zero. Solar
Earth. (2022). Retrieved 1
October 2022, from https://solarearth.ca/company/.
Barrow, C., Barrow, P., & Brown, R. (2018). The Business Plan
Workbook (9th ed.). Kogan
Page.
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