How to develop a business plan

How to develop a business plan refers to the process starting with the business model and describing all the implementation stages leading from Technical Domain (feasibility, performance) to Economic Domain (Value, Price, Profit).   

1ZEUB0 Introduction to technology entrepreneurship – 5 ECTS – Q2

USE learning line Technology entrepreneurship

The topics covered in the course include creating and evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities from the viewpoint of effectual entrepreneurship. Special attention will be given to fostering creativity for new business development. Furthermore, the design of a business model will be discussed, thereby also focusing on challenges surrounding new business development, like entrepreneurial marketing and entrepreneurial finance.

0BTE00 Advancing light for human functioning: entrepreneurship in lighting – 5 ECTS – Q2

USE learning line The secret life of light

Students gain a basic insight in the complexity of entrepreneurship and value creation in the domain of innovations in lighting. They acquire knowledge in two of the following domains: business models for value creation in complex multi-stakeholder situations; measuring & understanding consumers' reactions; interaction of people with intelligent lighting systems. They become acquainted with methodologies for studying user experience and user interaction in technological contexts. Besides that they learn to integrate the knowledge and insights of yourself and team members to formulate a research question pertaining to human experience and interaction in a technological contexts and construct a fitting research methodology to address this question.

7XSUC0 Design for a sustainable future: ENTERPRISE – 5 ECTS – Q2

USE learning line Design for a sustainable future

The course offers a series of interactive lectures discussing the concept of business model from various perspectives and illustrating with numerous examples. Business model innovation is “hot” but it is certainly not a panacea. You will learn how and when they should apply business model innovation, and which factors have an influence on its success. The course further features testimonials and talks of several company speakers. During the course you will work on the following assignment: become a business consultant based on the design and advise of an innovative business model for a sustainable firm.

1ZAUB0 Entrepreneurship in action – 5 ECTS – Q1 or Q4

USE learning line Technology entrepreneurship

In this last project course of the USE sequence “Technology Entrepreneurship” students apply the theoretical knowledge gained from the previous two USE courses. The ultimate goal of this project course is the development of a value proposition for a technological innovation. Each student team will come up with a unique solution and concept based on given technologies.

JBM145 Business value and entrepreneurship – 5 ECTS – Q2

This course deals with some of the techniques for modeling and optimizing systems under uncertainty. It aims to increase the capability of analyzing managerial problems under uncertainty which occur, for example, in inventory and production control, telecommunications, maintenance, and insurance. The emphasis is on providing insight in the theory, on formulating an economic situation into a mathematical model and on providing practical examples in which the discussed models can be applied.

1ZM160 Innovation and entrepreneurship study – 5 ECTS – Q1

After completion of the I&E Study you should have the ability to apply, synthesize, and evaluate prior Innovation & Entrepreneurship learning in the context of a specific innovation or entrepreneurial project setting and specific innovation area. Students will have the ability to conduct a business analysis, make decisions and formulate recommendations or justify actions in a real environment. They will have the ability to choose and apply relevant concepts/methods and/or tools and collect relevant data for conducting a business analysis and making decisions in a real environment. Students will after completion have the ability to apply concepts, methods and tools pertaining to identifying and assessing the impact/value of a technology in an industry, market and/or organization and the innovation / business opportunities it creates. Lastly, they will have the ability to produce a professional writing on a business analysis topic.

1ZM90 Open innovation – 5 ECTS - Q4

Not possible if you participated in the USE course 1ZSUB0

During this course, students are able to learn multiple things. First of all to comprehend the differences between the closed innovation model and the open innovation model. They learn to understand the importance of the business model in general and indicate the components of an open innovation business model in particular. Secondly, they identify, differentiate and compare appropriate modes to facilitate the outside-in and inside-out perspective of the open innovation model, together with identifying and interpreting the role of lead-users, crowd-sourcing and co-creation. Students learn to understand the use of open innovation by small and medium-sized enterprises, and the role of inter-firm networks in the research, development and commercialization phases of the open innovation process. All in all, they apply their knowledge throughout the course to a 'real-life' situation (with the help of the open innovation management game).

7PDSBC25 Module entrepreneurship (built environment) – 7.5 ECTS

In this module you will improve your entrepreneurial skills by participating in a number of workshops and bootcamps offered by a selection of business professionals. This module is concluded by writing a business plan related to the PDEng company assignment.

PDSHA080 Technology entrepreneurship – 1.5 ECTS

This course covers one week consisting of eleven half days, which includes an introductory dinner on Monday evening. Activities and topics covered during this week are: Venture idea market for team formation, Teambuilding and venture team role division for business planning purposes, Using the lean business canvas model to conceptualize the venture proposition, Conducting a technology feasibility study, pivoting around risks associated to freedom-to-operate and appropriation of ideas (learning how to use patent data), The entrepreneurial marketing process, core concepts and research for planning, Entrepreneurial Finance, the most basic concepts and their application for planning, How to pitch for a group of experts among which investors are present. At the end of the course participants are expected to report, present and discuss the business proposition composed during the week around the idea selected by the team.

Feasibility and Proof of Concept Funding (WP, PhD, EngD, PDoc)

After following the workshop, participants are more familiar with the specific funding conditions and the application process of NWO Take Off and Demonstrator Grants and choose which one is most appropriate for their specific situation. Participants will also have a better understanding of what is needed to write a successful proposal, how to avoid the typical pitfalls and what support is available from TU/e Innovation Lab. In this workshop the business development team of TU/e Innovation Lab will explain the specific funding conditions of these grants. They will give tips and tricks on how to write a successful proposal and how to avoid the typical pitfalls. You will also have a chance to hear testimonials from successful applicants and learn from their experience.