Business Plan Assignment

Guidelines with Scoring Rubric

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a business plan for a quality improvement project, program, or service related to an area of student interest within the selected healthcare organization.

I.               Requirements:

1.     Address all components of the business plan as outlined in Preparing the Paper.

2.     Use the Business Plan Worksheet at least weekly to collect information necessary for writing the plan. It can be downloaded from the assignment page. You will be required to submit this completed document with your assignment.

3.     This paper will be graded on quality and completeness of information, accuracy of any required calculations, use of citations, use of standard English grammar, sentence structure, and organization based on the required components.

4.     Create this assignment using Microsoft Word. You can tell that the document is saved as an MS Word document because it will end in .docx.

5.     Use of Turn It In is used for this assignment and is part of the submission into the assignment portal.

6.     Submit the final paper . Any questions about this paper may be discussed in the weekly Q & A forum or reach out to faculty.

7.     The length of the paper is to be no greater than seven pages excluding the appendices, title page, and reference page. Your business plan worksheet should be included in the appendices section.

8.     APA format, using the most current edition, is required in this assignment, including a title page and a reference page. Use headings for the sections of the paper according to APA format. Remember that the introduction does not require a heading and no running heads are used. Times New Roman Font- 12-point and one-inch margins on all sides of page are required format.  See the most current edition of the APA manual for details of formatting. You may also refer to Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers found in the Student Resources Center.

9.     A complete paper will contain all components outlined under Preparing the Paper.

II.             Preparing the paper

A business plan is a detailed plan for a proposed program, project, or service.

The following outline should be used with level I and II headings as required. A template for the cover letter is provided below. Remember, there is no heading used for the introduction section.

                                     I.          Introduction/Overview

a.     Purpose of assignment

b.     PICOT

c.      Purpose of business plan

d.     What will be included

PICOT question is: “In acute care nurses (P), how does the implementation of a standardized documentation checklist for least restrictive restraints (I), compared to current documentation practices (C), affect documentation accuracy and completeness (O) over eight weeks (T)?

                                   II.          Business Plan Proposal

a.     Cover letter

b.     Executive Summary

                                  III.          Detailed Abstract

a.     Expanded description of project

                                                                                  i.     Issue/problem defined

                                                                                 ii.     Supportive evidence for the project

                                                                                iii.     Expected outcomes and timeline

                                                                               iv.     Details of the project plan

                                                                                 v.     Market analysis

1.     SWOT

2.     Fit with organizational mission

3.     Fit with current service

b.     Marketing and financial plans

                                                                                  i.     Marketing plan strategies (2)

                                                                                 ii.     Financial analysis

1.     Financial Plan (including budgetary needs)

2.     Financial impact on stakeholders

3.     Break-even and/or cost-benefit analysis results

                                 IV.          Appendices (documents referred to in the plan)

a.     SWOT analysis

b.     Financials

                                                                                  i.     Budget

                                                                                 ii.     Break-even analysis

                                                                                iii.     Cost-benefit analysis

c.      Graphs/charts

d.     Business Plan Worksheet

                                   V.          Conclusion

a.     Summary of what was covered in the assignment

b.     Strengths and weaknesses of the plan

c.      Approach for approval

1.     Clearly introduce your business-plan assignment in the Introduction section. This should be no longer that one paragraph. Include the purpose of your assignment, PICOT as basis and purpose for the business plan; and what will be covered in the assignment.

2.     Include a clearly articulated cover letter written in business letter format, active voice and exactly as it would be read by leadership. Include overview of issue, proposed solution, and action request. There should be no other content on this page except for the business letter. The template to use is as follows:

Cover Letter

Your name

Your address

Date

Name of receiver

Address of receiver

Dear Mr/Ms/Dr. name

In the business letter one paragraph would be an overview the issue, its impact, and solution. Give enough information so they know what you are doing. Do not need references in letter.

Another paragraph would engage the reader to take action such as leaving your phone number and letting the person know that if they have questions to please each out to you.

Or thanking them for reading and tell them you look forward to hearing from them.

Sincerely,

Your name

3.     Present a captivating executive summary that is interesting and captures the interest of leadership and draws them in to read further. Content includes (1) a description of the proposed project, program, or service, (2) why it is being proposed, and (3) what outcomes are most likely to occur as a result.

4.     Detailed Abstract expands the executive summary. Use detailed outline above to ensure adequate inclusion of all elements.

5.     Appendices should include any financial tables, charts, or graphs, or other supporting documents referred to in the detailed abstract. The business plan worksheet should be included in the appendices.

6.     Conclusion for the paper includes an overview of what was covered in the paper, strengths and weaknesses of the plan, and plan for seeking proposal approval.

7.      Note: After submitting your assignment, please upload your completed executive summary into the Week 8 designated Discussion to share with your peers.