Business plan strategy for Michael Cain's university loft venture

Loft in Space Mini Case

If he was going to build a business plan to present to the university administrators, what type of plan should he develop?

The type of business plan created needs to concentrate on how the lofts can potential solve over-crowding at the university, in addition to focusing on the benefits of reducing costs for the university's administration. It needs to be focused on help the university with one of their challenges or problems if it is to be effective. There is nothing at stake for the university unless Micheal Cain can address an unmet need of theirs first. The business plan needs to be focused on the financial implications to the university of solving overcrowding or storage problems for students in dorms. Making the business plan more focused on the unmet needs of the university and how the lofts would alleviate their need in financial terms will make the business plan more relevant to the administrators, and therefore more potentially acceptable to them.

What parts of the plan should he make sure are included?

At a minimum the cost reductions possible to the university for allowing this business to be founded and operate need to be included in the plan. This includes financial projections of costs reduced from overcrowding, financial analyses of what it would cost to build extra storage, implications to the university of lower occupancy rates in the dorms if storage is not addressed, and the potential for revenue sharing on each loft sold.

What solutions would you suggest for his three problems?

As the product liability for these lofts is very significant given their attachment to student's bunks, it's understandable why a $1M insurance policy is needed. it's also understandable why the university wants production off-campus and that their phone and e-mail systems not be used. Micheal Cain should approach his parents and ask to use their garage for production and also set up a Google or Yahoo e-mail account for the business, as they are free. He can use his cell phone number or get another cell phone just for the business. On the issue of insurance, this needs to be countersigned by his parents or an adult with financial collateral.