Meetings
During our stay in Kumasi, Ghana, we will have some meetings with businesses over there. There are no exact dates yet but there are agreements to meet each other. Those meetings can provide useful information, that is why we want those meetings as soon as possible for two reasons; first, these meetings will probably provide more global information which is useful at the start, and second, some of those meetings will result in follow-up meetings during the upcoming weeks. In advance, we have decided to meet the following businesses/organizations:
- Barbarugo;
- Inbar;
- Fruittiland;
- KITA;
- KNUST.
Both Barbarugo and Inbar are considered as bamboo advisers. Fruittiland is a fruit juice factory of a successful Ghanaian entrepreneur, who we already met. Both KITA and KNUST are universities nearby Kumasi. We expect to have more meetings with Barbarugo and Inbar and therefore want to start those meetings as soon as possible. By the first week of December, we want to know all we need about building with bamboo. Before we start with the market research, it can be useful to have spoken to a successful entrepreneur in Ghana and therefore we want to have a meeting with Fruittiland halfway November. Around the same date as the meeting of Fruittiland, we want to have visited the two universities, KITA and KNUST. This is considered less important than the other meetings.
In a nutshell, the planning of the meetings will look as follows:
- Barbarugo: first meeting around 15 November and last before 7 December;
- Inbar: first meeting around 15 November and last before 7 December;
- Fruittiland: meeting around 15 November;
- KITA: meeting around 20 November;
- KNUST: meeting around 20 November.
Business Plan
During our internship we start writing the business plan. When we will start writing by the time we are back in the Netherlands, there will be two main disadvantages; first, not enough time, second, some information will be forgotten and/or lost. The business plan is divided in four chapters; The Business, The Market, The Future and The Finances. These chapters are again divided in paragraphs but these are not important for the planning. Next to the chapters of the business plan, the written text must be checked on content, grammar and spelling and the lay-out must be done.
To go well prepared to the meetings, we must have made clear for ourselves the basics of the business and the market. Therefore, we start with those chapters of the business plan. The market must be clear before the Christmas holidays, this chapter has a big influence on all the other chapters and therefore must be completed at first. After the market is set, we can start with the future of the project. During the market research and the bamboo research, more information about the revenues and costs will be available. The financial chapter will be created during these researches and will start after the meeting with Fruittiland because they can tell us more about the finances in Ghana. During the creation of the text, we will check the content between-whiles. Before we go back to the Netherlands, the whole content must be checked so back in Delft we only have to do some changes and start with the lay-out. We do not start with the lay-out before the content is satisfying. Nevertheless, the whole report must be complete before the last Friday of January, 29 January.
The planning for the creation of the business plan will be as follows:
- Chapter 1. The Business: start is as soon as possible and will be ready before 14 January;
- Chapter 2. The Market: start is as soon as possible and will be ready before the Christmas holidays, 21 December;
- Chapter 3. The Future: start is after Chapter 2. The Market is completed, 21 December, and will be ready before 14 January;
- Chapter 4. The Finances: start is 1 December and will be ready before 14 January;
- Check content: start is halfway November, 14 November, and will be ready before 23 January;
- Lay-out: start is when we are back in the Netherlands, 25 January, and will be ready before 28 January.
Design
The design of the greenhouse is one of the two highlighted subjects of the business plan. The planning of the design of the greenhouse is divided in three subjects; bamboo research, use of soil and final design. The research on bamboo has already started and will continu in Ghana. The meetings with Barbarugo and Inbar will contribute to this research. Also the two universities, KITA and KNUST, will probably have their share. Next to the meetings, there must be done some reading of the existing literature. Finally, before the Christmas holidays, this research must be completed because in the worst case scenario, that bamboo cannot be used as a building material, other options must be found. Beside, the choice on what building material will be used, has a big influence on the finances and the feasibility. The research on the use of the soil on behalf of (1) cultivation and (2) foundation influences the design. This research must therefore also be completed before the Christmas holidays so during the holidays, we can start with the final design. This final design must be finished before the deadlines of the chapters in the business plan because the design influences them.
In conclusion, the planning of the design subjects is as follows:
- Bamboo research: already started and will be sufficient before the Christmas holidays, 21 December;
- Use of soil: start is as soon as possible and will be sufficient before the Christmas holidays, 21 December;
- Final design: start is after the researches are completed, 21 December, and will be finished before 7 January.
Market Research
The market research is the highlighted subject of the business plan. The planning of the market research is divided in three subjects; research plan, determination of customer segments and price-analysis. The research plan and the determination of the customer segments must be completed as soon as possible, so we can start the market research. After those subjects are completed, we can start estimating the prices of our tomatoes by doing the market research. This research must be completed before the deadline of Chapter 2. The Market of the business plan, which means before the first week of December.
The planning of the market research subjects is as follows:
- Research plan: start is as soon as possible and will be completed before 20 November;
- Determination of customer segments: start is as soon as possible and will be completed before 20 November;
- Price-analysis: start is after the previous subjects, 20 November, and will be completed before 7 December.
