T.5 Business plan questions for IB Business Management

Cladach Seaweed (CS)

[1] Ciarán Byrne, a marine biologist, and Aoife Walsh, a former chef, plan to start Cladach Seaweed (CS) on the coast of Connemara, Ireland. CS would grow kelp on ropes in a sheltered bay and sell it fresh to restaurants and dried to health food shops. Seaweed farming needs no fertilizer, fresh water or feed, and the kelp absorbs carbon and nutrients from the sea.

[2] Demand for seaweed in Europe is growing, as consumers look for plant-based and sustainable foods. The Irish government has set targets for low-carbon food production, and new harvesting machines have reduced the labour needed. However, a licence to farm in the bay can take up to two years to obtain, and some local residents and fishers object to farms that change the view or use fishing areas.

[3] Ciarán and Aoife need €90 000 for boats, ropes and a drying shed. Their bank has asked them for a business plan.

Rukiga Hills Eco-Lodge (RHEL)

Brenda and Samuel Tumusiime opened Rukiga Hills Eco-Lodge (RHEL), a partnership, beside Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda in January 2025. RHEL has eight cottages built from local materials and offers canoe trips and guided walks. Before opening, the couple wrote a business plan to obtain a bank loan. Table 1 compares the forecasts in the business plan with the actual results for the first six months.

Table 1: RHEL’s forecast and actual results, January to June 2025 (UGX million)

In March, heavy rain washed away part of the road to the lake for three weeks. RHEL has only 14 reviews on travel websites, while two older lodges nearby have more than 500 each.

Saltbush & Seed (SBS)

Read the resources and answer the questions that follow.

Saltbush & Seed (SBS) is a social enterprise owned by an Aboriginal women’s corporation in the Northern Territory, Australia. Its 40 harvesters, all Aboriginal women, gather Kakadu plum – a small green fruit with one of the highest levels of vitamin C of any food – and other bush foods on their traditional lands, using knowledge passed down for thousands of years. SBS freeze-dries the fruit into powder and sells it to food and health companies. Profits fund the corporation’s programmes for elders and young people. SBS’s chair is Aunty June Wilson; its general manager is Sarah Liddle.

Image: a weathered hand holding a cluster of small, pale green Kakadu plums against a background of red earth and eucalyptus trees. Below, a jar of fine golden powder with the label: “Saltbush & Seed – Kakadu plum. Wild harvested by Aboriginal women, on country”.

Resource 1 – News article from *Australian Bush Food Business*

Kakadu plum: superfood boom raises old questions

Demand for Kakadu plum from cosmetics and health companies has grown rapidly because its extract is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. But Aboriginal communities have warned against “biopiracy”: in the past, overseas companies tried to patent uses of the plum that Aboriginal people had known about for generations. Most of the value of the bush food industry still goes to non-Indigenous businesses.

Table 1: SBS sales of Kakadu plum powder

Resource 2 – Social media posts from Kirra, a young SBS harvester

Out on country with my nan and aunties today, picking gubinge (Kakadu plum). Nan showed me which trees her mother picked from. This job means I can stay here, earn money and learn our culture at the same time. [1/2]

Saw an ad for a fancy face cream “with ancient Australian Kakadu plum” – $140 a jar! Our powder sells for a few dollars a jar’s worth. Who really benefits from our knowledge? [2/2]

Resource 3 – Internal email from Sarah Liddle to SBS’s board

From: Sarah Liddle, General Manager

To: Aunty June Wilson and board members

Subject: Lumière Botanica proposal

Lumière Botanica, a French cosmetics multinational, proposes to spend AUD 1.2 million on research to develop a Kakadu plum extract for a new skincare range. It would own any patent on the extract and the formula. In return it would buy 3 000 kg of powder a year at AUD 200 per kg for five years and pay SBS a royalty of 3 % on sales of the range, which it forecasts at AUD 20 million a year.

Alternatively, scientists at a university in Darwin would work with us on our own extract and serum brand. The research would cost about AUD 450 000 over two years; a government research and development tax incentive would refund 43.5 % of eligible spending. We would own the results.

To supply 3 000 kg we would need about 100 harvesters, and we would have to harvest further from our communities.

CONFIDENTIAL: this email and any attachments are intended only for the named recipients.

Resource 4 – Statement from the elders’ council of the women’s corporation

“Our knowledge of gubinge belongs to our people. We are not against sharing it, but it must be with our free and informed consent, with fair benefit for our communities, and our name and culture must not be used without permission. We must also care for country: if too much fruit is taken, there is none for the birds and animals, or for next year.”

Resource 5 – Forecast for an SBS own-brand Kakadu serum (year 3)

Resource 6 – Notes from a meeting with an intellectual property lawyer

• A patent protects a new invention (e.g. a new extraction method or formula) for up to 20 years, but traditional knowledge itself cannot usually be patented by the community that holds it.

• SBS can register trademarks for its brand names and logo, and a certification mark showing products are Aboriginal-owned and wild harvested.

• Contracts can include benefit-sharing and consent clauses, and give SBS joint ownership of patents.

• Legal costs of registering trademarks: about AUD 15 000; negotiating a benefit-sharing contract: about AUD 40 000.

Brian Mugisha wants to start Kasese Solar Pumps in western Uganda, renting solar-powered irrigation pumps to smallholder farmers by the season. A microfinance provider has told him it will consider a loan only after it has seen his business plan.

Define the term business plan.

Patinet Urbà (PU)

Patinet Urbà (PU) is a start-up in Barcelona, Spain, that rents out electric scooters through a mobile app. It began operating eight months ago with 300 scooters, and the number of rides has grown every month (Table 1).

The founders, Jordi Puig and Amaia Etxeberria, want to raise €2 million from a venture fund to expand to Valencia and Seville. The fund has asked for a business plan that includes a five-year sales forecast. Jordi wants to extend the growth of the first eight months. Amaia points out that Barcelona’s city council is reviewing the licences of scooter operators after complaints about scooters parked on pavements, and that rides fall sharply in winter.

Table 1: Rides per month since PU began operating

Ana and Luka Kovačić own an olive grove near Motovun in Istria, Croatia. They plan to convert two old stone barns into holiday apartments and offer olive-harvest experiences to tourists, under the name Motovun Olive Farm Stay. Neither has run a tourism business before. Ana has suggested that they write a business plan before they spend any money.

Explain two purposes of a business plan for Motovun Olive Farm Stay.