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University College Birmingham: VEBSU Project
University College Birmingham
Business Plans:
TomFree Gluten Free Sandwich Shop
Mentors Directory
Page 1
University College Birmingham: VEBSU Project
TomFree Gluten Free Sandwich Shop
Unlike most students at UCB who start in vocational areas and then switch to business in
their final year, Tomas was a business student from the start although you would be forgiven
for not identifying that from her choice of business sector.
Tomas’ business idea evolved out of his interest in food and his knowledge of specialist,
health conscious diets but interestingly unlike the majority of UCB students who specialise in
their area of expertise, Tomas has no first-hand experience of the sector she is pitching into
and the flaws in this strategy were pointed out to her throughout the business planning
process.
On one hand you could look at Tomas’ business model as being fool hardy given this lack of
industry knowledge which may hinder the development of the business, however despite this
being highlighted by her business mentor, Tomas did little to address this, believing that he
had identified a clear gap in the market.
Throughout his personal journey of constructing the business plan Tomas utilised the
resources available on the VEBSU portal and on UCB Online to help him and he had semiregular contact with his tutor, Paul Matthews, along the way as these emails and guidance
notes show. Sadly like may student’s Tomas did not fully utilise the support available to him
through the mentoring service.
__________________________
From: Paul Matthews
Sent: 06 March 2012 13:32
To: 'Tomas Jankevicius'
Subject: RE: Draft Business Plans
Hi Tomas,
No, these are expenses not assets, that means that they go on the profit and loss rather than the
balance sheet.
Paul
From: Tomas Jankevicius [mailto:tommux7@hotmail.com]
Sent: 06 March 2012 10:52
To: Paul Matthews
Subject: RE: Draft Business Plans
Hi Paul,
I'm still a little bit stuck with balance sheet for the finance part of business plan. Do I need to include
Rent & Rates in the balance sheet either as the fixed or current assets?? My rent is £15,000 a year
with rates of £3,365 a year. My rent is a five year internal repairing and insuring lease.
Thank you for your help
Tomas
From: Paul Matthews
Sent: 29 February 2012 18:23
To: 'Tomas Jankevicius'
Subject: RE: Business Plan Meeting 1
Mentors Directory
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University College Birmingham: VEBSU Project
Ok Tomas, I am in Room 807.
See you then,
Paul
From: Tomas Jankevicius [mailto:tommux7@hotmail.com]
Sent: 29 February 2012 18:09
To: Paul Matthews
Subject: RE: Business Plan Meeting 1
Hey Paul,
Thank you for getting back to me so quick. This Friday at 9.30 is perfect for me. I promise it won't
take long, just a few questions.
Regards,
Tomas
Subject: RE: Business Plan Meeting 1
Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:42:26 +0000
From: P.Matthews@ucb.ac.uk
To: tommux7@hotmail.com
Hi Tomas,
It is very late in the process and I am glad that you are progressing well on your own with the plan. I
am happy to see you to answer any questions you have, but the only time I can see you is either:
•
•
•
this Friday at 9.30 -10.30am
Monday at 3-4pm
Tuesday at 3-4pm
Let me know how these are for you,
Thanks,
Paul
From: Tomas Jankevicius [mailto:tommux7@hotmail.com]
Sent: 29 February 2012 16:07
To: Paul Matthews
Subject: Business Plan Meeting 1
Dear Paul,
My name is Tomas Jankevicius, BA Business Enterprise final year student. I know it might be a bit
late, but I was wondering if it would be possible to arrange a short meeting with you regarding my
business plan. It is going well, but I have a few questions I would like to discuss with you before my
presentation next week. Please let me know if there is any chance of seeing you this week (even just
for 15 minutes).
I would really appreciate it:)
Looking forward to hearing from you
Tomas
Mentors Directory
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University College Birmingham: VEBSU Project
Contact Details:
To get more information about any of the material contained in this document please contact
the UCB Enterprise Champion in the first instance or alternatively contact the Dean of the
School of Business & Marketing or the Dean of the School of Tourism, Sport & Leisure via
their details below.
Enterprise Champion
Mr. Paul Matthews
Enterprise Champion
University College Birmingham
Rm. 807, Summer Row
Birmingham B3 1JP.
Ph.: +44 121 604 1000 ext 2276
E:
p.matthews@ucb.ac.uk
W:
www.ucb.ac.uk
Dean of the School of Business & Marketing
Professor Richard Riley
Dean of the School of Business & Marketing
University College Birmingham
Rm. 1007, Summer Row
Birmingham B3 1JP.
Ph.: +44 121 604 1000 ext 2408
E:
r.riley@ucb.ac.uk
W:
www.ucb.ac.uk
Dean of the School of Tourism, Sport & Leisure
Professor Melvyn Pryer
Dean of the School of Tourism, Sport & Leisure
University College Birmingham
Rm. 7XX, Summer Row
Birmingham B3 1JP.
Ph.: +44 121 604 1000 ext 7259
E:
m.pryer@ucb.ac.uk
W:
www.ucb.ac.uk
Mentors Directory
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