| Course | BUS 484 Entrepreneurship |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Business plan and pitch |
| Length | About 1,108 words, 7 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 484 Module 8
Bringing the Repair Shop to the Bike Rack: An Executive Summary and Pitch for a Mobile E-Bike Service Van in Madison, Wisconsin
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 484: Entrepreneurship
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Bringing the Repair Shop to the Bike Rack: An Executive Summary and Pitch for a Mobile E-Bike Service Van in Madison, Wisconsin
Nora Lindgren spent eight years as a mechanic in a Madison, Wisconsin, bicycle shop and watched its repair queue grow longer every spring. Electric bikes, which need more frequent brake and tire work and are heavy to bring into a shop, made the problem worse. Lindgren plans to launch a van-based service that repairs bicycles and e-bikes where they are parked: at employers, apartment buildings and university housing. This paper presents her executive summary and the outline of her pitch to a lender and a local investor, preceded by a short review of what research says about plans and pitches.
Does Planning Help?
Whether a formal plan helps a new venture has been debated for years. Delmar and Shane (2003), following a random sample of new Swedish ventures from their earliest stages, found that those that completed a business plan before taking other steps were less likely to be abandoned and moved faster in developing products and organizing activities. Brinckmann et al. (2010), pooled the results of many studies and reported that business planning was positively associated with how well small firms performed, though it was weaker for new ventures than for established small firms, where more information exists to plan with. The lesson for Lindgren is that planning helps most when it is used to think through uncertainty, not to produce a polished document.
What Persuades Investors
Kirsch et al. (2009), studying business plans submitted to venture capital investors, found that the information in the plans had little influence on which ventures received funding; plans served more as a signal that founders had done their homework than as a source of decisive facts. Chen et al. (2009) found that investors' funding decisions were influenced by how prepared entrepreneurs appeared in their presentations, while the passion they displayed had no significant effect. Together, these findings suggest that Lindgren should keep her executive summary short, make sure every number is defensible and spend her preparation time anticipating questions rather than polishing slides.
Executive Summary
The problem. Madison has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting in the United States, and e-bike ownership is rising. Repair shops have waits of one to three weeks in spring, and commuters must transport heavy e-bikes to them, which many cannot do without a car.
The solution. Spokeside Mobile Repair brings a fully equipped van to the rider. Employers and building managers schedule a weekly or monthly service day, riders book a slot online, and repairs are completed while the bike stays parked.
Customers. The primary customers are employers and apartment managers who offer the service as a benefit to commuters and residents, paying a monthly fee. Secondary customers are individual riders who book home visits.
Business model. Revenue comes from contracts at $350 to $600 a month per site, covering the visit and basic safety checks, plus parts and labor billed to riders at shop rates. One van can serve about 22 site visits a month and 8 to 10 repairs per visit.
Competition. Four local shops offer repairs but require drop-off; one runs a pickup service at an added fee. Riders also repair bikes themselves. Spokeside competes on convenience and on e-bike expertise, not price.
Team. Lindgren brings eight years of repair experience and certification from two e-bike motor manufacturers. Her partner, Dev Patel, who has run operations for a delivery fleet, will manage scheduling and contracts.
Financial projections. With one van in year one and a second added in year two, revenue is projected at $148,000, $286,000 and $412,000 over three years, assuming 14, 26 and 38 contract sites. The company reaches break-even in its tenth month.
The request. Spokeside seeks $95,000: a $70,000 bank loan to buy and outfit the first van and fund working capital, and $25,000 from a local angel investor for a 10% equity stake, to be used for the booking system and sales to employers.
The Pitch in Ten Slides
| Slide | Message |
|---|---|
| 1. Title | Spokeside Mobile Repair: the repair shop comes to the bike rack |
| 2. Problem | Spring repair waits of one to three weeks; heavy e-bikes are hard to transport |
| 3. Solution | A service day at the rider's workplace or building |
| 4. Market | Commuters, employers and apartment managers in Madison |
| 5. Business model | Monthly site contracts plus parts and labor |
| 6. Traction | Letters of intent from six employers and two apartment managers |
| 7. Competition | Convenience and e-bike skill against drop-off shops |
| 8. Team | Shop mechanic with e-bike certification; fleet operations manager |
| 9. Financials | Three-year projections and break-even in month ten |
| 10. Request | $95,000: $70,000 loan and $25,000 for 10% equity |
How the Summary Draws on Earlier Work
The executive summary does not stand alone. Its numbers come from the feasibility analysis Lindgren ran in the spring, when she offered free safety checks at three employers and booked 61 paid repairs in four weeks, and from a financing plan that tested whether contract revenue could carry a loan payment in a slow winter. Her competitive analysis supplied the comparison with the four shops, including their posted labor rates. Keeping each figure consistent across these documents matters, because a lender who finds a different break-even month in two places will doubt every other number.
Questions to Prepare For
Lindgren expects six questions. What happens in winter, when cycling drops? Contracts continue at a reduced visit schedule, and winter is used for tune-up packages and e-bike battery checks. What if a shop copies the idea? A shop could add a van, but site contracts and relationships with employers take time to build, and Spokeside will sign one-year agreements. How reliable are the letters of intent? They are not contracts, so the projections assume only half convert in year one. What if the van breaks down? A rental van and a portable tool kit will cover repairs for up to a week. Why does the investor get 10%? The valuation reflects the letters of intent and the founders' experience, and it is open to discussion. How will the loan be repaid? From contract revenue, which alone covers the payments by month eight.
Conclusion
Spokeside's executive summary states a specific problem, a practical solution and a model with revenue tied to sites and repairs. The pitch is built around research showing that preparation matters more than enthusiasm and that a plan's value lies in the thinking behind it. With conservative assumptions, a clear request and answers ready for hard questions, Lindgren is prepared to ask for the $95,000 that will put her first van on the road.
References
Brinckmann, J., Grichnik, D., & Kapsa, D. (2010). Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A meta-analysis on contextual factors impacting the business planning-performance relationship in small firms. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(1), 24-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.10.007
Chen, X.-P., Yao, X., & Kotha, S. (2009). Entrepreneur passion and preparedness in business plan presentations: A persuasion analysis of venture capitalists' funding decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 52(1), 199-214. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2009.36462018
Delmar, F., & Shane, S. (2003). Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures? Strategic Management Journal, 24(12), 1165-1185. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.349
Kirsch, D., Goldfarb, B., & Gera, A. (2009). Form or substance: The role of business plans in venture capital decision making. Strategic Management Journal, 30(5), 487-515. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.751
Reading the BUS 484 Module 8 assignment instructions
Aspen describes BUS 484 as covering the creation of a new venture from the first idea onward, so the final module commonly asks for a business plan, an executive summary, a pitch or all three. The exact Module 8 instructions are in your classroom; this example provides an executive summary and a pitch outline for one venture. Open with a clear statement of the problem and the solution. Identify the customer and the size of the market with evidence. Explain how the venture makes money and who it competes with. Introduce the team and why it can succeed. Present financial projections with the main assumptions stated. State exactly how much money you are asking for, in what form and for what use. If a pitch is required, keep each slide to one idea and prepare answers to the questions a lender or investor will ask.
How the BUS 484 Module 8 example is put together
The paper begins with research on whether planning helps, drawing on Delmar and Shane's study of Swedish ventures and Brinckmann and colleagues' meta-analysis. Kirsch and colleagues' finding that investors pay limited attention to plan content and Chen and colleagues' finding that preparedness persuades more than visible passion shape how the pitch is built. The executive summary introduces Nora Lindgren, a former shop mechanic, and her van-based service for commuters with e-bikes. Sections cover the problem, the customers, the business model of employer contracts and individual repairs, competition from four shops, the team, projections rising from $148,000 to $412,000 in revenue and a request for $70,000 in debt and $25,000 for a 10% stake. A ten-row table outlines the pitch, followed by six likely questions and answers.
Reading the BUS 484 Module 8 grading rubric
The closing business plan assignment is marked for clarity, completeness of the plan's parts, the realism of the financial projections and the persuasiveness of the request. This example covers each standard part of an executive summary in order and keeps every section short, which is what readers of real summaries expect. Projections state the assumptions behind them, such as the number of employer contracts and jobs per van per day, so a grader can judge their realism. Research from Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of Business Venturing and the Academy of Management Journal is used to justify the choices made in building the pitch, not merely summarized. The table makes the slide sequence easy to review, and the prepared answers show that the founder has thought about weaknesses.
Common BUS 484 Module 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The most common problem in final business plan papers is length without focus; an executive summary that runs for pages loses the reader it is meant to win. Keep it tight and specific. Another is a funding request that is vague about amount, form or use; state all three. Projections that grow sharply without explanation undermine credibility, so tie revenue to drivers such as customers, prices and capacity. Avoid claiming there is no competition, since every customer already solves the problem somehow. In a pitch, put one message on each slide and practice answering hard questions, because preparation tends to persuade more than enthusiasm. Use the earlier modules' work, such as the opportunity assessment, feasibility study and financing plan, as building blocks, and make sure the numbers in the summary match the numbers elsewhere in the plan.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More BUS 484 and Business Administration sample papers
- BUS 484 Module 1: Entrepreneurs and the Economy
- BUS 484 Module 2: Opportunity Assessment
- BUS 484 Module 3: Feasibility Analysis
- BUS 484 Module 4: Business Model Canvas
- BUS 484 Module 5: Competitive Analysis
- BUS 484 Module 6: Financing a New Venture
- BUS 484 Module 7: Legal Form and Launch
- BUS 499 Module 7: Recommendations and Implementation
- BUS 320 Module 8: Small Business Marketing Plan
- BUS 495 Module 4: Trade and Investment
- BUS 210 Module 6: Business Finance Discussion
BUS 484 Module 8 questions, answered
What does BUS 484 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 484 ends with a business plan or pitch, so an executive summary, a full plan or a slide presentation for a new venture is typical. Follow your classroom prompt for which one.
What goes in an executive summary?
The problem and solution, the customers and market, the business model, competition, the team, key financial projections and the funding request, each stated briefly.
Do investors actually read business plans?
Research by Kirsch, Goldfarb and Gera found that the content of business plans had little effect on venture capital decisions, so a plan's main job is to clarify the founder's own thinking and support a strong pitch.
Where can I find a free BUS 484 Module 8 sample paper?
The full paper is above: an executive summary and ten-slide pitch for a mobile e-bike repair van in Madison, with projections, a $95,000 request and answers to likely questions.
How many slides should a pitch have?
Many advisers suggest about ten, with one main idea per slide, covering problem, solution, market, model, competition, team, financials and the request.