Use the Validate tool to help you build your portfolio step by step. You can skip and come back to sections later, review, edit and submit at any time. Each section has guidance and case study examples. Here we'll give you some broader guidance on how to make your portfolio work for you. 

Even if your idea does not receive funding this time, we hope this experience helps you frame and nurture your business. 

Remember to write for the people reading your portfolio.

Make sure they feel your passion and get a sense of the energy you are bringing to your business. Share your story, the backstory of why you are creating this business, who it is for and why that matters now.

A key feature of every business is that it solves a problem for its customers, even if they don’t realise it. For example, fast-food milkshakes are thick and slow to drink because customers in the US were bored sitting in traffic whilst driving to work. You too must state the problem you are solving and what your potential customers are doing instead. The Ideation tool is there to encourage you to summarise the problem as you see it, who experiences this problem, what they do now to get around this problem and who or what your competition is likely to be. All investor pitches start with problem/customer solution so do not undervalue this step. 

Remember, the more of yourself you put into your business portfolio, the more we and our community can help you achieve your ambition.

Specific guidance

Our panel of judges will be reading through the portfolio you create in Validate and focussing on how you’ve communicated the ten elements of your business model canvas (customer segments, value proposition, etc).  They’ll also be looking at your project summary for an overview of how you came up with your idea and where you are with it (are you still doing market research, getting feedback on a prototype, building a website, etc.) Or, if you have an early-stage business, i.e. trading for less than a year, are you gaining traction with customers? What challenges are you facing? What are your plans for the next 3-6 months? Our judges understand that everyone is at a different stage in developing their business, so be transparent but do tell them where you want to be in the next 1, 2, 5, or 10 years. Say something about how you plan to get there and what you have done to test your plan. Or, speak about the gaps and help you have identified that you must overcome to get there. We would also like to know how you would spend the £2500 grant funding if it is awarded to you. You can write about all of this in the Project Summary part of your portfolio. 

We’ll also want to see what you plan to use the grant funding for if your business or idea is selected. You can list some equipment that you plan to buy, details of freelancers you plan to hire, or stock you need to build up, for example.

Note that we wont’ be looking at the Tests function of Validate, this feature is just there for you to use as you develop your idea.

Here is what judges are looking for in your business model:

Customer segments: Use your problem statements (from Ideation) to segment your potential customers. Be as specific as you can. Eg. Drivers stuck in traffic (thick milkshake helps pass the time), or parents with childcare needs but without local family support. Your Project Summary (in the Portfolio section) should explain your connection with these sectors and their problems. Eg. When I worked in a large retail bank, I saw customers resorting to  ‘payday loans’ at very high interest rates because they didn’t meet the bank’s lending criteria and realised I could help them.

Value proposition: Start with your Solution (from ideation) to explain how you are solving a problem for your customers. Say why your solution is better than what they are doing already, or better than your competitors. An easy way to frame this is imagine a customer recommending your business to a friend. Eg. one owner of a small business may say to another, “Instead of paying for accounting software via endless subscription to Xero or Sage, this solution is a one-time purchase and there are optional low-priced updates if I want them”. You will want to test your assumptions about what’s valuable to customers (see Tests section).

Key Activities & Resources: At its most basic level, a business transforms inputs into outputs using some specific knowledge and that’s what you should describe in these two areas. Eg. a microbrewery converts water, barley and yeast into beer using a recipe. In addition to a supply of those ingredients, a brewing business will need containers, storage and working spaces and a brewer to adapt the recipe to suit the local conditions and tastes. It's a good idea to include key metrics unique to your process here too, as this gives you clear targets to work towards. For example, we will offer three ales (pale, golden and porter) and one craft lager at launch, and showcase all of these at the local beer festival. Although it’s not necessary to list general activities and resources such as payroll and insurance, you should include anything that is critical. Eg. marketing if your business depends on creating a social media following and capital if you are creating a fund or acquiring assets.

Channels to market: The microbrewery already mentioned beer festivals, so they will list those festivals here and also make a note of the costs and logistics for each (price of a stand, cost of hiring a van, insurances, etc.). Small business owners may belong to the Federation of Small Business and local Chambers of Commerce and contactable that way. In the online world, which may be appropriate for consumer-facing businesses, social media platforms provide a means of advertising to specified user segments. Once again, as well as listing each, note the costs involved and be prepared to spend several months finding the right segment for what you are offering.

Customer relationships: For each channel, describe the relationship you envision with your customers. If possible, create a flowchart to show how you funnel prospects into long-term customers. If your relationship is based on social media, can you get their email so you have a closer relationship? How are you going to keep them engaged over the long-term via email?

Revenue: List the revenue streams you expect to develop. Eg. online sales (customers buy from your online store without your involvement), direct sales (where you sell your product or service to a customer), consultancy (where customers pay your for your time), agency fees (where you get income from matching buyers and sellers). For each revenue stream, state the price you believe a customer in that segment would be willing to pay, considering the competition and your value proposition. Again, you will be testing these assumptions with real potential customers (in Tests).

Costs: Estimate how much it will cost you to provide each unit of product or service (known as the ‘cost of goods sold’). Subtracting that from your expected price produces a figure called ‘gross profit’ from which you will deduct all the costs of operating your business. That must include a living wage for yourself, rent, utilities, insurances, as well marketing costs (beer festivals and advertising on social media etc.) collectively known as ‘overheads’. For example, if you sell second-hand books on Amazon, the cost of goods sold will be whatever you paid to acquire the book originally, plus Amazon’s sales fees, plus postage. Your overheads include searching for and obtaining collections of books, listing each book on Amazon (something you may eventually want to pay an employ to do) and the cost of the supplies needed for packaging.

Sustainability: All activities involve some trade-off between exploitation and preservation and it’s good practice to recognise how your business resolves such tensions. Choosing suppliers that provide greater transparency and traceability of materials may be something to consider, or you business may be dedicated to sustainability. For example, Ecosia plants trees to offset the environmental cost of internet searches.

Key partners: Finally, there is always an element of chance in business. Doing the right thing at the right time, having the right connections, or simply exploring the right opportunity over another can create a distinct advantage for your business. If you watch Dragon’s Den, you can sense the value of a partner who can open doors and make introductions. Do not underestimate an uncle who works in finance, or a sister in HR. Even if you are not selling to businesses, their colleagues may be interested in trying or hearing about your products and services. Some of the most successful businesses have been started by an employee solving a problem at work. David McMurtry devised a new way of inspecting machined components using a mechanical probe. Rolls Royce could see the advantage of such a probe but did not want to develop it and supported McMurty in starting his own business. Fifty years on, Renishaw is a world class engineering and scientific technology company with more than 5,000 employees worldwide. https://www.renishaw.com/en/our-history--32458