Today I started writing this blog! This blog will follow me over the next month as I start to, with the aid of my group, plan and develop a business idea for evaluation in a 'Dragon's Den' style presentation at the start of next month. Today, in the lecture, we examined 'Creativity and Good Ideas'. I feel that this was a very useful start to the project as it helped us to form a creative mind-set, and look beyond the obvious for products that are yet to exist, but have potential to thrive in the current markets.
Today was also a good opportunity to meet the group I would be working with. I already knew one member of the group as he is on my course, but the other three were new to me. Again, I'm glad that this happened as in a business environment, you will often work with people whom will be new to you, so to be given a short timeframe with new people for this project will give me develop my current communication and inter-personal skills so that I am more adapted to this industry. The primary focus of the day was to start brainstorming ideas, and think about initial job roles. In addition, we set up a group on social networking site 'Facebook'. This will allow us to be able to share research easier, keep up to date on one another's developments, as well as get to know each other better so that by time it comes to presentation day, we will be able to develop a 'natural' presentation that covers all of the topics required by the brief.
8th May
Time was spent today contacting various team members, and finding out where we were in terms of an initial idea. For this, we all developed an idea each, and pitched it to the rest of the group. This meant that we all got an equal say in what we felt would be a good idea for a business, but yet remain critical of each idea so that we knew on what areas out business would be weak - something we assume will certainly be examined once we come to the main presentation's question and answer section.
In addition to this, we also spent time assigning job roles to one another based on previous experience, and and previous qualifications we already held. As I had previously studied business, economics and also attended a finance school, I felt the role of 'Finance Office' was most appropriate for me, something which the rest of the group were happy to agree with. As a result, I will start working on a basic cash flow statement for the first four quarters, as well as start making contacts to find out how much our production and overhead costs will be, and where an effective break-even point stands.
11th May
Personally, I feel today was a very important day for myself. The lecture gave us an insight into the world of budgeting, which, although I had previously studied, having the topics recapped was very helpful in terms of 'jogging' my memory, and giving me the confidence to start doing my job effectively. To follow this lecture up, I was able to find my old notes from my previous monetary-based courses, which have also proved invaluable in terms of me being able to construct an accurate cash flow forecast, which, hopefully, will convince the judges about our companies' stability, and potential for success.
13th May
Although I did not expect it, today's lecture on making a business plan also proved very useful in terms of my finances. Understanding how competition works in the industry, and how to identify potential customers meant that I knew to what extent it was vital to keep costs down, what the resulting quality level drop and how the customers may respond will be, and, of course, by establishing what sort of customer we would be aiming at, develop a realistic price which will ensure that a decent profit is made, even if less than 100% of the units are sold.
We will be aiming to have our final business plan put together in the next few days, which, in retrospect, is perhaps a little later than it should be. Again, if we were to do the project again, I think I would focus more time on getting the initial idea set up before worrying about job roles as I feel we may have lost vital time as a result of our current decisions.
16th May
Today has been a very big day in terms of the project. Late last night, we confirmed that our idea for '3D comics' would be the way forward for the business, and, as a result, I was able to start making the needed phone calls to calculate the costs of production.
This is the first time I have made phone calls about large-scale quotes, so again it was a major learning experience for me, in which I feel I have certainly developed my phone skills, as well as my ability to negotiate a price to ensure that, where possible, costs are bought down. I contacted companies that specialise in printing, that lease artists, as well as those that deal with logistics so that I was able to make, what I feel, was a very accurate costs estimate for a project on this scale.
20th May
Today we gave our informal presentations! I must say, I was quiet nervous about it all, and considering due to other projects being due in, I only had a rough inflow / outflow liquid assist model, with no formal cash flow diagram drawn up yet.
We were one of the last groups to go up, however, which means we did have a great deal of the day to gauge how the other groups did, and develop our presentation in light of this. On the whole, I feel that we did very well. Admittedly, various members did have to leave due to prior commitments, but they left a briefing of their areas of responsibility, which meant I was able to embed it into the presentation easily.
In terms of feedback, it was highlighted that I was the only person that spoke. Of course, this will be worked on for the live presentation, and we have all agreed to speak for a short amount of time on our area of focus. In addition, the judges were unsure of wether the costs quoted were accurate, so I will be ensure to include my sources in the next presentation so that they feel more comfortable with the presentation they are receiving. Finally, we did not have any form of visual stimulus, something again which was pointed out to us. As a result, we will hold additional meetings in order to construct a keynote presentation to help us with our final pitch on the 9th of next month.
2nd July
Due to a large project being due in for my final BOP assessment of the year, I have had to switch my focus in the last couple of days. On the other hand, I have been able to now construct a proper cash flow forecast for the presentation, as well as develop a list of all sources of the various quotes, which was a point raised in the initial presentation. In future, I will be sure to always ensure such a quote as, of course, all investors will be looking for security in their money, and the more confident they feel, the more likely they are to invest. I will spend the next few days rehearsing my part of the presentation, and making any last minute adjustments that need to be made to ensure the presentation runs smoothly.
9th July - PRESENTATION DAY
And it's over! We have just given our presentation, and, on the whole, I feel it went very, very well! One member was unfortunately ill, but she had previously emailed us her notes and plans so that we were easily able to implement it into our own sections, and thusly allow the presentation to continue without a hitch.
Again, the judges seemed concerned about my quoted prices, so I will be highlighting these sections in my write up so that they can see that the quote is valid. If we had to do the project again, I feel time management would be the area we could most improve. Despite the fact we did have other major projects due it, it is to be considered that in industry, this is no excuse - so as of now I will make a list in which I prioritise various tasks, and set a latest deadline so that all future work remains on track so no 'last minute' modifications have to be made in future.
