Mind Your Own Business; Session 2

In today session we looked at what our company name ‘Paper Trail’ means and the brand values it conveys, what it communicated and what collective values it represents. We explored the product range from its typical cost point, function, manufacturing process and its material. Lastly we looked at our competition and what their USP {unique selling point} was. In the afternoon session we had a presentation from Lee Sharma, Lee created his own business which helps others start their own business. They are called SimplyDo.

After meeting the team today we really picked at our company and its values. We agreed to work towards a traditional approach to making handmade cards with a modern approach. We will be experimenting with the equipment available to us within the university such as letterpress, print screening, embossing, laser cutting (although we have been told that this is the age of overused laser cutting, which may devalue its unique approach), however we will only need it to mass cut the cards from a large sheet to provide accurate and fast quality production. The fact that we are choosing to use these traditional approaches will mean it will be time consuming as it involves different processes, but an advantage to this means it adds value and quality to our product.

After some market research from Barbara, we found that the average uk card sells for £1.45 and 85% of cards sales in the UK are bought by women. We are hoping to create a bundle/package discount for a selection of cards to help encourage sales but also move products. After todays session we have made a small week plan of our aims and targets for each day to push for a prototype for the coming Monday which is 4 days away! We have also been made aware of the last dates for 1st class delivery in time for xmas. This being said, we are hoping to produce a selection of card designs by the 1st December to go to the Christmas fair in the business block to test run our product before the 13th December. If sales go well we are hoping our official selling date will be more of a presentation of what we have done over the past week to promote our company with the remaining supply of products on offer.

To engage our company into the 21st century we are going to experiment with QR codes and Aurasma to implement the elements of modern technology with traditional cards, which runs along with the notion of our company name ‘Paper Trail’ which was a Victorian school game also known as the ‘Fox and the Hare’ where by the ‘Hare’ creates a path which may have many branches leading to nowhere and the ‘Fox’ would seek out the correct path in return for a gift/reward of some kind. This can be perceived as a hidden element to our card which engages the onlooker to play with the card and uncover a hidden message or element to a traditional-looking card.

Proud to be Different – Lee Sharma {Presentation}

The main ways to come up with a business are ‘Idea driven’ and ‘Resource driven’. One takes the approach of following an idea or theory, while the other creates a solution by using what materials are to hand for the specific cause. Lee says that ‘Your ideas are worthless’ unless you do something with them. Creating a business plan before attempting to ask for professional advice may be beneficial as it will allow you to produce theoretical figures and support your cause or idea.

Testing your ideas are a must before any wholesale manufacturing begins.

A pyramid theory is that you are on the bottom, supporting your idea which in turn supports the business. However the business will not run on its own just by an idea, it will need your full attention to maintain a cash flow and make a successful business.

The business plan: the product/service comes from the heart. Doing market research is a massive must! the mission/goal comes next, this is about exploring how far you can take it. Next the market strategy. What does your voice say? are you formal or informal and how does this represent your business. You and your team are the supporting blocks to everything. And finally, operations, How do you do things? and how legal is it? – in terms of copyright and patents.

The six C’s

Concept – Use post-it notes everywhere, web out your idea, what is it, its function, purpose, expense

Competitors – Check our the market, how successful is it, how do others sell, is there a unique selling point

Customers – This is market segmentation, how can you connect with the customers, how do other competitors do this

Compliance – This is the legal side, make sure your doing it correctly. Google is helpful but not always reliable. Seek professional advice.

Compatibility – How compatible are you? this is critical to connecting to your audience.

Cashflow – I will go on to research and explain as best I can 5 ways to successfully manage your cashflow. Read below.

Spill our information which will feed your business plan, when doing market research – ask hard questions which will show weakness in your product to help develop it. Don’t seek praise and positive feedback.

5 Ways to Sustain a Successful Cash Flow

Know your expenses. Discounting items may seem like a genius idea to attract customers, but selling anything at a loss will not create a positive cash flow. If you do discount items, make sure that you break even or still at a profit.

Bundle products and services. As explained previously, discounting is not recommended however adding value is. By bundling products a company can inject a huge amount of perceived and tangible value into their offering for very little cost.

Create a back-end product or service. If you think that your initial offer to attract new customers won’t be profitable, find ways to create higher price points on back-end products or services. For example offer a free incentive with cards bought which increases in value as more products are bought together.

Encourage repeat business. In most cases, you won’t start to profit on a customer until the third, fourth or even fifth transaction. For this reason, you need to devote your efforts toward getting customers coming back — and more often. For this we could offer a discount for returning customers.

Pre-sell products or services. To encourage sales sooner, you may wish to promote your company before the official release date as a way for consumers to plan ahead and make a conscious decision. This will also give them a chance to grab themselves a limited card from our collection. Back to the idea of creating a back-end product we could offer a discount for any pre-bought card and bundles bought before the 13th December.

Information sourced from; http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219489

I realise most would have stopped reading by now but after researching sustainability of the cash flow, I have come up with an ingenious plan which may be our unique selling point over the other team companies which I will keep between the members of my team. sorry not sorry.

Useful information

The Lean Startup – Eric Ries

Centre for Student Entrepreneurship

Uk Government

Business Wales

Twitter @SimplyDoStartup