Week 15: The End Of Lesson, Start Of Real Journey+Managing Relationship

Learning strategy:

When u listen, you will tend to forget.
When u see, you remember
When u do, u understand. Taking action is very essential, is like maths, you must apply and understand

When we study one discipline at a time, we are like a bunch of blind people trying to understand what an elephant is.

With business simulations, you can crawl all over and under the enterprise to help you to see and understand the whole thing which consist of Marketing,Finance,Human Resources,Production,Accounting,Distribution

Sim Venture is a business simulation game. By playing the game, your learning how to do a business. It brings life business concepts,principles, and ways of thinking,it is transformational where it comes together for you to manage a business venture

I have done what real-life business people do which make it an realistic exercise

–Evaluated market opportunities

–Determined target customers and their behaviour

–Formulated a product or a service to meet customers’ needs

–Devised a marketing plan to create awareness

–Executed sales strategies to provide growth of company 

I have actually operated a business

•Designed products

•Distributed products to end users

•Worked up marketing campaigns

•Decided on employee compensation

•Scheduled production

•Worried about profits

•Managed cash flows

•Etc.

Understanding and experience every single minor details

•Customers were demanding

•Suppliers were unrelenting

•Raising funds were challenging

•Many functional, tactical decisions to master

•Decisions had to be well coordinated and timed

•Cash was always a constraint

•Constant skillful adjustment was required to stay on course and get ahead

Applying Tools of Management

•Market feedback

•Competitor analysis

•Company productivity or efficiency data

•Accounting reports (Profit/Loss, Cashflow)

Can you now manage a business after learning

•Promote better decision making by learning to manage a totally integrated company, including the management of sales, marketing, production, and human and financial resources.

•Facilitate learning of important business concepts, principles and ways of thinking.

Pro and Cons on Sim Venture

Pro:A good learning tool for those who want to understand the aspects of a handling a business

Try out different strategies/low risk

Know what are strengths and weakness

One decision impacts consequences

Can keep trying again.

Provide exposures of business terminology

Con:Some users may not understand what they do right and wrong.

Not realistic.

Only able to sell one product

Cannot apply inter-personal relationship

Cannot apply users real-life skills

Do not incorporate the values

Restrict payment to suppliers

Can only play in windows and at school.

Business development sometimes doesn’t provide realistic amount of time.

Raising funds too convenient. Just press button. 

Managing Relationship

i approached haopin and andrew to collaborate with me in this business, i would be in charge of the marketing to reach out more people and adminstration work, andrew would be in charge of sales to increase the money coming in, billing and collecting payment and haopin would operate the business system and processes running smoothly,finances. I also do bookkeeping to create invoices,entering transactions into financial system, reconcile bank account and managing the books.

We might need a advisory board or external help who have this skills to help us further improve our business

•A marketing consultant to help you promote your business

•A publicist or PR agent to write press releases and help you get featured in magazines and newspapers, on radio and television

•A graphic designer to help you with all your visual needs, like designing a logo, a brochure, a website, a business card, product packaging, swag, and other material

•A copywriter to help you write text for your website, newsletter, blog, or brochure

•A proofreader or editor to polish your professional copy

•A web developer to help you set up a website or blog

•A tech guru (or at least someone who can help you when your computer has a virus or your printer won’t work)

•A business consultant or coach to help you clarify your business goals and hold you accountantable for taking action

•A photographer to take your headshot or pictures of your products

•A sales rep to help sell your products to retailers

•An agent to help connect you with places that will license your artwork or publish your book

•An intern or temp to help you with administrative tasks or for a specific project

Week 14 My Business Model Canvas

My Business Model Canvas:

"Your New Mother" laundry shop in SP

Customer Segments(Our Target Audience Niche Market)

-We are creating value for polytechnics students and staff in SP by offering this service in singapore

-Customers seeking to have their clothes washed and not wanting to bring their drenched,sweating shirts home could send their shirt for us for laundry or dry cleaning.

-Customers are usually teenagers aged 17-22 who are mostly sports cca students and dread of bringing sweaty,drenched shirts home along their journey.

Value Propositions

-In quantitative amounts of shirt, for example 5 shirts. We offer $5 discount
-Reduce extra baggage for students who need extra clothes for CCA or gym

-Our price is definitely affordable below $6 other then laundry of jackets.

-Our location is easy to find  because it is located in SP, the students in SP studies there which makes it convenience for them to approach us for our services.

-Our staff takes note of every single minor details of how should we handle your products, type of washing,detergent used. Staff also makes recommendation based on the materials of the shirt

-We only uses the best detergent to laundry the shirts, we could remove most of the stains but complete removal may not be always possible.

-We remind customers to remove any ornament on the shirt before cleaning in a case of  lost items that we will not bear responsibility for.

-Health and Safety, a better place for everyone is one of our motto, that i have thought of.  We remind customer not to send in any clothing in contact with infectious diseases to us for washing. As it is an offence under Quarantine and Prevention Disease Ordinance to send bedding,clothing or materials which have been in contact with infectious diseases to a public wash house.

Channels:

- Main channeling on Social media platforms(facebook,twitter) to interact with customers and raising awareness for our service

1)word to mouth spreading

2)phone calling

3)cca presidents

4)gym managers

5)forums

-Website,email,hotline to purchase our services for laundry

-Feedback form that can be found on website, our laundry shop to receive valuable feedback from customer.

Customer Relationship:

-Customer relationship are maintained by

1)Hotline/Email to check with customer whether they are happy about our services

2)Live chat help on website 

3)Service counter

4)Facebook/twitter to answer any enquriies

Revenue Stream:
Revenue-cost=profit
S$2325-S$650=S$1675
We laundry a shirt for $5.00 while outside laundry within the price range of $4.50-$5, we are $.050 more expensive because we can deliver more value due to convenience, they do not have to specifically travel faraway place, it is located in the campus where they come to the campus in sp daily. We are going to purchase more washing machine and rent more area to store the washing machine and operate them. We do not spend advertising fee on facebook,television,newspaper, we just need to promote it within sp, like poster,pamplet, through word to mouth or ask sp to promote for us.

Key Resources:
Me,andrew,haopin(Human)
3 Washing Machine $999 each(purchased when earned enough money)
3 Washing Machine($200 each month rental from EasyWash)
A Laundry Room In SP(rental fee $250 to SP)
Service Team(to be announced till further notice currently me,haopin,andrew)
Delivery Team(to be announced in till further notice currently me,haopin,andrew)
Website
Laptop(Personal to work use)
Handphones(Personal to work use)
Internet(spwireless free provided by SP)

Key Activities:
1)Production
Provide student and staff within SP with laundry service
Provide storage for storing clothes and shoe
Provide convenience to collect as it is located in the campus
2)Problem solving
Hear feedback
Able to fix problems like stain on clothing
3)Platform/Network
Database is created to store customer information,service code
Supply chain management (SAPlogon)

Key Partnership:
-SP
-TOP BRAND DETERGENT(SUPPLIER)
-EasyWash(Renting of Washing Machines)

Cost Structure
Rental of room in SP($250)
Rental of washing machine($200)
Detergent($100)
'Namecards, invoices, stationery and promotional materials($100),
Website domain registration fee,hosting,design cost ($100)
Laundry of shirt/blouse/trouser/jeans($5)
Dry cleaning of shirt/blouse/trouser/jeans($5.50)
Laundry of skirt($3.50)
Dry cleaning of skirt($4)
Laundry of jacket($5.50)
Dry cleaning of jacket($6)

Week 13: Review of Business Simulation Experience Form of Business, Type of Business, Naming Your Company, Market Research

Types of Market Research

oSurveys: Questionnaires or interviews asking people what they think of a product/service

oGeneral Research: Information from library, government agencies and other resources

oStatistical Research: Facts collected and presented in numbers and percentages. Collected by market research companies and government agencies

It is essential to research your market before you start your business, by understanding your

market we can avoid costly mistakes. The 4p's questions are useful as a guidelines to ask

friends,neighbour,relative.

•Would you buy this product/service?

•How much would you pay for it?

•Where would you buy it?

•How can I attract you to buy it?

What does the customers want

oAsk existing customers/prospects:

•Products/services, features, accessories, installation, packaging

•Price willing to pay, discounts, loyalty benefits

oAsk existing customers/prospects:

•Shopping method (web, shop, mail, phone)

•Media (TV, web, radio, sms, mail, magazine, newspapers, etc.)

Naming Your Business

It is the most important decision as a good name becomes an good brand which is an important

marketing tool,conveys expertise,value and purpose.

Factors to consider in naming

oDistinctive and memorable

oNot restrictive

oNot amateurish or trendy

oNo confusion with other name/trademark

oNo unacceptable terms

oTranscultural

Distinctive and memorable

oGood first impression is important

oEasy to spell, remember and sounds good

oSeparates your business from competitors

Not Restrictive

oNot restricted by geography

•Katong Laksa, Jln Kayu Prata

oNot restricted by field/industry

•Ong Radio, Malayan Railways

Not Amateurish or Trendy

oAvoid Trendy or Amateurish names

•Millennium Cleaning Services

•ERP Import/Export

•PCK Technologies

•Nemo Corporate

•Barney’s Security Services

No Confusion With Other Name/Trademark

oInvite law suits if you use:

•StarHut

•SingTell

•Kodek

•Sonny

•Bothers

•Starbarks

No Unacceptable Terms

oAvoid words reserved for government

•Temasek, Singapore, Government

oNo obscene words

oNo words that suggest your business as scandalous or a provider of immoral services

Transcultural

oThink global and check that your business name sounds ok in other languages

oGM Nova: “Nova” in Spanish means “don’t go”

oAlfa Romeo 164: “164” in Chinese means “one way to death”

oHassan: “Hassan” sounds like “bankrupt” in Japanese

Naming Techniques

oUsing Surnames – Ford, Yeo’s, Heinz

oUsing “A”s to appear at top of list – AAAs.com

oDescriptive Names – IBM: International Business Machine

oWords with no direct relationship – Apple Computers

*Description cannot see

Week 12: Mock exam+Real Exam

This is a mock test to test our knowledge of the game and put those relevant knowledge into documentation to show whether we know the game. Which can help my business to keep track in the future, a useful document

The information are classified into 4 types;

1.Finance( whether you had manage your finance properly, whether do you need a source of finance which is good to have it earlier on where people still trust you where you can use the money to prepare for the crisis met later, did you manage your cash flow well,budgeting to help you control resources,motivate to hit the budget goal level,provides visibility for the company performance, is your book-keeping keep up to records,classifying the cost, net and gross profits and contribution,intepreting profit and loss accounts and balance sheet)

2.Organization

3.Sales&Marketing

4.Operations

My Documentation With Harrison

Course/Class:                                                                                                                                       Name :

1.       Finance                                                                                  20%

(Describe decisions made related to any 2 or more items below)

Item	Description	Evidence What did you do? Why did you do it? When did you do it?	Marks (max 10 marks)
Accounts & Expenditure	Interpret profit and loss accounts and balance sheets
Bookkeeping	Keep up-to-date business records	On February 2010, We hired a bookkeeper.
Accounting and Finance	Classify costs, net and gross profit and contribution	When we run the month of June 2010, our profit and loss become positive. (Initially, it was -7000 for the month, May).
Budgeting	Understand the purpose of budgets and use them for business and campaign plans and forecasting	On February 2010, we edit the profit forecast for overdraft.
Cash Flow Management	Understand the importance of cash and distinguish between cash and profit	Do keep our cash flow positive, we adjust the credit control. (1month -> call, 2month-> letter) Between June to September, we have a rough start on our profit and loss. However, on August, our profit and loss increased. On October 2010, our profit and loss become a negative amount of $9000. On December 2010, we have a profit of $3000 but our bank balance is ($16,000). On February 2011, our profit and loss is still positive ($8000) and we have a positive balance on our bank. On March 2011, our profit and loss is still positive ($10,535) but our bank balance is negative at $6000. On April 2011, our profit and loss and bank balance is negative. On May 2011, our profit and loss become positive again. On July 2011, finally, our bank balance becomes positive. However, our profit and loss is at a negative amount of $3000 On August 2011, we decided to sell shares at $30,000. However, we could not find any investors because it took up 55% of our company. On Dec 11, our profit and lose become positive at $770. However, our bank balance is negative at 7,000.
Source of finance	Access family loans, bank loans, overdraft facilities, equity support and grants	On February 2010, We borrowed $40,000 dollar (overdraft). Before that, we also edit the profit forecast. The next month, we received the $40,000 On April 2010, we borrowed $50k dollar (overdraft). On May 2011, we borrowed $12,000 from friends and family because our bank balance is negative and our suppliers are chasing us for money. On Nov 2011, we borrowed $13,000 from bank and 3000 from friends and family. On December 2011, we borrowed $50,000 from bank loan to prevent us from going bankrupt.
		Total (max. 20 marks) Comments:

2.       Organization                                                                         20%

(Describe decisions made related to any 2 or more items below every 3 months)

Items	Description	Evidence What did you do? Why did you do it? When did you do it?	Marks (max 10 marks)
External Influences	Understand the market and competition, changing market and supplier conditions as well as managing capacity and demand
Identifying opportunities	Undertake small budget research and marketing; create a profitable product
Legal Issues	Review the role and impact of some laws regarding health and safety, employment, company creation and contracts.
Interest rates	Appreciate interest variations, their effects on demand and related finance decisions
People	Understand culture of a new start-up & small business. Make decisions and deal with consequences that all business owners have to face
Practical problems	Appreciate issues related to: finance, location, building a customer base, cash flow, business planning and personal stresses & strains of self employment
Recruitment and training	Recruit staff and experience different methods of selection and choice of approaches to training	On feb 2010, we trained production on ourselves at the training center course. Instead of picking the “On the Job”, we pick training center Couse because it is fast and it only requires 8 hours. On march 2010, we trained ourselves on production(“On The Job”)
	Total (max. 20 marks) Comments: Insufficient documenation to show application

Sales & Marketing                                                       20%

(Describe decisions made related to any 2 or more items below every 3 months)

Items	Description	Evidence What did you do? Why did yosupplu do it? When did you do it?	Marks (max 10 marks)
Adding value	Use unique selling points and identify the best mix of design, price, promotion and service	We remake the product to fit the cooperation’s standard. Quality: 70% Performance: 80% Features: 80% Style: 90% We changed the price to $600 On August 2010, we noticed that we have not changed the selling point. Hence, we changed the selling point to … 1.  Extreme Style 2. Good Performance 3. Good Features On October 2010, we changed our price to 650 and give 10% discount.
Markets	Complete research, market analysis, segmentation analysis and assess market size/share	On May 2010, we made a customer research and we found out that our performance is poor. Hence, we need to adjust the performance to fit for our customer’s need. On July 2010, we also made a customer report. We found out that our price is excellent. Every section (performance, quality, features and style) is good and okay.
Marketing Strategy/Planning	Understand links between market research, marketing strategies and the desired goals.
Niche and Mass Marketing	Find out about the benefits and drawbacks of niche marketing and compete in large  markets through product differentiation
Place	Use distribution channels and choose premises to support the sales of business products	We made a contract with distributors. (RAD) On April 2010, we accept the distributors’ contract (RAB). We also made a contract with 2 distributors.   On May 2010, we made an advertisement on the local newspaper. We also made 500 direct marketing leads. On June 2010, we accepted the 2 distributors’ contract. On October 2010, we made a contract with the last distributors. Every percentage counts. On November 2010, we accept the last distributors. We also made 3hours of personal selling. On March 2011, we publish my website to promote our website.
Pricing	Use different strategies for attracting business as well as linking pricing to financial management
Promotion	Plan and execute campaigns including: Advertising, Direct Marketing, PR , Networking, Website, Events and Exhibitions	On March 2010, we create a basic website by ourselves. We also made an advertisement on the newspaper (Large) We missed the exhibition which was organized on February. The next month, we do a press release. We also made a 300 leads direct marketing (0.15cents) . Lastly, we also made 20% discount on our products for the following month. On June 2010, we made an large adverts on TV radio and local paper. On July, our bank balance is negative. On August 2010, we upgrade our website to premium. On September 2010, we made 10% discount on our products and made 500 leads on direct marketing (0.25cents each) On October 2010, we made an advertisement on the local paper.  We also made 500 leads on direct marketing. On November 2010, we never do marketing because our bank balance is negative. On December 2010, we never do marketing promotion.  On January 2011, we gave a 5% discount. On April 2011, we gave a 20% discount because our profit and loss, and bank balance is negative. On May 2011, we also gave a 20% discount.
Sales	Choose strategies, budgets and tactical activities to generate revenue
	Total (max. 20 marks) Comments:

Operations                                                                            20%

(Describe decisions made related to any 2 or more items below every 3 months)

Items	Description	Evidence What did you do? Why did you do it? When did you do it?	Marks (max 10 marks)
Starting a Small Firm	Appreciate the differing needs, problems and opportunities of small businesses
Operations Management	Operate stock control, buffer stock, re-ordering and manage lead times and stock levels
Quality control, improvement & assurance	Use different approaches to ensure the product is built right first-time
Product	Design and Develop a product in line with customer needs
Production	Build products and/or manage contractors to produce stock for you	On January and February 2011, we adjust our production tab to meet our orders.
Suppliers	Choose from and manage different supplier accounts. Ensure supplier payment	On October 2011, we changed our supplier to Sourceline. Initially, it was ProSupply. On December 2011, we changed back our suppliers to Sourceline.
Time & Efficiency	Manage personal and staff time to ensure work done. Identify inefficiencies and work to improve business performance
	Total (max. 20 marks) Comments:

Comment on your company performance in terms of revenue and net profit in the last 12 - 24 months and lesson learnt (Approx 100 words)                                    20%

Between February 2010 to June 2010, it was very rough. Our profit and loss is either positive at about an average of 5,000 or a negative amount of an average of $4000.  At August 2010, we found out that we did not change the selling point. It is a grave mistake. However, after changing, we also have a negative amount in our Profit and loss. We solve it by reducing the price by giving our customers a discount. On January and February 2011, our profit and loss is at a high amount of 8000 and 10000 respectively . From May 2011 to Aug 2011, our profit and loss has been negative for 3 months. Overall, we felt that we did a bad job on handling the company because we missed out crucial points like selling points. If we set our selling point correctly, the first few months will be okay or great because our marketing strategy is quite good in that months. In other words, we loss a big advantage to earn profit for the company. Additionally, the last few months of the Sim Venture, we also did a bad job in handling the sales and orders. Our profit and loss has been negative for the past last months. Another reason why our profit and loss is negative because we did not even do marketing promotion and strategies due to limited budget (negative amount of bank). On the bright side, we believe that we done a great job on marketing for the first few years. Many of our customers hear it from advertisement, direct marketing, networking and even word of mouth!