Week #6

This week brought some fun and some challenges as it was the first week of business. My husband and I started by designing some flyers for our service. We then called around different businesses in the area to receive permission to not only pas out the flyers, but to also promote the service. I was surprised that nearly every single place allowed us to promote our business. We started our first round of passing out flyers and noticed an error. We forgot to include that all proceeds were being donated to an entrepreneur in South America that needed help with his show business. We wanted to make it clear that we were not starting this business for our own financial gain. We also wanted to encourage those who did not care for the service, but wanted to donate so they had an option. We went back and fixed the error and continued to pass out flyer after flyer. The response we received was very positive and encouraging. As we walked around and visited different places, we were congratulated and given advice for additional places in the area to visit. We made sure that we were friendly and that we showed we love our customers and their business. We made $10.00 from people who offered us cash on the spot just as a donation for the great work we were doing.  This has been so much fun and I am enthusiastic as our business continues to grow.

Week #5

This week we were assigned to do an “elevator pitch”. I chose to use my $100 challenge idea for the pitch. In previous weeks, I told my family and friends about my idea but I had never done so as if I was selling my idea. The pitch helped me to really focus on what was important. I tried to make the pitch as clear and concise as possible. I wanted to make sure the “pain” for the customer was engaging and effectively hooked the reader. The assignment really helped me to identify some of the potential competitors for my business. Originally I thought I didn’t have any competitors, but as I started talking to my local friends they mentioned other boutiques that sell cute pillow covers as well. It has been really helpful for me in these past weeks to talk to other people about the business. Sometimes we are so sold on our idea that we forget to ask others how they think about it. My idea and my pitch has evolved from the numerous suggestions that even the professor has given me to improve my business. A key takeaway I had from this week was the video from Phil Romano. As a serial entrepreneur, he taught me the importance of always looking towards the future for new opportunities in different areas.

Week #4

This week was exciting as I had the chance to successfully fund my business for the $100.00 challenge. In weeks prior, I had been in contact with my family members bouncing off ideas and getting their feedback. Being that the members of my family are my biggest supporters, I decided to include them in the funding for my business. I had each family member donate 2 dollars for the startup costs of the business. Ten members of my direct and extended family donated money to get me to the $20 dollars I needed to start the business. My husband gave me great advice for starting the business. He encouraged me to leave a thank you note and piece of candy with each pillowcase I make.I think this is great advice to get the repeat customers and build a sense of friendship between me and my customers.
My favorite activity for this week was reading the talk given by Elder Wirthlin. I think that budgeting is such an up and down thing for me that I really needed to read this talk. The blessings that come from paying your tithing despite being on a tight budget are countless. My husband and I have received so many blessings by following this principle.

Week #3

This week for the $100 challenge, we were given the assignment to create a one page business. This was the first time I had the chance to really dig into the details of the service I planned on providing. It was challenging at first to come up with a mission statement because there are so many directions I could go with this business. Am I going for affordable, convenience, fast, etc.? I also enjoyed going in and crunching some of the numbers for the objectives section. Expenses add up and you really have to be thorough to make sure you are accounting for the details. It was a good experience to practice some of these things at a smaller scale so that I could learn the basics before doing larger scale write-ups.
From the class reading and discussions, I really gained some valuable insight from the Heather Evans case. My main takeaway from the case is the importance of developing a feasible strategy in the beginning stages of a business. My main concern with the Heather’s strategy is she was focused too much on the long term like franchising out her name. That takes years of brand recognition and really shouldn’t be her focus in the beginning stages.

Week #2

I would like to start by reporting on my progress with the $100 challenge. I have always been a creative person and I like to get the creative juices flowing. The assignment allowed me to use my creative skills to help others find their sense of style and creativeness. Given the fact we are expected to have a low startup cost, I have elected to center my ideas on service-oriented businesses. It was fun to think of all the ways I could make life easier/more fun and comfortable for students on campus. My number one idea so far has been custom pillow covers. This allows students or really anyone to pick custom fabric for pillow covers to make their apartment or home more enjoyable. This will be affordable for all and a fun way to spice up your home.  

I found the case study this week to be very fun and inspirational. I have been on the duck tour in Boston and it will always be one of my best memories of the city. I loved how a business was created based on a passion and not solely based on market opportunity or financial gain. I will apply this principle to my future business endeavors.