Final Blog Post

Final Blog post

Overall, I believe my project was well balanced in all aspects of the six skills:  Reading, Writing, Listening, Thinking, Speaking, and organization. I started my senior spring term with reading the book, Invent Yourself Rich, which acted as a basic guide for the upcoming weeks. This book gave me basic background on what a good and bad invention is, how to tell the difference and ways to protect an idea. I used these tools and techniques when doing this project. An example of one of the tools I used was when I made all students sign my Non-Discloser Agreement to protect my idea from being talked about. In my case it was an easy and safe way to protect my idea while avoiding the purchasing of a patent. The writing process was explored much through both the 4-5 times a week blog post as well as the long process of writing the actual business plan. My writing skills were used in these sections by working hard to organize my thoughts and ideas and being as clear as possible. The next major skill that I had to take advantage of was listening. This was because when coming up with a new invention it is very important to listen and understand different viewpoint even if you may not agree with them. It is important to gather all information and disregard some but gathering it is key. This skill also came into play during interview and conversation with other individual on the way such as Kurt Cassidy (head of food services). Thinking was something that never stopped during this project. In the classroom, study hall, sports and dreams my thoughts and imagination continued to flow. I was constantly thinking of new approaches to my business from the product itself to the structure. Critical and creative thinking were and are essential to coming up with a product that does not exist on the market today. The last skill I will talk about is the speaking component to my project. Everyday conversation with my peers about my product was important to the development of this product and company. However, the professional aspect of speaking was mainly applied during my final presentation in which I gave a quick and basic overview of my business, product and financial sections. Being able to state your ideas clearly and professionally is a skill that I believe will be used throughout my future regardless of where life takes me.

            Some of the areas in which I saw improvement was in the critical thinking sector. This is because going into this project I had no real idea how much went into a basic business plan and therefore had trouble with my time management. Companies take years to get off the ground and it wasn’t until recently until that I understood why. The main reason why companies are so confusing is because they are multi dimensional and every detail must be worked out prior to operations. My speaking and presentation skills can continue to improve as well as my writing skills. My reading skills were tested through reading the book but could have and should have been tested more. Reading is one of my weakest skills but still one that is extremely important to finding success in the present as well as future. Although I read a book, I wish I could have improved and tested my reading skills further. Thinking was continually done, however I felt I had a tight schedule so it was hard to relax and let thoughts roll because I was mainly thinking of what I had to accomplish next to stay on track.

As a person and a student I have realized the importance of connections. Having good connections with all people that you are affiliated with can only benefit you in the future. I realized this when I had a good relationship with Kurt Cassidy’s son, and from there Kurt was extremely willing to help me get connected with both Sysco as well as Solo Corporation. There are many other positive connection that lead to success that I have been hearing about.

My final product has both strengths as well as weaknesses. The major strength is that as a high school senior I have written a business plan. However, with any project come flaws and weaknesses. An example includes the writing process. I had trouble with knowing what information went in which section and therefore, the correct organization of my project may be flawed. Lastly, my major weakness that I have is being able to put my ideas to paper. I believe I can express my ideas well when presenting but when it comes to writing I am not as strong as I would have hoped. This remains a skill that I know that I need to improve and have been continuing to try to improve.

In conclusion, I loved this project. I enjoyed being given the flexibility to work on a project that I am passionate about. I appreciated the opportunity and I did my best to take advantage of it. I enjoyed the blog posts however in the future I would rather take 10-15 minutes per weak and talk to my teacher about it instead. This is because it took me approximately an hour or more per week to write my blog post. I feel if I could have applied this time to my project and I would have been able to accomplish more. Other than that recommendation, I see this senior project being a very good one. I feel that if a student can take advantage of this time in a responsible way than they can find successes in many aspects. 

NDA finals

Today I finished editing my NDA for the Safe Sip. I squeezed all the information onto one page and have made enough copies for everyone in the class. As I learned from the book I read, that there are other ways of protecting your ideas even to a certain degree more than a patent. Because my idea is at the very beginning stages, and spending 20 thousand dollars on a patent is not worth the expense at my current position. I have learned how to apply the sample NDA that was provided in the book and customize it toward my Safe Sip. I have only two last section that are part of my main businesses plan before I am finished.

Pricing Section!

In this section I went over the pricing components. What goes into the price, the other competitors and how their prices compare to the Safe Sip. I also talk about margin and how they correspond to the companies finances. I talk about some of the uncertainties I have and how they relate to a major franchise.  The major price stagey that I mention is by selling in large volume at low price. The other major task that I have accomplished is the NDA. I have customize my own in which I plan on having each person in my class sign before releasing any of the information that I have in my Business Plan as well as about my product/company. This even though this is not a well written NDA, it will still allow protection in many aspects. 

Sales Policies and Sales Projections

The two main section that I have completed today include the sales policies and sales projections. The purpose of the sales policies is to discuss the, “sales tools that you plan on using. As part of the management of your direct and in-direct sales teams sales policies are very important. Some basic Sales Policies for consideration include: Quotas, Pricing latitude, Returns policies, Commissions, Sales promotions, Up-selling, and cross-selling”. Throughout this section I went through all of the above mentioned areas and connected how they corresponded with my company and products. I organized different types of adverting that I may use and explored more of the sales area. The second section included sale projections. I used the same numbers that I calculated in my Winterim this year. I used 100% of both Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks market (not together) and charged about 2 cents per lid. This gave me an approximate revenue. 

Distribution and Sales Management sections complete

Today I completed two main section of the main business plan. These include the Distribution and Sales Management. In the distribution section I mention the route from production to consumer use. I talk about two methods either outsourcing or US production. I talk and outline the difference in methods as well the location as to where the warehouse or distributor is. I also talked about how depending on the franchise that we sign with can change the location of the Safe Sip headquarters and the distribution process. In the sales management section I talk both about the outline of the sales team and how and what positions will open as time elapses. I mention the layout of the team and difference of both the sales team as of the target market.

For me what I continue to realize is how much thought and time goes into building a business. When reading the questions on the side of the screen I think it is amazing how each question makes me think of more areas of my business that I have not thought about. For example, contacting outsource companies for production, what type of distribution the major coffee franchise use and if it is there own, and more. 

Promotion and Product two section complete within the Marketing

Today in a combination of in class but mostly out of class I finished two sections in the larger marketing section. The two that I completed include, The Promotion section and the Service/Product section. The promotion section has to do with the product and how to promote my product. I figured that because I am selling into a franchise my marketing ability does not have to be as strong as if I was selling each individual unit. However, I still have to connect with my consumers and make sure that they know that my product is available and how it works. To do this I have figured out multiple ways to convey this message. Fist, is even though my product is built into the lid I will put an additional label on the coffee cup with instruction about, what the Safe Sip is, how it works, what it does, and a link to our website for more information as well as the selling of other product through that website. The second major section had to do with the product itself and what the time frame of this business looks like. I mention the timeframe of when I produce my final prototype to the time of retail sales. I mention possible revenue and margin and future products. I mention basic competitors and how my product will out play them. Overall, after completing these last two sections I have found that business plans are very repetitive as well being detailed. For me it is hard to determine the details because I need to think at many more aspects of this company than one might original think. It is hard to run a businesses that has not been set in stone yet. However, even though it has been very difficult to complete I have been learning a lot about myself and about business than I had originally expected. 

PS: still waiting on Ida

Ida Sanger, Gathering Info

Ida Sanger is a Sysco representitive who is associated with the Lawrence Academy food service. After emailing Mr. Cassidy and getting in touch with Ida Sanger I have asked her many question about the pricing and about the company that she works for. She has sent some of the many question that I have asked to the Solo Corporation which should be able to answer my question with better accuracy. I am hoping to get these prices for three main reason. First is to compare the price of their product to mine. Secondly to estimate a possible pricing range for my cup lid. Thirdly, is by find the possible price of manufacturing and the price that they are being sold to the distributer I will be able to understand the margin of the company. What this means is that the number one reason why I am nervous about starting this business is that my cup does not have a large production to retail price ratio. But is nearly a 2:1 and a recommended 5:1 is beneficial. If I can understand Solo or Dart's manufacturing to retail price ratio and if it is close to mine then I will know that this business can be successful. I have also been working on my business plan and have realized that the parts of the marketing section require much more details. What I learned is that by asking a person a simple question and using those numbers, I can gather a lot more information regarding the company than one may expect.

Marketing Customers

Although this may seem redundant this section of the business plan mentions the aspects of who your regular customers will be how they will be targeted and why your product relate to these individuals. To answer these basic question, my product if going to be offered and standardized in franchises such as Dunkin' Donuts. Therefore, using the Dunkin' Donuts regular customers to pay for my product that is berried within their standard cup of coffee. Therefore, these customer do not need to do anything differently other than ordering the type of hot beverage they would prefer. However, my product will allow them to experience the coffee in a more positive fashion. Overall this section talks about the customers their habits and how as a company and using our product we can target these individuals into purchasing the Safe Sip.

May 14, 2012

Yesterday both in class as well as finishing it out of class I completed the marketing section of the competition goals. This talks about both the competition that will interfere with your sales but also how your products differentiating difference will allow your product to succeed. I mainly talked about how companies like dart can produce their product for low prices and therefore Dunkin' Donuts can bring in a large margin because of this low cup production/manufacturing price. In this section I also outlined my 10 year plan and the major ways I hope to accomplish these yearly marks. An extremely basic over view is starting from locally, to nationally and finally globally or internationally. To see more detail refer to the business plan itself.

Ida Sanger resource help

Today I wrote a long email to a women named Ida Sanger who is a distributer to Sysco, I asked her many questions about prices both sale and whole sale prices for producing lids. I asked her for the price of what her company buys the lids from Dart, Solo, etc and therefore I can hopefully get a closer range of what my lid may cost for manufacturing. I also asked her about the major expenses the Sysco pays for and how those prices play into the distribution business. Some of the major expenses that I asked her for were, utilities, transportation, storage, insurance, maintenance and a few others. By gathering all of this information I will be able to better predict my finances and the cash flow of the business. This is an extremely important aspect of the company because depending on how these numbers turn out will help decide if this company is worth pursuing. Ida responded and she is hoping to get back to me with the answer of my many question be next week. Overall, as I previously mentioned, what I am learning about my self if using the connection available around me to contact individuals in the field that I need support in. Ida and Kurt have already been extremely helpful and I am sure they will continue to be in the future. Also, I have been learning and realizing how much work, research, and critical thinking goes into a business plan or a new product. 

Kurt Cassidy Interview Recap

             Today in class I worked on finalizing my interview question. I talk to Mr. Cassidy outside of class today and he was extremely helpful and cooperative. He informed me on some of the prices that they purchased the Solo cups and cup lids for, for the dining hall. He also told me that he does not buy them straight from the company but rather from the distributer. LA’s dining hall services uses Sysco as their distributor. He is going to contact a woman named Ida Sanger who is the Sysco represented. I am hoping to talk to her about getting the price margin that they receive from selling these cups to LA. This will help me get closer to the cost of manufacturing that Dart does it for. From the future talk to Ida Sanger I will hopefully be able to have a connection into the Dart company. Although the cups in the dining hall are Solo cups, Dart just bought solo for 1 Billion dollars this month. Overall, as soon as I can get an accurate price for this product it will just put me closer to a price point.

                  Now for what I am learning about my self is about connections. It is very important to use connections to get to higher people or the people that can help you in the future. For example I am using Kurt Cassidy head of the dining hall to talk to a reprehensive in Sysco to eventually contact a high executive in the Dart of Solo company. Using connections and keeping healthy relationships with these people is very important to me. One thing I really have learned is how many internal connections an individual has. But what separates one individual from a successful individuals is learning how to use these connections to their advantage.