Finding a group:

Originally a few of my classmates (Fahran, Kofi and Clym) asked me to work with them on an idea for selling cupcakes to raise money for our degree show and I said yes. Then I found out they had added other people and the idea had changed to creating a website to showcase final year work; this would help people on my course promote their work by renting space on the website. I had been considering working on my card idea but I thought it would be too time-consuming to do properly and I could achieve more as part of a group. So I ended up joining the group working on Carlos's idea and was assigned the task of scheduling and co-ordinating the work to be done. I decided to use Shotgun, having used it in Jared's unit to organise my individual project,for this which will help me to produce gantt charts and as it is online, everyone can have access to it.

Besides managing the schedule for the group i.e. Gantt chart, I will also be available as back-up to give help to the rest of the group for anything else they need so as to see this business work out.

Here is a Link to the Online Schedule:

https://ravensbourne-l3.shotgunstudio.com/page/1896

These are some snap shots of what our schedule is like at the current moment:

Updated Version:

Older Version:

Coming Up with an idea:

I have a couple of skills that I could use - one is DJ-ing but that needs advertising and events to perform at. The other is my drawing skill, which I thought I could use to produce greetings cards in a range for different occasions either by creating a character to use (like Forever Friends but less cutesy) or doing something graphic-y. I also talked to my sister who works for a greetings card company and my brother, who is studying business and marketing, to get their input and advice. SAY WHAT YOUR SISTER SAID HERE. My brother told me that when starting your own business the first step is coming up with the concept of what sort of business it is and why I want to do it. I need to consider my USP, what would make me stand out from the rest? What makes me exclusive?
Regarding the strategy plan he then explained the differences between long term and short term schemes. The short term scheme will take off quickly and make money but it does not last. The long term scheme is the one that takes a while to get started but has more chance of lasting long term.
I need to estimate the number of employees that I need to start with and to consider increasing this number as the business gets established. Depending on the product, if it is something that is man-made you would have to consider the parts/materials/suppliers and consider costs. I would need to do business with other people in order to make mine successful.
If I want to sell this product I would have to consider location/supplier/distribution and naturally costs. Where will I be selling my products? I need to do research the most lucrative locations and this all depends on the product - think time and place. The research needs to be based on the product and the public's demands.
I would need to think about how I am going to advertise my business and he suggested that by going through a charitable organisation I could make a name for myself. You need to spend money in order to make money. By giving a product to a charity you are benefitting the people behind the charity while at the same time my business could get good press coverage and free advertising.
Another way of pitching my product would be to call the press and invite them to an event, give an interview and have a professional spokesperson to 'sell' my product.
Regarding being exclusive, I need to do research on companies that are already doing a similar concept to my idea and look into how I can make mine better than the existing ones, find that USP.
My brother recommended that I do worldwide research and not limit myself just to the UK, this will help expand the business in the future. Other cultures may have very different tastes and so the product may have to be adapted accordingly.

Brainstorming:

After this session we had to do some brainstorming to think about what we were good at and how it could be turned into a business idea. I found it hard to think of ideas for turning my talents into something unique and saleable: everything seems to have been thought of already. It is also difficult to find a partner or partners you can trust and work with, but as the deadline was short (ten days), I decided to join a group as there was not enough time to do all the research and preparation needed on my own with all my other work, even though I might have been happier working solo.

People Issues
1. with co-workers – you may not always be happy with the way things are being done but you have to let the boss make the final decision
2. with suppliers – need a contract to specify quantities, timing of deliveries etc to avoid any misunderstandings and
3 with customers/clients –need to ensure customers are satisfied (within reason) so that you get repeat business and recommendations



Every culture has its own way of doing business.  There can be all kinds of problems when doing business abroad because of cultural differences, even between countries that speak the same language, like the UK and the USA, or countries in the same economic/geographic block like Greece and Germany. By educating yourself in cultural diversity, you can avoid potential problems and improve your chances of getting more customers.
 
Some cultures prefer to communicate in a direct and explicit way and their main aim is to close a deal and get a contract (USA): others prefer a more indirect form of communication (Japan) and are more concerned about building relationships.  Such differences extend through a whole range of things: in the Middle East giving gifts is expected while in the west, gift giving can be seen as attempted bribery.  Even something as apparently simple as a business card requires care; not only should it be in both your language and your clients’ language but for example in China, it should be printed in gold (an auspicious colour) and presented with ceremony while in Europe cards are exchanged without any formal ritual.  While most business meetings are conducted in a fairly formal manner, the degree of formality varies from country to country and humour (which usually does not translate) should be avoided for a more serious and professional approach.  There is also a great deal of variety in the way meetings and negotiations are conducted and decisions made.
 
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-japan.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-china.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-germany.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-uk.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-usa.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-greece.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/saudi-arabia-country-profile.html

First E&E meeting:

19th April the first E & E session. We had a powerpoint presentation on setting up a business. They gave us a few examples showing us that even something as simple as a pencil still needs a lot of work to get the wood, lead, rubber, metal and paint together as a pencil. There are long and short term businesses: long term keeps on selling i.e. there is on-going demand while short term just sells for a while. Starting up a business needs funding. We also had an exercise where we introduced ourselves and said a bit about our interests to see if we could find other people with similar ideas (like speed-dating)

The Brief:

PROJECT BRIEF

Project Title	IRL enterprise	Project Value	100% of 15 credits
Unit Title	Enterprise and Entrepreneurship – Making it Happen	Unit Code	CCU303
Level/Term	Level 3 Term 1	Date of Issue	April 2011
Submission Date	Project plan submission deadline 28th of April Formative assessment 17th of May Summative assessment presentation 10th June Completion of project report 13th June
Unit Leader	L T Dimitriou, Jared Taylor
Project Leader and Other Staff	L T Dimitriou, Jared Taylor, Robert Chapman-Ames If you are unable to make it to a session, or have problems with Moodle please let us know by e-mailing Carole Mallett carole.mallett@rave.ac.uk AND Sarah Mark s.mark@rave.ac.uk
Unit Introduction	In the Level 1 and Level 2 units of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, we have focused on: - spotting opportunities, - generating ideas and turning them into wealth creating opportunities - developing market insight and communication as key components of creative entrepreneurial endeavour. Now, in Level 3, attention turns to ‘making things happen’. This means taking a holistic view of creative entrepreneurial endeavour and the many factors that need to be organised and managed for successful creative enterprise. A key feature of the Level 3 unit will be to give you the opportunity to experience, as closely as possible, the ‘reality’ of entrepreneurial endeavour and the entrepreneurial way of life, deploying the entrepreneurial attributes, skills and behaviours cultivated during the previous two units. These include: - emotional intelligence, persistence, adaptability, resilience to failure; - the ability to make decisions and take calculated risks; - persuasive communication, particularly intelligent use of evidence, both financial and market related, in support of ideas; - confidence to cross boundaries into unfamiliar worlds to get the resources you need to make things happen. Through a mixture of lectures, talks by visiting experts, practical workshops, discussions and seminars, you will extend and consolidate your entrepreneurial knowledge and skill, and put it into practice via the unit project. The project will set a creative entrepreneurial challenge that reflects the complexity, buzz, highs and lows of the real entrepreneurial experience and way of life. On successful completion of the unit, you should feel confident in describing yourself as a creative entrepreneur. This means you will have learnt to: - Identify and understand relationships between the key elements which need to be considered, prioritised and managed to bring an idea to market, notably product or service; target market audience; people; resources (financial and physical); - Manage complexity, making judgements and decisions with incomplete data; - Build and utilise networks purposefully; - Conduct research, build evidence and construct a convincing case in support of an idea; - Plan the steps required to establish an entrepreneurial enterprise; - Communicate an idea, product/service concept and/or business case persuasively to a diverse range of audiences.

Project Brief	In the Level 3 project, you will come up with a business idea and carry out an enterprise. The enterprise can be based on a hobby / interest, based on a business opportunity you have stumbled upon or related to your course. There has to be actual trade- money switching hands or procurement agreement (/contract) signed- before summative assessment You are responsible for making sure you have the appropriate licenses, that your enterprise is legal, morally acceptable and in line with college regulations. Any monetary investments need to be discussed with a tutor and an exit strategy devised. You will choose whether to work on your own or in a group, and whether to work with members of your own discipline or potentially to bring more varied expertise into the project by collaborating with people from different subject areas. You may choose to collaborate with someone outside of Ravensbourne. There will be some suggestions of types of ventures you could pursue on Moodle (these have been supplied by your main tutors). You will come up with an initial project plan including budget and action plan (Gantt chart) that will be handed in by the 28th of April. Throughout the unit you will be using your online learning (b)log to describe your research and learning, covering the process of launching your business including acquisition of skills, contacts and other resources. At the end of the unit you will analyse and review the project’s outcome and result in financial and other terms (we encourage using the ‘triple bottom line’ model). You are expected to analyse why there may be disparity between your initial forecast and the actual results and to tell us what lessons have been learned. There will be a template on Moodle to use as a guide for writing the project plan and the end report. AS mentioned above, each student will keep an online learning log and is required to submit a report and analysis of the learning journey (see below under assessable elements). Examples of what you should record in your learning (b)log: - Any interesting material you stumble upon which has to do with your enterprise or topics covered in E&E - Lecture notes - Notes from independent learning on the VLE (Moodle) - Research: findings along with critical evaluation of sources and methods used - Motivation for or reasoning behind decisions made throughout the process - Feedback: from friends, tutors, customers or whoever - Visual: Sketches, storyboards, visualization of ideas, photographs of your progress - Be aware of IP (copyright) and plagiarism. Do not cut and paste text into your blog other than as short citations clearly marked as such and make sure to reference where text and images are taken from. If using online material, there is generally no need to republish the material: instead write a description/summary and link to the original page. We are working in compliance with the institution's group working policy. Guidelines for how to manage group work can be found on Moodle.
Teaching and Learning Strategies and E-Learning	Values, attitudes, knowledge and skills are gained primarily through lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical workshops, and self directed study as well as project based learning. The project will however be the main vehicle for knowledge and understanding, giving you an intensive and an ‘as close to real as possible’ experience of entrepreneurial endeavour. Visiting speakers, including entrepreneurs, are deployed both to inspire and relate your learning to the real world. Traditional modes of delivery are supported by the VLE. Changes to curriculum are live fed and there are resources, forums and areas in which to upload work online through Moodle. For project updates you are required to regularly check your emails and unit specific content in Moodle.
Learning Outcomes	In order to pass this unit, students must demonstrate the following learning outcomes have been achieved: A1 Demonstrate awareness and understanding of the key characteristics of entrepreneurial endeavour and the entrepreneurial way of life B1 Demonstrate an ‘I can’ attitude that facilitates exploration of uncharted territory, overcoming obstacles and learning from failures to make a project work C1 Demonstrate ability to identify and overcome issues inherent in working with people with different mental models and knowledge sets C2 Demonstrate ability to identify and analyse strategic and market factors and synthesise data to develop viable solutions E1 Demonstrate the ability to communicate an entrepreneurial idea, or complex data, simply and persuasively, using appropriate media E2 Develop an action plan in support of development or realisation of entrepreneurial endeavour D1 Identify, build and use professional networks in support of a proposition
Assessment Criteria	Ability to identify the key elements in entrepreneurial endeavour and apply the attitudes, skills and behaviours of entrepreneurial people (A1, B1, D1) Ability to identify and develop appropriate strategies for dealing with key issues inherent in working and communicating effectively with diverse stakeholders who may have different mental models and knowledge sets (C1, D1, E1) Evidence of capacity to think strategically, gather strategic and market intelligence from a wide range of sources and synthesise data to develop viable propositions/solutions (C2) Evidence of ability to identify, build and utilise professional networks (D1) Ability to develop a comprehensive action plan in support of entrepreneurial endeavour (E2)
Assessable Elements and Submission Requirements	Assessable Elements Percentage of Final Grade Project 100% Students are required to keep an online learning log or blog throughout the project. For all submissions: All hand-ins need to be uploadable to Moodle for assessment. Therefore students MUST keep back up of all their work on external media until it has been marked – just in case there are problems. Please note that conduct and engagement in organised activities are noted and may be taken into consideration in the assessment. If you are unable to make it to a session, please let us know by e-mailing Carole Mallett carole.mallett@rave.ac.uk AND Sarah Mark s.mark@rave.ac.uk Formative assessment You will discuss your project plan with a tutor and/or visiting entrepreneur. Feedback received should be added by the student to his/her learning log or blog. Summative assessment Report on enterprise, discussion with tutor. Upload project report to Moodle. Peer assessment. For further details and guidance, students are directed to Moodle.
Key Dates	Students are required to regularly check Moodle and e-mail for live updates and changes to curriculum and schedule. 19th of April 1.30-4: Introduction to unit and project T.B.C: Seminars on FREELANCING including: budgeting, finding work, contracts. Visiting entrepreneur/ freelancers. 28th of April: Deadline for project plan hand-in 10th of May 9.30-12, 1.30-4: Consumer Behavior, Negotiation Tactics, Securing investment, Business Strategy 17th of May 9.30-12, 1.30-4 Formative Assessments/Tutorials 10th of June 9.30-12, 1.30-4 Summative Assessments/Tutorials 13th June Deadline final submissions of project report
Extensions and Mitigating Circumstances	If you have any other unforeseen and serious difficulties during this unit you may apply for an extension, or mitigating circumstances. Full details of how to do this are available from the Registry intranet site at http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/registry/docs/MITCIRCSFAQ.pdf
Grading and Marking	All projects at Ravensbourne College are assessed against the College Grading Descriptors. (http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/quality/a_to_z.htm)
Reading List	Further recommended items for reading and viewing are continually added to the unit page on Moodle. Books Don Tapscott & Anthony D Williams, (2007) Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, Atlantic Books John Mullins, (2006) The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Writing A Business Plan, Times/Prentice Hall 2nd ed Mary and Andrew Bragg, Developing New Business Ideas: A Step-by-step Guide to Creating New Business Ideas Worth Backing, Financial Times Series/Prentice Hall Richard Stutely, The Definitive Business Plan: The Fast Track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs (Financial Times Series) Cheryl D. Rickman and Dame Anita Roddick, (2005) The Small Business Start-up Workbook: A Step-by-step Guide to Starting the Business You've Dreamed of, How To Books Gary Hamel, The Future of Management, Harvard Business School Press Peter F Drucker, (2008) The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization, JB Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation 3rd ed Peter F Drucker, (2008) Managing Oneself, Harvard Business School Classics Web www.creativityincubator.com, Sections: Fostering a Creative Culture; Teams Chartered Institute of Marketing www.cim.co.uk www.telegraphbusinessclub.co.uk www.designcouncil.org.uk www.smalllbusiness.co.uk/ www.thisismoney.co.uk/small-business British Venture Capital Assocation www.bvca.co.uk British Business Angel Association www.bbaa.org.uk School for Social Entrepreneurs www.sse.org.uk New business trends: www.fastcompany.com Stanford entrepreneurship corner: http://ecorner.stanford.edu Judge Business School Podcasts: www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/news/podcast_centre/index.html Bloomberg Businessweek www.businessweek.com Free grant search service for small companies, charities and community groups: http://www.grantnet.com/ iTunesU: University of Oxford- Building a business (basic business knowhow series- talks on how to raise funding, the importance of good accountancy, how to write and sell a business plan) Open University- Winning Resources and Support (Fundraising and campaigning for social enterprise and charities) All references must be written in the Harvard style of referencing. Refer to the LRC Booklet ‘How to … Reference your work’.
Learning Support	Learning Support is available through Student Services and includes – English as a second language, academic writing support and dyslexia support. For more information on the type of support you can access, either visit the Student Services Team, or see the Support for Learning brochure which can be downloaded from – http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/support/Support4Learning.htm Alternative assessment arrangements may be made or additional learning support arranged for students with disabilities or medical conditions which would impair their performance in meeting the above requirements and who have registered in advance with Student Support. This must be discussed and agreed in advance with the Subject Leader and will be reported to the Board of Examiners.
Re-Submission Requirements	Students who fail this project, or parts thereof, will be required to complete a resubmission project which demonstrates that they have achieved the learning outcomes. Students should be aware that resubmissions are capped at an E grade (for University of Sussex Validation) or a bare pass grade (for City University London Validation) unless the mitigating circumstances panel uphold an evidenced application. The deadline for re-submission is 27th of June 2011