*Reflective Essay*
It has been 9 months since the course started and the least I can say is that it was filled with experiences. This module has been one of the most interesting, enriching and rewarding module that I was given to study during my academic time in England. It gave us a lot of opportunities through networking events, and class exercises to open our awareness. Coming from a marketing and human resources management path, when I applied to Kingston University I chose entrepreneurship because I thought it would give me the right theories and the right knowledge, but I never expected to have learnt this much in such a short period of time. In this reflective essay I am going to go through each point that I have learnt throughout the two semesters.
In the first week of the programme I was introduced to the customer needs model, we went to Sainsbury’s to observe consumer behaviour. We were explained during the class that these principles constitute the three major things to fulfil customer’s basic needs. I learn that it was important to observe consumers in order to understand their need and be able to reach their needs and attract them. During our experience in Sainsbury’s I saw that some consumers cognitive needs were met by price acknowledgement, but also by seeing ingredient and knowing the quality of the products. These are the information they needed to know. Going to the shop also provided them with information regarding the origin of the products. On the Emotional level, consumers need to feel touched by a product, it could be related to the quality of the product, for example some consumers might be more willing to buy fair trade coffee if they know it is helping someone in the world. Consumers also need to feel like what they are doing has a sense; they might prefer products from local farmers because they will feel like they are helping their local economy. On the Physical level, consumers need to be attracted by the product, its shape must appeal to them and they need to touch and see the quality, the texture etc. Some consumers might prefer to go to Sainsbury’s stores, rather than ordering online as they might prefer to touch and see the products.
The second point that we learnt was about learning how prototyping would help us to notice every single point that had to be taken into account. We realised that prototyping was about using cheap and easy materials in order to reduce our expenses. The class exercises were really straight forward. We had to interview people from the university and ask them about their shoe preferences. Whether if they preferred comfy shoes, or stylish and fashionable. Out of the results of our questionnaires we had to create a persona an create a shoe perfect for it. We had to occasion to learn that: persona = mask = role = behavioural repertoires (Pe´ rez-Alvarez, Garcı´a-Montes, 2006). We had to create the prototype of this shoe with anything that we had in our bags. This exercise was really interesting and taught us how creating a prototype with inexpensive items and quick research was allowing us to be much more flexible and learn much quicker about the product itself than if the materials we were using were expensive or rare… “Doing mistakes was not important and easy to fix; In addition, everyone was participating, even boys were creating a woman’s shoe and loved it! It was much more different from creating a basic marketing plan with an actual report etc. We were all involved and each of us brought our own little idea to create that prototype:” (Bibiscus.wordpress)
During this year I attended a few art fairs, and it was the first time that I was attending fairs where the pieces exposed where not really art, but more like disturbing pieces to chock the audience. I went to the Frieze fair, where most of the art work exposed was very bizarre, most of the creations there were quite strange, and probably aiming to create questions in the visitors’ mind and to show what kind of stuff could be done with material we would never think about. I also went to Damien Hirst’s exposition, and it really puzzled me. The question that I asked myself was, is art now becoming an exhibition of scandalous pieces in order to create questions and shock the audience? What can be considered as Art nowadays? It seems that now a days artist are divided between those who have a breathless enthusiasm for novelty, and those of a more sober and historically based turn of mind (Gilles, 2011) . Where does Damien’s Hirst’s dead cow’s head in a decomposition state locates itself next to renaissance paintings? “Unfortunately for many of them, artists of Hirst’s generation were predominantly taught attitudes rather than skills, so that replacement skills in matters such as the manipulation of the media were designed to paper over the consequent cracks.” (Gilles, 2011)
Motivation was one of the key words for the Handy-Cleaning team this year. We realised after the first dragon’s den that critics were hard to take, especially when it was for the first time and with a brand new product. We realised that the hardest part was not to stay motivated when everything was going fine and as we expected. Indeed, the hardest part is to stay motivated when something wrong happens, and when we need to pull all our resources to our side to make the best out of our project. “Almost everyone manages to see the bright side when things are going well and no issues are in sight. However the hard part is to not to give in to discouragement when things do not go as planned.” (Bibiscus.wordpress) . I realised that without motivation, an entrepreneur could not subsist. What is more, three most frequently studied characteristics of entrepreneurs are motivation, self-efficacy, and risk attitudes.(yszka,Cieślik, Domurat, Macko, 2011)
During this masters’ year in Kingston University, I was made aware of the important of networking. It was not a spontaneous thing to do (Byham, 2010), but then when we realise the advantages it can give to young business, anyone would think it was worth trying. Indeed, I learned that talking to people about our activities was extremely advantageous as it could lead to unexpected surprises. “You don’t have a network unless the people in your network come through when you need them. A business network is not built with a single email exchange or by meeting someone at a convention. Its quality cannot be measured by the number of friends on Facebook or connections on LinkedIn. It’s a more personal relationship, usually involving at least one face-to-face meeting” (Byham, 2010). It is also important to create a small and strong network, rather than a big but superficial one, indeed, “People who don’t have a network don’t benefit from the ideas or connections of others, but people who spend too much time on having a large network may not have time to be creative. They aren’t purposeful” (Zhou et al, 2009)
Social media is another tool that we used a lot this year, not only for networking, but also as a promotional tool for our handy cleaning products. It was an exciting tool thanks to which I learnt that we could use social media to develop a business venture. “Social media not only serve as communication tools for students but shape the way they construct their social and professional identities” (Hartman & McCambridge, 2011). We used Facebook as a advertising tool, we uploaded pictures every week or so, in order to keep track of our popularity and keep potential customers updated with our work. We also posted status about where potential customer could find us during trade fairs. Here is an insight of what we achieved in terms of audience: Facebook Statistics: 469 views since 07/02/12; Total followers: 67; Number of updates: 16; Number of gloves sold via updates: 7; Using social networks was really useful as many people can be reached within a short amount of time and it has no costs. The bas aspect we noticed was that it was hard to measure the impact our updates had on followers. We opened a twitter account to follow cleaning companies, multinational executives and individuals and let them know about our updates. “The explosive popularity of social media platforms presents an attractive opportunity for businesses—millions of people use these online services daily. Social media offer intriguing new communication channels for organizational members to share information and talk to various stakeholders”(Meredith, 2012). Aside from promotional tools, social medias can also be really helpful in terms of professional careers. Indeed, I registered on LinkedIn to keep connected to professionals, and after joining a group called French people from London, I received a job offer. “Learning social network principles empowers students to match social media tools to recognize who is in their current networks, to develop networking goals, and to use the appropriate social media to achieve each goal.” (Sacks and Graves, 2012)
Finally what I learnt this year is the importance of risk taking. “Risk taking refers to the propensity to accept greater levels of risk”. (Lumpkin & Dess 1996) During the manufacturing of HandyCleaning gloves we had no back ground in the sector to be able to judge companies’ quality. We had to look for affordable gloves so that we could sell them with some added value later. One big risk for the company was to order a batch of gloves from the Internet even though we had no background in the industry, its competitors and their standards of quality. “New product success has been an important issue in new product development (NPD) research” (Tien-Shang and Badri Munir, 2011) .We ordered 60 pairs of gloves for the first batch from a website that was selling a pair 37p. The price was very attractive however we had the risk of being disappointed by the quality of the product ordered. Luckily enough, the batch arrived within 2 days, and even though one pair or two were faulty the rest of the order was in perfect condition. (Bibiscus.wordpress). As illustrated by Frishammar and Hörte (2007), new product may fail in the marketplace but if no risks are taken, no new products will ever be marketed. I learnt that taking risks was extremely rewarding, and thanks to it, we managed to be productive and be successful in terms of stock being ready for trade fairs that were organised. “The team’s propensity to engage in risky decision accelerates the positive effects of team reflexivity on product innovation.” (Tien-Shang and Badri Munir, 2011)
As a way of conclusion, it can be said that this year has thought me to be more aware of the tools that were available to young entrepreneurs to be successful. There are no traditional paths, and no way to follow, but there are wide ranges of opportunity that must be taken in order to develop as an entrepreneur, and I am thankful to have been introduced to some of them.
References
Frishammar, J., & Hörte, S. A. (2007). The Role of Market Orientation and Entrepreneurial Orientation for New Product Development Performance in Manufacturing Firms. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 19, 765–788.
Hartman, J., & McCambridge, J. (2011). Optimizing millennials’ communication styles. Business Communication Quarterly, 74, 22-44.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=c2feec72-0a67-4368-a09e-63ea259d9089%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=59774535
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4e7d58a7-9a83-4ed6-9dff-8ba70082f259%40sessionmgr10&vid=2&hid=10
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9997db8f-4bfc-4897-8b81-d12c5af1c6a0%40sessionmgr10&vid=19&hid=10
Lumpkin, G. T., & Dess, G. G. (1996). Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review, 21, 135-172.
May 23, 2012
elo2428
bibiscus 