Sunday, 12 June 2011

Economy Finance...

·         Emailing Suppliers in China
On the website http://www.alibaba.com, we were able to contact suppliers of wholesale goods in China, via a messenger service. We made a list of parts that we would need to put the product together, and started to email various suppliers about prices per batch of 1000 (our initial batch to cover a month of sales to kick-start the business). After emailing a total of 5 suppliers, we had 3 full responses, one partial response and one without response. We took the best figures we had been quoted and inputted this into the following table to calculate price per product and per batch of 1000:


Component
Price per product
Price (batch of 1000)
USB Cable
£1.11
£1,110.00
Micro SD Card
£6.15
£6,150
Exchangeable Lens
£6.63
£6,630
Twist Screw on Piece
£1.63
£1,630
Wire in Centre
£1.80
£1,800
Silicone Covering
£0.99
£990
Fastening clips
£0.54
£540
LED Lights
£1.05
£1,050
Rubber Cap
£0.41
£410
Packaging
£0.65
£650
Wire Port
£1.74
£1,740
Power Socket
£2.25
£2,250
Recording Device
£12.34
£12,340






Total
£37.29
£37,290.00




·         How will the Investor Make Money?
To start up the business, we will need a group investment of £30,000 and a further bank loan of £40,000. This is projected to have been paid back to the bank entirely by the end of the 7th month in business, thereafter we will be in profit which will steadily rise month after month. After the first year we have projected end cash availability, after paying back the bank loan, of £136,529.30.
·         Key Figures?
The important figures that can be picked out of the budget sheet are as follows:
o        It costs £37.29 per product to manufacture; based on figures from the China manufacturing quotes we were given.
o        We want to sell to retailers at a mark up of just over 40% of the manufacture price which will be £69.99 (this can be adjusted dependant on the success of the product).
o        The Recommended Retail Price is £99.99 (this can be adjusted dependant on the success of the product).
o        By the end of year one, Gross Profit is projected at £64,650.70
o        By the end of year one, Revenue/Turnover will be £1,497,786.00
o        By the end of year one, End Cash Availability is projected to be 176,529.30.
·         Intended Budget
The intended budget shows the company’s revenue and expenditure figures for the first year in business. In terms of Revenues, we begin in the first month with a batch of 1000 products split between 4 of our main retail targets, the main ones being Jessops and Dixons Retail. This figure then increases and by the end of year one we are producing 3000 products a month, set to rise year on year due to customer demand. In terms of expenditure, we have taken into account costs of direct labour (10 employed workers to manufacture and 6 members of our group as managers, promoters etc) materials and packaging, transport and shipping costs (parts shipped from China, products manufactured in the Southampton warehouse and then products transported to London via haulage lorry), overheads (such as accounting fees, advertising fee’s, insurance, legal fees and patenting costs, design copyrighting fees, warehouse rent, utility costs, repair costs and telephone bills), depreciation, capital expenditure, interest and tax.















Wednesday, 8 June 2011

Summative...

Summative went really well- very good feedback, it is nice to see that our hard work has paid off. Compared to other groups we were quite ambitious as we thought bigger- sourcing and contacting manufacturers in China and working out a full marketing campaign etc.- that some groups had not thought of.

Some of our finances were a little out- so Emma and I are going to tweak that!

Monday, 6 June 2011

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Final preperations...

Had a meeting today to make changes to our presentation and decide who is to present etc. After some more practice the presentation is going smoother and within the 5 min limit!

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

CV...

Chloe Culpin
12 Chopwell Close
Stratford
London
E15 4RP

Contact Number: 07502215898    Email: chloeculpin@hotmail.co.uk
 National Insurance Number: JJ 89 53 74 C
 Personal Profile:
I completed my Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Wimbledon College of Art in June 2010; I am currently studying at Ravensbourne (London) - BA Fashion Womenswear.
I am hard working, responsible and reliable. I enjoy working as part of a team but have had experience working independently and unsupervised. I enjoy meeting and working with new people.
Education:
October 2010: Ravensbourne
BA Fashion Design: Womenswear
Wimbledon College of Art 2009- 2010
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design- MERIT
Beauchamps High School Sixth Form 2007-2009
A Level Results:                                                
Textiles                               A                                 
General Studies                        C
Psychology                             E
                     
Beauchamps High School 2002-2007
GCSE Grades:
Art                                   A*            
Textiles                              A*
English Literature                    A
English Language                      B                
History                               C
Religious Education                   A          
Maths                                 B
Double Science                        CC       
 I.C.T   (GNVQ)                       Merit
Work Experience:
- Net-a-porter
Sep 2010 Visual Merchandising Department
Working with the VM team, observing shoots, steaming/prepping clothes to be shot, dressing mannequins, and help source clothes for shoots from other departments. Working in the samples room- returning clothes/accessories/shoes into the categorized rails etc.
-Alterations
Ongoing
Various garment alterations- latest work altering a bridal gown- heavily beaded and embroidered, taking out the zip and replacing it with lace up corseting. (Pictures can be provided)
-Photo shoot work
September 2009-June 2010
Over the duration of my course at Wimbledon College of Art I have worked on various photo shoots with either styling, directing the photographer or general help (preparing/steaming clothes, running errands etc) 
-Arcola Theatre: The Spanish Tragedy directed by Mitchell Moreno
October/November 2009 Wardrobe Department
Working with the wardrobe department and the Costume Designer, making and altering costumes for the cast, also being a dresser for a few of the performances.
- Jacki C’s Card and Gift Shop
November 2006 – August 2009 (Saturday 9-5.30)
 Working alongside the owners, my main duties include operating the till and credit card machine, replacing and pricing stock, operating the photocopier for customer orders. I have also been entrusted with supervising the shop floor on my own.
- DCK Concessions: Jewellery designers
June 2006 -3 weeks of Trident work experience 
As an assistant designer my role was working with the design team, helping source and research jewellery styles for future trends for the Arcadia group (Freedom at Topshop, Diva at Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins etc.). I also had the responsibility for creating the mood boards for the next season’s trends and sourcing the jewellery to accompany them.
References:
Arantza Vilas-Pinaki Studios    (Tutor at Wimbledon College of Art)
Cockpit Arts
Cockpit Yard,

Northington Street
WC1N 2NP, London.
E: info{at}pinakistudios.com
m: +44 (0)781 5587571

Danni Williams
Visual Merchandising Net- a- Porter
1 The village Offices, Westfield

Ariel Way
LONDON W12 7GF
TEL: +44 (0)20 3471 4500









Wednesday, 25 May 2011

Research for Business Plan...

I resaerched in more depth into the benefits of the 'Memory Cam' for Alzheimers patients and explored competitior/similar products...


Research/facts from the Alzheimer’s Society states that ‘Dementia can make day-to-day life more difficult. Little things like mislaying items in the house…’  The term assistive technology refers to any device or system that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do, or increases the ease and safety with which the task can be performed'
(Royal Commission on Long Term Care 1999).



This includes equipment and devices to help people who have problems with, speaking, hearing, eyesight, moving about, memory, and cognition. There are clear benefits of using assistive technology such as ‘Memory Cam’: reducing the risk of accidents in and around the home, improving the quality of life and increasing independence.







In 2010, there was an estimated 36 million people worldwide with dementia and this figure is set to increase to more than 115 million people by 2050. Dementia primarily affects older people. Up to the age of 65, dementia develops in only about 1 person in 1000. The chance of having the condition rises sharply with age to 1 person in 20 over the age of 65. Over the age of 80, this figure increases to 1 person in 5. (Published by the Alzheimer’s Disease International)



Saturday, 21 May 2011

Formative...

Formative went well- we had good/constructive feedback, however we did not fit the presentation into the five minutes. Feedback was to cut some of the writing down off the slides as people have a dendency to read the slides if there is too much info rather than listening to the speaker. To practice more to fit it into the time limit- possible only a few people present.

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Finances....

Emma and I have been working on our cash flow chart- hopefully the figures are correct!!

Pitch...

Working on our pitch to make sure we can fit everything into 5 minutes- at the moment we are are all presenting, but we may cut it down to the best speakers for Summative.
Really pleased with our work on the Powerpoint presentation....









Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Business Plan...


Business plan Details...
 
Front Page - logo/title/name/contact details/spoof address

Executive Summary - brief overview/excite reader/sell sell sell!!!/the team (who you are)/the opportunity (how you came across it)/vision/harvest potential/money put in and what you will get back

The Product/Service - what is it?
...

The Market- market size/gaps/segmentation/competitors/trends and forecasts/use images in the report/if you make a claim reference it with a credible source/your customer (imagery/words e.g. low computer literacy)

Unique Selling Point - USP/unique selling proposition/set apart from opposition

Marketing Plan - channels/partners/networks/examples of campaigns/price/place/promotion/plus (extras)/pricing/discount/loyalty scheme/defend/explain budget

Sales Channels - direct/sales agents/door to door/bids?

Your Competition (example of designer jumpers used) - direct competition (i.e. knitwear designer) same product category with similar product/indirect competition (i.e. place selling luxury items) product sold outside of range with similiar customers

Research/Design/Development - where are you at/IP (application/patents granted?)/prototypes/other products in the pipeline/innovation strategy/difficulties/ risks/dependencies/other products in case yours turns out a fad/develop other things/risk analysis/beware of reliance on others

Manufacturing And Operations - production and delivery of product/corporate responsibility/distribution and production/partners/how will this change as company develops and grows/economies of scale/employee reward system

Action Plan - what you will do/when/credibility testers and what their based on/sequence to adding value i.e. add ons/reduce dependencies/agreements/contracts/deadlines/refer to and explain gant chart

Economy Finance - how will the investor make money?/by when?/investments needed to make?/how have you arrived at key figures?/research/shop around/be realistic/rather be pessimistic than optimistic on costs etc/explain intended budget
Appendices - budgets/initial investments/cash flow/press cuttings