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)



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.

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....

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

Survey Results!

The survey results came back really positive and very helpful. Gave us a clear indication into how to price the product 'Memory Cam', the look/style and how to market it based on the main use of it.

Industry day...

Today was industry day where there were number of seminars to help us to create a Business Plan and a viable product. Sessions were: IP- defending and exploiting your intellectual property, Budgeting, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Entrepreneurs Panel.
I went to Budgeting with Peter Le Voir: I found the session useful as it covered quite a lot of areas:
What do you budget for?/How do you do it?, explaining: revenues, variable costs, overheads/profits, margins. 
As we are going to have to produce a cash flow chart he explained- cash inflows/outflows, gross margins, overheads,capex and working capex. 




We were shown an example of a cash flow chart (including fiqures etc.) however there wasn't much explaination into how those figures were worked out- it looked very daunting/confusing. Hopefully between Emma and I we can work it out. 

I also went to the last session, a Q&A session with company 'PufferFish' http://www.pufferfishdisplays.co.uk/ their product is an image/video projection on a sphere. 




They have worked for/with google, Nasa, Disney, O2, Coldplay Viva la Vida tour and most recently the London Stock Exchange.  




Really interesting talk how the intial idea had developed/technology developed and how the business has grown even during a recession. I think also because the CEO/creator of the company had studied at Ravensbourne doing an MA- it made it even more relevant to us, seeing what graduates of Ravensbourne have achieved.

Britain's Next Best Thing...

On BBC2 Britain's Next Best thing series shows buying teams from Liberty, Boots and Habitat asking memebers of the public- designers, entrepreneurs to supply them with the next best product. Over the weeks it has taken the chosen designers through the process of going from the prototype or intial product to it being distributed throughout numbers of stores.

As I am working out the costs/finanace for my group E&E i found the last episode extra helpful as Theo Paphitis (normally seen on dragons den) was explaining how to finance a product- explaining you have to work out manufacturing costs, wholesale costa and retail costs etc.

What really suprised me was how much the actual designers got out of this financially- yes they get the status of their work being sold in prestigious stores but some designers such as Richard Weston, selling his agate print scarves to Liberty being sold for up to £220 but getting peanuts- Liberty was getting the main profit. ( Which they weren't so expensive as i want one, when he was selling them himself they were only £40 a fraction of what they are now!)

But what also interested me that Richard Weston is actually a well respected architect and the scanning of agates and then having the image printed on to silk was really just a hobby. Shows that you can learn and get creativity from other disciplines not just your own.

If you have to cry go outside....

Just finished reading reading If you have to cry go outside- and other things your mother never told you by PR guru Kelly Cultrone. Through her book she takes you through her journey from being country girl travelling to NYC. How her fashion PR company- People's revolution has grown from strength to strength but mainly how to survive in the tough fashion industry. A really good read it has made me think differently about the industry i'm hoping to go into- i think maybe i'm less naive. She gives tells it like it is, the brutal truth.

I think I can apply her tips and knowledge into the project/business/PR work that I do at uni. I've also been watching her tv show 'kell on Earth' and she is also been featured on 'The Hills' and 'The City'.

Team Roles...

'The Memoirs' (my group) have agreed on our roles within the group- we decided later to choose company roles as we thought that they would possibly form naturally to people's strengths. So roles are: CEO- Oshane, Branding- Lee anne, Product Design- Victoria, Finance& Market Research- chloe (me) and Emma N, Market strategy- Emma T and Head of CSR ( Corporate, Social, Responsibilty)- Tirhas.

I have to say though that some people within the group are taking more of a back seat, leaving the majority if the work to others- i'm hoping that this changes!

Market product...

As a group we have decided to create a hands free camera, at this point we have had various ideas promoting it as: a live blogging tool, technology for people with alzheimers or just as something to capture memories, used for capturing holidays, concerts etc. We have named it the 'Memory Cam'and calling the group 'The Memoirs'- we thought this was quite fitting.

Taken from E&E session- to market the product successfully we are to: find out the competition, look for direct/indirect competitors. Are you going into a niche market? To be able to market successfully you must define your customer, what is the U.S.P- unique selling point.
Key things to remember: Hunch- some of the best products have come from this, good guesses. Explore- make sure to be thorough, Define- what will you offer?/U.S.P. Prove- Have a budget plan.

Be critical about our sources and do not be over relivant in one source of information, talk to potential customers- as they will give true/honest answers.

Creativity...

I think an important thing I have learnt through E&E is to be creative and to inspire ideas is to look beyond your own field. Researching more, doing background research- more ideas will come. I find that when designing in fashion alot of my research/inspiration comes from things outside of fashion such as architecture/art/graphics. What i find interesting is that people become better at being creative as we get older- you would think that students at university all doing creative courses would be at their peek! For my group to become with a good product we need to combine our ideas to create a great idea- have an Ulrika moment!

From the trends that we had found we were then to come up with problems- then to link the trends to problems: try to solve a problem with a trend(s.

E&E Trends....

At E&E sessions we were asked to prepare as a group 3 trends in 3 min. My group looked at QR Codes (barcode that can be scanned using your smart phone that can link you to a website), Sustainability- this is a key trend that is spread across many differnt areas in architecture/product design/packaging- a way of life. It has become much more popular during the recession- make do and mend way to thinking instead of having everything new! And a key fashion trend is Colour Blocking- used in collections of Prada and Gucci, it has been linked back to the work of mondrian in the 60s with the infamous mondrian dress seen by YSL.

We also looked at minimilism- this has been very popular in architecture/interiors but also technology. Minimilism I think has a direct link to simplicity, which is another trend- making something complex into something simple. And social networking/phone apps- it has become a major trend to inform people on how you feel/what you're up to in your daily lives.

Other trends that other groups came up with was: Films (true story), customisation- clothing,technology etc, collaborations- in design/fashion, retro&vintage, apple products, general technology, instant information, pop up shops&restaurants,multi functional, olympics 2012,being paperless and renting/sharing products.