Sunday 29 September 2013

It just hit me that this is going to be my last blog of the year with you. But fear not, as mentioned earlier you can catch me on my blog….originsofhouse.wordpress.com

How does one say goodbye………I cant even tell you about the lesson I learnt, cause a recap that would write a textbook. Wouldn’t want to bombard you with all that information…lol..Plus I take it you’ve been hearing it from the rest of my group members.

Guess all I can say was this has been a life changing experienced, way beyond my wildest imagination when I first entered this course, and for this opportunity I will be forever grateful. Not many people get the chance to experience what I experienced.

I think back of my home town where I see people my age, struggling to find jobs, or working in jobs that they hate, all for the sake of a pay check at the end of the month. What is the use to live a miserable life just for the sake of a pay check? This is something I struggled with in my time in the corporate world.

I now know that it is my duty to take what I learnt and help alleviate the plight of poverty that we experience all around our country. It would be selfish of me to keep all this information to myself, when so many of my brothers and sisters find themselves in dire situations. This is something I owe to myself more than anything. I wouldn’t have lived a content life if I fail to bring change in the lives of those around me.

The journey is going to be long and very treacherous going forward. If this year is anything to go by than the end goal is all worth it. A quote that can come close to summarising what this year has done for me would the one by Steve Jobs.

"Believe that things will work out...Trust your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path. Trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future" - Steve Jobs

It is with this that I would like to say goodbye, don’t forget where you can catch me on my personal blog. I promise to keep you sharing my experiences with the hope that even if my experiences manage to change one person’s life then I would have done my part.

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Saturday 28 September 2013

The whole day spent in the library, this has become the story of my life. I don’t even sweat it anymore. You tend to realise the value of hard work when you are constantly being pressurised to work under pressure.

This had led me to think of a life in quadrant two. This is where you are dealing with important things which are not urgent. This is the ideal quadrant to live your life in. As much as I’m tired at the moment, I know I have covered all the important things due on Monday, this leaves me with time to tomorrow to do other things other than finding myself trying to work under pressure to finish a document which is due in less than 12 hours.

I must admit this is a hard discipline to get into, as there many temptations which could get you derailed on your path. Thus a strong will and discipline is required. For instance today I was invited to go out with a couple of friends to hit the town. However as tempting as that was, being a Saturday night and all, and the fact that I had spent the whole day yin the library, I knew that I could not afford such. There are more important things in life then shooting the breeze with the boys. Once you find what is important to you in life, don’t compromise on it and don’t be afraid to say no.

No sheep has ever discovered new land for grazing by following the flock

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Friday 27 September 2013

Yet another week has come to an end. I keep asking myself where this year has gone, seems like yesterday when I was still attending Networks sessions trying to get to know members of the class.

Now nearly 10 months later, I find myself looking back at what I could have done better or differently. It’s only human nature that we critically analyse ourselves, failing to see what good we have accomplished.

When we started this course my goals where never to make money, but to learn as much as I can. The money  would have been a nice added bonus to cap of the year. Doesn’t seem like will be making any money from our business venture. I say this with a smiling face and you might think im crazy. But I feel if we had focused on making a profit, we would have closed ourselves off from the learning curv. And that would have been a huge tragedy considering that we paid a lot of money to enrol on this course.  There is always time to make money, as long as the foundation that you operating under is solid, there is no stopping anyone from making that millions that they dream about.

I feel the lessons learnt her have given me the tools to succeed in any venture that I choose to travel. This year hasn’t been only about developing you r entrepreneurial thinking, but also how to develop yourself as a person. I feel I have grown a lot this year. and that’s something I will take with me forever, unlike some fat cheque at the end of the year.

It is with this that I recommend this program for anyone who is interested in being in an entrepreneur as it doesn’t only develop your entrepreneurial abilities, but also your thinking abilities.

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Thursday 26 September 2013

What to talk about?

Today I think im gonna a bit off topic, I will share with you one of my passions. This being house music. I recently started a blog on the origins of house music. One of the lessons that I learnt this year is to follow ones passion.

The link for the blog is originsofhouse@wordpress.com

One of the recent articles I wrote was on the birth of house music in South Africa.

As much as we need to pay homage to Chicago for being the architect for the house that Jack built, they had no idea that their music was fueling the rage and resistance against apartheid. House music became a cultural fabric of one of the most complex places on earth; house music was part of the Mandela’s (both Winnie and Nelson’s) cultural vocabulary.

As much as heads were busy with their own developments, blending music that Traxx Records, Paradise garage and Mt Fingers gave out. Topped off with what The Warehouse, West End Records and Steve “Silk” Hurley offered. These producers had no idea that the migration of this electronic cultural product called house was travelling beyond their shores and settling in the South African townships.

House music in South Africa did not start with the talented and contemporary Black Coffee, Culoe de Song and Soulistic crew, in fact, House in South Africa has roots almost as long as Hip Hop’s golden era in the Boogie Down Bronx.

DJ Clive Bean of Soul Candi records remembers hearing “The Godfather of house”, Chicago’s own Frankie Knuckles in 1987 at a local stokvel, which we all know is South Africans equivalent of a Harlem Speakeasy. Back then the sound was called international music and thought of as hardcore music as it was different from the bubble gum music that artists like the legendary Brenda Fassie sang which most of us were listening to at that time. International went in hand in hand with isi’Pantsula dancing, a local traditional dance that came to life in the townships, primarily in the 80’s and gained momentum with the dismantling of the apartheid regime.

House music is the same age as our democratic dispensation in South Africa, however the increase in access to overseas sound material in the early 90’s led to House Music’s growth locally. We were listening to this music at the height of the apartheid resistance. House Music was a part of the soundtrack of social change and was the underground answer to the chains of restriction imposed by the Dutch/British minority who occupied South Africa through the system of apartheid.

The track by Jay Williams “Sweat” (Big Beat Records, NYC) reminds one of the struggle floor filler…” “We gonna sweat till you set them free”…

In fact, the Bronx, the South Side of Chicago and South Africa were all united by the stank of disenfranchisement and the electronic music inspired by the lived reality of people in all three places which amplified the inequalities that connected black people around the world.

This is due to the fact that house deals with the difficult issues we have been unable to resolve in our material reality. In the music we see the co-mingling of ambiguities within the post apartheid scenario. House music conflates theses issues in a dynamic and experiential way, addressing precisely that which we have been unable to speak in words.

The sound of South African house is characterized by the bass heavy, “churchified” synthesized sound of classic Chicago house and some Euro – tech sounds heard coming from Germany and England. Prior to the South African invasion that we came to know through DJs/producers like Kent or Black Motion, pioneers of the sound like DJ Oskido and Arthur Mafokate took this township electro funk, slowed down the beloved 120bpm groove to 90bpm, added a social context and called it Kwaito music. However this did not take off too well in the international market.

The feeling that came over in South Africa spoke to a larger point that had never really been considered. Deep house is healing as compared to Kwaito music, maybe that’s why kwaito didn’t really have the legs to push on. This all makes sense that a place still haunted by the ghosts of apartheid would make House Music the sound of daily living. These days house music can be heard on local and national radio stations, in clubs, taxi’s, retail stores, everywhere and anywhere. Basically any and everyone from waiters to doctors have their feet tapping to the tunes of house music.

So it is not surprising that South Africa has been dubbed the world’s biggest House Music Market per capita, and to clarify that, the love and creation of House doesn’t stop at the South African borders, it can be heard in neighboring countries such as Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia.

There is a dangerous, and at this point, boring focus on Black American music as being the sound of the African Diaspora. To learn more about Black American music, we must reach into the soul of it. There we’ll discover Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica and a host of other global influences. We’re a multi-dimensional people and our music reflects the true meaning of Diaspora. Who’s to say what ancestor used you as a vessel to create your sound? Let’s share the bass that unites us…

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Wednesday 25 September 2013

Been yet another long day at the office, sometimes I forget that I have to blog. This is due to the amount of work that one has been faced with during this year.

Today we were given the breakdown of our final close of business report, and I must say it’s a daunting prospect. But on second thoughts, what hasn’t been this year, however somehow we managed to get through. Sometimes when I look back I cant believe what we have achieved this year. It actually makes me wonder what Im capable of achieving in my life time. Exciting times ahead I tell you.

I have come to learn that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. Perseverance and dedication is the key. It is with this that I know that we will be able to complete the document in time and be of high quality.

Interestingly, I used to be one of those people who would complain about how little 24 hours in a day is. It seems like the day ends before you even get a chance to do what you had intended to do. But when you think of it all the great people in the world such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and the rest all had the same amount of time with you. One thing that the lord has been fair with, has been TIME. Doesn’t really matter what social background you come from and what the colour of your skin. The one thing we all have the same of is time.

It is what you do with this time that is of importance. This is something that you should take time to think about. Is that extra 5 minutes snoozing the alarm in the morning worth it, or that 1 hour TV show. When you look at the greater scheme of things you would probably find that it actually isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying people shouldn’t take time to themselves to relax, but what im advocating is the quality of that time.  THAT IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT.

 

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Tuesday 24 September 2013 Heritage Day

Woke up this morning to a public holiday.. I’ve actually come to appreciate public holidays this year. Instead of going out and enjoying with friends and family. I’ve found that I use these days to catch up on the work that has been piling up.  As you can imagine this year has taken a tall on all of us, with the amount of work that keeps springing up from no where

This day was spent just as any other holiday, catching up on work that has fallen behind. The amount of group work which has crept up during the course of this semester has seen the work load pile up.

Lesson I’d like to share with you regarding time management would be that you should always try remain on top of your work otherwise you will find yourself in my situation spending days which are reserved for family and friends grafting away. This also extends to your business, one should never let order or any sort of work pile up. By continuously keeping up to date with what is happening with your business will enable you to make better decisions on the spot without the need to hold long meetings that will in order to get everyone up to date. This sounds like a simple task, however when you realize that losing two days of work could lead you to play catch up for up to two weeks.

This is due to the fact that time lost will never be regained, and time and money are the opportunity cost of letting work pile up.Simply stated, lost opportunity is the value of reduced productivity or time lost due to ones absence from the job. Anytime an individual is not performing the tasks of their job, the organization incurs the cost of lost opportunity.

So every time you don’t do something now, you forfeit the opportunity to do something else in the future. And that lost opportunity will never be regained again, just as lost time can never be recouped in the future. It’s like an airplane which takes off with a half empty seats. The revenue that could have been gained from those seats is forfeited forever.

I know that this is a tricky concept to get however I hope I have put it simply enough. Economists can take you to school and back on the subject, but the crux of it is that time lost can never be regained no matter which way you look at it. It is with this that I say, BE PROCATIVE AND PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

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Monday 23 September - Reflection on the year gone by

Considering that this will be my last week blogging. It would just like open off my blog by reflecting on what i have gained during the course of the year. As an individual the education that has been instilled on me by courses such as Entrepreneurial Strategies, Business in Context and Genesis just to name a few has been the best available. As these courses and the program as a whole has helped me shape my values, values that I know will guide me for the rest of my life. The growth that one has achieved as an individual cannot be summed up to any monetary value. When I look back on the year I see that the belief instilled in me has led me to be unashamed in my pursuit of excellence. As a person you don’t want to be just good at something; you want to be the best. And I make no excuse for it. I have learnt to believe in my abilities and to have faith in those around me. A quote that encapsulates the belief I feel I captured in my time during this program is one by Steve Jobs

"Believe that things will work out...Trust your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path. Trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future"

Being an entrepreneur is a scary prospect let alone a social entrepreneur, however I feel that with the tools and experience I gained from the program will help me overcome any barrier that one might face going forward in their business endeavors. I believe with enough conviction and perseverance anyone can make it to reach their goals. This is something I wish for my peers and society as a whole.  

As a group I feel that we have learnt to better deal with other people who we might not share the same sentiments or ideas with. With any group situation one will not always get their way and a lot of compromising is required in order for the group to function effectively. This is something I’m still struggling with. This is something I have managed to work on during the course of this year. Furthermore I learnt that it is only natural that a member of a group will drop the ball once in a while, however how you react to such situations is where the true test of character comes in. As they say maturity is the balance between consideration and courage. What I mean by this is that when listening or dealing with someone, it is imperative that you consider their situation by putting yourself in their shoes. However it takes courage to tell the next person exactly how you feel as most people fear being judged by their peers. This is an art that I have realized plays a big role in any group dynamic.

As AZURA we have come a long way as a company and some where I feel we just need an extra two months with this company and some amazing things would have happened. However this is not to be the case. With that in itself being said, shows that there are many lessons that were lent, what we should have gone back and fixed or what could have worked better.

I think back to the beginning of the year when we were told that our most important assets during the course of this year were going to be Time, Energy and Money. I have always known that these were the most important elements to any successful business, however the significance of these resource was made clear to me. The time we lost as a business during the June vacation has come haunt us in a big way.  I was also to blame for the time lost and I make no excuses for it, but when looking at what we could have achieved with that lost time I have come to appreciate the words spoken to us at the beginning of the year.

This has taught me that as a business, time waits for no man. In order to reach your goals as business a lot of sacrifices need to be made. This is something that we have all come to see as the business, and having seen the amount of growth members in the group have made. I know that this experience was all worth it. 

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Sunday 22nd September 2013- The end

So today is my official last bog for the year

What can i say, i cant believe that the year has gone by sooo fast, it feels like just yesterday that i was blogging about trying to make capital for our product. The key things i learnt this year that i will take away with me are:-

1) being pro active

2) the importance of keeping in touch with and having networks

3) the importance of communication within businesses

4) the importance of marketing

5) the importance of knowing the seasonality of your product

6) having a clear target market

7) beginning with the end in mind 

Those are the key learnings i learnt this year. I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs as much as i have enjoyed blogging ad sharing my thoughts with you.

Till we meet again

Tarisai xx

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Saturday 21st of September- Leadership

Good day everyone

Yesterday we watched Shakelton, a story about a great leader who set out on a British Imperial Trans Arctic Expedition from 1914-1916. It was remarkable even for an era and region that already has far more than its fair share of incredible tales of heroism and fortitude in the face of appalling hardships.
The intention was to cross the Antarctic continent from one coast to the other via the South Pole. In the event, the expedition never set foot on continental Antarctica. The expedition managed to survive the loss of their ship in the middle of the Antarctic pack ice at a time when there was no chance of contacting the outside world, let alone of being rescued.  
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/Ernest%20Shackleton_Trans-Antarctic_expedition.htm

This movie showcases Shackletons great leadership skills and how he died doing something he strongly believed in. He made a promise that he would make it through his trip with all 28 of his crew surviving no matter what happened. He went through drastic measure to insure this, such as making one of the crew men kill his favorite pet cat, ensuring they had food supplies at all times e.g when they were running low on stock they ate the dogs they went with. He also tried to ensure that they were warm at all times by constantly offering his team warm beverages. Even though they set out with the Endurance ship, there was a time he had to make the decision to leave the ship behind as they were now in danger. Shackelton I feel was the true definition of a leader as he never gave up in what he believed in and lead his team in such a way that even when things got tough he gave them hope that they would all survive and make it.

"MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.

- SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON"

Till tomorrow

Tarisai xx

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Friday 20th September- Networks

Hello everyone

Hope you had a good week

In our Genesis session with our Genesis lecturer, on Wednesday we had a session where we drew out our group networks on a network map. We drew this network map for different areas of the business, such as production and idea generation. Red lines were drawn to indicate the close relationships with networks and blue lines were drawn to indicate connections made through other mediums such as the Internet, or through some of our networks.

Through drawing this diagram it became very apparent that those group members who live in Cape Town were the source of most of our networks who then gave us details for more networks. This made me realize the importance of having initial networks who that can then connect you to some of their networks, enlarging your network scheme. For example if I had done this course in my home country I may have tapped into which could have added to the success of our business. Location does play a part, however it is helpful as now I have managed to increase my networks on an international scale, which is very useful. Networks are very important and one should keep building their networks as they contribute a lot to success.

Well that's all from me today, till tomorrow

Tarisai xx

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Thursday 19th September- Sell Sell Sell

Good afternoon everybody

So our business that we have been working towards and created is slowly but surely coming to an end. Our closure of business occurs on the 4th of October, which is just over a month away. We have however incurred a few bumps along the way with our production. Initially we were meant to produce only 150 units as that was the amount we could produce with the capital that we had raised. However we got "overexcited" and went and took a loan and increased our first run of production to 300 units.

Azura went into production on the 4th of August, however we still up to date have not received our full stock. This is due to the endless amounts of damages and mistakes that have been made, resulting in us having to return stock countless numbers of time. Besides this, because sales have not been that great, we need to sell, sell, sell before the closure of business, in order to pay back the loan that we took out so that we do not close the business in debt.

This has taught me the importance of carrying out a proper budget first, and not going into production of a large number of products without getting a demand for the product first. This also taught me that you should first go through small production runs of about 30 units first, to sample how the producer will produce a batch and check the quality. I also learnt that taking out loans and going into debt should be the last option and a bricolarge approach should be taken where you should work with what you have. But for now, the focus is sales, sales, sales, sell, sell, sell, sell.

That's all from me today, till tomorrow

Tarisai xx

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Wednesday 18th September- Our First Review

Good Afternoon all

So the past two days have been rainy and dull, and sales have been on a low. However today the sun came out, and with the sun coming out came a great achievement for our business. Azura received its first review online and this was a very positive review. The review speaks about our product and how the product came to be.

The link for the review can be found at http://wp.me/p2EqJl-1Xy

This has taught me that after cloudy days there is always sunshine. The review helped me realise that even though sales may not be going well, however it should not be a reason for one to give up hope, as there is always sunshine at the end of the tunnel and one should never give up. Goodwill can also be created through reviews which can also add value to the brand and help promote the brand as people who read the reviews and learn more about the product. It also creates more brand awareness and the more people who are aware of the brand the better.

Thats all from me today, till tomorrow

Tarisai xx

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Tuesday 17th September 2013- Rainy Days

Hey guys, so its me again :)

So today is a rainy day, filled with lots of rain. Two of our business partners are down with a flu, and its not looking like a good day for sales for our product the"Anywear". Since the product is mainly a summer garment trying to convince potential customers to purchase one on a day when its pouring with rain and all people can think about is wanting to be in their warm bed at home.

 Since the launch of our product, we have been unfortunate to have organized our days of sale on days when the weather has been cold and raining. This has taught me the importance of seasonal products. Our biggest downfall i feel is the timing of the launch of our product. If our product was launched during the summer or during spring our sales may have been much higher as the demand during that period would be higher.

Some products are whole year products which are not seasonal, however some are such as the "Anywear". I have learnt that before going into production on a product it is important to know the seasonality of the product you wish to produce, and if you are trying to sell it in the wrong season you should look into how you will be able to market it in a way that will still get people wanting to buy it then and there.

Thats all from me today

Tarisai xx

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Monday 16th September 2013- When everything seems like nothing

Hi its me again

Hope you missed me as much as I missed you.

So this is my last set of blogs for the year, hope you enjoy them.

starting a business, running it, meeting deadlines and making a profit is something I had underestimated coming into this course. It all looks very easy from the outside, as all one has to do is pick a product, produce it, sell it and pocket the profit right? WRONG.

Choosing what product to sell is always the hardest as you never know what impact it has on the market. Market research should be a good indicator of this, however it is not always the case. With our product, the "Anywear", the market research showed that the product would be successful, as we got a positive response from our potential customers.

However this has not been the case with our sales, the response from the targeted market was great and positive, however as a business we are finding it difficult to convert the interest show by potential customers, to sales. It is seeing very difficult to Always Be Closing (ABC). I'm not too sure if maybe this is the case because we are still in winter and it is hard to sell a summer garment in winter, or if it is because people like the idea of the product, but are however not willing to purchase one for themselves.

This is a bit demoralising as so much work was put in creating the brand and product, and it is sad when sales do not occur at the rate that we hoped they would. Hopefully things will get better in our last 3weeks of sales before closure of business and that we all can take home valuable lessons from this.

Thats all from me today, till tomorrow 

Tarisai xx

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Sunday September 15th - A Final Parting

The time has come... my final and last blog post.

Don't cry. I'm sure I'll blog again on other blogs. It'll be okay.

We've come a long way together. We've shared many a story and an insight. You've watched us grow. And dare I say it... We're like family.

Anyway.

On this rainy Sunday, I'm looking back at where we've come from, and looking forward to what awaits, and a couple things strike me.

First, in relation to this blogging thing... it's actually not that bad. It takes some time to get into, but after a while can be quite fun.

Second, the future is quite bright. We've come through a lot to get where we are now. It's been tough. And I feel better all for it.

Third... I just realized... I haven't told you details about my trip to Chicago!

So, I've go a video to show you of one of the speakers from the event, but I'll first tell you this. That trip was a huge eye opener, and definitely ignited something a bit deeper in terms of being an entrepreneur.

I'm totally inspired by the young people out there giving everything they have to achieve their dreams and find ways to contribute to the world. And I'm thankful to have had the opportunity of this year... A safe space to cultivate entrepreneurial ability and knack. And made the discovery that Cape Town is in many ways a bit of a 'Silicon Cape' with a thriving startup community.

I bid you farewell, and I hope you enjoy this video of one of the amazing dudes who spoke at the Accelerate event.

Bon'Voyage! (I think that's how you spell it?)

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Saturday September 14th - Bluebird Market Vibez!

We went to market!

Pretty cool. We set up shop at the Bluebird Garage food and goods market in Muizenberg.

It was a little quiet, probably due to the cold, but it was an awesome vibe. Live music, wine tasting, great food. I'm definitely going to take the girlfriend! :)

It was impressive how well we set up on such short notice. The past experiences of having done two cake sales on campus, and then doing our official launch in August has definitely prepared us as a team and individuals to mentally map out how our stall needs to operate.

It's amazing to see my team implement these past learning experiences so smoothly and have a great time doing it. There was even some discussion of nominations for the personal development award...

A team member told me about their witnessing of my development over the year and surprised me with the observations they had made. It seems like it's impossible to see your own development while you're still in it, and it's far easier for others to reflect back your progress. And even then, I think it will only truly be appreciated when the experience is over and it can be looked at from a distance.

I'll be honest, it's been a hard couple of last weeks. The emotional sentiment hasn't been at an all time high. But yet I'm surprised to still find myself pleasantly surprised by the bounce back attitude of my team.

Oh, and one last thing... Happy Rosh Hashana! May it be a sweet new year!

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Friday September 13th - Entrepreneurial Outsiders

Another day of funky topics at uni! We got to watch a movie in class called Shackleton, and then had a presentation on the commonalities among great artists.

I'll start by telling you about the artists. There's this trend among great artists to be regarded as outsiders. They aren't usually accepted by the mainstream players in their industry and were quite often picked on during their school days.

The upside to being an outsider means that their thinking hasn't been constrained by conventional thought patterns and therefore they're able to take unique approaches to their work.

I guess it could be compared to when an entrepreneur designs a product. When you design a product from within the perspective of the business, you get so involved that it's hard to think from the customer's perspective. When customers are then shown the product, they give unexpected negative feedback.

Similarly when artists get into their discipline and go to mainstream art schools, they're taught to think in conventional ways. In contrast outsiders don't become constrained by the mainstream. The outsider making art is as if the customer were to design the product, which would essentially yield an ideal product designed from the customer's perspective.

I'm totally free-writing this and I hope it makes sense.

So what's all this business about the Shackleton movie?

It's a two part movie about a dude who organizes a trip to the North Poll (or maybe the South). Either way, of course, it's really about entrepreneurship! And Leadership! And both of those words have the word 'ship' in them... You see the boat connection!?

The word entrepreneurship actually has quite a few different definitions. Yes it refers to someone who starts a business and whatever. But did you know that back in the day it meant "someone who organizes a theatrical production."

Well, in this movie, this dude, Shackleton, totally organizes a theatrical production. It makes sense too... Most of the time the businesses we start are something of theatrical productions. I think organizing a trip to North Pole perfectly marks the midpoint between a business venture and a real theatrical production.

What's great about the movie is that Shackleton displays many of the variations of leadership and entrepreneurship, as well as art. There's an interplay between classical and transformational leadership where he moves between giving orders and being the front man, to being a part of the crew and empowering others to take lead.

And as far as art is concerned it can definitely be noted that Shackleton portrays an outsider. In a time where the first world war is starting, he and his crew are the only insane bunch who are excited about going on a voyage to unexplored territory.

Anyway. Quite an interesting day I might say!

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Thursday September 12th - Success and Neuroplasticity

In my last post I spoke about the underlying factors related to studying entrepreneurship versus just going ahead and being an entrepreneur, and how they might contribute to issues in accountability and conflict avoidance.

Most of the time when we brainstorm solutions to issues in accountability and conflict, we often take the position of the leader or proactive person trying to motivate their team members. While this approach has its merits, I feel that there is another approach.

The alternative approach is different in the same way that the words motivate and inspire are different. Motivate conjures up a pushing effect that moves others into action. On the other hand, inspire implies something that internally arises and pulls one into action. By taking the perspective of the 'unproductive' team member instead of the leader, we begin to ask questions around how we can inspire our teams.

So, instead of asking "how can we motivate team member to be productive", we can ask "what can we do to help team members naturally want to motivate themselves?"

Now I'll admit, I'm not proactive 100% of the time, but I mostly consider myself to be effective. When I was in high school I used to struggle with managing work loads and meeting deadlines, and eventually incorporated that behavior into my identity. When I got to second year varsity I recognized that I had certain limiting self beliefs around being able to manage time and workloads, and made the conscious decision that it was something I wanted to change.

It's been a big learning curve and I'm proud to say that I've come a long way. So here is a cool insight I can share with you that has helped in making my transformation.

Think in terms of neuroplasticity. The brain has an amazing ability to rewire itself and make new connections. Whenever this process takes place and new networks are formed, another process takes place called 'myelination'. This is a process where thin layers of fat coat neural pathways, insulating and making them faster and better electric conductors. The more these pathways are exercised, the more myelination occurs.

Every time you do something, think of it in terms of 'practicing' it. The more you practice waking up in the morning and hitting the snooze button five times, the better you become at doing it! The more you practice thinking negative thoughts, the better you get at being negative! The habits you practice literally solidify in your brain and dictate your destiny.

Being aware of this, I began to reflect on my behaviors and whether or not they were congruent with being able to achieve the dreams and visions I had. Effectively, in order to achieve a certain set of results one must become the kind of person who achieves those kinds of results. I started to look at role models like Steve Jobs and Richard Branson and compared my habits the habits they may have... I don't think they hit snooze button too often.

For students in an entrepreneurship program, I think we need to look beyond the idea of starting a business and more in terms of becoming an entrepreneur. We need to ask questions "what are the habits of rockstar entrepreneurs?"

If team members are in touch with their personal vision (ideally to become an entrepreneur who changes the world) and are aware of neuroplasticity, then I think it follows that they should feel inspired to cultivate habits that complement achieving their vision. Such habits include: being reliable and being willing to face conflict.

It's a theory I do my best to live by, and I hope sharing it with you brings you success in the same way it has for me.

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Wednesday September 11th - Are We Entrepreneurs?

Today we had a very interesting meeting with another Genesis group and our course convener Stewart.

Both groups shared their top three failures and top three successes. The purpose of this exercise was to reveal how each group experienced more or less similar themes, despite having different personalities and different products.

The common theme we identified was of the challenge in holding people accountable to their roles and tasks, and avoidance towards getting into conflict. Stewart asked us, "what advice would you give to future Genesis groups?" and someone replied, "choose your groups very, very carefully".

We then got into a discussion about the benefits of perhaps being given predetermined groups, more time, varying numbers... the list went on. But Stewart insisted that in the past they have tried many iterations and yet this exact challenge keeps on reoccurring. Why might that be?

We tried to come up with theories as to why this might be, but nothing really felt satisfying, for me at least. Then as I was driving home a theory came to me that echoes a lot of the internal dialogue I've been having over the last few weeks. This dialogue related to a question: Surely if I was a true entrepreneur, I wouldn't be in a program learning about entrepreneurship? I'd be out there, entrepreneuring!

So here's the theory that came to me...

At the beginning of the year, the people in this course can be grouped into two categories:

1. People who are interested in entrepreneurship, but have never started a business - perhaps due to fear of failure
2. People who are looking for direction in life and hear good things about this program or thought it would be a solid platform to find direction

So people who are afraid and people without direction. Either way, there's some kind of theme of inertia.

Now, why is it that every year there is a theme of groups having conflict around people not performing and being held accountable? And why are people afraid to get into confrontation and conflict?

Of course this theme stems beyond just this program and cannot be reduced to one or two variable, but I think there is definitely something going on that's related to the personalities of the kinds of people who come to a formal program in entrepreneurship - versus those who drop out and just startup.

I think this is a very interesting topic, which also relates to whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught. Are entrepreneurs born and not made?

There's definitely something not being addressed in this program. The fear that prevents us from starting. I feel that it can be seen in the trend of people looking for jobs after the program instead of just getting started. As well as by the fact that we apply to this program. 

It's something of an identity-dialogue that's been going on inside my head. I'm interested to see where it leads... and that it results in more time acting, and less time thinking!

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Tuesday September 10th - Putting the Emotion in Marketing

An interesting theme we're looking at in our marketing lectures is the topic of brand positioning and viral online content. Both seem to come down to establishing a strong emotional connection.

When consumers think about a brand, they're essentially recalling an association between the brand image and the aggregate of all their interactions with the brand. These interaction can also be understood, in the words of Professor John Simpson, as 'moments of truth'.

A moment of truth occurs every time you have an encounter with a brand representative. For example, a flight hostess drops some hot water on your crotch. That's a moment of truth. The customer helpline operator at MTN leaves you on hold for 15 minutes. That's a moment of truth.

These moments accumulate and leave the customer with an overall impression and association to the brand. This fascinates me.

This idea complements another great idea: planning your customer's emotional experience from start to finish. Taking the time to do this can yield powerful experiences that ignite word of mouth and customer loyalty.

Why does this ignite word of mouth and customer loyalty? Well, that's leads us to what's been discussed in this week's emarketing lectures.

Why do things go viral online? It also seems to come down to the emotional experience.

There's this cool theory about how when people experience some emotional event, they feel the need to share it with others. Previously when people lived at home with their parents, if something happened that had high emotion intensity, they would go to good old mum and paps to share their experience. Healthy behavior.

When people are online and come into contact with something of high emotional intensity, guess what?... They also want to share it! But where are good old mum and paps? Well... Usually not online. So they'll share it with their Facebook buddies! Healthy behavior? We don't know. But it's great for business! :D

As I write this, I'm reflecting on how this whole emotional experience thing applies to my personal life, and two things stick out.

1. Share and create content that speaks to emotions
2. Your name is a brand, so work to give people positive moments of truth

I also think there's a good business lesson here too about always ensuring that you are on top of your customer's emotional experience, and that they are having a positive one.

And now, here's a hilarious Youtube video we watched in class:

 

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Monday September 9th - Fuzz in the Fourth Quarter

Yo yo yo! This be me, Blogg'a Craig, back in action, reporting for me last blog duty. #Tear.

After a short week vac, we're back for the final quarter of the year. But with only three weeks left until closure of business, it feels like time is racing by.

I must say, this vac was a week of reflection on where my life-journey is headed. Especially with catching a cold, I spent considerable time thinking about next year and writing in my girly little diary (it's got a green butterfly cover).

For me, it seems like there are three options: continue with Azura, take a job/internship, or get entrepreneuring and form a tech-startup.

If I take one of the Covey lessons and start with the end in mind... I want to be 'one of those startup kids' who form a company with some buddies in their basement. I want to change the world.

So whatever happens, everything leads to option 3. The question is, do I take detours and a scenic route, or jump in and get wet.

After travelling to Chicago and attending Eben Pagan's Accelerate event, and watching a couple documentaries on startups... and in light of this course... I think the answer is to jump in. Not faffing about 'trying to prepare myself'.

But then on the other hand, I feel like my marketing and coding skills need sharpening, and still need to develop an idea.

So what's the answer?

I'm not sure. But I'm considering a synthesis between the two. Do both. Work somewhere awesome and give 110% from 9-5pm. Come home, rest, and then give 110% from 7-2am.

Ironically, that feels like the easier one to hold.

And you know, something else that I've been thinking of... Can you really teach or learn 'entrepreneurship'? I mean, here we are in this entrepreneurship course, aged between 20-30, while on the other hand there are kids in the US launching businesses from their dorm-rooms. They didn't study squat!

Anyway, I'm sure you can tell, there's a lot of internal dialogue happening over here.

It's still an open conversation, and I don't think there is a 'right answer'.

This is the best advice that's on offer, "You just gotta follow your gut, put yourself out there, trust, and feel what direction emerges."

Chat to ya tomorrow!

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September 8th back to Uni this week

So our second sales report is coming up as well as our next directors meeting. As to the sales report, we don’t have a great deal to report on at the moment. Since the first report we have made perhaps two or three sales. Our production has been badly held up by continuing problems with chording of our garments as well as other quality control issues with our CMT. We have had to replace all the chord we bought initially. Then we had to go through the long and painful process of getting the new chord dyed to match the blue of our material. As a result we still don’t have any blue Azuras ready for sale at the moment. This all means that there won’t be too many sales to talk about in the upcoming report. If only it was due next week then we might have a few more.

Not to worry though there are other things to talk about. Like what sales channels we've been working on in the mean time. Which markets we've checked out which websites we will be selling through. Which ones we won’t be selling through just yet but might in the future. Refining our projections (or in our case ripping them up and making new ones). All these things and more.

We also have a directors meeting soon which should be interesting, they always have useful insight to give and are always providing positive feedback. I’m not sure how they are going to take how things have gone for us in the last month. Hopefully they can give us some advice to keep us pushing hard for the rest of the month (not that I think we will need any great push to do that at this point it’s the final sprint to the finish).

Hopefully the directors can give us a little bit of direction and it won't be the blind leading the blind

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September 7th The Home Stretch

Looking to the future

We now have less than a month to go in the Genesis Project. That is quite a sobering thought, considering we are still very far from the goals we had hoped to reach on the sales front. I guess that those were perhaps a bit too ambitious when we set them. Perhaps if our CMT had proven a little more reliable we might say, but we were warned that CMT's can be difficult. At the end of the day we can’t blame everything on the CMT, sure they lets us down but we should have had a plan B waiting in the wings. I’m sure that in future when we have projects every one of us will be thinking about a plan B and C before we even start moving with plan A. So for the goals we had set with regards to this being about learning this experience has certainly taught us some valuable lessons.

This is still some of the most exciting times for us as a business. We are starting to see the results of all the work we put in through the year. We finally get the Azura in our hands and get to go out and sell it to whomever we can for the next three and a half weeks. I am looking forward to this time. There will be the inevitable pressure to perform and as we get closer to exams at the end of the year there will be plenty of other work to do too. This doesn’t worry me because I get the feeling that this is the part of the course where we really start to see the fruits if our labour. The weather has also improved a lot since the exhibition. That makes a difference. It’s not so easy to get someone to buy a summer dress when it’s 10 degrees and pouring rain outside.

I am really looking forward to getting out and actively selling products rather than just talking about it with people. It has been frustrating telling friends and family about the Azura and when they ask if they can see one I have to say we are having production trouble. I can’t wait to get out there with a bag full and show it off to the world. Well as much of it as we can in the next few weeks. We have been saying how we really think this will do well here and there, markets and music festivals. I can’t wait to see us getting out there and proving to ourselves that this is a great product that people will buy.  If we can get that right in the next few weeks I will feel that the struggles we have had will be eclipsed and we will be able to say that this project was successful. We did after set out to learn this year. We have had our failures along the way and now that we have reached this point it’s time to succeed and prove that we have learnt from our mistakes.

This was my last post for the week. from here Craig will be taking you through some of his experiences and thoughts.

Cheers for now.

Dave

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September 6th an exercise in free writting

Today I’m using some of the stuff we have been learning about in our creativity in business section to write this post so it may get a bit confusing and disappear at a variety of tangents at any moment, please bare with me. Every morning on waking up I am supposed to be taking 30 minutes to just write. There is no pattern definite goal of this writing, it’s writing for writings sake to try and get into ‘the flow’, as writers call it, when you are simply a conduit for the story to get onto the page. It is supposed to feel as if the story is telling itself and you are just a passenger. I can’t say that I have really experienced that just yet. So far it has produced a few stories that I quite like and other days I end up with a page of word vomit. Hopefully I manage to make some sense or at least be mostly coherent today.

I find it easiest to write about happenings that I have experienced in a very visceral way. I tend to focus on the details of what my surroundings were and try to build a sense of how I felt at the time both physically and emotionally. Some of the writing has attempted to use dialogue and I found this quite difficult to write. Details of what was said and intonation I find difficult to recall compared to how an experience made me feel at the time or how my body reacted to an icy cold morning.

I have found myself becoming very nostalgic at times looking back at places I have been and things I have now left behind. I have been surprised at how powerful the feelings of loss still are over my family farm which was sold five years ago. Writing about the farm and the wonderful experiences I had there has been surprisingly painful, knowing I can’t go back to the place that was always home to me.

This creative writing process has been an enjoyable experience overall. I have always enjoyed having a bit of time and space to be creative. I found the product development section of the Genesis project to be great fun and an interesting challenge. But I don’t have many outlets for this creativity, or more accurately I don’t make time for myself to be creative. This writing time everyday has really given me a structured outlet to be actively creative and it has been quite enjoyable. Together with the mindfulness work we did this section is showing me a clear need in my life for more creative outputs and I must really try to make time for these in the future.

I find it interesting that in this piece, a free writing exercise, I find my mind wondering to the need for more free writing exercises. Sounds like a bit of a feedback loop. It is true though, I don’t spend enough time on creative endeavours and if this short writing course can get me back to being creative then that’s a good thing. Well my little alarm to tell me that my allotted time is up went a couple of minutes ago so I’m going to leave it at that for now, until tomorrow.

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September 5th Learnings Coming to Life

An entrepreneurs motivation is one of their most powerful assets. Their core principals from which they build a vision and that gives them great strength of will to continue working when problems seem insurmountable because in their hearts they know that they are doing important work. That all sounded great when Stu told us all about it last semester. It’s great in theory up on a power point slide with a video clip of someone famous achieving the impossible.

This semester I’m starting to get a better grasp of just what that means in the real world for me as an individual. The Genesis project’s brief for a green and or socially responsible product, those are some good principals around which to build something important. Have we made a product that is going to change the world? Probably not.

We have started to run into all sorts of problems with our production, there has been continual delays, half starts and reworking. This has really sapped my enthusiasm at times. I have found it difficult personally to find that burning desire to see this product succeed no matter what.

Fortunately for me this course is all about learning. Dealing with these issues of motivation makes me look at myself and say “OK so women’s fashion is not really an area I am overwhelmingly passionate about, what is?” what are the things that will hold the intrinsic motivation that will get me through those hard times, when everything seems to go wrong and there isn’t anyone there to help me. What are the fundamental values that will get me through those darkest hours before the dawn?

I think that if this project had gone a little more smoothly these questions wouldn’t have been raised and brought home with the same force.  As such these difficulties provide a good opportunity to learn, even if the lesson exposes a weakness. Now that I know it’s there I can work at it and find ways to address it or compensate for it. 

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September 4th Mindfulness and Missed Opportunities

We are currently on our half term break so this is a nice opportunity to look back at what we have been doing in course so far this semester and to examine what we have learnt. I think that one of the most unusual sections we have done this semester has been the mindfulness exercises we have been through in the Creativity In Business course. It has been a section that many people have laughed off or not taken seriously. I think this is understandable because the ideas expressed in this section are not typical of what we understand business to be about. At the same time I think those who laugh this section off are missing a useful opportunity.

 When I look back at my education there have been many times where I have had workshops or classes that didn’t seem valuable at the time. I was put through a touch typing course in high school for example. At the time it was fun and interesting but as a 14 year old I didn’t have the foresight to see just how valuable that skill would be in my future. Needless to say I didn’t take the time to embrace the skill at the time and regularly kick myself for it now.

Thanks to this and a few other examples I’m far slower these days to dismiss things out of hand simply because they seem a little left field. This is true of the mindfulness section we recently finished. Perhaps having more experience of the working world than many of the other students on the course, having worked a 9-5 job for a couple of years I can more easily see the benefits of managing stress via mindfulness. I also feel that there is a tie in Covey’s work on time management, planning ahead and making time to be mindful of the present, even just for 15 minutes a day, sets an example to yourself. It’s a quadrant 2 activity that lends perspective to your day and focus.

Mindfulness is still something I am trying come to grips with. I realise that it’s not something that one becomes proficient in overnight and that like with everything else it takes time, effort and continuous practice to get right. I will be continuing to try and get better at it, hopefully it will be a something I can look back on and say “Wow, I’m really glad I made that extra bit of effort, mindfulness has turned out to be as useful as being able to touch-type”. 

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September 3rd Talks with Citymob

Last week I spoke to City Mob an online retailer/ group buying site about showcasing the Azura on their site. They were very interested in the Azura. It’s always exciting to see how the idea behind our product really appeals to people. They can see the value in the idea, it definitely has a real wow factor to it. I sometimes wonder if we really get that across effectively.

Citymob really like the Azura because they see it as really cool and funky. They could be a valuable client in the future, I think they would definitely be a useful tool to get the name and brand more widely recognised even if we had to take a hit to our profit margins. Citymob have set rates that they need to make on each product to make hosting worth their while. Because of their popularity and the other services they offer (promotion, advertising and distribution) they charge a premium rate. We are not really in a position to work with them just yet but they are a definite option for the future. I feel that the Azura has potential beyond the Genesis project and could be a profitable small business in its own right.

I feel like I learnt quite a lot just from meeting Citymob. They want to know specifics about the business and product. Other possible partners would also want to know these sorts of questions so it’s good to step outside of the business and look at it from an outsider’s perspective. What questions are they likely to ask, where will they see value, strengths and weaknesses. It’s great to get that kind of feedback from people who are already selling products online because they have an idea of what the broader customer base want and need and how best to serve those needs. They have the consumer insights that we have been learning about in our marketing classes, these can prove to be vital to the success of a product or business.

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September 2nd where we stand and where we dance

Hi it’s Dave again and this is my first post for the week. Well things have been moving slowly for us pretty much since the exhibition. There has still been plenty to do but we haven’t had any product to sell so it has felt like nothing has really been going on. These are the times when you need something to keep you motivated. It’s hard to keep slugging away at the coal face when there doesn't seem to be any great reward at the end of the day. I’m more heavily invested in this project than the rest of the group financially. This helps to keep me focused on the task but I think we all feel like this is quite a difficult time in the process. We see other teams selling product and making steady progress while we seem to be going in circles.

We have at least been making progress on going to some festivals and hopefully we can get to some markets quite soon too. This all of course will rely on our CMT finally finishing off our first run of production which has been in the works for over a month now. It’s starting to feel like a bit of a joke really, and it’s not a very funny one.  We have received less than 40 of the more than 250 units she was commissioned to make for us. 

We had really hoped to go too sprung this coming weekend. It’s a music festival/ trance party and we felt the Azura would do well at this sort of event. Alas without being sure of us having Azuras to sell we couldn't risk the cost of booking a stall and buying tickets. Hopefully by the time Earth Dance (another big trance party) rolls around we will be in a better position and will be able to make the most of the event. These are not just a great way to get the Azura out into the world but they are also a pretty fun way to spend a weekend (especially if we are making a bit of money out of the deal)

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Sunday 1st September: What I learned this week

The last week of school was filled with many challenges that tested us as a group. As I reflect on what I learned, I am reminded of the fact that entrepreneurship is a journey of continuous learning, failing and improvement. Here are my top 3 lessons of the week:

1. Quantity vs. Quality: Some times we get trapped into thinking that being busy=being productive but that is not always true. This week has shown me that quality is so much more important than quantity. As a group, we planned multiple “rehearsal sessions” for our pcu orals. However, the quality and effectiveness of those sessions in terms of actually preparing us for our presentation, leaves much to be desired. The question is: aside from the group rehearsals, did each of use dedicate enough time to prepare by ourselves to ensure that our individual performances would be up to par?

2. After-action reviews: As a group, I believe it is important to do a quick and objective/ non-judgmental after action review after every major project. Regardless of whether the performance was good or bad, the review is helpful because it brings the group together and serves as a learning tool for the future. I noticed that after our orals, the general consensus in the group was to avoid talking about our performance. I don’t think this was a good idea because we failed to take advantage of an opportunity to boost the team’s morale and encourage one another, despite our poor performance. As a group, I believe we need to learn how to be positive and not shy away from addressing the hard issues.

3. The way forward:  Now that we are on vacation, we each have a lot to think about in terms of the way forward for the business. The time is soon approaching for members to decide whether or not they want to carry on with Azura beyond the semester.  There are some members of the group who have already made up their minds while others are still on the fence.  Obviously this is not a decision that should be taken lightly and it’s a good thing that we all agreed to use the vacation to think about it in more detail. Despite our differences, we all feel that azura as a business has amazing potential and it would be interesting to see how far the product can go, if given a chance.  

I’ll end here for now and pass the blogging baton to Dave. Till next time….

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Saturday August 31st: Vacation Time

The weekend is finally here and it's officially the first day of our vacation. After all that hard work, its important to have some relaxing "me-time".  I spent the day attending an awesome conference for women leaders in management, complete with massages and catered food. Other than that, there's not much to blog about today so i'll end here. Later

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Friday August 30th: OMG Last day of School

OMG im going to be super happy when this day is over. Yesterday, was insane! I spent the entire day and night at the commerce labs working on a class project with my POM group. We got absolutely no sleep and literally typed the night away, editing and adding finishing touches to our paper. Even though I missed my bed last night, I was comforted by the fact that this would all be over in a few hours...vacation time yaaay! 

The day began with a two hour creativity in writing class. We were asked to share one of our writings with the class for feed back. When ever you have to share a personal piece with some one else, there is always a voice in your head that wonders whether your writing is good enough or what others will think. This voice is called the Editor/critic. The voice that encourages you to write from that place of creativity without fear or doubt is inhibition is called the Muse. Creative writing is all about learning how to silence the voice of the critic and channel your inner muse to discover "the Artist's way." Even though sometimes its feels like i'm just stringing random words together like amino-acids on a polypeptide chain,  I really like this class.

i am happy to report that my group and I survived the week and we are all ready to take a much need break. Of course we will use our time off from school to focus on selling more azuras at markets and festivals....but for now, we're just happy that school is out. Yaay!!

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Thursday August 29th: PCU Orals Part Two

The day we had all been waiting for was finally here. We all agreed to wear black pants and smart white tops for our presentation today. Since we were reporting on a toy company, we also decided to be creative and wear playful accessories like polka dot ties, multicolored scarves, bright bow ties and a mickey mouse head piece. As the first group presenting, we were told to arrive early to set up our power point slides. However upon arrival at the venue, we realized that the doors were locked . After waiting for a few minutes, the examiners finally arrived and we entered the room.

The presentation started off with a general introduction and over view, followed by our findings, conclusions and recommendations for each section. Some of us were a bit more nervous than others and as a result, the presentation wasn't as smooth as it could have been. Though the group eventually regained  its composure and finished strong, we went over our time limit by over two minutes. 

As entrepreneurs, its in moments like these that we learn to appreciate geniuses like Steve Jobs, who mastered the art of public speaking and captivating an audience. Today I learned a very important lesson about communicating: WHAT you say is important but HOW you say it is what separates the good speakers from the great speakers. Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs knew that in order to get people to buy into his vision, he had to first of all grab their attention by connecting with their minds and hearts. As entrepreneurs, we still have a lot to learn about communicating with passion and conviction. Slowly but surely, we will get there....

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Wednesday August 28th: PCU Orals Part One

I can't believe our professional communication oral exam is in 24 hours! Basically, the group has to present the findings, conclusions and recommendations from our sustainability report to a panel of examiners. The company we chose is called Jeffrey Stein Sales, a toy company located in Observatory. We were asked to serve as consultants for this company and prepare an investigative report on their environmental, social and financial responsibilities.

Each member of our group will speak for approximately 3 minutes, for a total presentation time of about twenty minutes and some change. Since my group is notorious for writing extra long reports, the challenge for us tomorrow is finding a way to condense our report and not go over time. This exam makes up a significant portion of our final grade for the course. So as you can imagine, we are all a little bit anxious about doing well. We had our group rehearsals last week which was very helpful as we got lots of valuable feedback. Some of the comments we received were: to shorten our power point slides, to not read from note cards and to make our sections more integrated. 

Is there such a thing as over-practicing? Well not when it comes to public speaking events and rehearsing for an oral exam. We have practiced a few times but for some reason I still feel a tad bit nervous about all of us presenting tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that everything will go well. The exam is at 3 pm tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates.

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