The Real Penultimate Post!

Last night we met up again at the school to met Marie for the final time, to show her the business plan (which we have to say looks amazing), and the movie we had made (which also looks very good). Our business mentor was very impressed with what we had done, and we talked about what would happen now that the challenge had finished.

Looking back at what we have done over the past 5 months, we truly feel we have gained invaluable experience in the world of business, and have learnt more that we ever could in a classroom. We are not excited but also nervous about the presentation evening in April / May, and see if we have done enough to win the challenge of a lifetime to Goa!

The Penultimate Post!

This will be our last post that we will submit before we find out the final result, as the Linvoy Primus Enterprise Challenge ends on Friday 23rd. In the next few days, our business plan will be printed at school, and we will meet up on Wednesday to see the finish result, and make any necessary changes. Today we met up to finalise the business plan, and complete our movie. This may have taken us several hours (7 in total), but we eventually got there, and finally done it, leaving us exhausted. All it requires now is for the business plan to be printed, hand in our business plan, profits and movie, and wait for the result from the judges.

Finalising the Movie

To help finalise the movie and create that CD cover we mentioned, we met up today to finish the movie, and to design and print the CD cover, making it look more professional and appealing, rather than a blank disk.

Meeting No. 13 (Unofficial)

Because we are all participating in our work experience, we decided it would be good if we were to meet up and discuss how we were doing in selling the calendars, and what our work experience was like. We met up at Pizza Hut, so that we could give Andy the money to finalise the accounts, and so Billy could find out how many everyone had sold, and could sell in the next few days. We only have 1 week left; it has gone so fast. We still remember the first meeting at Fratton Park, on November 16th, but since then we have learnt an incredible amount, and have gained invaluable experience in how to run a successful business. All that is required now is to fully complete the movie, business plan, which are on the verge of completion, and await the result from the judges, to see if we have won that once in a lifetime trip to Goa!

Meeting No. 12

Yesterday we had a meeting at Harry's house, to show our mentor the almost finished business plan and movie. In that 3 hours, we explained why we had done certain things in the business plan and movie, and talked together about other ways we can improve them. We had not seen Marie for a week, so it was good to catch up, and hear how everyone at church was talking about us.

Today, Andy had a meeting with his mum's boss, who is a financial advisor, to talk to him about other ways to improve the business plan, and make it more professional, as he deals with a lot of business plans in his job. Simple things such as the contents page were improved, but it all needs to be perfect. He was very impressed with the business plan, and Andy even sold more calendars in the process.

Creating a CD Cover

To go alongside our business plan, which is coming along extremely well, we have created a movie of all the work we had done over the past 5 months. Rather than giving in a blank Cd, we have decided that we would make a CD cover for the movie, both front and back, as well as the Cd itself, making the CD appear more professional. We will also do the same for the CD version of our business plan.
We also today arranged to meet up during the week, as we are participating in our Trident work experience for the next 2 weeks, so communicating will be difficult, but something we will overcome. When we meet up, we will show each other the business plan and movie, as well as talking about how many more calendars we sold at our work.

Selling The Product

This week has probably been the busiest of our entire challenge. Every spare minute was spent selling our calendar to the public, making sure that our money was correct and that everyone had receipts. However, with so many people purchasing a calendar, word of mouth has meant that more people now wish to buy our calendar, so it was a good thing we bought another 20 this week! We are very pleased with the amount raised from selling the calendars, and cannot wait to sell the remaining 20 calendars left, as we have sold our original 100.
The only problem is that the next 2 weeks, and the last 2 weeks of the Linvoy Primus Enterprise Challenge, is when we are doing our Trident work experience. This puts us at a slight disadvantage, but we will get through it, meeting at weekends and after our work. We hope to do some work during our lunch breaks as well, and use the facilities at our work place, and ask for any support from staff.
We will arrange for dates for when we will all meet up, to discuss how many calendars we have each sold at our work place (which is another advantage), and make sure that our business plan is fully complete, along with all our money raised. We are so pleased by how much we have raised from the calendars, in such a short space of time. It took a while to print them, and to actually think of a successful product, but our effort to sell them has definitely paid off.
We learnt today that our 20 calendar order is ready to be collected and paid for, so all it needs now is to collect them from Chameleon Print, sell them to the public, and reach our target.

Ordering more Calendars

Because of the demand from the public for our product, we have decided to order 20 more of our product, making our total of 120 calendars. We have sold almost all of our original 100 orders, and need more to satisfy the public. It will also mean a greater profit, and every £1 more could mean a lot in terms of poverty.

Oasis Church Presentation

Last week Marie told us to make a presentation for the Oasis Church service, explaining what we and learnt, enjoyed and not enjoyed about the Linvoy Primus Enterprise Challenge. We each gave our own account of what we had learnt and enjoyed in a short speech, as well as showing a Powerpoint Presentation we had made. The presentation went very well, each receiving an applause after everyone's speech, as well as them applauding Marie for all her hard work. The whole service was recorded, and Marie's husband took photos, which can be used in our business plan.
We were also there to give those who bought a calendar, their purchased item. The process of finding their invoice (if they pre-ordered one), giving them their calendar, receiving the money, giving them change, and writing their receipt was easier than expected, as we worked as a team, each taking a role. It was hectic at times, but we did manage to sell our product to those who pre-ordered one, and sold a few more on the day.
A bonus from the day is that 2 people who have recently been to Goa, and are organising the holiday, attended the service, asking us how we got on. We also found out information Faith + Football, and they are soon helping out, which we may tried to attend.

Preparing for Tomorrow

Today we got together for the day to prepare for tomorrow, where we will sell our product to the people of Oasis Church, and make a presentation to them, explaining what we have learnt from this challenge, as well as what we have enjoyed.
We made sure that the receipts, the invoices, our speeches, the presentation and calendars were ready for tomorrows big day.

Our First Customer!

This is S.O.N.'s first customer. It is our MD's mum, Susan Mahy, who has supported us through this challenge, and helped bring home the product from the printers.

Writing Letters of Thanks

Today we wrote letters of thanks to the person who so kindly got us a signed Portsmouth football, so we could use it for our raffle to raise our capital. It included how much we raised from the raffle, and how much we hoped to raise overall from the challenge.

Chameleon Print

Yesterday was the day we went to Chameleon Print, the company we used to produce our calendar. We walked into Gosport to collect our 100 calendars, and talk about when we needed to pay the company.

The following pictures are of the printing company, the machine used to produce our product, and the product itself, which you have not seen before now.

Receiving our Final Product

Today was a vital day in the success of S.O.N. as it was the day we would collect our final printed product from the printers. We had asked to produce 100 of our product, which would amount to £490.00. However, we could not pay this today, so it would have to be paid on Monday, which was fine with the printer. The final product looks amazing, with excellent picture quality and looks great when hung up.
You may have been wondering what our product is over the last few months, and we are pleased to announce that it is... an 18-month academic poverty calendar.
Today has also been a very hectic day in terms of problem solving, but we did as a team manage to solve this dilemma we had with the money, and got us back on track. And with less than 3 weeks left in the challenge, we are getting very excited about how much money we shall raise to go towards help reducing poverty in India and Nigeria.