Stock collection

We finally collected our stock but we were not happy with the final results of the packets since the products left a lot of space in the packet and did not fill up the whole packet, and this made the product look cheap and unappealing.

We all looked at the packaged product and knew it is not the look that the brand is trying to convey and we can’t afford to take it to expo as it is at the moment, so we had to think hard and quick as entrepreneurs so that we could fix the situation.

We decided that to try fix the situation we will have to buy some sort of card board or poster like material to put inside the individual packets so that the packets can look more appealing than they are at the moment.

Directors meeting

After attending the directors meeting the team spirits where quite low, since the directors expressed their disappointments at us for not having started to sell, since in their view we have no reason to not be selling right now. They told us that waiting to sell at expo might even disappoint us further if we don’t sell as much as we want on the days, so they suggested that when we collect our stock we should start selling packets around campus and we made a deal that we would sell 50 by the coming weekend. 

Expo Priorities

We dedicated this day to putting our expo ducks in a row, we had to write down a plan on expo priorities that need to be achieved.

List of priorities for expo 10^th August 2016

_{Expo Target Market Strategy:}

The target market for ORA Hygiene Are University of Cape Town convenience seekers who prioritize personal hygiene.

Customer market – Convenience Seekers

Display – Must look and feel hygienic, convenient and exciting  

Objective: To build meaningful relationships with convenience seekers and to tell them our story 

Desk

Informative visual posters – for marketing(#ProtectMyBum) (Brand Personality) and pictures of products

Display of stock 

Display of pricing – R20. 000 or R15.00

Group uniform

Incentives – free water, free raffle etc

Digital interactions - #ProtectMyBum #ProtectMyBum Cartoon animation on Facebook 

What needs to happen:

1.      Studio shoot at Vega of product and brand personality. Pictures will be used for expo posters, Facebook page and website (Free)

2.      Development of cartoon animation(Free)

3.      Procuring of equipment for the 10^th of August (Cost)

·         Stock

·         Cubicle

·         Branded t shirts

·         Incentives

·         Desks

·         Card machine

4.      Funds for Expo

5.      Printing of posters – Architecture building or Wizards

6.      Team training for expo 

Animation video

Today I was out on the Jamie plaza when an interesting agreement to collaborate or agreement to help was made. I met up with a friend who does animated videos and he agreed that he would do an animation video for ORA hygiene covers that would be sort of an advertisement that we can put on our social media pages.

The team was excited by this development, but as we already know with every milestone achieved or deal made a challenge arises, this applied very well to our case since we are now tasked with writing a script for the animation video and also getting voice actors, but still that shouldn’t be anything to scratch our heads over. We are entrepreneurs we make things happen

Expo around the corner

With expo being around the corner the team is a bit nervous but not shaken, we have to stay positive, since we have come so far. This week will be dedicated to the planning of expo and making sure we get things right, and we are also quite excited about going to collect our stock later in the week from our packers.

Our directors meeting is also scheduled to happen this week Thursday and we are excited to hear what the directors have to say about our current position, and the valuable input they will give us regarding expo. 

Expo concepts

We are trying to get organised foe expo even though it is still about three week away. We want to create the concepts that we want our stall to look like so that we know what we want and can start working towards them. So far he haven't actively searched for quotes and all that but we have an idea. We are also restricted by the slow progress of the expo committee and their plans for the big day. All we can do is wait for them before we finalise anything.

Supplier troubles

 Our products are still with the packers and they have been for some time. This is a bit worrying and frustrating. We checked in with them and they told us that they were about halfway with the packing. it seems we are not a priority for them and if they take too long and the work they do is not up to standard then maybe we will have to search for a different company that us better for us.

Some times in business you do not always find the perfect supplier or perfect partner on the first try but I hope that this is not on of those times. However, we will be prepared if it is.

Meeting with Stuart

We met with Stuart for the first time this semester as well and he was happy with the progress we have made and the work we did during the holidays. Before we left in our vacation we had nothing in terms of our product and I think we were also still debating what our logo would be. Now we have a fully functional product that we are proud of and can now focus on the upcoming expo when we launch.

Reunited

Today was the first day we were all together since we finished last semester, in June. We told the missing member how the presentation with the Belgians went and he was happy and proud although sceptical. He was sceptical because for him having investors means have a 'boss' to answer to as well as less shares for the rest of us. However, not all businesses can make it without some sort of external help or funding. This is something we will have to discuss and hopefully reach an agreement on.

Belgians

First day of the new semester - our last semester. It is also the day we pitched to the Belgian investors. We were all nervous as we did not know how to go about the presentation as we had never pitched to venture capitalists before. However, I think it's safe to day we smashed it! They clapped for us after the presentation and apparently that had not clapped for anyone else until us. One of the VC's even sent us a message on our Facebook page, WHILE we were presenting, wishing us good luck for the future!

They received us well and hopefully this can lead to us possibly doing something in Belgium!

Private school possibility

We have decided to target some private schools in Cape town as prospective clients and have sent out a whole lot of emails to the schools we decided on and at the moment we can only wait for a reply and if we don't get one we will have to go in person to see if we can set up a meeting with a person of significance. We feel quite confident about the schools and if successful this could be a massive avenue for us.

Email accounts

Our official email accounts are up and running and we can now send emails to prospective partners and clients while seeming a bit more professional. We will also look like an established brand but when the website is also up it will make us look a lot better

Belgian investors

We received some good news today! Our lecturer has organised for a group of Belgian venture capitalists to come down so we can present to our product to them. There were limited timeslots available and we were able to get one. We've never presented to people of this magnitude before but if we prepare well and display confidence and knowledge then I think we should be fine.

Labels are done

The printing place finished printing our labels and we just made payment for them The printers have by far been our easiest suppliers to work with. They actually have not given us any sort of stress and I would recommend them if anyone asked for a place that can make a bulk order for them!