Blog Post 1: How a techie-type of person (Ahem. Me) wounded up starting a

Floral-Related Business (with his friends) 😂

Here's a journal of How Flormiere started - At least, my point of view.

The Birth of Flormiere - How it all began…

ET9135 is the module where would put our skills into practice, by starting a business to run together with some of our peers.

Our group has gotten to know each other through the other Minor in Entrepreneurship (MIE) modules, such as Entrepreneurial marketing and Enterprise Strategy.

13 March 2019 - Learning from our seniors

All of us observed the previous business showcase, to see the varying levels of success and difficulties that each group dealt with over the several months of starting and running a business. I also managed to interact with a few of the members to know a little more about how they overcome some of their obstacles.

I would say the previous batch had done a really good job starting and managing their businesses. Finally, their presentations ended, and then reality hit us (or well, at least me) -

In a couple of months, our friends and I will also be presenting the results of our new business venture.

And I wanted to start a profitable business (I mean…who wouldn't?). I think few would want to present a failed business venture, although there are many learning points even from a failed venture.

So the pressure started setting in. Each of us began thinking of ideas, towards the kind of business ventures that we could go in as a group

30 March - 14 April 2019: The Idea Generation Process

TLDR: Best Takeaway from the lesson and discussions: Learning the thinking process towards assessing if a business idea was feasible or potentially profitable

Each of us in our group came prepared with a business idea to discuss within the group, while Prof Roderick shared in class some very useful pointers, as well as the thinking process, that we could use to assess the feasibility and profitability of our business, as well as to anticipate problems that we may face as we try to execute each business idea.

With me being the "tech-everything" type of person [#TechWithAaron], I naturally had a business idea that was tech-personalization related. My idea revolved around decals and other personalization tools to make everyday IT products (such as laptops and smartphones) look trendy. My other group members brought a couple of really interesting ideas of their own as well (such as a breakfast-get-and-go business, Marketing work-outsourcing model, as well as a flower concept which was further refined into Flormiere)

One of the main things I learned was that not every good-sounding business idea would necessarily be a feasible business idea which we could make money off. Certain business ideas are naturally low-value businesses, as while they are may be feasible ideas, there is no true competitive advantage, which limits the overall value of the business. Furthermore, as Singapore has relatively strict regulations for certain areas (e.g. Food-related businesses), this meant a higher sunk cost is required, and such ideas (e.g. a food stand by the bus stop) may not be able to get the required license due to hygiene concerns.

Naturally, selecting an idea to do together as a group, was something that was not easy, because there are people that are not as flexible/open minded to the ideas of others, and each of us may have a preference for our own idea. Hence, on 6th April, even though our group had narrowed our business ideas to just 3 ideas to choose from, there was lots of discussion between us in the next one week, as to which idea we should take up, considering our manpower, time and financial constraints. Although that was understandable, since each of us would be contributing capital to this venture, and all of us would want returns from the idea that the group implements - I mean, No want wants to lose money, right? Overall from the discussion, what helped us to arrive to a decision on the idea to go for, at a faster pace were:

First Understanding the common root-goal that each of us had during the idea selection process (i.e. No one wants to lose money), as well as
Keeping an open-yet reasonably critical mind to examining each business idea, and most importantly,
Being a Great group member by not trying to "force" your way to get the group to work on your idea. Critique everyone's work fairly: If someone else has a better idea, there's no reason to reject it just because it's not yours. #BeATeamPlayer

We finally only settled down on our idea - solid as a group on 13th April

From there, Flormiere was born. To sell dried flowers that would appeal to flower lovers that want to beautify their desk, or home, or to celebrate a special occasion, but without the hassle of maintaining a fresh flower bunch.

14 - 19 April 2019: Let's get started! #TimeToStrategize

As a group, we then started working on our Business Plan report and Presentation for Flormiere.

I won't get down to the details of Flormiere here - I believe our Business Plan and About Us tabs on the top, would be more informative (and enjoyable to read!). But as we thought about the idea further and did our research, we also learnt to assess the potential risks and challenges we could face: For example, the MOQ of some materials, which would mean we might have to carry more inventory than we would like, or logistical challenges, such as delivery freights being delayed

Overall, it was fun to plan and present on a feasible business idea that we would be taking into reality as a team.

I'd like to thank everyone that contributed their insightful comments towards this plan during our Business Plan presentation - we have taken them into consideration as we look to start up this business, and look forward to learning and experiencing even more in this entrepreneurial journey.

Beyond Entrepreneurship

I believe the skills of thinking through the feasibility of a business idea, and effective discussion within the team, also serve as great experience even in the working world. To explain further, In the business world, sometimes we need to make a decision, whether to example, consider outsourcing a job function or buying a raw material from an overseas vendor. Cost is not the only factor to look at - the impact of lead time and additional uncertainties on the supply chain, should also be considered in such business decisions.