Sindy

Today is the day where we showcase our past few months of hard work. Kimmy and I arrived early to set up the booth before Aaron arrived. In the midst, we created our solar panel led terrarium; an order recieved not long ago. Many that walked by was fascinatted by what we have done. Perhaps our solar panel led designs could be something we to look into.

Prof Adrian came on behalf of Prof Roderick to assess us. The feedback provided by Prof Adrian was that our slides was concise and the learning process was reflected.

Other than having to present, I've got to see how the other groups presented and was impressed by their sales. The other teams seemed to be earning, unlike us. Despite so, we were reassured by Prof Adrain that making a loss does not mean we will do badly for this module; rather, it is the learning experiences that counts. From the presentations, I was able to better understand how the other teams marketed their business. For example, Hydra does it through word of mouth, Instagram and Whatsapp. They highlighted that the use of Whatsapp has greatly helped to send mass messages and spread awareness. Peachy, relied on Influencers, Sponsorships and Packaging to reach out to their audience. The different marketing approaches taken by the others is something we can look into if we intend to further our business. It was an insightful evening!

4/9/2019 (WED)

Kimmy and I went to the warehouse today to purchase the supplies we lacked. This would probably be our last time here as we still have existing supplies. Our current exit strategy is to sell our existing products and see how things goes as we will all be busy with school.

4/9/2019 (WED)

Today we met to do the measurements for our DIY sets as some of it has already been sold. By measuring the amount of supplies needed, we are able to reduce wastage of resources and accurately guage our finances.

While packaging, we realised that we listed the wrong DIY product; the Owl Land Product should not be up. Due to that, we have to go to the warehouse to purchase more supplies required. Stay tuned for our latest DIY!

2/9/2019 (MON)

My team and I met up with a few agendas in mind:

1. Complete the DIY Videos (To post on Instagram).

2. Film our Funny Viral Video.

3. Measure the amount required for DIY Kits.

Before the day ended, we managed to complete the agendas mentioned above.

I was the Director and Cameraman for the filming of the viral video. Kimmy has previously drafted the video online and I had to rely on it to create the shots. As we did not bring a weighing scale, we had to gauge the amount of measurement required, while filming the DIY video. It was a fruitful day!

Flashback!

Do you still remember our previous logistic issue in delivering our pre-made products? The creation of our DIY sets will greatly reduce our cost of shipping.

26/8/2019 (MON)

Most of our products sold are pre-orders to customise, more pre-made products have to be made to attract our customers. It seemed like our pre-made products are more sellable than the customised ones.

As we have been constantly producing new products, the time taken to produce a new product reduced. In about 2 hours, I managed to complete 3 designs. It is a great achievement than before as we arethen able to reduce our manpower cost over time. Presenting our new products!

18/8/2019 (SUN)

Today, I recieved an order on Carousell from someone interested in our product (Tundra). I liased and negotiated with her on the price, the buyer was responsive and needed the product urgently. With urgency, the buyer wanted us to deliver the product directly to her home. As all the products are stored in my house, I had to deliver it; but it is unsafe to deliver alone. Hence, I phoned Kimmy and we went to deliver the product together.

As I was delivering, I realised that regardless of how mindful I was to keep the product intact, the figurines and the sand will still be moving. This post a challenge for us as we have to constantly check and fix our products before it is delivered. Another problem, is the safety aspect, we should not go on deliveries alone it is unsafe (unless we know the party personally). Therefore, I have to revamp the deliver service and set pickups instead. This is something I have to learn and change along the way.

Flashback!

Do you still remember our plans to do the DIY kits? After selling all our pre-made products, I have decided to just focus on the sales of the DIY product as self-delivery of the products is not ideal. When we think Singapore is small, it is not as small as we think and transportation can take up to 2 hours (depending on location). Thus, this method is not feasible.

12/8/2019 (MON)

After our consultation with prof, we realised that it was key to fall back to our initial plan; to allow our customers to diy. The rationale behind it was so that we can reduce our logistics (self-delivery) and manpower cost.

To make our DIY more unique, our kit will come with a DIY Youtube Tutorial (Available only to those with the link). With that objective, I met up with Aaron and Jiacheng to purchase the supplies. Kimmy could not make it as she was down for School Orientation Camp. When we went to the warehouse, we realised that it is not open. Hence we went to NTU to film our video tutorial instead, utilising our remaining materials.

In the evening, Kimmy joined as in the discussion of our marketing plan. Collectively, we felt that our marketing reach was not ideal (though at that time we had 190 plus followers). After discussion, we plan to have a giveaway and boost our post to increase our exposure. Will it work? Let's find out!

5/8/2019 (FRI)

Today, the four of us met up to create more products, source for more supplies, and did our product photoshoot. I made three products on that day using the remaining supplies we had. After that, we went to Chinatown Daiso in hopes of purhasing more white sand, but all the other coloured sands ran out except for the green ones. Thus, we ended up getting all the green sands on the rack.

28/7/2019 (SUN)

I recieved an order from my friend for her aunt's birthday gift. She told me that her aunt likes things that are colourful and is born in the year of the sheep. With these requests in consideration, I went with Jiacheng to purchase the supplies required for this product. After purchasing the supplies, Aaron met up with us to do some products. Here is how my friend's order look!

23/7/2019 (TUES)

During our consultation, Prof said that we can do without a company website if we are able to make our social media, "the website". Though that is a valid point, our marketing efforts on social media is not as ideal as we seek to be. There is a need for us to have a website in order to make our business seem more "official". The initial marketing plan that we had was not appealing enough to attract audience.

With the need of a website, I met up with Kimmy to do the website. We spent about 3 hours doing it. This is how our current website look, here is the link https://flormierememories.wixsite.com/flormiere

15/7/2019 (MON)

Today I met up my teammates with the goal to complete the 3 pre-orders received.

As the CEO of the company, constant pivoting is required. I felt that an augment we can provide our customers is a story behind their gifts. All our products have a story. When an order was made, I went an extra mile to understand the purpose of the gifts, to create a story: one was for gratitude, one for farewell and the other not occasion specific. These are the designs I have made!

14/7/2019 (SUN)

Today, I called the supplier and was delighted that they were still open thus I went down to the warehouse to purchase the products myself.

The rationale behind our need to purchase the supplies onsite is so that the quality can be maintained. Our company's aim is to be able to sell quality products, not quantity.

As my teammates were not available today, I had to video call them to discuss which supplies are required.

One takeaway I had while purchasing the supplies was that the type of business I am doing requires lots of R&D (research and development) as well as quantity. It was cheaper for us to purchase our supplies in bulks rather than individual products. Being rather conservative at the start, we only purchased individual items and hence it is more costly. What I learnt is that, it is important for me to visualize the end product and know what materials are required before purchasing the supplies. Before, we were open to buying materials to try without having a clear objective. Now, as everything starts to add up, every little cent counts, I learnt to spend wisely with a clear objective.

13/7/2019 (SAT)

It has been a while since my last update. During this period of time, I have been sourcing for supplies as we have to start our product going.

For the past week or so, I recieved 3 pre-orders for our product but we lack the materials. Hence, there was a pressing need to purchase it. While researching, I came across a warehouse selling terrarium products. The warehouse is located in Singapore, in excitment I told my team about it. We were elated to find a local supplier as we are then able to save on time (shipping) and money (shipping fee). With limited time, I decided to contact the suppliers to enquire. However, as it was late, the stores were closed. I guess I will have to call in tomorrow!

12/7/2019 (FRI)

Our products from abroad are all in and we have met to consolidate our products as well as produce more of it. We are kinda falling back in time, so we have to keep producing and continue the streak. Presenting to you our products for sale!

That aside, remember our 1st prototype? I checked it today and to my horror, the flowers went mouldy. This pose a new problem for us: how are we going to prevent it from getting moulding? I could not figure out, the only explaination is that either the flowers are not completely dried, or, the sand have moisture causing the reaction with the flower.

23/6/2019 (SUN)

Supplies sourcing has been one of our biggest challenges faced. We need to find quality supplies at reasonable prices to produce our products and it has to be sustainable. Before going on our trip sourcing, Jiacheng and I had looked up some suppliers in Johor Bahru (Malaysia), as we felt that it will be more value-for-money.

With the research done, we met up to get our supplies for our products. We met up at 8.30am, hoping that we are able to reach by noon. Unfortunately, due to some custom clearance issue, we reached JB at around 3.30pm. The jar supplier that we initially sourced for, seemed to have been closed as it was a weekend. With little hopes, we went to KSL to see the other possible supplies we could get. Thankfully, we were able to purchase the supplies we required and even found potential products to use.

The possible issue we realised is that going to JB to purchase the supplies is not feasible in the long run. It is time consuming and a waste of resources.

15/6/2019 (SAT)

Our team managed to meet up today as there was a consultation, it has been a fairly long time since we met due to our hectic schedules.

Today was a bountiful day as I managed to assign the responsibilities to my fellow partners and set a direction for the business. It is also the day where we will evaluate the sample supplies purchased to ensure quality. Some of the supplies purchased from Ali Express did not meet our company's standards as it was of sub-par quality. Hence, we feel that it is better to purchase the supplies onsite. Therefore, we will be go to Johor (Malaysia) to source and purchase the supplies we need on 15 June (next Saturday).

8/6/2019 (SAT)

Today Kimmy and I went to Malaysia to source for some supplies we needed and is glad to be able to find the sands needed to complete our prototype.

It is a rare sight, as the decorative sand in most Singapore Daisos are either limited or out-of-stock.

25/5/2019 (SAT)

In case you are wondering, I did not mia (missing in action), I spent the last 2 days trying to finalise the design for our prototype. I realised that adding glitter and glow in the dark glue was not ideal as the color is dull. Hence, I have washed off the glitter and paint. Today Kimmy went to buy the remaining items (sand, uhu glue and blue tac). Presenting our 1st Prototype!!

20/5/2019 (MON)

The flower samples I have ordered previously is now at my friend's house in Thailand. I will be going there at the end of the month to take a look at the samples, if it is ideal, I will buy from there and bring it back to Singapore directly. By doing so, I am able to save costs and time for shipping. This will allow us to start making our products soon.

18/5/2019 (SAT)

We have finally started on our product!! These are our behind the scenes (BTS)!

Today Kimmy and I went to purchase the materials for our prototype, travelling from Alexendra to Chinapoint. After that, we started creating our prototype design. As we purchased real flowers, we had to dry the roses ourselves, this process takes about two to three weeks.

Fun fact! In order to dry flowers, you have to put it in a dark and dry room thus it is now lying in my store room XD (This is according to Google haha)

Stay tuned for more progress on our work!!

3/5/2019 (FRI)

Update!

One of our friend, Sarvash, has successfully dropped the course. Now we are left with 4 members. Wishing him all the best in his future endeavours!

2/5/2019 (THURS)

Hey there, sorry for the long wait! Just ended exams not long ago.

Presenting to you...our design sketches!!

The Chief Marketing Officer, Kimmy and I have met and came up with some sketches for our product.

ps. Our sketch may be ugly cause I am not an art student...but...our product will definitely awe you!

Product prototype, coming soon...

30/4/2019 (TUES)

I have just ended my idea presentation, it is now time to improve the idea! Prof has provided valuable feedback on potential areas of improvement. He mentioned that we should target the Western market instead of China, as it was pointless to compete with the existing businesses there. The current market price for the cheapest product is $35 (based on established dried and preserved flower stores). As a new company, I felt that we should have a competitive price system, below the market rate, this is so that we are able to penetrate into the market shares. However, Prof felt that we should not compete based on price as it might make us seem 'cheap'. He asked us to sell the product at normal market rate.

One interesting observation made by Prof was that we could add some sense into our dried flower products. This is a refreshing point that we did not initially thought of. He told us to add essential oil on the product to produce a fragrant. This unique aspect could poentially allow us to be part of the blue ocean.

Prof also asked us to tap into the market of Singaporeans that do not have a culture to purchase flower products. He highlighted that the market for such people is much bigger than those who are already interested in purchasing flowers.

The feedback provided is crucial us as it will differentiate us from other competitors.

Update on our manpower!

Our group’s Creative Director, Sarvash, might be dropping the course, there is a need for assistance in product design. Being the CEO of the company, I have to ensure that all departments runs smooth; hence, I will work with the Chief Marketing Officer in product design. I used to come from Chinese Media & Communication in Polytechnic, hopefully that helps? Additionally, the classmate who proposed the marketing idea has dropped the course.

More design ideas will be updated!

20/4/2017 (SAT)

#3: I see some light!