Back From Break - No Time to Pump the Brakes

I hope you all enjoyed a fun and restful Thanksgiving break.  My family and I have had a great weekend and I look forward to getting back to school on Monday.  With only two weeks before semester exams, many tend to ease up on things and take it slow before Winter Break.  During this time, the most successful people take advantage of the laziness of others and pull ahead while others lag behind.  By working hard these next two weeks, we will continue moving Pick-It Sweets & Treats to the top of the Virtual Network. 

In order to achieve our goals, we will need to stimulate the economy.  One way we can do this is to spend our money instead of holding onto it (unless you have a big purchase you are saving up for).  Another way is to motivate others to buy from us.  We obviously need to drive the economy by making good purchases and allowing the stronger businesses, like us, to thrive.  That’s why our main focus (outside of operating the business) is buying from well-run businesses. 

While we will still focus on pushing our sales forward (CEO and our VP of IT have worked on brokering partnerships with other businesses), we should also focus on buying.  In the real world, when you have discretionary income, you should purchase things that you want.  Given that any money you have left at the end of the year gets drained from your personal bank account anyway, once you’ve purchased everything you need, you should spend your remaining money on things that might interest you.  This drives the economy and the process of purchasing can help you build even more contacts with other businesses.

That said, each day this week, one of our objectives will be to make a purchase on the VE Network.  Below you will see from whom each purchase will be made each day:

Monday – A business you remember from the Trade Fair – please consult with those who attended the Trade Fair for assistance if needed

Tuesday – Another business you remember from the Trade Fair

Wednesday – A firm outside of Tennessee (California, NY, NJ, NC, SC, MI)

Thursday – A firm outside of the United States – There is a solution for purchasing from international firms and we will cover this on Thursday

Friday – Everyone in class decides upon a single firm from whom we will all make a purchase

Each day you make a purchase, you are to actually pay for your purchase immediately, using your own money and transferring funds by adding a payee from your bank account.  This is to be done EVEN IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE AN INVOICE.  If you have any trouble figuring out this process, please consult with someone from Accounting/Finance, as that entire department has experience using this feature in the Portal.  After you have paid for your product/service, you then must email the firm directly, thanking them for providing you with something you wanted AND encouraging them to visit our website to find products/services of ours that might interest them.  You will request that they email you directly if they have any issues finalizing a purchase on our site.  This will ensure that we close the deal on the sale and receive payment.  The result of this transaction SHOULD ensure that we receive a lot of orders on our site.

In addition to purchasing goods on the network, we have a lot of other tasks to tend to.  The most daunting task that must get done this week is handling inventory records, purchases and sales journal entries, and handling payroll properly.  Next, we also have to improve upon our weekly newsletter.  Each week, there is progress on this project, but there is still a long way for us to go.  Finally, we will need to make sure we are moving forward with the best looking website possible.  We need to make sure the site is easy to navigate, user-friendly for purchases, and has a well-functioning shopping cart that generates a follow-up email confirming details of the purchase.  This will help sales and finance stay on top of accounts receivable.

Below is a breakdown of tasks to be completed by department:

Accounting/Finance (plus M Lewis and J Hanks)

• Consolidate sales spreadsheets from Trade Fair
• Complete funds request from Trade Fair Sales with facilitator
• Update inventory by making appropriate purchases on wholesale marketplace
• Review what we have in stock
• Deplete inventory of what was sold from Trade Fair
• Replenish inventory so that we have at least three to five of every item in stock
• Debit Merchandise Inventory for each item and credit Cash when you purchase each item
• Complete sales journal entries for each sale at Trade Fair
• Your receipts (see receipt book from Trade Fair) are your source documents for each transaction
• Debit Accounts Receivable – Central Bank and Credit Sales until we receive funds
• Debit Cash and Credit Accounts Receivable – Central Bank once funds are received
• Complete Purchases Journal entries for all inventory purchased
• Accounts payable – Wholesale Marketplace is vendor
• Pay cash for inventory purchased – from firm bank account
• Complete Cash Payments Journal entry when cash has been paid out
• This should be a single cash payment entry covering all inventory purchased
• Pay employees – please make sure to take out appropriate taxes/insurance withholdings and allowances

IT/Web Design

• Add Trade Fair Bundles to website.  These bundles could easily sell if people see them on our site
• Add new products and services to website – we have discussed adding Skiddles (yes, this is how we’ll spell it) and other items, so let’s do it
• Please make sure we have a functioning cart – If you are really at a loss for how to make it work, consult with another firm.  Unfortunately, this is not an area of expertise of mine, but Steffan made a good contact at the Trade Fair.
• Work with Sales to complete “Item of the Week” flyer for week of 12/8-12/12
• This flyer will be distributed 12/4 to all on our mailing list

Sales

·      Please add Skiddles and appropriate bundles to our inventory spreadsheet

·      Reach out to firms from the Trade Fair and make sure they are aware of our new products

·      Work closely with IT to ensure our website AND product line are in line.  At the moment there are some discrepancies that you need to address

·      Please make sure all 4 sections of the display board are decorated and include information about our products.  This will ensure everyone knows what we have to offer

HR/Admin

• Weekly newsletter - Please include: 
• An article about OUR trade fair results, positive experiences from the Trade Fair, ideas for next year’s booth - this might end up being a 2-page article
• Employee spotlight - Conduct an interview and include highlights or full questions with answers
• An article about what’s going on in business today (I’d love to hear about Black Friday and Cyber Monday as well as anything about Christmas shopping)
• Be sure to include more color and images as we had discussed previously

In addition to this, I also need two students to work the concession stand with me after school on Tuesday and Thursday.  Please select two students on Monday and have all concession inventory ready for the after school rush,

Let’s keep pushing while others are taking an early break.  Our effort these next few weeks can really catapult us ahead of the rest, so let’s make the most of our time.

Trade Fair Week!

This week, we will make at least one purchase on the virtual network and complete the following departmental tasks:

HR/Admin:

• Weekly newsletter: Include articles about:
• Thanksgiving
• Sports at a glance for 11/30 – 12/4
• Trade Fair Results/Reflections

Sales:

• Please update the display board as much as possible

Finance:

• Payroll
• Sales transactions

IT:

• Consult with sales department and add Skittles (please use different name) and party packages

When I return to class on Tuesday, we will give a Trade Fair report, summarizing our sales numbers and discussing things that went well (as well as things that did not go well). 

We will then discuss ways to make next year’s Trade Fair even better.  After this, all students will write a reflection about how we can improve the process of planning and organizing the preparation process for 2016-17.

That’s it for this week.  See you Tuesday!

Last Week Before the Trade Fair

This week, we will take care of all the finishing touches for our Trade Fair, in addition to tending to everyday operations of the organization.  We have a lot of work to do and only so much time left.  Every day counts, so please make sure we stay on task and pick up slack if someone else needs it.  Here’s a basic list of what needs to get done for the Trade Fair:

• Create package promotional signs (use last year’s signs as a model for this year’s)
• Compile list of items needed for booth
• Procure items we don’t currently have for booth
• Create as many decorations as possible for booth setup
• Set itinerary for weekend with Spinella

CEO must designate assignments for each of the aforementioned tasks and maintain a running log of our progress on each task.  All employees must blog their progress on Wednesday and write a reflective blog post about their expectations for this year’s trade fair. 

Departmental tasks (in addition to Trade Fair Tasks) are as follows:

Newsletter:

To be completed by HR, Admin, and 1 Sales Associate 

This week's installment should include articles about the following topics:

1. Productivity during Thanksgiving Week – use this article http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/5-hot-productivity-tips-for-thanksgiving-you-need-to-know.html
2. Shared responsibility in the workplace – use this article http://www.evancarmichael.com/library/martin-haworth/Sharing-Responsibilities-in-Building-Workplace-Relationships.html
3. Sports at a glance – basketball and wrestling events for the week of 11/23 – 11/28
4. Employee Spotlight - Select an employee and spotlight him/her
5. Sales update - Write an article about our updated product list and how we decided to make changes this year – DIFFERENT FROM LAST WEEK’S PLEASE
6. Newsletter team will be graded on quality of each article, as well as the design and overall appeal of the newsletter

Display Board:

This needs to be brainstormed, designed, and created this week.  I need at least two sections completed.  Display Board team will be graded on relevance and overall appeal of the board

Booth Design:

This works hand in hand with our Trade Fair Prep tasks, so please make sure this gets done.

Trade Fair Preparation Team:

Work with booth design team to determine materials needed for Trade Fair.  Compile a list of items, as well as an expense breakdown. Also create sales packages for customers at Trade Fair.  Team will be graded on how comprehensive the list is, as well as accuracy of cost breakdown.

Website:

Need cart updated.  Request assistance from other firms if necessary.  Also, ensure correct products are available online.  Team will be graded on completion of these tasks.

Accounting and Finance Operations:

You know what we need done.  Please journalize all transactions, pay all employees, and ensure our inventory is accurate and recorded properly.  Team will be graded on how accurately each entry is journalized and completion of other accounting departmental tasks.

Sales Tasks:

Please make sure this week's flyer is completed.  Determine Item of the week and have an appealing finished product.  Also, please work on emailing other firms (specific employees when possible) our flyer and please create a customer satisfaction form to be added to our website.  Have at least two and no more than four questions with multiple select options.  Team will be graded on aesthetics of flyer, number of sales of item of the week, and completion of form.

Purchase on the Network:

Everyone is to purchase something on the network and notify me when done.  This can be done on Friday.  

That's it for this week.  I know it's a lot to do, but you're all capable of getting it done if you work from the time class begins until class ends.  I'll see you all tomorrow!

Five Days of Tasks in Four Days of Work

In business, even though you might have a short work week, the expectation from ownership is that you complete a full week's worth of tasks.  That's exactly the case in class this week.  Not only do we have to operate our business, we also have to prepare for our Trade Fair and grow our market share.  The only way for this to work is if everyone is focused on completing their tasks, and assisting where necessary if co-workers are behind schedule.  

Rather than write a long post, I've condensed this entry into a breakdown of tasks with some guidance for completing them.  If and when you encounter something that requires more of my assistance, I'll be available during class to point you in the right direction.

Here's our list:

Newsletter:

To be completed by HR, Admin, and 1 Sales Associate 

This week's installment should include articles about the following topics:

Business plan presentation team's performance last week - interview two or three of the presenters for this article

 Democratic leadership styles - read at least two articles and report out on it.  Include information about whether you feel it's something we can/should/already implement 

Sports at a glance - basketball jamboree, wrestling events, anything else going on with Northwest athletics

Employee Spotlight - Select an employee and spotlight him/her

Sales update - Write an article about our updated product list and how we decided to make changes this year

Newsletter team will be graded on quality of each article, as well as the design and overall appeal of the newsletter

Display Board:

This needs to be brainstormed, designed, and created this week.  I need at least two sections completed.  Display Board team will be graded on relevance and overall appeal of the board

Booth Design:

All who are in charge of this must have a status update by end of business Tuesday.  If we do not have a firm concrete plan in place for the store front by this time, we will not implement it for the trip.  Team will be graded on meeting deadline and feasibility of plan

Trade Fair Preparation Team:

Work with booth design team to determine materials needed for Trade Fair.  Compile a list of items, as well as an expense breakdown. Also create sales packages for customers at Trade Fair.  Team will be graded on how comprehensive the list is, as well as accuracy of cost breakdown.

Website:

Need cart updated.  Request assistance from other firms if necessary.  Also, ensure correct products are available online.  Team will be graded on completion of these tasks.

Accounting and Finance Operations:

You know what we need done.  Please journalize all transactions, pay all employees, and ensure our inventory is accurate and recorded properly.  Team will be graded on how accurately each entry is journalized and completion of other accounting departmental tasks.

Sales Tasks:

Please make sure this week's flyer is completed.  Determine Item of the week and have an appealing finished product.  Also, please work on emailing other firms (specific employees when possible) our flyer and please create a customer satisfaction form to be added to our website.  Have at least two and no more than four questions with multiple select options.  Team will be graded on aesthetics of flyer, number of sales of item of the week, and completion of form.

Purchase on the Network:

Everyone is to purchase something on the network and notify me when done.  This can be done on Friday.  

That's it for this week.  I know it's a lot to do, but you're all capable of getting it done if you work from the time class begins until class ends.  I'll see you all tomorrow!