Back At It - No Slowing Down

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 Make-A-Meal 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

• 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 “Form Responses” from Trade Fair) are your source documents for each transaction - Begin with R1, R2, R3, etc.
• Debit Accounts Receivable and Credit Sales – 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 specific desserts 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 Chaz excels at figuring out web design issues.
• Work with Sales to complete “Item of the Week” flyer for week of 12/6-12/10
• This flyer will be distributed 12/ to all on our mailing list

Sales

·      Please add specific desserts 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.  Please select three 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.

Midwest Trade Fair 2016

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 11/28 – 12/2
• 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 wholesale marketplace items to our online menu

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 2017-18.

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

Finishing Touches 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:

• Briefing on Business Plan Presentation
• Create package promotional signs (we will discuss pricing strategies in class)
• Compile list of items needed for booth (search closet to find things we already have)
• Procure items we don’t currently have for booth
• Create as many decorations as possible for booth setup
• Create accounting system (spreadsheet and/or Google Form) for tracking sales and sending receipts

CEO must designate assignments for each of the aforementioned tasks and maintain a running log of our progress on each task.  All employees must share out their progress at the end of class daily 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 11/21 – 11/26
4. Employee Spotlight - Select an employee and spotlight him/her
5. Sales update - Write an article about our updated product list (compile list of German/Italian/Greek foods in our European section of the buffet)
6. Newsletter team will be graded on quality of each article, as well as the design and overall appeal of the newsletter according to this rubric

Display Board for Trade Fair:

This needs to be brainstormed, designed, and created this week. Work with the Booth Design Team to create flyers for the promotional packages we’ll sell at the Trade Fair.  Since every student has $15,000 to spend, we’ll discuss pricing of different package options (see below).  In addition to the package flyers, you can create other eye-catching designs (use either Publisher, PowerPoint, or Word) that can be included on the tri-fold.

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 (or a button that allows the customer to fill out the order and receive an invoice) 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:

The first thing we need to do is set up a system for tracking purchases at the Trade Fair.  Last year, we used a spreadsheet only, but other firms created a Google Form that generated a receipt for each purchase.  I would like to use both this year, so on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we’ll work on taking care of that.  

Starting Thursday, 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.

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!

The Stretch Run

This week will be our final two opportunities to analyze and critique our business plan presentation team as they prepare for Thursday's competition.  With that said, we need to be productive and practice our best so we can shine when the lights go on.  Remember the quote "Perfect practice makes perfect," and be prepared to look at every detail when getting ready for the event.

On Monday, Rebecca Bartlett from US Bank will visit our class to help provide guidance as we run through our presentation twice.  Please make sure to thank her and be prepared to explain to her how the competition works.  I've provided her the rubric and the PowerPoint in advance, but you will also need to catch her up on some things that may not have been addressed last week.

On Tuesday, although there is no school, I strongly suggest that the competition team gets together to practice talking through their slides as a group.  My team two years ago (who scored a 92 out of 100 on their rubric, the 2nd highest score of any team competing that year), got together for 4 hours, worked through their slides AND the questions that the judges could ask.  This helped many things, including:

• flow/continuity of presentation
• ability to focus on judges rather than the slides
• understanding of key concepts (economic environment, profitability of business, ABILITY TO SELL THEMSELVES)
• the "so what?" of each slide

I have emailed you all the list of judges questions and expect you to be comfortable answering them. PLEASE ALSO CONFIRM YOUR WARDROBE FOR THURSDAY.  I know you have committed to specific attire, but make sure everything fits and looks professional. 

Wednesday will be our last day to practice.  We will again run through the presentation at least twice (preferably three times).  Be confident, challenge yourselves to get better, and follow the rules of presenting:

1. Know your audience
2. Know your content
3. Hit your talking points

In my absence on Thursday, those who are not presenting will write a blog entry of at least 200 words predicting how you think the team will do.  Be specific with how you think the team will score on each portion of the rubric.  Use the rubric to guide your writing.  Be respectfully transparent in your writing and share your post with me (GMail).  

I'm excited for this week and know we will do well.  Let's optimize our performance by working hard in AND OUT of class so we have our best chance at making the finals!

I've Said it Before and I'll Say it Again - Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

When I was on the baseball team at Rutgers University, we used to have inspirational quotes hanging all over the locker room.  Sadly, the only one I can remember is the above Vince Lombardi quote.  I truly believe that in order to perfect or master something, it is of the utmost importance to focus on doing every aspect of it perfectly.  If you just practice, but practice the wrong way, you'll never get closer to your goal.

With that said, this week we are going to practice the business plan presentation all 5 days of the week.  We will have a panel of guests watch us perform and ask us questions, just as we had last year.  I am confident that this year's group can score just as high or even higher than last year's team.  With a strong written business plan, this year's team will have a great shot at moving on to the State finals.

Below is a breakdown of what we will do throughout the week:

Monday through Friday:

Clear Targets: We can create a business plan presentation AND We can analyze and critique a business plan

On Monday, we will allow the presentation team to review their parts in the presentation and get ready to present.  During that time, we will complete operations AND finalize our artifacts to submit for our Trade Fair Competitions.

After about 5 to 10 minutes of prep and work time each day, we will allow the Presentation Team to read through and practice their presentations.  As the audience, we will play the role of investors and ask the Presentation Team questions we think need to be addressed.  We will also provide feedback on how the presentation looks/sounds, and work on improving as the week goes on.

Please see below for Competition and Operational responsibilities for non-Presentation Team Members:

You will all be assessed on the quality of your work as well as how well you work with one another.  Making sure your final decisions are in the best interest of the organization is of the utmost importance, so please be sure to focus on the big picture rather than individual preferences.  The better we work together, the prettier our bottom line will look at the end of the year.

Here’s a breakdown of what each group will do and who is responsible for each task:

Trade Fair Competition Artifacts:

Written Business Plan Submission:

The window for submission of our written business plan begins 11/1 and I would like to take care of this as early as possible.  Michelle will continue to put the finishing touches on this project.  Once our plan is put into order and saved as a PDF file, we will submit this through the portal.  We will need to read through the entire plan before actually submitting to make one last check on spelling, grammar, statistics, and other details that can help us earn the highest possible score.

Business Card Artifact:

This is a project made specifically for IT/Web Design and my Impact Marketing Team.  The task of designing our business cards is very important.  We have never made business cards before, but I feel as if we need to have them this year.  I need two IT representatives (including VP of IT) to take this project on and make it work for us.

Please refer to the rubric, manage your time wisely, and make this project excellent.  I am available for assistance as needed.

Day-to-Day Operations:

Employees who are not focusing on the business plan presentation or competition artifacts have to carry the load of maintaining our business and keeping things running smoothly.  Remember, just because we have these deadlines for the Trade Fair doesn’t mean we don’t still have a business to run.  After all, without a successful business, how can we really speak so confidently about ourselves in the business plan?  Without a strong business, what good will all these strong marketing artifacts really do to keep customers once we’ve gotten them in the door?

That said, we need our remaining employees to complete our typical operational tasks.  Employees need to be paid, orders need to be filled, sales calls need to take place, our website needs to continue to improve, and all of our financial transactions need to be recorded.  With fewer employees, this means there will be zero downtime, so make sure you work diligently on the upkeep of our brand.  See below for a breakdown of tasks and responsibilities:

Tasks and Responsibilities:

In addition to the tasks below, Shane and Andrea will need to work on creating our promotional flyer for my upcoming visit to Clarksville Young Professionals.  I will work with you to make sure it’s ready to print by the end of class Monday.  Additional responsibilities and tasks are as follows:

·      Upkeep of website – IT

·      Sales Tasks (Calls, Item of the Week) – Sales and IT

·      Maintain accurate inventory records – Sales and Finance

o   Check our wholesale marketplace to update inventory records and update each sales transaction

o   Journalize purchase of inventory in our Cash Payments Journal

·      Payroll – Finance

o   Keep records of who’s present and pay each employee accordingly

I know this is a lot of work, but this class is hand picked specifically because you are all capable of accomplishing these tasks better than anyone else in the school.  Take pride in this and put your best effort into getting these tasks done.  When these tasks are done, you will have a lot of things to add to a personal portfolio that will help you with your college and scholarship applications.

I’ll see you soon!

Keep Your Noses to the Grindstone and CHOP!

This week, we need to really keep our nose to the grindstone (not like the cartoon below, though) and CHOP through a number of tasks.  We again have  four main areas of focus for our tasks, but this week’s focus is refinement.  Below is a big picture look at what we will be doing:

• Completing the oral presentation (PowerPoint AND talking points) by Wednesday
• Make sure to base everything on what we’ve included in the written business plan AND the competition rubric
• Trade Fair competition artifacts:
• Impact Marketing
• Newsletter
• Company Website
• Day-to-day operations
• Upkeep of website
• Trade Fair Banner
• Payroll
• Display Board
• Acquiring sponsorships to subsidize cost of Gatlinburg trip

Just like last week, we will be doing these tasks throughout the week, so our clear targets again will be:

We can apply concepts to operate a start-up business

We can create a business plan presentation

You will all be assessed on the quality of your work as well as how well you work with one another.  Making sure your final decisions are in the best interest of the organization is of the utmost importance, so please be sure to focus on the big picture rather than individual preferences.  The better we work together, the prettier our bottom line will look at the end of the year.

Here’s a breakdown of what each group will do and who is responsible for each task:

Business Plan Competition Team:

Review the Oral Presentation Rubric and finish the PowerPoint and talking points for our Oral Business Plan.  Remember to focus on our purpose and work to include every detail required in the rubric, as well as additional information we included in our written plan (Company Vision, Specialization of our products, etc.).

Feedback from last week’s work:

• Catchy introduction: I love the picture you paint in your introduction.  Practice this opening and you will have the attention of the investors
• Accuracy of data: Sadly, I don’t think you got this far in your preparation.  EVERY TEAM MEMBER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARKET CONDITIONS AND WHY OUR BUSINESS WILL SUCCEED.  Review with Michelle our current market conditions.  You will sound very educated if you can use this information when addressing questions from investors
• “Feasibility”: Again, this hasn’t been addressed yet, so focus on asking for the business.  This year, we can earn up to 5 extra points if the judges are willing to invest in our organization.  That said, make sure to include a slide in which we ask the judges if they are willing to invest, and if they are not certain, be sure to ask if there is anything they wish to know that would help them come to a definite decision

Trade Fair Competition Artifacts:

Impact Marketing Artifact:

Your initial creation has a great background and includes a lot of company information.  Create at least one more option for our class to choose from so we have options on what to submit.  Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.  Maybe something simple, like the “Got Milk” posters described in the rubric or something outrageous like the “Your Wife is Hot” idea we discussed.  Just make sure to keep everything professional and appropriate.

Newsletter Artifact:

Your artifact is complete.  We will need to review your work to revise some of the writing (syntax, grammar, etc.) AND the aesthetics (enlarging font, adding some color and company logo throughout the file).  Your choice of topics was strong.  We might want to add to it.  That will be our focus this week.

Company Website Competition and Banner Creation

IT has done a fabulous job of having almost everything finished for the website competition.  As it stands, we will have to get a shopping cart built into the site to have everything ready for the judges.  

In addition to the website, we now have to design and create our banner for the trade fair.  Please use the old Pick-It Sweets & Treats banner for inspiration.  Our banner will need a design, our contact information (including that web address), and some eye-catching designs.  Complete this project by Thursday and we can review on Friday.

Day-to-Day Operations:

Employees who are not focusing on the business plan presentation or competition artifacts have to carry the load of maintaining our business and keeping things running smoothly.  Remember, just because we have these deadlines for the Trade Fair doesn’t mean we don’t still have a business to run.  After all, without a successful business, how can we really speak so confidently about ourselves in the business plan?  Without a strong business, what good will all these strong marketing artifacts really do to keep customers once we’ve gotten them in the door?  

That said, we need our remaining employees to complete our typical operational tasks.  Employees need to be paid, orders need to be filled, sales calls need to take place, and all of our financial transactions need to be recorded.  With fewer employees, this means there will be zero downtime, so make sure you work diligently on the upkeep of our brand.  See below for a breakdown of tasks and responsibilities:

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Contact Local Businesses for Sponsorship
• Please utilize the list of Clarksville Young Professionals we met this summer to reach out to potential sponsors.  As a sponsor, they could help our class in many ways, including:
• Donating supplies, equipment, or money
• Guest speaking
• Helping judge business plan presentation practice next week
• Maintain accurate inventory records – Sales and Finance
• Check our wholesale marketplace to update inventory records and update each sales transaction
• Journalize purchase of inventory in our Cash Payments Journal
• Keep records of who’s present and pay each employee accordingly

I know this is a lot of work, but this class is handpicked specifically because you are all capable of accomplishing these tasks better than anyone else in the school.  Take pride in this and put your best effort into getting these tasks done.  When these tasks are done, you will have a lot of things to add to a personal portfolio that will help you with your college and scholarship applications.  

I’ll see you soon!