SWOT, Current Economic Conditions, and Some Mock Interview Prep Work

Below is a list of all the stuff we'll need to do this week.  As you will see, it's a mixture of business plan prep and Mock Interview Competition prep.

Monday: Internal Strengths and Weaknesses & External Opportunities and Threats

Reference this article for some questions that you may use to complete your SWOT analysis.  Think about it… your business is not perfect.  There will be things your planning, organizing, leading, and controlling will allow you to have as a strength, but no business is without weakness.  Identify those weaknesses, make your plan of action to improve upon them, and lay out how you plan to implement it (yes, more planning).  Further, your established competitors may be resting upon their laurels, and may be missing out on opportunities in the marketplace that you can use to your advantage.  Conversely, these established competitors do have name recognition and good reputations on their side.  Will this pose a threat to your business penetrating the market?  How will you address this?

We will make use of the last 7 minutes of class to share out our findings.  I urge you to think hard when it comes to what “best practices” you can use for your own plan.  This is a great way to expand your thinking and be productive.

Tuesday: Discussion of Business Risks

Have you ever heard someone break down the word assume?  If not, let’s just consider you to be one of the lucky few.  In any case, the assumptions made in our SWOT analysis are likely to be backed by research about our industry.  Unfortunately, even with hundreds of hours of research, some assumptions end up being incorrect.  Today’s classwork deals with handling business risks and incorrect assumptions.  From the rubric:

·       Discussion of business risks - 5 points

o   Identify the risks that will occur if assumptions you have made are incorrect.

o   Provide a strategy for dealing with the risks identified.

Essentially, we’re making sure we have all bases covered.  Today’s work should be somewhat challenging, but fun.  Your final draft for discussion of business risks should be about 100-150 words.

Wednesday: SWOT Analysis Final Draft

OK, today we are going to put it all together.  Take your notes/draft for your SWOT analysis and make it pretty!  Here are a few ideas for making your final draft

Now, you can use tables in Microsoft Word or use Google to search for some SWOT analysis templates if you wish.  I found a really good one that’s in my Public_Faculty folder saved as Business Plan – SWOT Analysis Template.ppt as a PowerPoint file.  I happen to LOVE slide 2 of the presentation, and would use that for my SWOT analysis. 

Your assignment today is to find an aesthetically pleasing (and EASY TO READ) template and enter your findings as a final draft. This will be a fun and creative day!  I know it.

This activity should last approximately 10 to 15 minutes since you will have all the bullet points in place.  We will use the remaining class time to begin our research on current economic conditions.  The following items should be searched and logged in your Google Doc:

• National unemployment rate
• TN unemployment rate
• Prime Rate
• Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate
• Rate of inflation
• Rate of change of GDP
• What is the GDP?
• Value of USD vs. Euro vs. GBP

With this information, you will begin to think of how this information affects the buying power of your customers.  Are more people working?  Does this mean more people are available to buy your products/services?  How about borrowing and credit card spending?  We can have a nice discussion about this in class, which will lead to me explaining the dangers of credit.

Thursday: Current Economic Conditions

While you’ve already completed an industry analysis, on Tuesday and Wednesday, you will take a look at the economy from a “big picture” perspective.  The information you research at the end of class Wednesday is your guide for today's work.  Here’s a breakdown taken straight from our rubric:

·       Current economic conditions: a “snapshot” of the economic environment that may include information such as employment levels, interest rates, rate of inflation/deflation, rate of change of GDP, balance of trade, exchange rates, and/or any other information you think is appropriate.

Now, this “snapshot” is essential to determine what effects the economy will have on your business.  It’s one thing to report to me that consumer discretionary income is dwindling as a result of inflation.  It’s a completely different (and more thorough) situation when you explain that because of dwindling discretionary income, your profits will be negatively affected, since fewer consumers will be capable of actually paying for your products/services. It will be even more thorough if you balance the decrease in unemployment vs. increase in inflation (if this exists) to determine whether profits will be negatively or positively affected.  Seeing the whole picture is key for success.

Friday: Cover Letter Lesson

Today, you will take a break from the business plan and focus on preparation for our Mock Interview Competition with a lesson about Cover Letters.  Below is a screenshot of what Coach Bruce planned for this lesson in the LGI Room back in 2014.  The plans are so well written, we're going to use them again!

The activities are well planned and will be a huge help for you.  If you want additional help with writing cover letters, consult with the following links:

1. How to write a cover letter & What is a cover letter?

2. What to include in a cover letter

3. What is "block form" all about?

Long story short, this week will consist of five days of work, whether we're in class all five days or not.  I strongly recommend you stay on top of things daily, make use of your Google Doc (so you can remotely work together without having to be face to face), and email me with any questions if they arise if we're not in class.  Staying on track will lead to us having a lot of success at Mock Interview Competition AND having a ton of fun doing more promotional business stuff.

Thanks for reading.  I hope to see you on Monday!

Define Your Business Identity

This week, we will have a far more structured class schedule to begin class before working in your teams on your business plan AND operating the business.  This is because I would like to guide you toward being more detail-oriented than you have been.  I understand classes are only 45 minutes, however some of your plans are only scratching the surface of what you need for a quality product.  Please see below for an outline of the tasks you need to complete and resources associated with the tasks.

Please use this blog, the PowerPoints from our Google Drive, and Google search as your guide through your daily assignments.  Keep all notes in your master file (and back it up to a cloud or other storage device) and make sure to date all your work for organizational purposes:

Monday: Company Logo & Tag Line
If I asked you to describe the company logos for McDonalds or Chevrolet, I'm sure you could all do so without hesitation.  Much like tag lines ("The world on your plate," for example), a logo is an integral part of your brand identity.  Please use today's class to brainstorm and make note of a clear description of your company logo.  We will break out the chart paper and markers so you can actually draw your logos for display around the room.  You will also make note of at least three tag lines your business will use on the back of your chart paper.  

This, combined with your vision you created last week, will help transition into your tasks for the rest of the week.  Please remember to date your work on your working document and keep everything in one master file (Google docs, MS Word, etc.).

Tuesday: Mission Statement and Company Goals - These are Two Separate Items

Now that we have completed our marketing plan, we can devise a list of goals for the organization, along with a company mission statement.  For those of you who prefer to write in bullet point fashion, feel free to create a list of your company goals/objectives.  If you are more comfortable writing goals and objectives in paragraph form, go for it!  Have at least 5 measurable, easily identifiable goals for your first year in business.  We will do more with these later this week.

For your mission statement, it wouldn’t hurt to see a few well-written models.  Use the business plans in my classroom and check out this link for some solid examples of well-written mission statements.  A few of my favorite from the link are from Advance Auto Parts, Applied Materials, and of course, Starbucks.

Below is an explanation of each component, taken directly from the scoring rubric:

• Company description: origination date, industry, legal description, location, brief history (if an existing company).

·      Mission statement: A brief statement that represents what company stands for; narrow enough to give direction but not so vague that it could apply to any other organization.

Wednesday: Management Function - Planning and Organizing

Management can be broken into 4 main components: Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.  Today we will focus on the first 2 components. 

For the Planning Component, you will need to have your company goals in mind.  Address how you plan to achieve each goal in a few (3 to 5) sentences.  From the rubric:

·       Planning: What are the goals of the business? Identify strategies to achieve each goal.

For Organizing, you will need to break down the number of employees, identify a chain of command, and describe the job of each position in the organization.  From the rubric:

·       Organizing: How is the firm organized to be able to meet objectives? Organization chart to specify what jobs need to be done and by whom.

Thursday: Management Plan - Leading and Controlling

Leadership is an important aspect of running a successful business.  Have you ever noticed that most pets take on the personality of their owners?  Have you ever heard the saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and realized it to be true?  The same applies in business.  Read this article about corporate culture, and explain how you will lead your employees.  If you are a 1-person operation, how will you direct yourself in terms of staying on task and holding yourself accountable to the highest standards necessary to succeed? From the rubric:

·       Directing: How are directions, assignments, instructions and information provided to employees?

With respect to controlling, think back to your lesson about performance evaluations.  How will you measure employee productivity?  Will you use measurable performance indicators?  Will you use 360-degree feedback?  Will you be the only judge of their performance? How will you make your employees happy to come to work and know when they’re doing well, or how to improve upon their shortcomings?  From the rubric:

·      Controlling: How does the firm monitor progress toward achieving goals?

Friday: Blog

I understand we have done a lot this week, so if you have tasks left to be completed on Friday, feel free to take care of those first.  Once you’ve completed the tasks for the week, write a blog about your work, using the following questions to guide you.   Feel free to copy these questions, bold them, and answer each below the question to make the blog easy to read.  Your blog should be at least 200 words beyond the words used in each question:

1. ·      How well have you stayed on task? 
2. ·      After thinking about the management function, especially the leadership component, how well do you think you will lead your organization to success? 
3. ·      What topics, if any, helped you with this portion of the plan? 
4. ·      What part of the plan did you absolutely nail?  Feel free to copy/paste that into your post.

Again, feel free to separate your blog entry into sections by addressing each question.  This will make the entry easy to read and will ensure you touch upon everything properly. 

I hope you have a great week!

Time to Market Your Company!

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game.  True, and the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona."

-George Wills

“I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning.  I think about it all day, and I dream about it at night.”

-Carl Yastrzemski

The above quotes describe an unparalleled love for baseball that two men have.  They describe a passion for the game that consumes them, and provide a great example of what it takes to succeed, not only in sport, but also in business.  When I assigned the task of completing a business plan for my VE class, I prepared them by showing videos and providing articles that detail how passion for something can be the difference between an average business and a thriving one.  Students were encouraged to create a business in an industry in which they have that passion so that they could remain focused and productive.  Thus far, I have seen glimpses of it, but now we need to turn up the heat. 

Through the first week of preparation, many students have fallen behind, and I estimate about 80% of them are in need of stepping up their game.  Also, since the marketing mix and management plan account for more than 50% of the grade, we will take the next 2+ weeks to finalize these areas of the business plan.  I will also provide a framework for the purpose of the plan and how to set goals for the business once students have completed the “vision” of their ideal business.

So, without further adieu, here is a breakdown of this week’s tasks.  

Tuesday:

Look at the 2 quotes at the beginning of my blog entry this week.  Think about things that occupy your mind all day and dream about at night.  Is your business plan designed around something you have this much passion for?  When you graduate, your focus for your career or major in college should be just as strong as this.  It will certainly help you succeed in whatever endeavor you choose.  This is just some advice.  I hope you find it helpful. 

Now, do some research about the 5 Ps of marketing.  Refer to this article (which describes 7 Ps) along with the rubric I’ve shared on my Public_Faculty folder, which details 5 Ps.  Use your answers to Friday’s questions about your specific vision for your business and the explanation of the 5 Ps to break down:

1.     Product (or service)

2.     Price

3.     Place

4.     Promotion

5.     People

In your Google Doc, you will type a description of each of these aspects of your business.  Once complete, you will have a rough draft for the first piece of your business plan!  

Wednesday:

Today we will focus on our target market.  If you are creating a business plan, you must know who your customer will be.  You’ve touched upon this in previous assignments, but today, it’s time to really define who it is you plan to have as a customer.  Here are 2 aspects of your target market that you will need to address:

o   Identifies a specific group of consumers toward which firm directs its marketing efforts.

o   Separates layers of market according to some of the following: demographics, geography, psychographics, benefits, etc.

Though today’s assignment is only 2 simple questions, your analysis and work will take you the entire period to complete.  Think smart, work smart, and put your thoughts into coherent, complete sentences.

Thursday:

Today’s focus is on your industry.  We will complete an industry analysis by answering the following questions:

o   Demonstrate an understanding of the real world industry by providing information about size, profitability, current challenges, competitive pressures, etc.  Use information found on the internet to analyze and critique how big you will be at inception, how large you wish to grow over time, and what barriers to growth exist in your industry.  Today’s lesson will be very helpful when completing part of your SWOT Analysis as well.

Friday:

Today is all about knowing your competition.  While you have outlined some strengths and weaknesses of direct competitors already, today we will refine that analysis and add to it by doing the following:

·      Competitive analysis: Identification and examination of characteristics of competing firms. (If there are no direct competitors, analysis of indirect competitors.)

·      How does the competition earn business?

·      How do they keep business?

·      Why would someone want to switch their allegiance to your business instead of theirs

Now, you can probably expect to complete today’s task pretty quickly.  That’s great!  You will use the last 15-20 minutes of class to blog about your progress on this week’s tasks.  In today’s blog, detail 1) How you may/may not have changed your focus so that you could get caught up (did you start to think about how your passion translates to this project outside of class?), 2) How much more clear your vision has become for the business, 3) are you on schedule? Behind schedule? Ahead of schedule? And 4) On which aspect of this week’s tasks did you absolutely nail it? Feel free to include a portion of that work in your entry.  You can complete this entry, and future entries, by listing each question and addressing them individually or just write your entry in paragraph form.  Just make sure to use complete sentences, and take pride in your work.

Partner Business Plans & Company Operations

This week, I'm going to go bare bones on the blog.  There will be no images or motivational quotes. Here is a breakdown of business plan teams.  Please see below:

Anaya & Dakota
Jessica &Tationna
William & Darran
Drake & Andrea
Tariq/Ka'Dondre/Skyler
Chaz/Orion/Robert
Brock/Andrew/Michelle
Shane & Taylor


Yes, I allowed the vast majority of you to work with your #1 choices.  I had a change of heart when making partners, since I was considering setting up mostly pairs, but I am confident in you guys.  In the end, I believed you will be motivated to work more efficiently with your #1 choices more than a secondary choice. Hopefully my belief in you is validated and I will get 8 great business plans.

In any event, we will use the presentations from our Google Drive VE Folder to guide us daily through creating the business plan.  In addition to creating the plan, you will also need to operate the business (scaled down) AND blog about your progress throughout the next 5 weeks.  Here's a breakdown of our tasks:

Business Operations - ALL TO BE COMPLETED MONDAY:

• Everyone make a purchase on the network first - this should take no longer than 7 minutes
• Attendance - Drake
• Payroll - Finance
• Item of the Week - Sales
• Newsletter - Admin & HR
• Sports at a glance for week of 1/9 - Check with CEO for update in basketball schedule
• Article about what makes an attractive company website
• Employee Spotlight - William P
• EVERYONE SHOULD BE WORKING BELL TO BELL IN MY ABSENCE

Business Plan Tasks:

Tuesday:
-Discuss how successful individuals thrived working in an industry on something they love

-Decide on your business - focus on something you love

-Work together to create company vision

-Create Google Doc to log your notes about your company vision (Share the doc with me)

Wednesday:
-Read this article about choosing the right industry

-Discuss how successful business people know their industry

-Analyze the industry in which you will operate

-In your Google Doc: Write a short paragraph about your industry and list at least 5 things your business will do to succeed in your industry

Thursday:

-Find at least one direct competitor and one indirect competitor

-Analyze their businesses

-In your Google Doc, break down the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor (direct and indirect - I suggest you create a table for each competitor and list strengths on the left & weaknesses on the right)

-In your Google Doc, type a short paragraph about how you will differentiate yourself or how your business will not have the same weaknesses as your competitors. Essentially, in a few sentences, explain how your business will be better than your competitors

Friday:

-Create a more clear image of your company vision by answering the following questions (feel free to number them as they are numbered below) in your Google Doc:

1. What will the outside of your business look like?
2. What will the inside of your business look like?
3. Where is your business located (use a perfect world scenario, as if you had access to the location you desire)?
4. What do your customers want from your business?  
5. How can you satisfy them as much as possible?
6. How do you differ from your competition?
7. is your product/service more affordable or more expensive than your competitor?  Why?
8. How do you get customers in the door and how do you keep them coming back?  EXPLAIN THE EXPERIENCE A CUSTOMER WILL GET FROM DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU

When finished answering these questions, you will type a 200+ word blog entry about whether you believe your business can succeed and how well you are working with your partner.  Don't forget to share the blog with me.

See you Tuesday!