Get to Work!

This week, we are going to work on two things at once: creating the business plan and registering our business with the VE Network.  We will begin to break up our work by department so that we can maximize efficiency in completing our weekly tasks.  Moving forward (at least until next semester), tasks will often be assigned by department, not by day.  This means you won’t see a daily list of objectives and clear target.  Rather, you will see a breakdown of objectives for each department with either a common or department-specific clear target.  Further, there will be much fewer PowerPoint presentations or lecture from me.  Beginning Monday, my role as facilitator will be to act as your guide on the side.

Our clear target for the week is simple:

We can apply business concepts to launch a virtual startup business.

The tasks for the week can be found below.  Don’t be intimidated by this list.  You can all get it done:

All

·      Log onto the portal - I'll demo for new employees

·      Reach out to business partners (Ryan Hitch to lead)

o   I will touch upon how to approach these business partners in class on Tuesday.

Executives: CEO and CFO

·      Complete business registration form online

o   Basic things can be completed quickly

o   Particulars will take a couple or three days

§  Which type of corporation? Why?

§  Budget

·      Payroll

·      Rent

·      Utilities  - based on schedule I’ll find for you

·      Advertising/promotion

·      Inventory

·      Equipment

·      Supplies

§  How accurate will our budget be? Use last year as a guide but be more specific

***Please consult with Accounting/Finance Department to complete the financial information.  You will all need to research accurate figures to operate your business properly.  Your research results will either help or hurt us in receiving seed money.

Accounting/Finance

·      Assist executives in completing business registration form

·      Determine salaries for all employees at each level

o   Check O-net or Jobs4tn

o   Use the low end for salaries since we only have 17 employees

Sales/Marketing

·      Create product line – list EVERY product you intend to sell - use last year's data to determine what to keep and what to add

o   If you intend to do parties, include 2-3 packages at minimum

o   Base this on your audience – how much will they buy and what are they willing to pay?

·      Work on the 5 P’s

o   Product

o   Price

o   Place

o   Promotion

o   Positioning

Use the Scoring Rubric to complete the marketing mix 5 P’s.  We will utilize this rubric when writing anything for the business plan.

Admin and Human Resources

·      Establish company goals and 4 options for mission statement – to be voted on by the firm at end of class Wednesday

·      Create company directory spreadsheet

·      Establish office equipment needed to start up

Use the Scoring Rubric to complete mission statement.  We will utilize this rubric when writing anything for the business plan.

IT/Web Design

·      Company vision: how does each of the following look?

o   The business

o   The employees

o   The products

o   The customers

·      Begin making website

Begin by working on the company website design.  Once marketing has completed its product line (may not be until Wednesday) you can begin to add products to the site.  Remember, our products require a buy-now button when customers buy from us, and Mal’s is by far the easiest free one to use, however there will be an option to use a buy now from the VE home site (recommended).

I know it looks like a lot of work.  It is.  Starting up a business is a daunting task.  It requires you to work in class and out of class in order to succeed.  But don’t worry, guys.  You’re the best students in your class and are very capable of doing all this work really well. 

Pick-It Sweets & Treats Interview Week

This week, we will conduct interviews for each employee within the organization.  Thus far, you have learned about each position Pick-It Sweets & Treats has and have heard three prospective executives interview for their desired job.  Each prospect has shared his strengths and vision for leadership within the organization and demonstrated a strong understanding of what professional dress and conduct looks like.

Now that you’ve had a chance to take notes on these interviews, we will begin Monday’s class with a vote on who will be the CEO and CFO for the 2015-16 year.  Once that’s finished, we will conduct interviews of our own. 

Because I will be out this Friday to attend the Annual VE Facilitator Workshop, you will use Friday’s class period to organize your thoughts and blog about how the week is going.  You will also blog about how you think the business will perform in its second year of operations.

Please see below for a breakdown of our weekly tasks:

Monday through Thursday

Objectives: Analyze and Critique interviews, Provide feedback on interviews

Clear Target: We can analyze and critique a job interview

**On Monday, we will discuss the three candidates who applied for executive positions and then take an anonymous electronic vote for CEO and CFO**

Please make sure to wear professional dress on the day you are scheduled to interview.  I estimate we can get through 3 to 4 interviews each day, so please make sure you are prepared.  Remember, your appearance, answers, resume (which will be displayed on the doc viewer while you interview), and manner in which you conduct yourself will be scrutinized, and feedback will be shared after each interview.  The purpose of this is to get accustomed to hearing criticism, which is essential to improvement in anything, and to get an immediate understanding of how you come across to others while it’s fresh in everyone’s minds.

Friday

Objectives: Create Blogger Account or help other students create Blogger account, Blog about the week’s interviews (be reflective if you interviewed already; be anticipative if you have not yet interviewed) and your predictions for this year’s performance

Clear Target: We can reflect upon past performance in a business setting

Today you will either create a Blogger account or help a classmate create his/her own Blogger account.  Once that is finished, you will type a 250+ word post about your own interview.  If you have not yet interviewed, you will type a post about what you have learned from other interviews that will help you with yours.  You will also discuss in your blog how you believe the business will do in the 2015-16 school year.  Can we make the State Finals?  Is a trip to New York in our future?  When finished with your post, please remember to share it with mattspinella@gmail.com so I can read what you’ve done.

**Note** Please be on your best behavior for the sub.  You may only talk to help your classmates create a Blogger account.  This should take no more than 7 minutes (and I’m being generous).  When finished, please work silently and independently on your Blog post.  This exercise should take approximately 25 to 30 minutes, which means you should work on filling out your critique sheets when you are done.  Critique sheets (to be shared/emailed) will be due before class begins Monday, 8/31.

Interview Schedule:

Monday:

Harris, Steffan

Hitch, Ryan

Lewis, Makayla

Tuesday:

Irvin, Tyler

Butler, Bryanna

Wright, William

Wallace, Brandon

Wednesday:

Kleinhans, Emily

Garzon, Matthew

Hutson, Kaitlin

Tibbetts, Katelynne

Thursday:

Cobasky, Matthew

Williams, Sara

Shinall, Kidell

Tudder, Rachel

That’s it for this week!  See you Monday!

Last Week of Class

This week, we will focus on work-related articles from the Harvard Business Review.  I have found three solid articles which cover topics that I feel will help you in your future as contributing members of society.  These articles will help you give and receive constructive criticism more effectively, figure out how to get up and go when you might not feel like it, and compile a list of traits that successful people have in common.  Best of all, since there aren’t departmental tasks to be completed, nobody has to worry about who was selected to run the organization anymore!

Here is a breakdown of our articles and classwork for the week:

Monday:

Read the first paragraph of my most recent blog entry.  Then, go to http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/11/theres-no-such-thing-as-constr/ and wait for my instructions. 

Clear Target: We can analyze and critique methods for providing constructive criticism

Tuesday:

Use what we talked about in class about each of the three key behaviors for providing constructive criticism and post a blog entry about how you could use each behavior if you were a manager providing feedback to a subordinate.  Share your post with me through Google+

Clear Target: We can analyze and critique methods for providing constructive criticism

Wednesday:

Think about something, either from VE class, another school activity, or outside of the classroom, that you just never get around to.  Write that down and provide at least three reasons why you seem to never get around to doing it.  Then, go to http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/how-to-make-yourself-work-when-you-just-dont-want-to/ and read the article.  We will discuss the article at length during the last 20 minutes of class.  I will moderate our discussion.

Clear Target: We can analyze factors that affect motivation and productivity

Thursday:

Use what we talked about in class about how to make yourself work when you just don’t want to and post a blog entry about how what you learned from the article and discussion can help you do whatever it is you wrote down at the beginning of class Wednesday.  Remember to share your post with me through Google+

Clear Target: We can analyze factors that affect motivation and productivity

Friday:

Today we will read about 9 things successful people do differently than others.  Every time we critique a performance in our class, I ask you to note things that were done well and what could have been done differently.  Reading this article and discussing the power of doing things differently will hopefully help you understand what separates the average from the great.  Your article can be found here. I look forward to our class discussion.

Clear Target: We can differentiate between productive and unproductive habits in the workplace.

2014-15 Performance Evaluations

As previously discussed, this week will be dedicated to completing performance evaluations for all employees, and devising a plan to improve our performance and the performance of future firms.  Having completed your reflections last week, each of you has had the time to think about tasks you’ve completed, lessons learned, areas where you can continue to develop.  Reflection is essential to learning about yourself and your growth as an employee. 

Here’s a breakdown of your tasks for the week:

Monday: You will receive a 2-page evaluation form.  Complete the form based on your interpretation of your performance.  Be fair, honest, and thorough in your appraisal of your performance.  During the last 15 minutes of class, we will discuss your findings.

Tuesday through Friday: We will complete evaluations in the following order: Vice Presidents, associates, CFO, CEO.  After each evaluation, we will discuss what we agree and disagree with, as well as discuss ways to improve performance in the future. 

That’s all I have for you this week.  Though this post is short and sweet, there is a lot of “meat on the bones” regarding what we will be doing.  I look forward to hearing your self-appraisals and seeing how you deal with constructive criticism from your peers.  Have a great week!

2014-15 Personal Performance Reflections

If we look back on what we've done this year, there have been a lot of highlights mixed with some not-so-memorable moments.  We've written a Pick-It Sweets & Treats business plan, prepared for Regional and State competitions, attended a Trade Fair, completed case studies, blogged, and run a semi-successful virtual business.  This week will be dedicated to looking back and reflecting upon four of your most memorable projects or tasks that you completed during the school year.  I'm not going to put concrete borders on what or how I want you to post other than requiring each entry to be at least 400 words.  The goal of this exercise is to let you look back and see just how much you've learned this year and prepare for your end-of-year performance evaluation.

Each day this week, you will focus on one of the following projects and type a reflective blog entry about your personal opinion of your performance, what you learned, and how that project will help you in the future.  Understand that EVERY task completed this year has been done from scratch, so don't be overly critical of yourself.  At the same time, each task has elements that can be improved the next time around, so please don't tell me you think you did extremely well or your performance was perfect.  

By the end of the week, you will have completed four blog entries.  Your options are below:

• Pick-It Sweets & Treats Business Plan
• Promotional Sales Materials
• Resume Creation
• Interview Exercises/Portfolio Creation/Mock Interview Competition
• Trade Fair Preparation
• The Trade Fair Experience
• Reflecting upon motivational videos/literature
• Individual Business Plan Creation
• Day-to-day business operations (your departmental tasks)
• Sales calls
• Weekly Newsletter
• Employee Spotlight
• Company Manual
• Payroll distribution
• Anything else that stands out from your classwork this year

We'll share out some of our entries next week and begin our personal performance evaluations before our executives and I conduct formal performance evaluations.

I look forward to reading your posts.  This week and next will be a lot of fun.

Final Week of Business Plans and Business Operations

This week, you will have two class periods to complete your business plans.  From there, we will complete the last of our operations for the year.  What will we do with the rest of the year, you ask?  That’s when you will complete final evaluations of your peers, facilitator, and yourself.  I’ll have more on that next week, though.  This week is no much different from next week, and since I wrote pretty comprehensive stuff last week, I’ll simply tweak last week’s blog and re-publish it this week.

Monday and Tuesday:

Clear Target: We can analyze and critique a business plan

Objectives:

Take notes on business plan presentations

Analyze & critique plans in the role of investor/financier

Question presenter on specific elements of plan as they relate to your potential investment

Formulate opinion about whether or not to invest

Submit form for each presenter

While last week’s presentations were much more detailed than previous plans, our business plan presentations have still been below expectation.  Your plans have been very well thought out, but I know that you are capable of thinking at the same level of a true business owner and have the charisma to deliver your plans in a more captivating fashion.  Have an opening, have a goal for your investors in the beginning of the plan, and execute that plan so that the investor’s questions are directed less at the potential flaws of the business (all businesses have flaws) and more on how their investment makes them money.  Your plans are solid and can make money.  Just show how that money is made so you’ll have more willing investors.

Again, I will show you these two great presentations from Shark Tank with the hope that you engage your audience in the same manner that these business owners do.  This will help your presentation.  Please take note

Check out this Shark Tank intro for a solid example of an eye-catching presentation:

Notice how each presenter vividly describes a common problem that many customers would have and then presents his product in such a manner that solves the common problem in an entertaining fashion.  THIS is how you need to present to your investors.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday:

Clear Target: We can apply concepts to operate a profitable business

Objectives:

Process existing orders from customers: Sales and Finance departments, along with CFO, will search open and unprocessed orders from company email address.  Each order will receive a “Thank You” email and include an invoice for goods purchased.  

Create “Item of the Week” advertisement AND send it to customers: Sales and IT will determine which item or party package we offer is best suited to be promoted to our clients based on the time of year we are in and what our customers need most.  Bulk purchase specials can be offered to entice customers to buy

Follow up on unpaid accounts receivable: Finance and Admin will follow up with customers who have received Thank You emails and request payment for any outstanding unpaid invoices.

Complete weekly newsletter: Human Resources, along with CEO, will complete a 3-4 page weekly newsletter with articles that highlight the following:

Sports at a glance for this week

Upcoming EOC Tests and preparation from teachers and students

Rivers and Spires hits Clarksville, Tn

Human Relations and Conflict Resolution in the workplace (search the net for a good article and use at least three quotes in your article)

Blog Entry: What was done well this week?  What could you have done differently to get your work done more efficiently and effectively?  What do you plan to do next year to make our business better?

Your grades this week will be assessed on completion of your group departmental tasks, your questions/comments to business plan presenters, your business plan presentations, submitting forms for each presentation, and your blog entry.  This may seem like a ton of work, but if you stay on task for each assignment, you’ll have plenty of time to get it all done.  Have a great week.

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

This week, I will be out of the building on Wednesday and Thursday to help teachers earn Work-Based Learning certifications at TCAT Hohenwald.  As a result, on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, we will proceed as planned with our business plan presentations.  On Wednesday and Thursday, you will blog and complete simple departmental tasks that will help us hit the ground running when we resume a singular focus on business operations next week.  Please see below for a breakdown of our daily tasks:

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday:

Clear Target: We can analyze and critique a business plan

Objectives:

Take notes on business plan presentations

Analyze & critique plans in the role of investor/financier

Question presenter on specific elements of plan as they relate to your potential investment

Formulate opinion about whether or not to invest

Submit form for each presenter

So far, our business plan presentations have been below expectation.  While a couple (not all) may have included every element of the presentation rubric, not every plan has included specific detail about what separates its business from competitors.  Remember, when you are presenting to an investor, the best way to secure that money is to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the industry and show the investor exactly why your partnership will be a profitable one. 

Further, none of the presentations we’ve seen have opened with something to get the attention of the viewer.  If you don’t catch the viewer’s attention in the first minute of your presentation, you may not have the full attention of the viewer when you’re showing him/her what makes your business so great.  Please be creative and wow the audience like our Business Plan Competition Team did back in November when we presented the Pick-It Sweets & Treats plan.  You have the rubric at your disposal in Google Drive, so please make sure you’re earning full credit on this presentation.

Check out this Shark Tank intro for a solid example of an eye-catching opening:

Notice how each presenter vividly describes a common problem that many customers would have and then presents his product in such a manner that solves the common problem in an entertaining fashion.  THIS is how you need to present to your investors.

Wednesday and Thursday

Clear Target: We can apply concepts to operate a profitable business

Objectives:

Publish a 200+ word reflection about your blog based on your answers to the questions posted in Edmodo on 4/10/15.  Share out your experience and have this available when you prepare for next year.

Process existing orders from customers: Sales and Finance departments, along with CFO, will search open and unprocessed orders from company email address.  Each order will receive a “Thank You” email and include an invoice for goods purchased. 

Create “Item of the Week” advertisement: Sales and IT will determine which item or party package we offer is best suited to be promoted to our clients based on the time of year we are in and what our customers need most.  Bulk purchase specials can be offered to entice customers to buy

Follow up on unpaid accounts receivable: Finance and Admin will follow up with customers who have received Thank You emails and request payment for any outstanding unpaid invoices.

Complete weekly newsletter: Human Resources, along with CEO, will complete a 3-4 page weekly newsletter with articles that highlight the following:

• Sports at a glance for this week and next
• Academic Awards Ceremony
• Business Department Mock Interview Day
• Effective Leadership (search the net for a good article and use at least three quotes in your article)

Your grades this week will be assessed on completion of your group departmental tasks, your questions/comments to business plan presenters, your business plan presentations, submitting forms for each presentation, and your blog entry.  This may seem like a ton of work, but if you stay on task for each assignment, you’ll have plenty of time to get it all done.  Have a great week.