My project is essentially centered around the process of creating a product which is able to connect caregivers with those seeking care at home in a safe and secure manner. The type of care can be diverse ranging from housekeeping, child care, and elderly care to more specialized care for chronic conditions, disabilities or physical impairments. Being that my project is centered around the process of creating this solution, it is important to note that this entails learning how a startup business navigates through each step of the startup process including identifying needs of consumers, solutions to those needs, market research, unique value propositions, the whole nine yards. I'll get into more detail as I work through each step.
The last three weeks or so have been eye opening to me in regards to this project. I've learned more about business in these last few weeks than I have in the previous seventeen years of my existence (though I don't suppose that says a lot). Once school was no longer on my plate, my off-site advisor allowed me to have a week to myself before I began my work on the project. My off-site advisor is my father by the way, so I was just as surprised as you. Once my week was up, I got started. My first task was to read a book, The Business Plan Workbook by Collin and Paul Barrow and Robert Brown. The book outlines the steps to creating a successful business plan through seven phases of activity. A business plan, by definition, is a formal statement of business goals, reasons they are attainable, and plans for reaching them. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. A business plan is vital to any business starting up, it's a roadmap, a blueprint even. At least, that was my understanding of it. As I took my notes while reading this book, I became aware of all of the work that needed to be done before even attempting to write a business plan. This includes outlining a strategy and purpose, performing market research to gauge public opinion, as well as monitoring the competition among other steps. With a new understanding of the type of work I'd be doing, I continued to take notes on this book and did so for the next two weeks.
The third week (this last week) has been the most interesting thus far. Last week, my father and I attended a workshop of sorts in San Fransisco for budding startup companies hosted by the app development company, Appster after being selected to do so. At this workshop, I learned how to create a business pitch and all the steps necessary. A business pitch is a line of talk which is designed to intrigue potential investors or consumers in the idea behind the business itself. Have you seen the show Shark Tank? Imagine that but less scripted and a little more detailed. Delivering a business pitch to a room shouldn't take more than ten minutes but is the result countless hours of work. One of the biggest components of a pitch is the research behind it. Market research is crucial to any business starting up and I was able to take the first step in performing this research by creating a survey. Surveys are excellent for determining how the public feels towards certain issues or finding out if something even is an issue. With the help of my advisor, I created a twenty question survey that attempts to obtain key statistics regarding demographics as well as opinion towards the state of elderly care. That may sound very simple but after making more than five drafts of the same survey, I can attest to the fact that making a survey is more difficult than one could ever expect.
Anyways, that's what I've been up to lately, I'm very much enjoying the whole process and I've already learnt more than I anticipated. I apologize for writing such a long post but the next one probably won't be this long. The picture included is from my trip to San Fransisco in case you were interested.
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