Today, the 30th of January 2017, I attended a meeting with Serena Byrne who is head of the Student Enterprise Programme in Wicklow, Kildare and a few other counties. I have meet with her on two previous occasions, first when she gave a talk to our entire year on the Student Enterprise Programme in October, and another time when she came into St Gerard’s to talk to the students with a mini company who were entering the programme. This time a meeting was scheduled with Serena to talk to the students who have evolved and developed their mini company to the level which they are fit to represent our school at the County Finals. If you asked me after our first meeting in October 2016 how far I thought I was going to be with my mini company in 2017, and if my mini company would be a success...I would certainly would not have expected myself to be at this level and I probably would have been a bit weary and unsure whether I could manage a successful mini company! Well after 4 months of hard work, making, promoting and selling candles I am beyond happy the work has paid off and that I might be able to represent St Gerard’s in the Wicklow County Finals The other mini companies that also attended the meeting were ‘Quirky Coffee’ run by Dillon, Carla and Eleanor. Their mini company is magnificent and original, they have countless flavours of coffee and hot chocolate which all smell (and most likely taste!) amazing! Peter and Jeremy have invented their own product, and they also hand-make the product themselves. The purpose of their product, is to aid people when they are playing golf. You’d have to ask them exactly what their product is, but I understand it helps golfers while putting. It creates a line, or desirable path, which the golf ball should travel, from the putter to the hole. To prepare for this meeting I spent hours creating a detailed business report. I wasn’t certain whether or not we were required to have completed the report for the meeting, so I made sure I had my report finished and corrected in time for the meeting, just in case! Mr Hughes gave me a sample report as a template for mine, it was the report of a mini company from last year. When I first read the report I was a little overwhelmed at the amount of research and information included in the report, and was worried I wouldn’t be able to create a report to this standard! As I took some time to read the reports of the previous year’s winners of the Student Enterprise award I started to get a feel and sense of the type of report expected from us. The product that won last year isn’t particularly revolutionary or incredibly original, but it is the way in which the product is promoted and presented that catches people’s attention. I was left inspired and motivated after I read all these reports, and without further adue I sat down and wrote the report. Below is a copy of the report:
A few excerpts from my report! Serena Byrnes sat down with us during our lunch break, and explained to us the next stage of the programme, which is the County Finals. I had only briefly heard about the County Finals and knew near to nothing about them, so I was feeling mainly curious and I didn’t know what to expect! The County Finals are a big event in each county, where students are chosen to present their mini company to a set of judges. It is a chance to promote one’s product or service and enjoy the experience of presenting yourself and your mini company in front of judges. In some ways it is a little like a job interview, because if you present yourself well and impress the judges you will be chosen to represent your county in the Nationals! Apparently only two mini companies are allowed to enter the County Finals from each school, and there are three possible mini companies from St Gerard’s. I would really love to go to the County Finals, as it seems like an amazing experience but Serena must choose the best companies to represent our school. I was not aware that the Wicklow County Finals was such a big thing, Serena showed us pictures from last year and I was amazed how professional the mini companies looked! We each quickly explained how our companies have progressed over the last few months, and told her about our future plans for our companies. I was very glad I had written my report as Serena seemed impressed that I had it completed! Also it is great to have it done and out of way, so I don’t need to think about it over the next couple of weeks as I’ll be busy with the musical! I enjoyed the meeting, and though it was short I have learned a great deal about the next stage of the Student Enterprise Award. When I came home that evening, I started to formulate a few ideas on how to display my product, if I got through to the County Finals. I them cycled to the beach in greystones and collected some sand, pebbles and shells to make the next batch of candles! Selling my candles at Blackrock market!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
My Mini CompanyFor Business this year we have to create our own mini company. I have decided mine would be called 'Sophie's Little Candle Shop' and that my company would be specialized in candles in jars! Click here to find out more about my mini company and how I came up with the idea. Archives
April 2017
Categories |