Richmond

Product Development Officer

Linguistics and Multilingual Studies with Minor in Entrepreneurship

Nanyang Technological University

Hello.

I am Richmond, an undergraduate majoring in Linguistics and Multilingual Studies specialising in the Language and Technology, at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

I started off my entrepreneurship journey by taking an elective in E-Startups and Social Media Strategies (ET9122) where my interest for entrepreneurship sparked, and from there I went on to enroll myself into the minor of entrepreneurship. I guess I first demostrated my entrepreneurship spirit through selling my second hand items on Carousell, and have since then been interested in starting my own business.

Throughout my journey in the minor in entrepreneurship (ET9131 - ET9134), I learnt that there are many possibilities and approaches in starting a business, and I hope to apply my knowledge that I learnt so far to tackle this business and propel the it forward.

To future MIE students (or aspiring entrepreneurs), I hope my blog will provide you some insights of my journey thus far.

25 September 2021

First Meeting - Idea Generation (Physical)

This was the first day of ET9135A where we formed group for our business implementation. Being from another batch (53), I had to meet the new batch of MIE entrepreneurs from batch 57, and was fortunate enough to form a group with Gabriel, Jyn Yih, Kelvin, Nigel, Qi Qi (who is also from another batch), and Stevenson.

The lesson was mainly used for idea generation where we suggested ideas that we found interesting and could be potentials for our business. The ideas mainly revolve around bespoke and highly customisable products that include customisable keyboard keycaps and "inspired" Crocs Jibbitz. We believed that there is a growing trend for customisable products in Singapore, which greatly influenced our decision in our final business idea.

2 October 2021

Second Meeting - Idea Generation Part 2 (Zoom)

We had our second meeting for idea generation our Zoom. Each of us had to contribute at least 1 idea to the discussion and these are the ideas that our group suggested:

Idea Generation

Livestream of exotic items from overseas - Richmond

Online coding course for kids

Singapore virtual tour

Horror tour

Resin keycap

Recycable product idea

Empowering small business (Mini VC) - Gabriel

App for home bakers

Robotics - Nigel + Kelvin

Terrarium - Nigel

Grocery Delivery Service for hall

After much discussion, we narrowed it down to 3 ideas that we believed were feasible and they are: Empowering Small Businesses idea (Mini VC) by Gabriel, Robotics Course by Nigel and Kelvin, and Livestreaming Shopping Service by myself. My idea for livestreaming was influence by how livestream shopping was gaining popularity in China and in the United States. In 2020, 265 million Chinese internet users bought goods via livestreams, and I believe that we can tap onto this trend as there are currently no major players for livestream shopping in Singapore. We concluded the meeting with the 3 ideas, and shall reconvene with a formal business pitch to the group for the 3 ideas in our next meeting.

7 October 2021

Third Meeting - Formal Business Pitch (Zoom)

We started off the meeting with Nigel and Kelvin dropping the Robotics Course idea, as after their research they found out that it was not financially feasible for us to do it. Instead, Nigel pitched a new idea which was a DIY Terrarium business that doubles as art therapy for consumers.

I pitched my idea for livestreaming in terms of "exclusivity selling", which refers to selling items at a limited quantity or price. Research have shown that exclusivity selling or limited selling increase demand and a greater sense of value for the item. This is evident in Singapore where major online shopping platforms such as Lazada and Shopee conduct daily flash sales and monthly regular sales (10.10, 11.11 etc), which generates huge crowd and conversions. In following the footsteps of China's "小红书", I believe livestreaming is the future of online shopping, and could enhance the scarcity of the products we selling. In line with Gabriel's idea for being a venture capitalist to empower small businesses particularly online food business, the focus of the items procured for livestreaming will be mainly food items not available in Singapore. I believe the focus of food can greatly complement Gabriel's idea with empowering online food businesses in Singapore, and serves as an additional avenue or channel for support. After I pitched my idea, Gabriel and the rest of the group agrees that it is logical to incorporate both ideas into one.

In summary, we now have 2 ideas namely the idea for Empowering Small Food Businesses (with livestreaming), and the DIY Terrariums (as art therapy) idea. After an internal poll within the group, we decided on the Empowering Small Food Businesses to be pitched to Roderick.

10 October 2021

Meeting with Roderick - Business Idea Pitch (Zoom)

We held a meeting with Roderick and presented the 2 ideas and our preferred choice. Roderick gave us feedback with regards to our idea for Empowering Small Food Businesses, and suggested that it might not be too feasible. His concern revolves around his coveted "Chicken and the Egg" problem, in which we might not be able to generate customers for our platform within 6 months. It is agreeable that these small home-based businesses do not want to spend additional on marketing and support, and most are settled with their Facebook and Instagram marekting. With that, we went on to discuss our second idea for DIY Terrariums.

Roderick was more supportive towards this idea as he believed that it is a more direct business to consumer model, whereby generating customers will not be too big of a challenge. He shared that the terrarium idea was successful in a previous batch of MIE students, which provided us confidence that we will be able to replicate their success into our business. Roderick also suggested that he can assist us with marketing our product to NTU's EEE Club, which he is heavily involved in with conducting events and workshops.

With that, we finalised on our business idea and can begin with our business proposal write-up and presentation.

12 October 2021

Business Plan Proposal Part 1

I was responsible for the technology plan in the business plan proposal. Being a product-based business, we had to determine our sales channel which was either online or physical, or both. With the current Covid-19 pandemic that restricts social gathering, it was logical for us to start with an online presence. We decided to use an e-commerce platform to set up our website instead entirely from scratch to streamline the process. The e-commerce platform that we decided on was Shopify.

Shopify offers direct integration with Facebook and Instagram, which we believed will aid us with cross-platform sales and marketing efforts in the future. Aside from the seamless integration, Shopify also offers an "abandoned cart" feature, which allows us to send an email (promo code) to customers who left their products in their cart but did not complete the order. As customer conversions can be relatively challenging, this feature enhances our "customer recovery process", which can lead to more conversions.

Lastly, Shopify is supported by “Infocomm Media Development Authority” and “SMEs Go Digital (SGD)”, as a pre-approved vendor for the local “Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)” for SMEs in Singapore. As a startup, this means that we may qualify for the subsidy should we wish to apply in the future.

Through my research, I have learnt that there are actually a lot of tools and features that can help facilitate our business. Ultimately, we decided on Shopify as it offers certain unique features (as described above), that we believe will flow well with our business model.

14 October 2021

Business Plan Proposal Part 2

With further research, we decided to add Facebook Live Shopping and Instagram Live as additional sales channels for our business. As mentioned from an earlier blog post, livestreaming is the the future of online shopping, and we hope to replicate the success of China's "小红书" through these channels.

Aside from just being sales channel, we also intend to use these platforms to conduct online workshops for terrarium making. As one of our proposed products will be a DIY Terrarium Kit, these workshops can serve as a guide for our customers, and at the same time generate content and traction for potential customers. We hope to tap onto the integration of Facebook and Instagram from Shopify, and possibly include plugins for our products during our livestreams as an additional form of marketing as well. However, more research has to be conducted with regards to the feasibility this idea.

Lastly, Kelvin and I worked out a technology timeline for the implementation of all our sales channels. We will start with setting up Shopify, and subsequently Facebook Live and Instagram Live. All the setup process will include a display and testing phase at the end before actual implementation or launch. Our plan is to be technologically ready on all three channels by 24 January 2022.

16 October 2021

Business Plan Presentation

For the business plan presentation, I presented on the technology plan. Being relatively straightforward, the technology plan was accepted by Roderick and suitable for implementation. As there was a previous batch of MIE students that did a business on terrariums, Roderick suggested to us that we can look into their experience, and identify their problems so as to address them as soon as possible if applicable.

After the meeting, I was assigned for doing up the prototype design and setting up of our techological platforms together with Kelvin. We intend to take reference from the previous batch of terrarium business website as a guide from doing up our website. We will also review the problems they encountered (especially on the technological aspect), and try to mitigate them as much as possible for our business. Kelvin and I will be meeting up separately on 29 October 2021 to start with the setting up of the website as per the proposed timeline.

30 October 2021

Nursery Visiting

The team decided to go for a nursery visit at Far East Flora, Ji Mei Flower, and Island Landscape and Nursery as they are all along the same stretch at near Lornie. The reason behind this trip is to source for potential suppliers and scout for good prices.

We were able to explore the different prices, plant types, and terrarium housings offered by the different nurseries to get a sense of the market through the trip down. After a discussion with the group, it was agreed that we will source the terrarium housings from China (Gabriel) as they offer significantly competitive pricing, and the terrarium plants and necessities from Nigel's friend who is a supplier as a more cost-effective solution.

20 December 2021

Launching of Shopify Website

For the past few weeks, Kelvin and I have been working on our Shopify website for launch. For the first week, we were experiementing with the features offered and the extent as to how we can incorporate these features into our website. At that point of time, we were still under the trial period but was still able to come out with a brief mock-up of our website.

Being essentially a 'Single-Product' business, we couldn't follow traditional e-commerce website structure and had to pivot to a more focused approached for our website. We took reference from several other single-product businesses and came out with a product-detailed homepage.

At the homepage, the first thing you will see is 3 unique features for our terrariums and thenafter it was be our product itself. Being a single product, we wanted the user to know instantly what we were selling and the highlights of the product.

Also, being a customisable product, we decided to add in 3 simple steps after the feature product to help users decide on their own unique terrarium kit. Our customisable options will be the housing, sand colour, and plant type.

We wanted to focus on the therapy aspects of the terrariums (one of our differentiating factor from others), so each of the 3 steps were crafted in way such that it is more relatable and human.

With that we have our product-focused homepage and users can begin make their orders directly from our website.

28 December 2021

Update: Shopify Website

Our marketing team has sent out our terrarium kits to micro-influencers for review, and have featured them on our official Instagram Stories Highlight. We decided to add the screenshots of these stories onto our homepage so as to boost the authenticity of our website as well as to allow users to see what they will be expecting from our kits.

Going back to being a single-product business, allowing users to see these positive reviews directly on our website will enhance their buying experience and attract them to jump into the buying bandwagon as others have already done so.

19 January 2022

Crafting of Festive/Seasonal Terrarium Part 1

As our website is more less in its finalized stage and requires minimal suppport, I shifted to assisting with the product design on our seasonal terrariums. As Chinese New Year was upcoming, we decided to come out with a "CNY Terrarium" and tap onto the festive season crowd. Nigel, Qiqi, and I, met up to discuss the design and craft our "CNY Terrarium".

The colour scheme of the "CNY Terrarium" obvioiusly follows a prosperous red theme. For the "CNY Terrarium" we wanted to keep it as a lower-cost product as compared to our "Creative Terrarium Kit" as we want to reach out to the masses. To do so, the terrarium includes the basic soil, red coloured sand, one plant of choice, and 2 figurines. We priced each at $17 as compared to the "Creative Terrarium Kit" at $25.

23 January 2022

Crafting of Festive/Seasonal Terrarium Part 2

As Valentines' day is very closed to Chinese New Year, Nigel, Qiqi, and I, met up once more to design a "Valentines Terrarium". In order not to be repetitive in terms of design for the "Valentines Terrarium" and the "CNY Terrarium", we used yellow coloured sand instead of the typical red, and a different housing altogether.

27 January 2022

Terrarium Orientation Workshop

As we will be hosting our own terrarium workshop soon, Nigel decided to organise a orientation workshop for the team on how to craft terrariums. This was done in compliance with the safe distancing measures, and we were split into two teams of three to attend the workshop.

Through the workshop, we learnt how to go-about conducting a hands-on workshop for participants as well as acquire new tips and tricks when crafting terrariums. I personally feel that this workshop is really beneficial as it expanded our knowledge on terrariums as well as serve as a bonding session with the rest of the team.

5 February 2022

Pokémon Terrarium Liaising

In light of the recent release of the Pokémon games "Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl" and "Pokémon Legends: Arceus", we wanted to come out with a terrarium design to tap onto the hype. We took inspiration from the internet with Pokémon terrariums designs and wanted to create our own. Pokémon terrariums are essentially a diorama base set with mock plants to simulate a particular scene. Below are pictures of inspiration:

We reached out to an overseas contact that specialises in crafting building models for quotation and feasibility of this project. With acceptance from the specialist, we sent over samples of our terrarium housing for sizing and quotation. Subsequently, we conducted a zoom meeting with the specialist and the details of the meeting are as follows:

Design Requirements:

- diorama scene in the housing with a front and back facing

- allocated space for figurine (approximately 5.1cm) in the middle

- theme will be pillars with bushes/shrubs and stones (similar to pictures) and also up to creativity or whatever that is possible (design is flexible not fixed)

- no light requirements

- timeline about 1-1.5months

- have to advise if design is doable and quotation for each housing

- proposed rough sketch of potential product

The meeting will reconvene after the specialist have come out with a mock design and quotation.

15 February 2022

Pokémon Terrarium Liaising (Update)

For the Pokémon terrarium design process, our initial idea was to order a base product from Alibaba.com and enhance it further with our overseas contact. After contacting the seller on Alibaba, the seller notified us that they are no longer producing the Pokémon terrariums anymore which was one of the challenge we faced, as this means that our overseas contact have to craft one from scratch.

From there, we had a meeting over Zoom to discuss the direction from there, and unfortunately they were not able to assist us in terms of production as it was considered a larger scale project and beyond their scope.

Due to the longer time lead required for this project, we decided to archive this idea and keep it as a potential idea for the future and focus more on our upcoming terrarium workshop. With regards to this, we probably would have to source for another seller from Alibaba or other platforms, or another crafter altogether should we still decide to pursue this idea in the future.

2 March 2022

Felix Natura x WePack Terrarium Workshop

In preparation of our terrarium workshop, we secured a room in Hive for our participants. The workshop was conducted after office hours (7:30pm) to facilitate the convenience of the participants. For our first workshop, we each reached out WePack to collaborate with us which is aligned with our B2B approach for our business.

Initially, Nigel and Stevenson was in-charge of conducting the workshop while the rest will act as facilitators, but Gabriel, Jyn, Kelvin and Stevenson were all down with Covid-19 so I had to assist Nigel with it instead. Gabriel, Jyn, Kelvin, and Stevenson were tasked to do the back-end logistics and procured all the necessary materials for the workshop, while Qiqi, Nigel, and I will be on-site conducting.

The workshop was conducted inline with Covid-19 safe distancing measures and all participants had their masks on at all times. After the workshop, we provided instructions for aftercare and got feedback from the participants. Overall, the participants were very satisfied with the workshop and they thought it was a good bonding session for all of them.

9 March 2022

Final Business Showcase

This will mark my final post for this blog. This week we will be our business showcase and we will present our business journey thus far to the new batch of MIE students which includes a networking session with them.

After our business showcase, Mr Adrian pointed out that despite failing to execute the Pokémon terrarium project, it was actually plus points that we were adventurous and was willing to try. So this is good advice to all the future MIE students to not be afraid to try and be experimental as this is really time to make mistakes and learn.

At the end of the day, we all put on our blue MIE hoodie as we mark the end of ET9135 but not the end of our business. It was fun sharing with the new batch what they can expect from this module and also a tribute to the past batch that shared with us before we embarked on this journey. Its been a fun one and I guess its goodbye for now.

Conclusion

All I have to say is that it truly has been a great experience with the Felix Natura team. I still remember the first day of ET9135 like it was yesterday. I was previously from Batch 53 and only joined Batch 57/58 for ET9135, so it was like going to class on the first day of school lost and not knowing anyone. I believed that Gabriel, Jyn, Kelvin, Nigel, and Stevenson have previously worked together from ET9131-ET9134, so I was pleasantly surprised when they reached out to me to join their group. It is truly an honour for me to work with each and everyone of you, and I hope that I was valuable addition to your already dynamic team. So really, thank you for this journey.

The terrarium business was not our main idea but I am glad that each and everyone of us came together to help make it successful. In the beginning, I was afraid that I will not be able to gel well with the rest of the team as you guys have worked together before, but I am glad that they were quick to accept me and work together as a team. Despite my short history with the team, I had the avenue to contribute my thoughts and opinions and have them valued in the discussions. I have to give credit to each and everyone here for contributing your time from your busy school schedule to propel this business. So to Gabriel for contributing your logistics expertise and product sourcing, to Jyn for being our team leader and coordinating every major milestone, Kelvin our behind the scenes tech expert for facilitating everything back-end, Nigel our Felix Natura spokesperson for everything front-end from designing the terrariums to hosting the workshop, Qi qi our own social media influencer for liaising with her friends and help promote our brand, and finally Stevo our independent social media manager for all the marketing efforts pushed out throughout this journey.

I think for me what it takes to be an entrepreneur is truly to have a great team. In a team, each and everyone has a designated role but as entrepreneurs, we have to able to complement each and every one of the other members. There were times when I was helping with Kelvin with our website and times when I was helping Nigel with product design, and a lot of other cross-coordinating efforts from everyone of the team throughout the entire process. This really made me realised that as an entrepreneur we really have to know every single aspect of our business well, and I truly feel that all of us have demonstrated this entrepreneurship spirit thus far.

I believe that this business is precedent that we are able to achieve big things, so I will say goodbye knowing that we are going to well in the future to come.

Part of the journey is the end.

Signing off,

Richmond, Retiree (Temporary)

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