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Our blog
Our blog
Hi to all who chance upon this blog! This blog serves more of our "diary" as we embarked on our journey in MiE.
Do visit Team blog (Milestones) for a more concised and detailed entries of our significant milestones!
(P.S. we did include a lot of photos in our entries, just that it is collapsible)
25th September 2021
25th September 2021
Today marks the first day our team is formed. We also met with our course instructor, Mr Roderick. He prompted us to start ideating our business plan.
2nd October 2021
2nd October 2021
Agenda: Finalising business idea
We met up today through zoom to brainstorm for ideas. The meeting ended with 2 main ideas and for the proposers of the 2 main ideas to draw up a pitch/value proposition
7th October 2021
7th October 2021
Agenda: Finalising business idea
We met up today to finalize our idea, heard the pitches and we settled with 2 ideas
social media marketing company
DIY terrarium kit
Our team has decided on doing idea number 1. However, our intentions are to run it through Mr Rodrick to see what he thinks of these 2 ideas before we start on the business idea proposal.
10th October 2021
10th October 2021
Agenda: Getting Mr Roderick's opinions
We met up with Mr Rodrick and pitched 2 ideas to him.
Our first idea is the social media marketing company. We would aim to help small business owners to market their product and earn commission from the sales garnered. However, Mr Rodrick pointed out many flaws in the idea stating that it was an uphill task to complete as we as a startup have no portfolio thus no credibility. Hence, we also suggested going to our friends for our first few sales though Mr Rodrick also have reservations against it. Furthermore, he stated that sales of the product is also dependent on the product itself and not mainly by the social media marketing skills and thus choosing the right product is important as well. With none of us having experience with social media marketing, this would be very difficult idea to execute.
Our second idea is selling DIY terrarium kit to help promote mental wellness. This idea was much more preferred by Mr Rodrick as he is a plant lover himself, he is more welcoming to this idea. He stated the potential pitfalls that we may face such as the current supply crunch which would force us to purchase our stocks very early in order to meet the deadline. As well as logistics challenges that we may face. He also stated positive points such as there is many gift giving holidays coming up such as Christmas, New Year etc., which would be a great opportunity to increase our sales.
After discussion, we decided to go ahead with the Terrarium idea and delegated tasks for the upcoming business plan submission.
14th October 2021
14th October 2021
Agenda: Finishing up our business plan
The team gathered to draft our business plan. The team is broken out into 3 teams with Kelvin and Nigel being in one team, Stevenson and Qi Qi in another while Gabriel and Richmond in the last team. Jyn, as team leader, was the overall coordinator and was in charge of all financial matters.
20th October 2021 - Outlining Roles & Responsibilities of the team
20th October 2021 - Outlining Roles & Responsibilities of the team
As team leader, I (Jyn) have taken the opportunity to outline the team's roles & responsibilities + team core values moving forward as we proceed to incorporate Felix Natura as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
Gabriel & Nigel - Operations officers
Helming the operations of Felix Natura
Includes: HR, Operations, Liaison, Publicity
To do in NOV - DEC:
Establishing Supplier relationship & Key partnership
Procurement of supplies for operations
Operation workflow for Felix Natura
Set up workshop program
Steveo & Qi Qi - Marketing Officers
Helming the Marketing outreach and Publicity of Felix Natura
Includes: Marketing, Publicity and Risk management
To do in NOV - DEC:
Market Research & validation of our business problems - aim for by end nov
Planning & creating an effective marketing campaign once we launch our platforms
Research on designs of Terrarium
Kelvin & Richmond - Technology Officers
Helming the technological platforms of Felix Natura
Includes: Website development, maintenance & design
To do in NOV - DEC:
Setting up shopify platforms, instagram & facebook livestream
Designs of the platforms (Collaborate closely with marketing officers)
Jyn - Finance Officer, Team leader
Overseeing everything at Felix Natura + Finances of Felix Natura
Includes: Accounting, incorporation and taxing
To do in NOV - DEC:
Incorporation of Felix Natura - ACRA
Confirm with Suppliers on our COGS and adjust our projected F/S accordingly
Draw up Constitution & Shareholders’ agreement
Everything Operations officers are doing
Team core values
Teamwork: We are all here for a reason. We want to start a venture together. Please put in your best efforts and know that there may be nights where we will have to sacrifice sleeps/ time to finish this venture/projects.
Communication: Everyone is to clearly communicate any problems/comments on one another/others’ work. Let’s all provide a comfortable and open environment to communicate all concerns/worries/ problems and take the comments with an open-mind.
Roles & Responsibilities: Your roles are that of what you have chosen. You will be taking point on the effort/initiatives within your roles/responsibilities. Of course, that shall not stop anyone here to ask for help from another team/participate in the efforts of the other team, but ensure that your tasks at hand is done first.
Goals - Setting up this venture to be a sustainable company past the 6 months.
24th October 2021
24th October 2021
Our weekly meeting is here!
We each gave the team an update on what is happening on our side. To get to know more about this industry, our team has decided to go to a Terrarium building workshop together within the next couple of weeks.
Here are some things we've discussed on how to progress on:
Operation (Nigel & Gabriel)
To give out a timeline (Program flow)
Establishing our suppliers
Marketing (Qi Qi & Stevenson)
Target people we know first so they will be more inclined to give us feedback
For Social media marketing, what is our budget/expenses?
Reaching out to B2B
Social media ads (since cost for it is low)
Technology (Richmond & Kelvin)
Design & setting up our website
Timeline
Finance (Jyn)
Establishing a bank account solely for Felix Natura
Establishing date of contact for the suppliers
Assisting both Operations & Marketing in their endeavours
We'll be following up with each other the week after.
31st October 2021
31st October 2021
Our weekly meeting is here again!
It was a good opportunity for each teams to update our progress and seek guidance from one another to ensure smooth coordination & collaboration.
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team: Sourcing of suppliers - achieved. But we will need to source for additional supplies for the christmas season. We have also decided to pre-order from our suppliers a set of terrarium proposed in our list for each team member to achieve 3 objectives: 1) test the qualities of our suppliers, 2) start assembling our product into our desired minimum viable product (MVP), 3) test our logistic handling and be able to tailor our expectations accordingly and 4) prepare our products to have photos taken for our marketing & technology team to be able to feature them on our social media/shopify platforms respectively
Marketing team: Market research & interview - We have garnered desired results, with our target market validating our proposed business problem in the current market - which is high price & lack of creativity. Therefore, we will be able to position ourself as a cheaper alternative to our competitors.
Additionally, we have created our instagram account for Felix Natura, @felixnatura.sg (https://instagram.com/felixnatura.sg?utm_medium=copy_link), please do take the time to follow our instagram and follow us on our journey!!!
Technology team: Design of the website has begun. We further discussed as a team on what other functions we will need. Our operation team brought up a valid point on leaving an immediate note to our customers at checkout to warn them to open and start building the terrarium within a set time period before the plants withers.
Finance: After our market survey of suppliers' pricing, a cost price of about $10 has been set as we believe that the increase from $7 to $10 is worth as the suppliers will be all local apart from the supplier making our casing. This will enable us to not face the supply crunch currently faced in the worth. Accordingly, a budget has been set up from the paid-up capital made by each team member.
6th November
6th November
Visiting Suppliers and conducting product trials
The Operations team (Gabriel & Nigel) & Jyn made a trip to one of our suppliers to look at the actual products and conduct supplier survey.
As shown in the picture, our supplier provides a large variety of plants and even essential items such as soil, pebbles and multi-coloured sand. It was indeed a haven for all our needs!
After purchasing all our needed supplies, the team proceeded to build the terrarium as per our designs to create a MVP, and to understand how much of each ingredient will be best for our product!
We will also be conducting product trials to better understand on how the product trial will go for when we start sales. Overall, this trip has given us better insights on what is needed to be done and also a better sense of the costs of all our goods for us to move forward with actual sales
Looking forward to share with the rest of the group on our findings during our group meeting tomorrow!
7th November
7th November
Our 3rd weekly meeting is here!!
It was a good opportunity for each teams to update our progress and seek guidance from one another to ensure smooth coordination & collaboration.
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team: Inventory has been purchased and we have done a development product trial. Next is to follow up on the logistic operation follow to test run the handling of the product, product packaging design & with our long-term goals set on creating the workshop program by December.
Marketing team: Market research & interview - Interviews of our interested candidates is underway. We will most likely conduct it with our MVP in hand for our interviewees to get a sense and feel of our product.
Additionally, we have created our instagram account for Felix Natura, @felixnatura.sg (https://instagram.com/felixnatura.sg?utm_medium=copy_link), please do take the time to follow our instagram and follow us on our journey!
Technology team: Design of the website is still underway. We further discussed as a team on what other functions we will need. Our operation team brought up more pointers on the various purchase process flow (i.e. creating a "set meal" theme for our product as alot of the parts are interchangeable
Finance: After the visit to supplier, a more realistic picture for our COGS has been achieved. As there are many moving parts, this is an assumption of our customer taking the most basic options of our terrarium building. In addition, pricing strategies were brought up to help further diversify our revenue streams.
21st November
21st November
Our 4th weekly meeting is here! We had to skip a sunday meeting as everyone was busy with academic matters.
We had alot of stuffs to catch up on and to further push our MVP before mid-December in preparation to make our first sales.
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team: Our final product, which is our Geometric terrarium bowl has been sourced and purchased from an overseas supplier. We are awaiting for its arrival in hopefully a few weeks.
Marketing team: Our preliminary interviews has concluded, with findings from our analysis showing that there is a strong demand for terrarium as it can serve as a decorative piece in any setting within a household. With that, we are now going to actively pursue our Social Media Marketing alongside our technology team.
Technology team: Design of the website is still underway. We further discussed as a team on what other functions we will need.
Finance: Updated costs has been made to our financial statements. We have been able to purchase all our inventory within our budgeted amount.
We will be looking to push our MVP soon to a control group and hopefully will be able to set up our store and workshop in time for the Christmas festivities!
4th December
4th December
Our 5th weekly meeting is here! We had to skip yet another Sunday meeting as everyone was busy with academic matters.
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team: Coming up with terrariums with christmas theme decoration in prepartion for our launch close to christmas. Will work closely alongside Marketing team. In addition, workshop flow also need to be done.
Marketing team: Reached out to our first 10 mirco-influencer to give it a try for our product MVP and see what improvement can be made.
Technology team: Design of the website is still underway. We further discussed as a team on what other functions we will need.
Finance: Updated costs has been made to our financial statements. Purchase of our supplies in bulk has been done and awaiting the items.
We will be looking to push our MVP soon to a control group and hopefully will be able to set up our store and workshop in time for the Christmas festivities!
4th December
4th December
Our 5th weekly meeting is here! We had to skip yet another Sunday meeting as everyone was busy with academic matters.
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team: Coming up with terrariums with christmas theme decoration in prepartion for our launch close to christmas. Will work closely alongside Marketing team. In addition, workshop flow also need to be done.
Marketing team: Reached out to our first 10 mirco-influencer to give it a try for our product MVP and see what improvement can be made.
Technology team: Design of the website is still underway. We further discussed as a team on what other functions we will need.
Finance: Updated costs has been made to our financial statements. Purchase of our supplies in bulk has been done and awaiting the items.
We will be looking to push our MVP soon to a control group and hopefully will be able to set up our store and workshop in time for the Christmas festivities!
10-18th December
10-18th December
Today was the day we eagerly pushed out our product trial to mircoinfluencers whom we have previously arranged with these objectives in mind:
Allowing our target market to experience our product and provide us with valuable feedback necessary in helping us improve our MVP
Using the influncers' base to help us promote our products
Test out our logistic (packing & sorting) + delivery capabilities
At the conclusion of our product trial period, we were able to kill 3 birds with one stone and reap fruitful results and valuable feedbacks that would aid us in providing improving and modifying our MVP.
Kudos to the Marketing Department for planning & executing this event!
19th December
19th December
Weekly meeting #6
Our 6th weekly meeting is here just before Christmas!
At the end of the meeting, these pointers were brought up:
Operations team:
Terrariums which we sourced overseas are expected to arrive on 20th of December. To coordinate with Marketing department to immediately take photos of our products and pass to Technology team to update our websites
Workshop flow, script and video production timeline to be by 1st January 2022
Marketing team: Consolidated all results from product trial, provided feedbacks in all aspects of Felix Natura to all departments to work on and improve. Made a Tik tok video that garnered 1k views over a few days + close to 100 likes.
Technology team: Website has gone live, with our first product listing successfully published on our website - (https://felixnatura.com)
Finance:
Taking into opinions made by marketing team, sourced for more materials to better create that vision of an all-in-one terrarium building kit at the cheapest possible cost.
Incorporation as a LLP matters
With our website and materials coming just in time a week before christmas, all of us will look to be busy making sure the upcoming week is a success for christmas sales!
20 - 25th December
20 - 25th December
Our first 10 sales
Improving on the designs interiorly from the feedbacks coming from our product trial users, we were able to produce a more aesthetically pleasing packaging with fillers.
In addition, we provided a pair of glove for our customers to be able to put their plants into the soil with little dirt, with the glove being durable enough to be used for other purposes in the future and also a spoon to help scoop the soil, sand and pebbles all for an very little costs. Thanks to Finance Department for sourcing, we were able to better create the vision of an "all you need" terrarium kit.
Marketing team had also suggested for fillers to be put in to make it more aesthetically pleasing, with suggestions and sourcing such as ribbons to help with exterior designs, all at a very low cost.
At the conclusion of the 25th of December, we were able to close about 12 sales and garnered close to $400 in revenue in our launch week.
An After-Action-Review (AAR) of our launch week will be done in our meeting tomorrow (26th December), which will also be our Christmas cohesion for Felix Natura!
26th December
26th December
Meeting #7 - Weekly update + Cohesion
For today, we all decided to go to Jyn's house for a meeting/cohesion as we needed to achieve the following objectives:
1) Inventory stock-take and quality check of the terrarium glasses and figurines which we ordered to ensure that all is good for repacking and sales
2) Development models for our "Enclosed" and "Classic" Terrarium kits as we look to deploy the listing in the coming days
3) After Action Review (AAR) of our first 10 sales and also hold our weekly meeting on tasking for the upcoming weeks.
Our meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations: Workshop fliming is close to completion, seeking potential interested parties to do a live workshop for recording
Re-design and packaging of our terrarium sets
Sourcing for newer suppliers as our current supplier might have supply chain disruption
Preparing for inventory forecasting
Reallocation of manpower towards increasing our sales volumes via B2B, B2C, B2G2C channels
Marketing: Widening and improving on our marketing channels such as dateideas.sg and facebook
Technology: Feedbacks on the websites
At the end of our productive meeting & day, all of us (except Richmond as he was working + we couldn't have more than 5 visitors) sat back and had a great meal to celebrate our achievements and milestones as we all have came a long way from our first meeting back in September!
3rd January 2022
3rd January 2022
Meeting #8 - Weekly update
Our 8th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Transistioning from self-delivery to having a partnership with SOS Logistics to fulfill our orders
Doing inventory forecasting ahead of Chinese New Year 2022
Marketing:
Preparing for CNY & Valentine promotion
Pushing out our workshop promotion
Technology:
Adding new links to our website
Doing up the terrarium instructions and care guide on linktree
As look towards CNY, we hope to ensure that our core functions are well-equipped for festivities, in hopes to replicate and amplify our small success during christmas!
10th January 2022
10th January 2022
Meeting #9 - Weekly update
Our 9th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Doing the touch-ups on our video editing for Workshop video
AAR of our logistic partner
Marketing:
Assitance in workshop video fliming
Touching up on dateideas.sg marketing promotion & product listings
Technology:
Finishing up the terrarium instructions and care guide on linktree
We dedicated this week to fulfill a few more of our sales and also doing up the workshop video for to show Mr Roderick within the week!!
17th January 2022
17th January 2022
Meeting #10 - Weekly update
Our 10th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
To decide whether there is a need to purchase more CNY figurines
Marketing:
To create publication posters for the CNY terrarium
Technology:
To upload the CNY terrarium classic terrarium on to Felix Natura's website
We spend the entirely of this week's meeting on the CNY terrarium, it decided that we will have Richmond to sell DIY terrarium to financial advisors as a gift idea for their customer during CNY.
24th January 2022
24th January 2022
Meeting #11 - Weekly update
Our 11th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Following up on workshop leads from NTU Banyan Hall
Sourcing for new plants (Ruby Star)
Marketing:
CNY & Valentine day
Technology:
Building up Workshop page link
Finishing up Terrarium care link
Customer service link
As we have built a foundation for Felix Natura with our current progress, Jyn also took this opportunity to reorganise the company as we delve deeper into the following sectors: Workshop operations and Customer Service. This will enable us to diversify our revenue stream while also ensuring that we cater to our current customers.
27th January 2022
27th January 2022
Terrarium workshop
As we will be hosting a terrarium workshop soon, we (Qi Qi, Kelvin, Stevenson, Richmond, Nigel and Gabriel) decided to attend a terrarium workshop at Swiss'd Floral.
Attending this workshop enabled all of us picked up new tips and tricks on terrarium building and we've also learnt how to better host a workshop.
Due to safe distancing measures, the team had to be split. However, as we booked the workshop back to back, we were still all able to meet with one another and watch each others' terrarium building process eagerly.
Overall, this was a fun experience and great for team bonding!
30th January 2022
30th January 2022
Meeting #12 + CNY Cohesion
Our 12th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Refining Workshop flow and operations
Marketing:
Pushing out CNY advertisment
Discussion on Mr Roderick's comments from consultation (29/1/2022)
Technology:
Further enhancement of website design
Optimising customer service
After the meeting, which we agreed that we need to continue building on how we market ourselves to our customers, all of us took the opportunity to relax and enjoy the day in one another's company as we held our CNY cohesion at Jyn's place!
7th February 2022
7th February 2022
Meeting #13 - The future of the company
Our 13th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Redesigning packaging sleeves
AAR on CNY sales
Preparing for Valentine day product design
Marketing:
Preparing Valentine day marketing campaign on Social Media
Preparing external merchant accounts for Valentines' Day
Technology:
Creating the listing for Valentines' day
Drafting automated emails
This week, we took to celebrate a successful campaign for our CNY sales. As MiE is drawing to a conclusion in a month's time, we also took opportunity to discuss on the company direction after MiE. While still inconclusive, everyone is wanting to continue the course as the experience at the external workshop which we did previously bonded the team and we wish to share that experience with others!
13th February 2022
13th February 2022
Meeting #14 - AAR on Valentines' Day
Our 14th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
AAR on Valentines' day sales
Logistical delivery AAR
Marketing:
AAR on the marketing execution plans done throughout the week
Technology:
Trial running the automated emails for the customers
AAR on the execution plan done throughout this week
This week was mainly an AAR on the Valentines' day festivities. We reviewed through all the things that were planned and done. We concluded with 12 sales, there was relative good execution on our end!
20th February 2022
20th February 2022
Meeting #15
Our 15th weekly meeting concluded with the following pointers:
Operations:
Preparing all the materials for the business showcase
Marketing:
Conception of the branding for our business
Technology:
Touching up the website for the business showcase
At the conclusion of our third festivities, we have decided to start gearing ourselves for the business showcase on the 9th of March. In addition, we have plans to conduct a workshop for a small company called Wepack!
27th February 2022
27th February 2022
Meeting #16
This meeting was basically an realignment and update from all department for the business showcase. The other important matter which we discussed was mainly the planning and execution of the workshop we will be holding for WePack!
2nd March 2022
2nd March 2022
WePack X Felix Natura Workshop
We conducted a workshop for WePack, which we hosted about 10 people worth for the workshop.
The workshop was a blast and it reaffirms our motivation for this business as it made us realise how much we enjoy spreading the joy of building terrarium with everyone!
9th March 2022
9th March 2022
Business Showcase
We were all eagerly ready to showcase what we have done throughout the past 6 months in MIE.
Although it was exhausting, it was definelty a fun day for all of us as we were able to share our experiences with future batches!
As the Business Showcase draws to an end, it also means the end of MIE for all of us here. It has definelty been not an easy journey, but one filled with enriching momemts/lessons and also fun times!
This will be the last blogpost, thank you all for reading it to the end!
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