I thought I'd take this opportunity to list (most of) the sites and web pages I've found of interest. I have found all of them interesting reads, however I'm aware I need to focus my research to evolve my idea further.
Small business / starting up
http://annholman.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/12/starting-your-own-business
www.enterpriseuk.org
www.ncge.com
Ebook: http://bit.ly/cLQv3G
www.cluetrain.com
http://bit.ly/c33MeI
http://bit.ly/xkM4S
Online networks / communities
www.creativepeople.org.uk
www.ccskills.org.uk
www.skillset.org
http://bit.ly/buAjUo
http://freelanceswitch.com
www.artsmatrix.org.uk
www.creativegreenhouse.org.uk
www.swdf.co.uk
www.swscreen.co.uk
www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk
www.jotta.com
Collaborations / Freelancing
http://archives.buffalorising.com
www.paintworksbristol.co.uk
http://bit.ly/4Ni6OU
http://www.jeremyscottkillian.com/portfolioblog/?p=8
http://bit.ly/c33MeI
http://bit.ly/a6oDqO
www.freelanceuk.com/news/3359.shtml
Social Media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8
Ebook: http://bit.ly/13SXT
www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Presentation feedback
General feedback for my presentation was positive although there is definitely alot of room for improvement. The actual slides were a hit but nerves got the better of me and I sped through the presentation and let my nerves get the better of me!
The feedback collated from the post its:
Negatives
Look at more people
Voice pitch
Too much self questioning - don't really understand that piece of advice as we were advised at this stage that it was an idea in progress, therefore stating that I still had some areas to investigate was appropriate
Slightly unclear of service
Speak up!
A bit nervous
Slow down
Draw on own experiences
Didn't say what makes the business better than competition
Positives
Snazzy and professional power point
Nice powerpoint
Simple bullet points
Less is more as your powerpoint 'Awesome'
Concise
Very informative
Good research
Good introduction to self
Very interesting solution to problem
The majority of my negatives were a reflection of my nerves - even the ones that didn't seem to be! for instance I have considered my own experiences in relation to this project and how I differ from the competition, but nerves made it so I only focused on the key points.
In terms of explaining my ideas I have always felt it easier to show rather than describe something. For my final presentation I will design an example web page to illustrate my idea more fully. I believe this will prompt me to remember key aspects of my business idea as I certainly can visualise it, but struggle with putting the idea across. I will also include some discussion on Strategy. As there will be no business premises some discussion on placing my business on Social networks will be a key aspect of my business.
One of the issues I have been struggling with is who my customers are? Are they clients? Freelancers? both. Ultimately I think this would change with the progression of the business. Initially the collaboration would be a small tight knit crew, but potentially it could evolve that I would be providing a service for freelancers. I need to ensure I keep my idea quite focused for now
The feedback collated from the post its:
Negatives
Look at more people
Voice pitch
Too much self questioning - don't really understand that piece of advice as we were advised at this stage that it was an idea in progress, therefore stating that I still had some areas to investigate was appropriate
Slightly unclear of service
Speak up!
A bit nervous
Slow down
Draw on own experiences
Didn't say what makes the business better than competition
Positives
Snazzy and professional power point
Nice powerpoint
Simple bullet points
Less is more as your powerpoint 'Awesome'
Concise
Very informative
Good research
Good introduction to self
Very interesting solution to problem
The majority of my negatives were a reflection of my nerves - even the ones that didn't seem to be! for instance I have considered my own experiences in relation to this project and how I differ from the competition, but nerves made it so I only focused on the key points.
In terms of explaining my ideas I have always felt it easier to show rather than describe something. For my final presentation I will design an example web page to illustrate my idea more fully. I believe this will prompt me to remember key aspects of my business idea as I certainly can visualise it, but struggle with putting the idea across. I will also include some discussion on Strategy. As there will be no business premises some discussion on placing my business on Social networks will be a key aspect of my business.
One of the issues I have been struggling with is who my customers are? Are they clients? Freelancers? both. Ultimately I think this would change with the progression of the business. Initially the collaboration would be a small tight knit crew, but potentially it could evolve that I would be providing a service for freelancers. I need to ensure I keep my idea quite focused for now
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Attempt at an Elevator pitch for my business idea
I’m Pandora. I have 8 years experience in Media Design and Development. I’ve gained my experience through design agencies, freelance projects and more recently as part of a marketing team for a large organisation.
Through my experience and through meeting other freelancers I’ve noticed that there are lots of benefits of working with a freelancer. They are often motivated, independent self starters and there are also financial benefits, but there is also quite a high level of risk. If the freelancer is sick or on holiday there is no-one to cover the workload, they might not have the entire range of skills the client needs.
My proposal of a collaboration of freelancers eliminates the risks and adds more to the benefits.
There is a wider network of support and an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other.
Collaboration allows for experience and knowledge to be shared to produce an effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. The synergy provides experience in branding, design, copywriting, photography, web design and development and social media.
This combined product meets the needs of today’s Y generation. They tend to be more web literate and in touch with today’s technology, and quite likely to take advantage of the opportunity to reinvent themselves during the recession. Freelancers within the collaboration fit into that category themselves and understand what appeals to the market.
The costs of working collaboratively are split between us – this allows us to advertise our skills more effectively and gain better deals on purchases.
Our support network and lower overheads allow us to provide our services at a lower cost than most of our competitors, without affecting the quality.
Through my experience and through meeting other freelancers I’ve noticed that there are lots of benefits of working with a freelancer. They are often motivated, independent self starters and there are also financial benefits, but there is also quite a high level of risk. If the freelancer is sick or on holiday there is no-one to cover the workload, they might not have the entire range of skills the client needs.
My proposal of a collaboration of freelancers eliminates the risks and adds more to the benefits.
There is a wider network of support and an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other.
Collaboration allows for experience and knowledge to be shared to produce an effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. The synergy provides experience in branding, design, copywriting, photography, web design and development and social media.
This combined product meets the needs of today’s Y generation. They tend to be more web literate and in touch with today’s technology, and quite likely to take advantage of the opportunity to reinvent themselves during the recession. Freelancers within the collaboration fit into that category themselves and understand what appeals to the market.
The costs of working collaboratively are split between us – this allows us to advertise our skills more effectively and gain better deals on purchases.
Our support network and lower overheads allow us to provide our services at a lower cost than most of our competitors, without affecting the quality.
Saturday 6 March 2010
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Attempt 1: Week 5 presentation questions
> description of the idea – what is this enterprise doing?
A collaboration of freelancers with a wide range of skills working together for clients with a range of requirements.
Main focus would be a website (shop front) with features on each of the freelancers, their skills and practise.
Freelancers would pool their resources for marketing. Opportunity for selling everyone’s skills, working together on larger projects, features of other stuff such as artwork that can be purchased. Opportunity to compete in the market place with design/digital agencies. Relatively low overheads.
Potential to grow into a large collaboration where clients can source a freelancer directly rather than go through an agency – this would have to work in a different manner than the initial proposal as it would work more like a network.
Main target customers would be other start up companies - Y generation – this generation is fairly clued up and the lower cost of a freelancer would mean that other start ups would find us appealing. Obviously not all of these start ups will be successful and evolve to become long term clients however some could grow and keep us in mind in future.
> your personal motivation and commitment to it – why is it worth doing?
From a personal perspective, I have often considered going freelance but have been concerned about job security, loneliness and a bit of a basic fear of the unknown.
What appeals to me about going freelance is the sense of independence, job ownership and owning my own destiny.
The freelance collaboration would resolve some of the fear of going freelance whilst maintaining much of the independence. The freelancers involved could retain much of their independence, they could have their own designs on their profiles, and we could meet up regularly to discuss marketing which in turn would alleviate loneliness. The web provides a multitude of ways to keep in touch as well, msn, skype etc - in future this could even be built into the website. In terms of job security, by sharing resources we would be able to win larger contracts and by pooling resources for marketing we could reach farther than if we did independently.
> the opportunity that exists to set up this enterprise – why is it worth doing?
By setting up this collaboration, there will be benefits for both client and freelancer. The client would have the benefit of a number of creatives being able to support each other – if the freelancer falls ill, another can complete the job. If the client requires work done to tighter timescales, perhaps the freelancer can call on one of their colleagues to work with them.
> what are the issues that you need to consider when setting this up?
Who would be our competition
How to get everyone to contribute equally to the overheads of the website/joint marketing/joint running
How to split the profits
What areas to market ourself to
More research into our customers
> where are you going to look/go for information?
Local networks already out there, e.g. bristolcreatives.co.uk, gloucestershiremedia.co.uk, bristolmedia.co.uk, freelanceadvisor.co.uk
Internet searches to see if there is anything out there of a similar nature
Recommended books
Latest research on Y generation
Research into cost
> how will you know whether it will work or not?
Look at how competitors fair, determine there is a market for what I am considering, determine that it is viable
> who is going to want what you are doing?
Freelancers and young businesses. Why? – affordable yet highly skilled.
A collaboration of freelancers with a wide range of skills working together for clients with a range of requirements.
Main focus would be a website (shop front) with features on each of the freelancers, their skills and practise.
Freelancers would pool their resources for marketing. Opportunity for selling everyone’s skills, working together on larger projects, features of other stuff such as artwork that can be purchased. Opportunity to compete in the market place with design/digital agencies. Relatively low overheads.
Potential to grow into a large collaboration where clients can source a freelancer directly rather than go through an agency – this would have to work in a different manner than the initial proposal as it would work more like a network.
Main target customers would be other start up companies - Y generation – this generation is fairly clued up and the lower cost of a freelancer would mean that other start ups would find us appealing. Obviously not all of these start ups will be successful and evolve to become long term clients however some could grow and keep us in mind in future.
> your personal motivation and commitment to it – why is it worth doing?
From a personal perspective, I have often considered going freelance but have been concerned about job security, loneliness and a bit of a basic fear of the unknown.
What appeals to me about going freelance is the sense of independence, job ownership and owning my own destiny.
The freelance collaboration would resolve some of the fear of going freelance whilst maintaining much of the independence. The freelancers involved could retain much of their independence, they could have their own designs on their profiles, and we could meet up regularly to discuss marketing which in turn would alleviate loneliness. The web provides a multitude of ways to keep in touch as well, msn, skype etc - in future this could even be built into the website. In terms of job security, by sharing resources we would be able to win larger contracts and by pooling resources for marketing we could reach farther than if we did independently.
> the opportunity that exists to set up this enterprise – why is it worth doing?
By setting up this collaboration, there will be benefits for both client and freelancer. The client would have the benefit of a number of creatives being able to support each other – if the freelancer falls ill, another can complete the job. If the client requires work done to tighter timescales, perhaps the freelancer can call on one of their colleagues to work with them.
> what are the issues that you need to consider when setting this up?
Who would be our competition
How to get everyone to contribute equally to the overheads of the website/joint marketing/joint running
How to split the profits
What areas to market ourself to
More research into our customers
> where are you going to look/go for information?
Local networks already out there, e.g. bristolcreatives.co.uk, gloucestershiremedia.co.uk, bristolmedia.co.uk, freelanceadvisor.co.uk
Internet searches to see if there is anything out there of a similar nature
Recommended books
Latest research on Y generation
Research into cost
> how will you know whether it will work or not?
Look at how competitors fair, determine there is a market for what I am considering, determine that it is viable
> who is going to want what you are doing?
Freelancers and young businesses. Why? – affordable yet highly skilled.
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