9 December 2018

Sunday

Yesterday, we had our first consultation session with Mr Roderick and Ms Lily from Mediafreaks where we updated them on our team’s progress.

We started off by giving a summary of our first popup event- TGIF Bazaar at White Sands and the different aspects of logistics, operations, marketing and finance.

Logistics

We shared the problem that we currently faced with transportation. Currently, the terrariums' sand cover and soil layers shift during transportation and this leads to unsightly exposed soil and sometimes plants will also fall over. We received valuable feedback and recommendations from Mr Roderick, as follows:

  • We could look into using biodegradable starch glue as it will solidify into a “protective” layer that prevents the sand from shifting. It will then dissolve once the user waters the plant.
  • After transferring the plant into the terrarium, shake it firmly to allow the sand to spread evenly in the terrarium, preventing the sand and soil from shifting during transportation.

Operations

As we are currently an event-based operation, the type of events and the location plays a crucial role in our business. Hence, we should always do a on-site survey before booking any events, taking into consideration the traffic flow and user profiles (i.e. age group, family/couples).

We should also try out different events at different locations to find our optimal customer segments and our team are already working towards this with future events planned. So far, the list of events that we have attended and will be attending are as follows:

  1. Residential/Neighbourhood–White Sands Shopping Mall Bazaar (17-18 Nov 2018)
  2. Corporate offices – OCBC booth for staffs (11- 12 Dec 2018)
  3. Central Locations – City Square Mall Bazaar (21-23 Dec 2018)

Marketing

We should utilize more online media to reach out to our target customers. During site surveys, we will have a rough gauge of the market size and demographics, and our marketing efforts should be channeled to reach them. The designs of our terrariums could also be catered to the market. A more structured plan could be adopted to ensure consistency in our social media platforms.

Finance

It is essential to be operationally profitable. From the past event that we have had, we have yet to breakeven. One reason for this is because we are pricing our terrariums much cheaper as compared to our competitors. Therefore, we can have a slight increase in our margin that will allow us to be operationally profitable yet remain competitive in the market.


Takeaways

Moving on, Ram and Cheryl will be researching on the starch glue that Mr Roderick had brought up and also to look for alternatives to resolve the issues of transporting our terrariums.

Jia Xin and Cleo will be working on coming up with a more consistent social media schedule that will include details of our upcoming events, and showcasing our product offerings.

Shun Kai and Shiju will constantly look out for events for the next few months and collate them, and we will discuss the events that we are keen to participate in.

We will also be doing a site survey at City Square Mall so that we can ensure our terrariums are suited for the people there and that we do not over estimate too much on sales.