Saturday 31March 2013

Sunday 31 March

The group has set up a meeting for tomorrow for the viewing of our prototypes. Additionally, we need to finalise our prototype discussion document and prepare a presentation for our meeting with Stuart. I’m excited to see all the ideas we’ve discussed come to life.

Well this is it from me. It was nice putting my thoughts in writing this week. I"ll be passing on the torch to the next group member who is gonna be blogging.

Sam

Saturday 30 March 2013

Saturday 30 March

Trust, strengths and weaknesses

Nothing much on the group front today. The production of our prototypes has been delegated to the people who have the most vision and passion for the products that we chose. This just shows how important it is to have trust within the group. I have no hand in the production process of the prototype so I have to trust that the group members who are handling that will follow through with everything we talked about. In the same way, my group members have to trust that Teboho and I will edit the reports well. We having working hard to build trust since the beginnning of the semester. Trust isn't enough when it comes to producing good results, people also need to be put where they wilork best. We have learnt the areas where certain group members do not perform well, and so we have figured out ways to manage that. For example, I am not good at public speaking so  group members make sure Ithat 'm assigned the least amount of speaking in a board meeting.

Friday 29 March 2013

29 March

Although today is Easter and I have plans to attend an Easter play at church, thoughts of the group or the product are never far away. I think it is the same for my other group members.  Even as I walk around the grocery store, I’m constantly looking around for products or I’m thinking of ways we can ‘add value’ to our existing ideas.  This just shows that as entrepreneurs we need to do things we are passionate about, just as Stuart has said at our Sunrise workshops. Your work follows you around. We’re constantly doing things relating to the group; problem solving, having meetings and  planning. It’s stressful but we all enjoy it.

 

Thursday 28 March 2013

In it to win it!

 

There was not much group activity today. We’re all trying to finish the Entrepreneurial Strategies report whilst trying to enjoy our last days of freedom before second term starts. Today the group was happy to learn that one component of our Cake Sale has been Sponsored. Getting sponsored the second time round has certainly been a lot more difficult. The group had hoped to stick with the formula we had for the first Cake Sale but we knew getting the same sponsors on board would be difficult. Therefore, we’ve been trying to find a way around this. From what Stuart has told us, Genesis groups get so busy during the time of the second Cake Sale that they do not plan for it as well as they did the first one. We’re trying to make sure that doesn’t happen to us. If we can build on the success of the first Cake Sale and win Cake Sale over all, our reward is dinner cooked for us by Stuart. This is a crucial reward to win, not only cause I like to eat but because  a chance to pick Stuarts brain for two hours would be a tremendous advantage going forward.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

27 March 2013


Maintaining Communication

 

Even though it is the short vac , the group still tries to stay connected through Whatsapp. We still  need to keep hustling to get sponsors for the second Cake Sale and there are decisions that we still consult one another on. For example, one group member went to buy a product for a service we’re going to perform or students on the day of Cake Sale to supplement our food sales. She wasn’t sure what quantity she should buy so she asked for advice on Whatsapp. Certain members were able to give her feedback  on what decision we thought she should make. Such social media has been so vital in aiding fast group decision making whenever we're scattered across different areas of Cape Town or UCT. Especially because things do not always go according to plan. The group will settle on a particular course of action during a meeting, but will encounter problems during the implementation of those decisions. Whatsapp allows us to quickly adjust our plans as a group in one platform without having to delay things until we reconvene again.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Tuesday 26 March

Lessons from florists

Today the group is meeting again for our Entrepreneurial Strategies micro-enterprise study. We’ve chosen a flower stand at Trafalgars Place to analyse. The group will study the same informal business, however, everyone will submit an individual report. This micro-enterprise is meant to assess how well we understand the concepts we have been learning and whether we can apply them. It was good experience for the group, meeting women who had been entrepreneurs since the age of 15. They are smart, strong, and passionate about what they do. They also have a good grasp of their market and what sells. They were also compassionate; employing anyone who needed a job and giving away free flowers for funerals. Although their objective is to make money at the end of the day, the sense of family was also very apparent. One could easily see the love the women have for one another even though essentially they are competitors.

Teboho and I were appointed as the group’s editors. It is clear that Teboho has emerged as the Academic champion of the group. I will merely be assisting her wherever she needs me. Hopefully these new appointments will help us become more organised.

 

 

Monday 25 March 2013

Monday 25 March

Group Picnic!!!

The group met today for a picnic at Kirstenbosch Gardens just help build our team dynamic, and discuss and finalise ideas for  our product. Stuart  dissuaded us from some of the product ideas we had. During our board meeting however, the board members seemed to like the passion we had for the products  we had wanted to pursuit in spite of Stuarts advice. They gave us good advice on ways we could build on our product concepts. I completely understand now, what Stuart means when he says “we want you guys to fail early” because at first you think you have a good idea but after a little research you quickly realise that your ideas are not really viable. We managed to narrow down two ideas of products we want to manufacture but we’re not yet 100% convinced that those are going to be our final products. Today we managed to raise to moral and bond as a team, we just weren’t as successful at finalising a winning product so we're going to do several proto

 

Sunday 24 March 2013

24 March 2013

Trip cancelled but picnic on!!

We just found out that the trip would be very costly for us, and since everyone was in the bonding spirit, Shea decided that we could still have fun by having a picnic at Kristenbosch gardens tomorrow. It will be a time of bonding, sharing and most importantly developing the group dynamic.

That is it from me for this week. It has been amazing.

Teboho.

Saturday 23 March 2013

23 March 2013

Product search

I think I am starting to realise how ‘real’ next term is going to be. We have to submit the prototype of our product on the first day of next term and we still don’t have the winning product as we realised that all the products we initially planned to make were either going to be costly to manufacture or the raw materials will be difficult to find. So it is back to the drawing board. 

 

Friday 22 March 2013

22 March 2013

A holiday for the group?

Nothing much happened today since we are all on study leave, so the means of communication is via our group chat on Whatsapp. Lately, we’ve been trying to organise a trip to Wellington for group bonding. I am very excited about the trip because Ali said during one of our Genesis workshops, that getting the group dynamic right is very important and that it is the foundation to being successful in our Genesis project this year.  I can’t wait for Monday to go to Wellington. But in the meantime we need to focus on our product prototype.

 

Thursday 21 March 2013

21 March 2013

Short-term vacation or study leave?

Finally short-term vacation is here but can’t really say it is a vacation because of the amount of work and research we have to do. Reflecting back on first term, I can really say that it was quite a hectic start, beginning with the group formation through networking; cake sale; directors meeting and now we need the product prototype. But all in all, first term was an eye opener of what is yet to come and slowly we are starting to see the bigger picture of what it means to be an entrepreneur. So for this short-term vacation or rather let me call it study leave, we are planning to focus on our product prototype.

 

Wednesday 20 March 2013

20 March 2013

 

Board Meeting 1

Today we had our first board of directors meeting. The meeting went quite well as the directors seemed very impressed with the passion and team spirit that our group possesses. The focal point of the discussion was our product development. We presented the top three products that we believe can be successful to our directors. The board seemed to be pleased with the options of products that we had so far. They gave us advice and some key factors to consider before we choose the product.    

Other issues that were conversed during the meeting concerned the group formation process, the first cake sale and the director’s reports. The board of directors were also accommodating in giving us advice and tips on writing reports. Expectations were established as the board posited their opinions concerning our progress as a group.

On reflection, the meeting went accordingly negating the fact that our group lacked the necessary organisation and preparation needed. Everything had to be done in a rush in order to ensure that the meeting ran smoothly. As such, there was a lot of frustration within the group which could have been avoided.

Hence from this experience, I have learned that as a group we need to learn how to be proactive. Accountability is an issue that has not addressed within the group and hence there is no cohesiveness and effectiveness.

 

Tuesday 19 March 2013

19 March 2013

And the winner is ....

One could have expected this and appropriately so our group did. As I was walking into the Genesis Workshop, the words that echoed the room were ‘net profit’, ‘cake sale’, ‘R14 000’. These words spoken by Stuart were the very words which would make Tuesday, the 19^th of March, a very good day. And so it was announced that our group were the winners of the first cake sale. It was a very exciting moment for us as Stuart called us in front of the workshop in order to hand over a bottle of wine as the prize for victory. I think having won the first cake sale has motivated our group to do even better for the second Cake Sale. As my group members adamantly stated ‘oaks, we are keeping the wine for the dinner at Stuart’s house since we are also going to be winning second cake sale 2’.

 

                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Awesome with their prize for the winning Cake Sale 1

After the workshop we were quite motivated and excited to work even harder in developing the winning product. The workshop itself was very helpful as we discussed the key points that were crucial in developing a successful product. Therefore, during our group meeting we discussed the criteria for our product. From then, we were able to narrow down to the top four products that we believed to have potential in being successful. These four products will be presented to our board of directors tomorrow.

We have not really prepared and organised everything that is needed for tomorrow’s directors meeting. And so, I am keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow and hoping for the best.

But all in all it was a good day for us today.

Teboho

Monday 18 March 2013

Monday 18 March 2013

On this day, not a lot of things happened in terms of Genesis project. As a group, we were able to hand in the hardcopy of the Group Blog and a soft copy of the Memorandum of Understanding on time. This helped in negating panic or frustrations concerning the hand-in. Everyone was focused on the finance test, and so the whole day was used for revision and preparation for the test in the evening.

15th March 2013

Friday, 15th March 2013

 

It’s Friday and it’s raining, again. After successfully staying awake throughout the BIC 8am, I actually managed to convince other students to do the right thing and not go home back to bed immediately after.

It turned out to be a well worth it decision as we attended Entreps strategies and had one of the most interesting lectures from Dave Priilaid in the form of this old school ‘how rock and roll came about’ type movie. Showing us the value of seeing more, being different and taking a risk and the greatness which can be born out of it.

I’m very excited to have David as one of our directors, I feel like he sees things from a very similar perspective to me. While he does value it, he’s not so much a man focused on the academic intelligence but rather he encourages us to find what we love and do it! I think that this would definitely be an amazing angle to have contribute to our board meetings.

I’ve emailed our agendas and copies of our director’s reports to all of our directors now all we have to do is wait for the first big day- I hope my team can make a lasting impression (a good one).

14th March 2013

Thursday, 14^th March 2013

 

Today was another classic early start with our BIC lectures. I’m excited to see the community project beginning to take shape and I can’t wait to get my group involved and a part of it all soon.

We also however were faced with the pressing issue at hand of despite all of our efforts, still not finding a company to use for our BIC project. We debated around the idea of going to Stu to ask for help.

We had been shot down by so many businesses already and the idea of him being disappointed in us for not having had a company by that point may have proved too much. But we plucked up the courage and did it. Stuart was amazing, immediately giving us the number for Andrew at Icologie and telling us to contact him. One name drop and phone call was all it took. Icologie was more than willing to help us out.

This taught me and the rest of the group a valuable lesson in the availability of the resources we actually have in the person of Stuart and I’m sure David Priilaidetc too. It struck us all how we would actually be fools if we didn’t use them and tap into that resource more, possibly to the point of exploitation.

13th March 2013

Wednesday, 13th March 2013

 

Other than the treat of only starting class at 10am today, something else incredibly positive happened. We had our group meeting and we decided in that meeting that we would go around the circle and speak about what we perceive to be our personal strengths and weaknesses as well as the profile which we received from the Basadur profile model.

This turned out to be one of the most productive exercises we could have ever done because it turned into an incredibly affirming session, with each of the group members not only actually listening as we each took our turn to speak, but also contributed and encouraged each other by telling them about more of what we see as their strengths.

It was also incredibly interesting to hear what we each perceived to be our weaknesses, and i found it one of the most wonderful things where we realised that what we saw as a weakness, was actually just one aspect of ourselves which gave another member in the group the opportunity to be strong. So for example, while Sarah said she felt one of her weaknesses is that she works better when she is told what to do and prefers not to take the direct lead, Kim and I were flabbergasted as we found ourselves to be the complete opposite. This means that in situations which require someone to take the lead over it, Kim or myself would thrive and in doing so, give Sarah the opportunity to do the same.

12th March 2013

Tuesday, 12th March 2013

 

Today we had that wonderful feeling when you realise that you’ve actually handed in everything and that giant weight is lifted off your shoulders... we had that lovely feeling for a grand total of about 20 minutes before we were brought plummeting down to earth again to realise that we had a Memorandum of Understanding due for Monday and we still hadn’t found a business.

That aside, I must admit, it was a good day. For me personally, I love Tuesdays- they’re my favourite days by far. We start off the day with a two hour Genesis workshop with Stu, and this week Ali and Ian Corbett came to join.

Something which really struck me was the emphasis which Ali placed on the group dynamic and investing in the group now already. This is something which I really believe to be valuable and plan to bring forward to propose we action within our group.

At the end of the workshop we had a fantastic brainstorming session for product development where Ali made us engage with all of our senses in order to diverge on ideas. It’s amazing because you just can’t help but walk away feeling so ridiculously inspired and excited for the next steps of the process.

11th March 2013

Monday, 11 March 2013

 

So if I thought my Two Oceans training was going behind schedule, this day made me believe that 21km, if not anything, is quite possible.

We had both out directors’ report and our cake sale evaluation report to hand in by 3pm, plus our regular finance tutorial by 11am. This would have been completely do-able, had we not been students with regular lives and friends. The weekend magically flew past in a flurry of 21sts, family commitments and the Argus Cycle tour to the point that it was Sunday at 3pm and we hadn’t come close to finishing. This brought great comfort to me, Shea, being the one nominated to chairperson the first directors meeting. As though the thought of speaking to a room of well-established business executives wasn’t daunting enough, let’s do it without being properly prepared.

But we did it... all of it. Woke up at 5am to finish the finance tutorial, attended our compulsory BIC lecture and by 2pm had had 3 group meetings in order to complete all of the tasks at hand. Coming from Stellenbosch and therefore not being completely understanding of the printing system just yet, in hindsight it probably would have been a good idea to not leave all of that for the last hour. Because by then it’s a little bit late when you find out that: although you’re working in the library, the printer is in Leslies Social, the binder place is outside the library and the place where we’re meant to be handing all of it in is back by the Leslie Commerce.

45 stressful minutes and copious amounts of sweat later, we handed them both in. It was all I could do to not pass out right there outside Nashleys office.

Here’s to initiating the ‘day-before’ rule: where everything has to not only be finished, but bound, the day before

10th March 2013

Sunday, 10 March 2013

 

Today is a Sunday and you’d think the group wouldn’t have had to meet today right? Wrong!

We all met at the Commerce Comlabs because we have two reports due tomorrow. I think we’re all beginning to realise how much we’re going to have to sacrifice this year. We’ve been told time and time again by our lecturers how much commitment and hard work it is going to be but it’s only really starting to sink in today. Everyone had made weekend plans. Shea had bought a ticket to an event for later in the day and Murray ran the Argus marathon in the morning. As you can see, our group was verydisorganized. Everything was left to the last minute and that caused unnecessary pressure. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate doing things at the last minute. My father has always stressed the importance of academics. Why should we settle for getting 60% when we can get 70% with diligence and careful planning? I hope this is a lesson learned for our group. We have to make sure we stay on top of all our hand-ins. We’re in pursuit of the ultimate prize and we’re going to have to give 150% of ourselves to get it!

8th March 2013

Friday, 08 March 2013

By Friday I think the team was exhausted runn9ing at am all time low with regards to sleep and energy. It had been a really intense week all our normal work due throughout the week and on top of that cake sale 1 it was time for the group to call it a week and head home for some rest and relaxation, so we thought but unfortunately our directors report as well as our Cake sale discussion was due for Monday so this meant Friday was spent in the bridge room looking through examples from the previous years completed by the other students. Luckily this did prove helpful with allowing us to gain a good perception of what our documents were expected to look like.

We then spent the rest of the day discussing what our format was going to look like and who was going to complete which sections of each of the projects. After all the admin was finished we all headed off to the library where we spent the remainder of the day completing as much of our individual section as possible so it would mean less work throughout the weekend.

7th March 2013

Thursday 7 March

Thursday started off with more pushes of the snooze button than usual… Everyone was still on a high on Wednesday, but two days after Cake Sale and we are all feeling it. The hype and excitement has worn off and today was a fight to get through. The beginning lecture of Business in Context was interesting and helpful as always. Ian lectured on connections and the strength of ideas through critical connections. Something that struck us all as a group was the statement Ian made about “weak ties are surprisingly strong ties”.  This woke us all up to the fact that all connections made throughout this year must be kept close and worked on throughout the year.

A well structured network is highly effective in more ways than imaginable. This is so in the way we obtain information, the greater the diversity of opportunities, the more frequently it is to generate more and new opportunities, and the better resourced you are likely to be to exploit opportunities your network brings you.

From Business in Context, we moved across to an incredibly insightful and helpful BIC workshop.  Ian and Ali showed a video about a world record being set of building a fully ready to move into house, in just 2 hours and 45 minutes. This was a huge lesson in teamwork! There were great lessons learnt in preparation (next level preparation down to the minute), delegations, team leadership and motivation. We as a group have referred to the record breaking build on a few occasions.

The After Action Review was something that we will apply to our business as often as possible. What was supposed to happen? What actually happened? What went well (what made the result possible?)? What could have been done better?  These are all questions that benefit the group in ways working towards a better future for the group and our business.

6th March 2013

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

It was IMPOSSIBLE to climb out of bed this morning- yesterday really took it out of us. Our feet hurt, our backs are aching, and everything just hurts! Yet still Sarah and I woke up at the crack of dawn to head straight to Capitec Bank.

We set off to Capitec Bank at 8:00am to get there as the doors open so we could go and count all our very hard earned money, only to realize it actually only opens at 8:30am, so we woke up half an hour early for nothing (this was utter heartbreak)!

Eventually the bank opened and the money (the millions we made from Cake Sale) was counted and put straight into our bank account. Straight from there, all Zombie-eyed, we made our way to the campus library where we knew we would have to be the entire day to do some last minute cramming. Our group met to discuss our dreaded test that we have tomorrow, which everyone seems to be pretty stressed about because it is our first test this year. No one had done any work until today because obviously all our focus was on our extremely successful cake sale. So the entire day consisted of us splitting chapters amongst our group and each making notes and swopping, so that we could get through all this workload as quickly as possible so that hopefully, by some miracle, we will be able to pass this test tomorrow! Let’s just say, today was not nearly as much fun as yesterday…

5th March 2013

5^th March 2013

Finally, the day we have all been waiting for, the infamous UCT Postgrad Entrepreneurship Cake Sale 2013. Dean and Shea had spent the night camping on the Jammie Plaza with no more than a sleeping bag, 4 tables, a trailer, a fridge and a whole of GEES. The day started at approximately 5:30 am with the arrival of Kim who was all too eager to wake Shea and Dean and get the day started. Kim, Dean and Shea began to manoeuvre the tables and fridge into place. Soon after, the whole team arrived with our fresh ingredients and all the extra necessities. Monster arrived at 6:15 am and help set up two large gazebo’s, flags, two fridges, a serving bar as well as supply our group with 42 cases of the most potent energy drink known to man. After Monster had left, our team Banner “Burger Boss” was put up and a solid supply of electricity was established. In order to create more awareness of our sponsors (Woolworths and Pesto Princess), Sarah went to the library and printed out various logo’s of which we hung around our stand. The grill was fired and up and the food preparing began.

The morning got off to a very slow start with most students not interested in eating early in the morning. However our team did manage to attract one or two hangover students for a much needed energy drink and Egg +Beacon Roll. The energy drink proved to be a huge hit as most students were eager to kick start their day with a Monster (kick in the face). Professional chef Oliver Swart arrived late morning and was insistent on making the first burger to show our team what a ‘good burger’ looks like. Before we knew it, a flood of students descended on our stand. This first wave made us realized what was yet to come and we started preparing for the next wave by prepping as many of the burgers as we could. Dean was in charge of getting as many customers as possible and did so by wearing a luminous orange one-piece jump suit (aka a morph Suit) and holding up a sign showing the incredible deal on offer. Considering our team made a ridiculous amount of money, i think he did a pretty good job (and he definitely did not write this blog). Everyone in the team seemed to have a job to do at all times:

Dean – Marketing and Ice-cream machine operator

Shea – Serving burgers

Kim – Serving burgers and prepping burgers

Sam- prepping burgers

Teboho – prepping burgers

Murray – Operating the grill

Sarah – Till lady

The lunch time wave of students (aka the plague) started at approximately 11:45. The shear mass of students was violently unpredicted by our team and we soon found our stand under siege. The burgers were prepped, however the grill could not quite keep up with the rate of production and in the future it would be suggested to obtain two grills. The lunch time rush was going well until out team began to sun out of supplies such as: ice, rolls, tomatoes, onions. In order to solve this problem, Sarah and Murray were instructed to make a one or two “supply runs”. Our ‘supply runs’ were well in advance and our stand never ran out of stock. The lunch time rush continued till about 2:30 pm, off which were the most stressful 2 hours and 45mins of our lives. The grill master, Murray, went through a number of forearm spasms, from flipping burger like a boss, and had to be put on a permanent Monster drip. Students can smell a good deal and today was no exception; the Burger Boss’s (our stand) line was outrageously long and might’ve resulted in our team losing a few costumers. There are viscous rumours going around the Burger Boss’s line was longer than the Zimbabwe general election line... but these are only rumours.

As the day came to an end, the number started to dwindle and our Monster supply was completely demolished. Due to the fact that we had no more Monsters for our special deal, we decided to drop the burger price from R20 to R10. Our stand managed to squeeze out a couple of burger before calling it quits. Overall, the day was very successful with Burger Boss selling close to 920 burgers. Burger Boss did itself proud and looks forward to the next Cake Sale where we can implement all that we have learnt from the first Sale.

4th March 2013

4th March 2013

Its Monday, the day before cake sale, and holy heck if we are all not absolutely stressing.
The number of checklists and reminders I have running through my head at this point is outrageous.

Yesterday, myself (Shea), Kim and Sarah all went back to my garage to make the poster and start the preparation. This turned out to be a far bigger job that we had anticipated and now, with just a few hours to go, the impending number of tasks still to be done are beginning to become a reality.
3 pockets of onions to be pre- chopped and caramalised,
approxiamtely 700 burger patties to be par-cooked,
a variety of things to be fetched and dropped off,
and a LONG night of sleeping on the Jammie to be looked forward to.

The team is amazing, we we knuckle down and get the job done. With Sarah and Kim chopping onions with sunglasses on at 2am ('because it definitely makes a difference'), Murray cooking up burger patties on his tiny flats stove until the idea of eating one makes him nauceous, T and Sam sitting for the entire day on campus to watch over the fridge and tables which were dropped off at 4pm and Dean and I manning the fort in sleeping bags and camping chairs under the stairs of the Jammie steps.
I learnt today what an amazing team we do have. and the way that we need to learn to trust each other in the little things now so that when the bigger, more "life"-threatening things do start to arise, we can delegate them and not kill ourselves trying to oversee everything.
I also learnt that preparation is IMPORTANT. and NOT to ever be undervalued again. leaving things for the day or the day before may seem like a good idea for the moment, but in reality, it ends in unneccessary stress and conflict.
From herre on out, everything that CAN be done before the time, WILL be.

pro·logue

pro·logue /ˈprōˌlôg/

Noun A separate introductory section of a literary or musical work. An event or action that leads to another event or situation.

It's the year 2026, and fifty five sweaty students have just managed to, despite all odds, miraculously find their way to the building which they have spent the last 20 minutes frantically describing to the roaming first years of UCT as the 'Hoerie Quagga' building.
None of them know what they actually signed up for.
None of them have an idea of the race thats about to begin.
None of them have a clue that the few beads of sweat which they are feeling run down their temples now are the first many...many.
They are the Postgrad class of 2023 and they are about to be introduced to the winners of the Genesis Award from 2013.
They have been introduced as the most dynamic group of individuals the course had ever seen, they each went on to start and run their own private, highly successful companies addressing various needs and issues throughout South Africa.
Someone in the back row drops a pen which is clearly heard from the front of the room.
The expectation is deafening....
This is our cue.

Meet the Team:
Dean Hope Robertson
Murray Middleton
Shea Farrell
Kim Reilly
Sarah Mills
Sam Nkhata and
Teboho Malimabe

and we begin to tell our story, starting from when we were sitting just like them, scared as hell, wondering if we made the right decision, and wishing we did cheffing.

So lets start at the very beginning, for their sakes