Writer/Blogger

[devonnerrie-blog]

Blog #3

CMU (Cycling Me and U)

On November 23, 2022 was the first day of the Lecture Series. The first resource speaker was Engr. Bronson G. Mabulay and he talks about the overview of start-up businesses and the opportunities to make profit with start-up ideas. The essence of the talk was about problem-solution. Problem-solving is not difficult. Startups embody and embrace the problem-solving mindset more than their archaic corporate counterparts—or at least they want to. Entrepreneurs are good at identifying a problem in their market and ideating a potential solution. He talks about the danger for startups lies in getting too caught up in product development, team building, fundraising, product launching, and the many other things that take startups off the ground. In all the chaos, it can be easy to lose sight of the problem they wanted to solve in the first place. Absorbing customer feedback and re-strategizing for a solution can be the difference between success and failure.

The next resource speaker was Mr. Arnel Arreglado. What I learned about him is that in start-up businesses, there will always be a mindset that mostly successful business people have in common.

Resiliency. How do you react to setbacks? A start-up business is full of ups and downs, quite often how you deal with the downs will dictate your success. When you get knocked down, be prepared to pick up yourself up.

Risk Taking. You don't have to be a gambler, but you need to be able to take risks. Are you willing to put your neck out there when the outcome is uncertain.

Persistence. A start-up business is nor the faint of heart. there are few shortcuts. You are going to have to work very hard for a very long time.

Initiative. You can't let life happen to you. Sometimes, you have to act. When you have a problem, you don't sit back and fret - you attack it.

Vision. You must have a clear vision for your business. What are your goals? What do you want to accomplish?

Leader. There is a good leader behind every good start-up business. You need to be able to lead people and keep them motivated.

Always Learning. You can never know enough. In these facts changing times this is more true than ever before. You need to dedicate yourself to always learning so you can assure you never lose touch.

Creativity. Can you look the box? You will need to look at problems and situations from a variety of perspectives. Instead of just doing the same old routine - look to innovate!

Decisive. Fence-sitters need to apply. When the time calls for it - you will need to make some big decisions. Successful start-up business leaders make decisions confidently and in a timely manner.

On November 25, 2022, the last resource speaker was introduced and she talks about the intellectual property that anyone must know especially those who wants to start business. Whether you’re a start-up or a family business that’s been trading for generations, recognizing and protecting your intellectual property (IP) is critical to growth, protecting what’s yours and maintaining a good reputation.

IP is about protecting the time, money and effort you put into your business. By taking even some basic steps you can:

• protect what’s yours

• translate your hard work and ingenuity into profitable returns

• set yourself up for growth or market expansion

• keep competitors away

• ensure you’re not infringing on others’ rights

• prevent employees from helping your competitors

• attract investors

• promote your business to investors, licensees or potential buyers.

[The presentation of our Business Model Canvas (BMC) was a very successful one as we got quite a lot of positive comments coming from the panel and especially on how to improve our start-up business.]

In our entrepreneurial journey, we are already in the part of figuring out how to strategically show our start-up business to our investors and potential buyers/customers, through our venture pitching video. We are introducing our product to the market by showing what was the problem all along and the solution concerning transportation. Being able to solve the problem in the area of transportation, our bicycle can easily help you go to destinations or places inside the campus, the Central Mindanao University, without hassle. We showed in the video the uniqueness of our bicycle as it can also produce electrical energy through cycling. You can use electricity to charge your phone. We also showed our investors and potential buyers how to book a bicycle whenever they needed a ride through our application.

Our start-up business was chosen to represent the entire class for the demo pitching. I am so grateful to my classmates, most especially to my team (Cath, Natyana, Xyla, Hayana, and Trisha) that we come up with a great idea for solving the problem in the field of transportation. To have a successful team you will need in place of an effective group. The main ingredients for an organization is to have a successful team. To accomplish a successful team it comes with a lot of planning, innovating and having a positive attitude. Building a successful team is about more than finding a group of people with the right mix of professional skills.

[devonnerrie-blog]

Blog #2

CMU (Cycling Me and U)

           An empathy map is a collaborative tool that allows teams to develop a better understanding of their customers. An empathy map, like a user persona, can represent a group of users, such as a customer segment. Dave Gray invented the empathy map, which has grown in popularity within the agile community. Our empathy map empathizes with the employees, residents, visitors, and most especially the students of Central Mindanao University. Transportation within the campus is one of the problems encountered by most students. With this, we come up with a solution, a bike rental.

           Thirteen (13) students were interviewed about the bike rental at Central Mindanao University and whether they agree to have it or not. There were six (6) questions asked to each one of them to determine if they are going to use our bike rental once it is produced in the market. Some of the students interviewed were done online using Facebook Messenger. It is a way of minimizing the time in gathering the data but at the same time, ensuring that the students were given enough time to respond to the questions given. Fortunately, all of the thirteen students who were interviewed agreed to have the bike rental as it will help every citizen in Central Mindanao University when it comes to fast and accessible transportation. Overall, it is a great solution for the student's need for transportation as long as the price is negotiable and is in the student budget range.

           Our group's communication was a very effective way of understanding our task and working together to achieve our interdependent goal. The leadership spirit of each one of us made our tasks and responsibilities possible as we are able to finish and submit our data on time. Leadership is a process of using communication to influence the behaviors and attitudes of others to achieve group goals. Individuals rely on their ability to communicate to transfer information throughout the day. Whether we speak, listen, write notes or letters, email, or text message, the process of communicating thoughts, ideas, and feelings is something we value and put into consideration. The art of good communication aids in the development of trust, respect, and understanding in structured group situations. It helps to create a positive learning environment.

           Technology is now an excellent tool for effective group communication. Because of this, we are able to fulfill our duties and responsibilities in gathering our data. Technology makes it more possible for our group to share our ideas and opinions, especially for improvements. Often, our group finds it difficult to meet at the same time and place. This is one of the reasons why technology made it possible to hear everyone's ideas and share their ideas in an organized manner through various platforms such as Google Groups, Facebook Messenger, and others so that other members can read them at their leisure.

[devonnerrie-blog]

Blog #1

CMU (Cycling Me and U)

            On the first day (August 24, 2022), there were four (4) people we interviewed about their problems and concerns encountered at Central Mindanao University. The first person said that there is no stable internet connection and not enough transportation to go from one place to another. The second person expresses her thoughts about a very distant market to her department and that transportation is hard to find. The third person finds it difficult to have no enough street lights, no street food, and a lack of transportation. The fourth person said that transportation is nowhere to be seen or is difficult to access.

             On the second day, we conducted the interview (August 30, 2022), there were six (6) people shared their difficulties and concerns encountered. The first person said that the weather is so hot in going to the department. The second person said that there is a poor internet connection, not enough space in the market, especially at lunch, and tricycles do not go straight to the destination. The third person has a concern about the Identification Card, the RFID, which takes time to get, and a bad internet connection. The fourth person shared her thoughts on having difficulties concerning no proper drainage especially when flooding and the internet connection is very poor. The fifth one has a huge concern about security especially nowadays and how expensive the food is. And, the sixth person has concerns about the hot weather, expensive food, and lack of transportation.

             Transportation tops as a common problem/difficulty and concern of the students of Central Mindanao University. Transportation is a necessary activity that allows people to get to services and activities such as education, jobs, shopping, and social gatherings. The quality of accessible transportation alternatives influences people's capacity to participate in social and economic activities. Because of this, we decided to solve our customer’s concerns in the field of transportation. We come up with two (2) ideas whether a bicycle or a scooter. Upon discussing our options, we consider the speed and time consumed by a particular vehicle. We opt for a vehicle that could take our customers to their destinations in no time and could still be used on hills. That’s why we decided that bicycle is way better than a scooter. After, then, we call it a Bike Rental.

             The lesson that was learned by the team is that there is not enough communication between the students and their concerns about the institution. Effective communication can help to build and foster a safe learning environment where students can thrive, prosper and learn. There are a lot of problems/difficulties and concerns that need to be addressed for the betterment, safety, and security of each of the students of Central Mindanao University. Also, because of the teamwork my team had, we were able to fulfill our responsibilities and duties in collecting the data needed for this project. Each of the members of the team can cooperate which makes this project a successful one. Teamwork develops crucial communication and social skills such as active listening and effective speaking. We learn how to listen to one another to accomplish our tasks when working as a team.