Let's fly away

[lreynolds]

Week 13 Update

Woot Woot we have finished gathering for the season. We are all excited for the season to start but by the end we are sleep deprived and exhausted.

The syrup production definitely was a success. Taylor developed a maple cookie that is delicious so that’s a success as well.

We have had some communication issues with one of the festivals which is a bit stressful for planning and confirming entrance. We got a Facebook confirmation we are in then nothing to our emails and messages. That’s a challenge we are dealing with as we need to know rules and regulations.

The business is growing and doing well though. We need to just keep moving on the steady growth we have had since starting.

I am still learning e-commerce but a success story is we made a sale (to ourselves) using pay pal and it worked we are now just waiting to confirm the funds make it back to us.

I am learning about myself that I have a lot of drive and determination and I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to!

I am thankful for the knowledge I have gained throughout this course and look forward to even more success in our business.

[lreynolds]

This weeks update Week 11

Working - syrup production is in full swing. It’s all hands on deck gathering and bowling.

Not working - still figuring out website stuff with second meeting for shophere. Moving along with website though.

Learning - still have a lot to learn and need to work on time management. Definitely a work in progress

Goals - keep production going and work on new sales opportunities.

Updates - had meeting and dropped syrup off to local restaurant. Spoke with a local food truck about using our syrup as well. Beginning to prepare for the Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival. We booked in a local market as well for May.

We are also starting to make plans for making butter tarts, maple candies and maple sugar.

Lots happening. I will try to get some more pics and videos for next week as well.

#maplesyrup #stickyyummygoodness

[lreynolds]

Weekly Update

[lreynolds]

Working to get things ready!! Here’s some of the crew doing great work for the 2023 season start! along with a little more info about us fol

0 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Railside Maple Syrup: Working to get things ready!! Here’s some

[lreynolds]

What is working? Getting ready for the new season is working. Had a very busy weekend getting new lines up and buckets ready. Will be in full operations for next weekend.

what is not working?

The website is still a challenge understanding how to add payment options. As well is understanding and setting up shipping. We have made an executive decision to hold on shipping to start so we can get things running.

how do you feel the project is coming?

I think the project is going great. We are making a list of markets and events we will and hope to attend. Some we missed for this season but have info and dates for applying for 2024.

what are you learning about running a business?

Running a business is not just a nine to five job it is a ton of hours to get things up and running smoothly. We like doing the work, it’s just the tech side of things like social media that are most challenging.

what are your learning about yourself?

I am still learning more and more lessons and tools on time management. As I am running my own business outside of this.

[lreynolds]

Progress Report

WHAT IS WORKING

So far we have been successful in a few areas for our business. We have two businesses displaying syrup sales they are small but they are a start. This encourages asking others as mentioned this week we have a meeting with a restaurant. The production of syrup is no issue and we have a viable product. We have received great feedback from people. The set up we have works but we will be upgrading and expanding this season. Another thing that is important to note is that family is at the heart of this business and it brings us all together. This means it just may e the best part of he whole business. We seem to have an endless supply of delicious syrup. Yummy!

WHAT IS NOT WORKING

I wouldn’t say there is a lot not working but the online platform is more complex than anticipated. This is just more time consuming than I would have liked it to be. That’s what happens when you try to do it yourself and save costs, It costs you more time. I have been working and revising the website again this week. The goal is to have it set up by the end of this week. I like to take a negative or something challenging me and spin it to make it better or make it work.

HOW DO I FEEL THE PROJECT IS COMING

I think its going slowly. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as a I feel like I have learned a lot so far. I am looking forward to focusing on the business and online part moving forward. Though as I would really like to start figuring out the sales, getting paid and shipping logistics of the website. Those are just a few of the things on this weeks to do list. I do think overall this is going to work and be successful.

WHAT ARE YOU LEARNING ABOUT RUNNING A BUSINESS

There is an endless amount of work to do. The prep work was a lot of research and background information. Which was very helpful to understand how to get started. I see now there are a lot of resources and useful information online for free to help you get started. As for the online it is a process but in the end I believe it will be well worth the effort. Running a business is definitely not a nine to five but it is, interesting, fun and very exciting. When you enjoy what you are doing and get to share it with others.

WHAT AE YOU LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF

I am learning how to juggle a full work load with school and a business start up. I can do a lot I know more than I think and also more than I give myself credit for. The big thing that I really have always known is I strive to bring my family together. What better way than spending time making maple syrup and a business adventure together. Family is my reason for everything.

[lreynolds]

Financial Sources to Consider

For Railside Maple Syrup we have already contributed a considerable amount into the company, through personal investment and love money from family and friends. Moving forward I am going to do more research into Grants and he option of BDC loans. Exploring these options will depend on the needs of the company’s future growth looking forward.

For this next year we have the resources we need and will be relying on family investments to get the supplies. Such as the bottles, labels, more lines and taps, and holding containers. This will help get our operations through this next season. As we are looking to mass produce 3-6 don’t seem like viable investment avenues to purchase at this time.

[lreynolds]

Week 4 Tumblr Post

Operations Plan

To produce maple syrup during the spring production season package and sell the maple syrup online and at farmer's markets.

Purchasing Products / Generating resources

We got our wood supply from a local sawmill that was cut off so it was free. We will be purchasing more bottles but we have enough to get started.

Group

My family makes up the team of workers for this company. We work together to collect the sap and boil then produce the maple syrup.

Vision / Launch

We have a lot of tools and products to purchase for the business already. The main goal of the course is to learn more about how to make a more successful company and outsource the product more. Online exposure and partnership opportunities are the keys to our success. We need more advertising so by purchasing our own website domain we are hoping to accomplish this.

Permit and Licenses

These would be required to enter farmer's markets and festivals and we fill those out as needed.

[lreynolds]

Creative Advertising Exercise

Step 1 - 15 ways to use the devise

Fidget - zit popper - keep clothes together - book mark - hair pin - bracelet - earings - staple remover - key chain - thread your shoelaces - as zipper pull - tag - pin to let air out of a tire - mark a spot

Step 2 - Best 10

zit popper - book mark - hair pin - bracelet - earings - key chain - thread your shoelaces - as zipper pull - tag - pin to let air out of a tire -

Best 5

book mark - hair pin - key chain - thread your shoelaces - as zipper pull -

Friends Choice

Zipper Pull

Step Three

Zip It

Zip It is your quick replacement for those broken zipper pulls on your favourite jacket. Anything with a zipper can easily get a new zip it to keep you looking good!

You no longer need to throw away that barely used item because the pull broke. In just a few minutes you can have your new zipper ready to go.

Fix It with a ZIP IT!!!

[lreynolds]

Customer Persona

About them: health conscious consumer looking for healthy alternatives to processed foods - wants to support local

Use Case: Used in cooking, over pancakes, as a processed sugar alternative in baking, in coffee or beverages etc.

Previous Solution & Pain Points: Grocery stores/manufacturers mass produce syrups. These are highly processed and are refined sugary syrups with artificial colourings.

Benefits: Natural healthy alternative to processed sugars, supports local

Buying Process: online purchases, farmers markets

Choice Factors: high quality, 100% natural ingredients, no preservatives

[lreynolds]

Local Competition

The 3 businesses I chose are Shaw’s Maple Syrup, McNiven Farms and McCutcheons Maple Syrup

All the websites were eye appealing and I think the simplicity of the McCutcheons was a strength for ease of use. Easy to navigate and you can purchase from the website. Shaw’s does not seem to sell online but offer three other locations to buy from including their farm.

Marketing position – Shaw’s has a large market as you can go to site and they have a large community presence. They have opened the world to them personally and with a warm embrace, for them to join in the fun and see how it works. McCutcheon is more limited as they will ship but scale they are not as large as Shaw’s so smaller scale market but they also only focus on syrup. McNiven seems to focus on meat sales with syrup as a smaller market in there operation.

Reviews – all reviews were good which indicates a strong business for each as they all differ a bit in overall market and size of businesses. Shaw’s even has some articles in local papers and has been seen on CTV which is great exposure and posts reviews.

Pricing – they are all comparable but the major difference I see is the consistency of the syrups compared to ours. We have a thicker less water content syrup.

Social Media – Low social media presence for McCutcheons but highlighted there awards. Shaw’s has higher and focuses on the whole experience from visiting to catering. McNiven has website and no more social media. Shaw’s has no promotion of any social media on the website but do have many other informative aspects that give you all you need to know about them. I would say with an economy mostly based on technology this would be an area to Improve.

[lreynolds]

[lreynolds]

Strengths and Weaknesses

I have been self employed for over 10 years and I am constantly learning and developing new strengths. I believe that with strength also comes weakness though, so I am always trying to grow and improve.

Financial Planning - is an area I would like to gain more skills in. I have more than doubled my business and helped clients to grow there businesses. In saying that I would say a weakness is that I have been busy expanding that forecasting and planning for years to come is an area I would like to improve upon.

Sales/Negotiation - most of the businesses I work with are small businesses and word of mouth/repeat customers is the main source for sales. I have recently started taking workshops on digital media to improve my skills with social media. I have great customer service skills for client retention but in this digital world I am working on turning a social media weakness into a strength. I will continue through education and training to work on new sales strategies. I feel negotiation skills are a strength for me through managing my own business and negotiating rates and increases in my business previously.

People Management - I manage employees and work with a partner. I am constantly working on managing clients, employees and myself to keep all clients needs met and keeping employees on task. My weakness would be I work a lot and I need to remember to have check ins to see where everyone is at and make sure others are managing there work loads.

I think all strengths and weaknesses are a strength when we can recognize them and learn from them.