This Business and Moment...

Marvt74 said:
Good luck fella.

Presume it's for one of the online conveyancing firms?
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Yeah, thanks. Can't say I've been a fan of the various firms or their reputations but maybe I can be a drop in the ocean to try and change that :p Or maybe not and just accept the improved work life balance and pay. Anyway best not get ahead of myself..
 
Basher said:
Maybe you've covered this already, if so I apologise but what's your business plan? Who's your market? You seem to see having stock in NI as a differentiator but how big is the market for people that want this in NI?

How are you ensuring people find your website?
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Plan is to move into predominately wireless charging products as there's no batteries in a wireless charger, not the one I'm going to be selling anyway. Market is UK wide in that instance. Wireless charging will become the norm in the future. Just set your phone down and walk away, job done. As for N.I. customers, 98% of NI population have at least one gadget in the home that needs charging. People using their phones more in the future, battery development not progressing as fast as people want (see iphone owners), means there will be a market for my portable chargers in the meantime. Convenience of just topping up the battery, on the move, is a big factor. Stick the charger on to your phone and stick it in your pocket or bag. Sorted.
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
So you have no issue shipping to mainland UK but the other suppliers struggle shipping over to Ireland?
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I don't sell too many to mainland UK. If I do then I use a local courier I know. He gets lorry drivers to bring items over on the boat from Ireland to UK. Then they are processed via RM, to the customers door. Takes an extra day to deliver but it still gets there safely.
 
I've not been very active on here for the last few months, throwing myself into work and doing the house up but went for a team leader position after 18 months in the role and it was announced last night that I got the position.

back into a leader role, gives me more time at work to develop the idea's I want too as i've less normal work to do so things should get easier for everyone.

I can now look at progressing my infosec knowledge to make an industry jump while training my wife in photography so she can take over my business there.

things are looking up and progressing, slowly, but progressing nonetheless
 
subbytna said:
Would anyone here like the chance to test our new wireless charger? QI enabled 10W fast chargers. The samples won't arrive for another 2 weeks but if anyone would like the chance to try one, yes you can also keep it, can you post here?

Wireless is the way forward and will become the norm so I'm trying to get in there early. QI enabled phone needed though so looking at quite a modern iPhone, Samsung etc

There's only 1 available as the other samples are promised to my usual testers.
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This still available? I have the samsung duos charger to charge my mate 20 pro and galaxy watch. Could do a comparison to that if you want?
 
skaif said:
This still available? I have the samsung duos charger to charge my mate 20 pro and galaxy watch. Could do a comparison to that if you want?
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Yeah I'm still looking at options. I have my other 2 testers going to give it a go on their phones, to have another gadget tested, Not just a phone, might be beneficial. Samples not arriving for a bit yet. Hoping my manufacturer can ship them to be quick as Chinese New Year is coming soon and I'd want an order in and shipped before their break.
 
Not dropped in here for a while, so much so that I can't be bothered to find my old posts.

Long story short - since Oct '16 I tried to get a business going with my brother and family - looking into providing a care home for vulnerable children. My background has been fostering since I was a nominated carer (parents were foster carers) and I am a full time teacher.
Business went belly up eventually due to a number of reasons but ultimately shut down because our OFSTED inspection was a car crash. Numerous things to point fingers at but ultimately its left us around £200k down and in a bit of a crappy situation. That ended March '18

Anyway, fast forward to now and I think I am in a better mental state of mind, my career has picked up and I am applying for jobs as an Assistant Headteacher.

Anyone a teachers on here? Could do with some advice on jumping up. Been in my current role as Head of Business and Computing for what is my 5th year now and just want to progress!
 
subbytna said:
Yeah I'm still looking at options. I have my other 2 testers going to give it a go on their phones, to have another gadget tested, Not just a phone, might be beneficial. Samples not arriving for a bit yet. Hoping my manufacturer can ship them to be quick as Chinese New Year is coming soon and I'd want an order in and shipped before their break.
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Cool, drop me a trust should you need me!
 
@skaif - Have you considered PQH? Usually a good start for those wanting to move in to senior roles in a school. I work in a university that trains teachers. We offer Masters in Education (M.Ed) and those are normally a must for any movement up the school ladder.
 
subbytna said:
@skaif - Have you considered PQH? Usually a good start for those wanting to move in to senior roles in a school. I work in a university that trains teachers. We offer Masters in Education (M.Ed) and those are normally a must for any movement up the school ladder.
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Thanks for the advice, currently completing the NPQSL so hopefully that will get me up there. Regretting not doing my masters sooner now as I know that would have given me more weight to throw around in an interview.

I suppose I am in a strong position anyway being a tech specialist, have been given outstanding in my leadership and management and results etc, and have a load of experience helping other schools improve their departments.

Only thing is that I want to stay local to me, so in Bedfordshire or maybe north Herts or Bucks. Don't want to travel too much as I worked in MK for 3 years and the commute was painful then.
Its not as bad as I make it out and I suppose for a senior role I should be open to travelling more but with a 2 year old at home I don't feel like spending too much time away.

Saying that I have just spotted a job that seems right up my alley...
 
subbytna said:
@skaif - Have you considered PQH? Usually a good start for those wanting to move in to senior roles in a school. I work in a university that trains teachers. We offer Masters in Education (M.Ed) and those are normally a must for any movement up the school ladder.
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Also which Uni? Will be looking to complete my M.Ed at some point but not looked into which ones to do it at. I assume it doesn't matter as no one really cares unless its Russell Group.
 
Phate said:
All about networking in this place.

Got a colleague who worked with him and is on good terms to introduce me, and a senior member of his team as a reference for me. Writing my introductory email now and will approach on Wednesday as hes back in the office today, lets give him a few days to breathe ;)
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Follow up on this, my colleague did as he promised and spoke to the manager in question about me, and my email was sent on Wednesday evening. The manager did say to my colleague he will take some time to get back to me as hes swamped but the seed is set!

Also I'll be in Seattle in a month for Microsoft TechReady 2019. Its all go!
 
subbytna said:
Plan is to move into predominately wireless charging products as there's no batteries in a wireless charger, not the one I'm going to be selling anyway. Market is UK wide in that instance. Wireless charging will become the norm in the future. Just set your phone down and walk away, job done. As for N.I. customers, 98% of NI population have at least one gadget in the home that needs charging. People using their phones more in the future, battery development not progressing as fast as people want (see iphone owners), means there will be a market for my portable chargers in the meantime. Convenience of just topping up the battery, on the move, is a big factor. Stick the charger on to your phone and stick it in your pocket or bag. Sorted.
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That's the "plan" but what @Basher was asking was more of a; How have you validated your business model? Your value prop is currently your chargers and cables. (Keep wireless stuff aside, as that's another model you also need to validate) Your customer segment is, who? People with devices who need to charge them? Drill it down further, what age ranges specifically? Male/ female? What are their daily habits? Where do they currently purchase?
Your customer channels are? (how are you reaching your customers?) Online shop only? How do you tell people about your products? How do you essentially draw people to those channels, whatever they are? Have you validated these as well? (i.e. google ads, cost is X, customer acquisition cost is ?$) What's your after sales strategy etc?

You'd be really well placed in doing a business model canvas to outline all this stuff and test it, to see what works and what doesn't. You can do it for this value prop as well as the wireless stuff which will help you cut down waste and doing things that cost money for the sake of it. If you google business model canvas image it'll give you something you can print and stick post it notes on very quickly, which will get you to really ask questions of your business model.

(I really enjoy this stuff, it really gets you to drill into the details and at the end of it, you have so much more clarity in what you're doing/ where to go to scale)
 
skaif said:
Also which Uni? Will be looking to complete my M.Ed at some point but not looked into which ones to do it at. I assume it doesn't matter as no one really cares unless its Russell Group.
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We're St Marys University College in Belfast. (there's on in Twickenham but that's not us) We're part of Queens University Belfast which is in the Russell Group.
 
randomshenans said:
That's the "plan" but what @Basher was asking was more of a; How have you validated your business model? Your value prop is currently your chargers and cables. (Keep wireless stuff aside, as that's another model you also need to validate) Your customer segment is, who? People with devices who need to charge them? Drill it down further, what age ranges specifically? Male/ female? What are their daily habits? Where do they currently purchase?
Your customer channels are? (how are you reaching your customers?) Online shop only? How do you tell people about your products? How do you essentially draw people to those channels, whatever they are? Have you validated these as well? (i.e. google ads, cost is X, customer acquisition cost is ?$) What's your after sales strategy etc?

You'd be really well placed in doing a business model canvas to outline all this stuff and test it, to see what works and what doesn't. You can do it for this value prop as well as the wireless stuff which will help you cut down waste and doing things that cost money for the sake of it. If you google business model canvas image it'll give you something you can print and stick post it notes on very quickly, which will get you to really ask questions of your business model.

(I really enjoy this stuff, it really gets you to drill into the details and at the end of it, you have so much more clarity in what you're doing/ where to go to scale)
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Thanks for the post :)
Ok I'll post up a few things by cutting and pasting your point, then putting my answer.

How have you validated your business model - I did market research and found that in Northern Ireland there is a gap in the market for portable
chargers that can be bought cheaper than Argos, Currys, etc - I have few overheads and can price my product accordingly to be very competitive
compared to the above named established shops.

Your customer segment is, who? - When doing my business plan, I explored the demographic markets and the three areas I zeroed in on are - Teenage
(older school kids, my 16 year old daughter is a good source of leads for me when she's showing off her pink power bank to her friends. ALthough
this segment don't always have the money to buy one, presents and gifts(birthdays, Xmas) are how I service this area
Professionals - People on the move and are out of the office a bit that don't have the time to be tethered to the wall waiting for their tablet or phone
to charge up. I know there's the car charger option but my products can fit in a bag and be carried anywhere whilst charging up the device. Or just not
having to go to a coffee shop and look for a table near a charging point.
Parents - Having a power bank as a backup when out in the car, or in the park, or somewhere where there is a need to keep gadgets powered
up (a day at the beach for example) Also having the backup to be able to charge sat navs, kindles and even torches, means there's a "safety net" train
of thought in having one handy in the car as a precaution.

Your customer channels are? - Facebook, Twitter, my online store and instagram - I do also have a youtube channel, Linkdin and pintrest but don't use those last 3 much

How do you tell people about your products? How do you essentially draw people to those channels, whatever they are - Very active in Twitter and using
online influencers/bloggers in instagram to drive product offers to my site. I have site integration with facebook for a facebook shop linked to my shopify account
My instagram shop doesn't work. There is a glitch that shows old deleted product images and I've spent over 10 hours trying to sort it but to no avail so
I've ditched instagram shop and just use it to showcase my products as well as to inject some humour into posts. I also use chrome extensions to grow my
followers passively on instagram. Facebook ads has been set up but not yet used, as I'm still reading and learning how it works.

What's your after sales strategy etc? - At the moment I don't have many other products to upsell so I just send out emails making sure customers are ok and not
having any issues with their power banks. I have an email strategy in place for when I add more products to my inventory, to upsell on. I curently have
facebook pixel and google analytics setup and these are helping me with targeted advertising in the coming months.

I've a 34 page business plan done using help from a startup GO FOR IT programme sponsored by Enterprise Belfast. I've a decent idea of what I'm doing, just need time to do it as I also work full time and have 3 year old twin boys that take up hours of my time :p
 
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