“Glamour” is an online jewelry retailer that specializes in the selling of both high-end and mid-range jewelry. It sells jewelry such as rings, necklaces, and other related items for both sexes, with the option of customizing the jewelry to the customer's taste. The company's primary focus will be on the internet, where shoppers will be able to browse and purchase jewelry pieces. In this way, the business will offer delivery services at an additional cost but will also have a central office for those who will prefer to collect the jewelry themselves.
Cost Related
Revenue Related
Key Partners
Social media sites for marketing
Online payment services such as Skrill or PayPal
Delivery services such as DHL
Suppliers will be jewellery making companies such as
Local artisans
Curio shops
Key Activities
Effective marketing of the products is required
Outsourcing for a variety of quality products at wholesale prices
Branding the business to target a specific market
Employing skilled jewellers to customize the jewellery as per the customers instruction
Value Propositions
We offer a variety of high end and medium priced quality products at an affordable prices.
Most people have a hard time finding the perfect jewellery and will spend both time and energy by going from shop to shop trying to find Jewellery that best suits their need.
We strive to satisfy the desires of the customer by providing them with the freedom to choose and customize products from any location and at their own time.
Marketing & Sales Communication
Social media will serve as the best marketing tool where various products will be showcased.
To sway the target market, each message will be themed according to its specific use. Rings will be advertised under wedding themes, while necklaces will be advertised as possible gifts for any occasion.
There will be a number of discount offers redeemable from loyalty points. Loyalty Points will be gained from a customers; frequency of purchase.
We will mainly be targeting any willing buyer but emphasis will be on the working class who are known to have sufficient purchasing power for luxurious goods.
The main target market is people aged 25 and above
Key Resources
Warehouse for storage of the available stock.
Means for transportation to facilitate delivery
Tools such as a camera Computers and internet connection.
Skilled craftsmen and other personnel
Product & Service Delivery Channels
Customers will purchase the products through an online platform after which they will be offered delivery services with pricing that is relative to the distance travelled.
Alternatively, the customers can also pick up their product from main office that will be situated in town.
Cost Structure
Fixed costs will be in form of salaries for the employees, electricity and data charges for the company website
Variable costs will include the
The business model is more of value driven. The customer will be provided with a quality product which will serve for a long time. However, if the customer seeks a larger number of products they can be allowed to purchase at a reduced costs to allow for economies of scale.
Revenue Related
Customers are willing to pay more if the product is guaranteed to be of high quality. The current market prices show that customers can pay over $100 for a piece of jewellery.
If assured off the authenticity of the product customers are willing to pay through online platforms such as PayPal or make physical appearances.
The online platform contributes more than the physical purchases due to the expansion of the potential market.
In this way, the type of pricing suitable for this business model is the pay on delivery or hire purchase model
End of page 2
Explain the history behind your idea:
The idea of an online jewellery store came up when I was desperately searching for the perfect gift for my parent’s birthday. I noticed that there were a limited number of online jewellery stores that offered the option of customizing the product over the internet. Additionally, the stores had a limited variety of products from which to choose from. In terms of expertise, I have had the passion for creating new jewellery from the time I was in pre-school where the only thing that was lacking was the opportunity and equipment to create commercial products. The fact that I had the passion together with my college art training makes me right person to push through with the idea.
Reflection:
Reflection can be defined to be the mental evaluation of past occurrences with an aim of preparing for the future. The character of being reflective has the advantage of igniting critical skills that help in the analysis of the business model to ensure that all aspects are critically evaluated to ensure optimum performance (McGregor and Cartwright, 2011). An action learning set can be defined as the ability to learn from performing the actual physical activity. A mix between the two brings about a learning process that is reflective and at the same time practical enough to enable the learner to gain knowledge and skills.
It is through this methodology that I based the entire business project on. Each step involved active learning as I gained knowledge through the constant interactions. Similarly, I was able to gain clearer view of the underlying assumptions through critical evaluation and reflective learning.
Assumptions:
The main assumption in my business idea is based on the idea that there is a large number of people who would want their jewellery customized to their liking. The downside to this assumption is the probability that some people may not be as creative and may reject the resulting jewellery or the jewellery may not be appealing enough to add more customers through word of mouth advertising.
Secondly, another assumption is that the customers will prefer images over the internet to physically being available to assess the quality of jewellery when making the purchase. At times photos may be misleading and the customer may not be satisfied with the final products.
Testing the assumptions would be done through online surveys, interviews and focus groups where the questions would be drafted in such a way so as to test the underlying assumptions on the preference of the customers.
End of page 3
Cost Related
Revenue Related
Key Partners
Social media sites for marketing
Online payment services such as Skill or PayPal
Delivery services such as DHL
Suppliers will be jewellery making companies such as
Local artisans
Curio shops
Key Activities
Additional marketing strategies would be employed such as leaflets and pamphlets.
Allowing the customers to create their own products through an online platform.
Skilled jewellers will be given the added task of generating unique jewellery
Value Propositions
Price range will be reduced to more of high end products.
The customers will be given the opportunity to create new products but within the financial limits of the business.
A larger variety of high end products will be available to provide the customers with a larger pool to choose from
Marketing & Sales Communication
An open day will be chosen to show case the physical product.
More discount offers will be developed to accommodate all the other price groups.
Customers will be retained by additional loyalty bonuses
The target market will be raised to those who are 30 and above. This target market is known to have purchasing power to support the high end products.
Key Resources
Warehouse for storage of the available stock.
Means for transportation to facilitate delivery
Tools such as a camera Computers and internet connection.
Skilled craftsmen and other personnel
Product & Service Delivery Channels
Customers will purchase the products through an online platform after which they will be offered delivery services with pricing that is relative to the distance travelled.
Alternatively, the customers can also pick up their product from main office that will be situated in town.
Cost Structure
Customers will have to cater for the additional costs of long distance transportation.
Any extra expenses that may arise later on due to complaints will however have to be covered by the business and be added on as extra expenses.
Internet costs will be reduced by paying annual subscriptions
Revenue Related
Customers are willing to pay more if the product is guaranteed to be of high quality. The current market prices show that customers can pay over $100 for a piece of jewellery.
If assured off the authenticity of the product customers are willing to pay through online platforms such as PayPal or make physical appearances.
The online platform contributes more than the physical purchases due to the expansion of the potential market.
In this way, the type of pricing suitable for this business model is the pay on delivery or hire purchase model
End of page 4
Pitch:
I used research methodology to prepare for my business pitch. I obtained a sample of my target market and set them up in a focus group to discuss what they want from an online jewellery store. The research process went fairly well seeing that I had responsive respondents who were willing to spend their time discussing on their preferred method of payment and delivery.
On the other hand, the process of gathering information was tiresome and time consuming but I gained an understanding on the target customer market as individuals who prefer quality and are willing to pay for the service. Additionally, explaining an online platform without having the working prototype proved to be a difficult task reason being that people had a hard time imagining a product they were unfamiliar with.
Assumption Testing:
I tested the assumptions through an online research survey from where I was able to learn that there is a large market for customisable jewellery that is not exploited.
People who claimed to lack the creative ability to design new types of jewellery were also enthusiastic about the idea as they would use other people’s jewellery as reference to develop their own.
With this in mind, I opted to add an interactive interface in the web application that will enable people to scan through previous designs that were designed by other people as an addition to the design platform that was originally available.
Similarly, the assumption on the preference of the preference of images over physically seeing the jewellery proved to be false. This meant that the business would have to fit in an open day to enable people to physically view the products.
Comment on your Action Learning Set:
From interactions with other people, I had the opportunity of learning the fact that trust is an important factor in online businesses. People are willing to buy from businesses that show trust through having a central business. In this way, building the business on trust and genuine quality would have the advantage of growing the business for the better.
I also managed to give advice on the best payment method for a pizza delivery service as pay on delivery with the added option of discounted rates for late deliveries which gives the customer assurance that their meal will be on time.
End of page 5
Cost Related
Revenue Related
Key Partners
Social media sites for marketing
Online payment services such as Skill or PayPal
Delivery services such as DHL
Suppliers will be jewellery making companies such as
Local artisans
Curio shops
Key Activities
Additional marketing strategies would be employed such as leaflets and pamphlets.
Allowing the customers to create their own products through an online platform.
Skilled jewellers will be given the added task of generating unique jewellery
Value Propositions
Price range will be reduced to more of high end products.
The customers will be given the opportunity to create new products but within the financial limits of the business.
A larger variety of high end products will be available to provide the customers with a larger pool to choose from
Marketing & Sales Communication
An open day will be chosen to show case the physical product.
More discount offers will be developed to accommodate all the other price groups.
Customers will be retained by additional loyalty bonuses
The target market will be raised to those who are 30 and above. This target market is known to have purchasing power to support the high end products.
Key Resources
Warehouse for storage of the available stock.
Means for transportation to facilitate delivery
Tools such as a camera Computers and internet connection.
Skilled craftsmen and other personnel
Product & Service Delivery Channels
Customers will purchase the products through an online platform after which they will be offered delivery services with pricing that is relative to the distance travelled.
Alternatively, the customers can also pick up their product from main office that will be situated in town.
Cost Structure
Customers will have to cater for the additional costs of long distance transportation.
Any extra expenses that may arise later on due to complaints will however have to be covered by the business and be added on as extra expenses.
Internet costs will be reduced by paying annual subscriptions
Revenue Related
Customers are willing to pay more if the product is guaranteed to be of high quality. The current market prices show that customers can pay over $100 for a piece of jewellery.
If assured off the authenticity of the product customers are willing to pay through online platforms such as PayPal or make physical appearances.
The online platform contributes more than the physical purchases due to the expansion of the potential market.
In this way, the type of pricing suitable for this business model is the pay on delivery or hire purchase model
Iterative Journey:
The journey of developing the business has been filled with instances of learning. I have been able to incorporate newer modes of interaction through the online platform. Additionally, I have gained information on the best practices in the field of online businesses such as the best marketing strategies that will target the largest number of potential customers and safe payment methods.
The initial assumptions that I had regarding the acceptability of a product after being designed by the customers themselves proved to be an eye opener that promoted the addition of another business line.
I have also gained knowledge on the most preferred delivery mode that best serves the customers regardless of the customer’s location. This cancelled out the use of postal services which requires the receiver to be at a fixed location.
Competitor Insight:
A direct competitor is a business entity that deals with similar products and may have a similar business model as the current business. On the other hand, an indirect competitor offers alternative products that may be a replacement for jewellery (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2013).
In the online jewellery business, the main competitors are other jewellery stores that sell similar products. Indirect competitors include gift shops that sell alternative products that can be used as gifts and accessories by the same target market.
Businesses such as toy stores are analogues that offer a product that is different in design but similar in purpose (a gift) while at the same time it targets a similar market as the jewellery store. However, it does not offer direct competition with reason being that the final customer will be young children.
The competitor businesses that have helped me gain more knowledge on the business model are the physical jewellery stores. The method of specific branding whereby each store brands itself in a specific way has the effect of solidifying its customer base.
Nevertheless, the business idea of an online jewellery store stands out from the common jewellery store by the fact that the customer has the option of customizing their product to their liking and have the product delivered to their doorstep within record time.
Cost & Risks:
One of the risks that is faced in the implementation of the business proposal is in the initial expenditure that is required to sustain the human resource used in delivery and management of the business model.
The type of funding required will be to purchase the jewellery and technical equipment to be used in management of the online system.
End page 7
List of Web Resources (at least 3)
List the web sites that you have used for your research. Note: you don’t have to cite them using the Harvard author-date format in the previous pages; you can just list them here e.g.
http://grasshopper.com/blog/startup-competition-guide/
Academic Sources (at least 3)
These should be listed in full Harvard Format below and in author-date format in the earlier pages e.g. on page 3 you might say “reflection is a form of looking back (Smith, 2014)” and below you would cite this fully:
Smith J. (2014) Theories of Reflection, 2nd. Edn., Prentice Hall: London
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175242
https://fizzle.co/sparkline/top-10-mistakes-in-starting-an-online-business
http://fortune.com/2016/06/08/online-shopping-increases/
https://www.powerhomebiz.com/question-and-answer/start-an-online-jewelry-store.htm
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/challenges-online-business-45762.html
Stringer, E. (2014). Action research. 1st ed. Los Angeles, Calif: SAGE. Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business Model Generation. 1st ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
McGregor, D. and Cartwright, L. (2011). Developing reflective practice. 1st ed. Berkshire, England: Open University Press
Borowiecki, R. and Siuta-Tokarska, B. (2010). Challanges Facing Polish SMES in the Face of Globalization Processes. Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, 9(1).
End of page 8
Business Model Canvas Version 3: Final personal career & action plan (Maximum 400 words for the page)
Continuing personal career development: reflection and action plan
Critically reflect on your experience and challenge faced and the abilities you have developed:
S T A R
Customer preference analysis: This involved researching on the most common customer preferences that proved to be relevant to the current business model -> Research methodology came into play where I used mostly qualitative research methods to gather the essential data-> Organised a couple of sessions with diverse respondents in focus groups where I gathered information on the customer preferences -> The process of data collection proved to be successful and yielded information that was relevant to the study.
Interpersonal skills: Had to develop interactive skills to help in the data gathering process which involved interaction with the potential consumers->This was a skill that required the application of reflection strategies to further develop the skill.-> I managed to prepare the questions before hand and practiced with a few other people before taking up the challenge and interviewing the sample -> The process was a success as I had responsive respondents who followed through with the research up to its completion.
Critical Thinking: This step required proper planning and control to ensure that every detail was in tune with the research model. -> I employed techniques that enabled me to critically evaluate the business model ad make decisions on how to progress with it -> I managed to form priority areas that were the focus points of the research such as marketing and quality of the products from there a critical evaluation was performed to guarantee the development of the business. -> prioritizing the business model enabled the development of a comprehensive business pitch that touches on the core areas of interest.
Personal action planning:
Interpersonal skills.
This is a skill area that requires constant development seeing that people have diverse likes and needs. In this way, I will be able to tap into new markets and expand the business model to accommodate a greater variety of new products. Additionally, interpersonal skills will prove to be invaluable in sustaining the current business organisation structure by developing cordial working relations with employees.
Critical Thinking:
The skill of critical thinking is another skill that requires continual advancements. This would be achieved through continually studying and ensuring that each step is reflected upon and reviewed as they go by. Additionally, this skill will be developed through constant practice whereby with time it will prove to be a critical skill.
End of page 9
SECTION 1 (Student to complete) SELF-ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK/FEEDFORWARD FORM
Student Number:
Submission Deadline
Assignment Contribution to Module: 60%
Module Code and Module Title:
Module Leader:
Assignment Title: Assignment 2 Workbook
The assignment addresses the following learning outcome/s of the module:
- Review market and analyse viability
- Recognise / apply creative processes for business creation
- Generate a viable business idea and self-reflect on personal development gains
Checked Workbook (please make BOLD the number of times you checked it)
4
3
2
1
0
Please indicate that you have checked, in line with the assignment brief, the following:
Have you accessed STUDYHUB at the Library to help with your work?
http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/studyhub/
http://student.londonmet.ac.uk/weblearn/
Spelling (inc. spell-checking)
Y/N
Grammar
Y/N
Paragraphs (NB: one sentence is not a paragraph)
Y/N
Word count
Y/N
Citations and References (do they correspond?)
Y/N
Layout
Y/N
Please assess aspects of your work as:
excellent
good
adequate
poor
FAIL
Quality of academic argument:
All sections of the Workbook have been fully completed in line with assessment criteria
The 3 versions of the BMC demonstrate use of BMC approach & development of the idea
The 3 Reflection sections demonstrate understanding /application of BMC processes
Personal career covers 3 skills/knowledge areas & plans for self-development
The quality of academic style e.g. referencing
SECTION 1 CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE
YOUR ASSESSMENT
1st
70% plus
2i
60-69%
2ii
50-59%
3rd
40-49%
Fail
Under 40%
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR WORKBOOK IS WORTH?
SECTION 2 (Tutor to complete)
Class
Mark %
Comments
Mark Awarded
1st
70 +
Excellent in every way. Knowledgeable, incisively analytical, conceptually sound, widely‑researched and well-structured. Displays a critical and sophisticated understanding of ideas, debates, methodologies and principles. Comprehensively cited and referenced. A degree of flair apparent in the work.
2i
60 - 69
Very good, well-researched, solid. Addresses question. Sensibly structured and well presented. Evidence of analysis, reasoning and evaluation. May have some errors in emphasis but not in fact, and may be limited in terms of supporting material and breadth of coverage. Appropriately cited and referenced.
2ii
50 - 59
Average to good. Reasonable bibliography. Signs of effort, though more descriptive than analytical. May have some errors but balanced by sound work. May not fully address the question with deficiencies in knowledge and understanding or directness and organisation.
3
40 - 49
Pass. Descriptive narrative. May be partly irrelevant. Indiscriminate. Lacks structure. Could be more direct and explicit. Little independent research evident. Short bibliography.
Bare pass. May be confused or irrelevant. Heavily based on lecture notes, but a minimum of understanding to justify a pass. Answers by inference.
Fail
0 - 39
Poor. Does not answer question directly. Little evidence of independent reading or lecture notes. Major errors or too brief. Unstructured.
Very poor indeed. Fails in every respect to answer the question effectively. No evidence of learning, reading or knowledge. Largely irrelevant. Very brief.
assessor’s Comments:
Areas to concentrate on next time (as appropriate):
Academic
Content
Abstract
Introduction
Directness of answer
Arguments
Examples
Detail
Discussion
Conclusion
English
Spelling
Grammar
Punctuation
Paragraphs/Sentences
Layout
Titles
Subtitles
Blank Spaces
Word-Processing
Illustration
Figures
Tables
Plates
Equations
Technical
Citations
Referencing
Signature:
Date:
2nd Assessor’s Comments:
Signature:
Date:
END OF FORM
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