Wow… what a couple of weeks its been. Since my last post, on December 8th, I’ve managed to finish off four projects and write an accounting exam. Here’s how it went down:
December 11th – Marketing: Market Assessment
The goal of this project was to select a potential opportunity, and do the research necessary to decide if the opportunity was attractive. We had to look at the market for the product, identify potential customers, look at demand trends, research the competition, assess entry strategies, and ultimately, make a recommendation on the attractiveness of the opportunity. This project was a lot of work, and trying to squeeze all the information into 2000 words was impossible (I finished at 2500 words). Despite how much I swore while working on this assignment, it ultimately helped me recognize that the opportunity I was looking at was attractive, and worth pursuing.
December 12th – Accounting: Exam
The day after our marketing project was finished, we had our second Accounting “Quiz” of the term. I had done quite well on the first, and with a little studying, I felt pretty good for this one as well. However, it was a little trickier than I expected. We already have our marks back. The class average was only 70%, so I guess everyone found it hard. I ended up doing quite well, so I’m happy with that one.
December 13th – Law: Case Analysis
For our Law assignment, we were given a case to read involving a startup company. We had to identify the legal issues and recommend an action plan. The issues mainly pertained to intellectual property, shareholders agreements, and employment agreements. A good way to see the mistakes that others have made, and to learn what you should do when starting a company to avoid making the same mistakes!
December 15th – Strategy: Business Concept
At the end of a brutal week, this was a tough one. We had four pages to describe a business concept, which included looking the problem and solution, why now, and how to create and sustain competitive advantage. We also had to include a plan and vision. Again, a good assignment – the part on creating and sustaining competitive advantage is particularly tough, but well worth thinking about.
Overall, while this was a busy week, I was lucky to be able to work on my own business concept for both the Marketing and Strategy assignments. This helped me refine my thinking, and the results have been encouraging (though I’ll have to hear what the prof’s think). It also helped us to put into practice a lot of what we’d been taught during the term.
Anyway, MBET is 1/3rd complete! WOOT WOOT!!