Throughout
the semester, I have learned many beneficial things about entrepreneurship,
especially in the handmade marketplace arena.
In starting off this class in August, I wrote a blog about my future
thoughts for this class. I stated that I wanted to take my creative design
ideas and make them into a reality. I
also wanted to incorporate design ideas that I have learned in my Interior Design
major into all of my projects. Overall,
I feel I have accomplished my goals and have learned a lot of new information. I can use all of this new found knowledge and
ideas to accomplish all other goals I have as an entrepreneur in the
future.
One of
the first topics we discussed in my entrepreneurship class was design
thinking. Design Thinking is the process by which a person defines a problem,
creates and considers many options, refines and selects the direction for the
result, and then finally executes the product.
This thinking process is very important when creating a project as an
emerging entrepreneur.
The most
important of the four stages of design thinking is defining a problem. Once you
have defined the correct problem that needs to be solved, things will fall into
place. When you are deciding a problem,
you should keep asking “why?” and from there you will get the right answer to
move on to the next step in the process.
The next
step in the process is creating and
considering many options. Even if
the option seems so obvious, you need to keep thinking of more options. In this step, collaborating with others and
team work will lead to more opportunities for ideas.
The third
step in the process is to take these ideas just made and formulate the direction in which you want to take your
product. You will have to develop your
ideas even further to maximize all of your options. From there you will finally know the exact
product you want.
This
brings us to the fourth step. You
finally pick the “winner.” When you
have thought through all of your options, asked “why?,” considered all of your
options, and pick the direction your want to go, you will choose your final
product and execute it to its full potential.
With one
of the supplemental packets that was used to explain design thinking, a quote
from Herbert Simon really stood out to me.
He explained that critical thinking was associated with the “breaking
down of ideas” and design thinking was the creative process in which you “build
up ideas.” Through the four step design thinking process, the building up of
ideas is perfectly executed.
Another
important topic that was discussed was prototyping. Prototyping
is an early sample or a model of the product you would like to sell. From this prototype, you could learn what to
do and what not to do when creating the product you are trying to sell. Design thinking is used when coming up with a
product to prototype and then executing the prototype to its fullest potential.
Two
products that I prototyped this semester was a calendar made out of cereal
boxes and porcelain coasters painted with acrylic paint. The first prototype I made was the
calendar. To start this process, I was
given the challenge to create something out of a cereal box. I had to search on Pinterest for an idea to
make out of a cereal box. At first, I
was thinking that was so hard! But after much design thinking and brainstorming
with others in my class, I came to the conclusion that all a cereal box is is
cardboard! How simple is that! From there, I searched high and low on Pinterest
for ideas. Jewelry Boxes, purses, organizers,
baby mobiles, and many other products were found in my research and then it hit
me. I could make one of those cool
changeable calendars out of my cereal box.
I used the design thinking process and came up with many ideas for the
calendar at first: to paint each month with a specific color pertaining to that
month, i.e. February – pink with a heart or March – green with a clover. From there, the dates of the month would just
be black and white and interchangeable. As
I discussed more and more with my classmates and teacher, I developed my
calendar to be custom and for future calendars to be a school spirit design.
The
second item I prototyped was coasters that I was going to put in my Etsy
shop. I prototyped these coasters using
the design thinking process as well. At
first I was going to make the coasters like other coasters on Etsy, wedding or
personalized to family coasters. After
using the design thinking process and receiving help from my classmate and
teacher, my design developed into school spirited coasters. The first coasters that I painted were not
very design oriented, just boring and overworked. After some research online and using
minimalist design options, I came up with the final idea for these school
spirited coasters. Another process used to come up with the idea for a school spirited coaster was through a competitor analysis. A competitor analysis is looking at my competition and seeing what they do correctly and not correctly. Also, I found products that relate directly to my product, indirectly, and future products that are similar to . For each of these sections, I found five products that related in each of the three ways.
For the
direct product that is similar to mine, I found some products that were coasters
like mine. I found personalized
travertine coasters, a set of four ceramic coasters, round ceramic coasters, bright ceramic
coasters painted with ink on professional paper and then mounted to the
coasters, and pictures glued onto ceramic coasters. These coasters related to my coasters because
there was a design similar to mine and fastened onto the coasters in the same
way. There price point was close to
mine, from $16.00 to about $25.00. Also,
the shipping was mostly to the US but some other products shipped out of the
country. This competitor analysis really
did help in understanding other products and the way their shipping and cost
was equivalent or higher than mine.
For some
of the indirect products I found, there were coasters not made out of the
ceramics but other products such as metal and wine corks. These coasters were very innovative and
different from ceramic coasters.
However, I found that the pricing was similar and even higher. Some of the coasters were even embossed with
a pattern or symbol, but the price was much higher, at least $15 higher. These products even gave me some ideas for
future products that I could make to sell on my Etsy store.
Some
future items that I could expand my product to be like are some ceramic mosaic
tile wall art. For this product, I could
take my designs on the smaller coasters and make them a larger say 12in by 12in
porcelain tile. This could then become
wall art for any home or office. Also, I
could take the same designs and put them on say, a 6in by 6in tile and then
they could be used to protect tables from hot surfaces such as a pot.
Searching
for other products similar to mine really helped me in coming up with a price
and competitive product for my own Etsy store.
I was also assigned to look at tags and other important information that
I could possible include in my own Etsy store.
Tags are the items people
type into the search bar when looking for a product. For example, if someone was looking for a
school spirited coaster, they would probably type in the school they are
looking for and then the word coaster. If
they were looking for a mosaic tile, that would be one of the words typed into
the search bar. Most of the tags that
were listed under other products were coaster, mosaic, wall canvas and were
very similar to the words that I wanted to use to search my coasters. But I knew I had to make mine stand out a
little more. Therefore, with my school
spirited coasters, some of the tags I used were hand-painted and Southern Miss
(for the USM coaster). I even used the
tags black and gold because of the colors painted with acrylic on the
coaster. I also found that pricing was
very important. I found that most
coasters were from $15 to $20 and they are competitive with my pricing for my
coasters.
In
searching for all of these items on Etsy, I also had to come up with a
feasibility report for my future Etsy store.
A feasibility report consists
of preparing my online business idea, evaluate its value, establish a market
for the product, and propose how I will create and deliver my product.
First
off, I had to find my niche. My niche
consisted of finding a market in which a specific product is focused on. My niche was school spirited items. From there, I came up with making coasters based
on specific schools. I chose to make
USM, LSU, and MSU coasters that would be great for any game-day
experience.
I had to
establish a target market, and I chose to sell to anyone in their early
twenties to their mid fifties. These
people would be looking for items that would show off all of their school
spirit throughout their home. I also
chose these three schools to be represented on my coasters because of the area
in which I live and have grown up in my entire life.
Now to
sell these products on Etsy, I learned that there are some writing strategies
that should be used to enforce the products desirability. When explaining the product, it is good to be
clear, concise, and catchy. Proper
grammar must be used, and if you put an entire sentence in caps lock, it will
seem as though you are screaming at the customer.
Also, the
pictures of your product should be clear and relevant. I learned that the background should be
contrasting to the product you are selling.
For instance, if a product is a light color, the background should be
darker to show off the product even better.
I took pictures the first time of my school spirited coasters outside on
a white colored cloth (my product is a light beige porcelain tile that blends
into white easily). However, after
discussion with my classmate and teacher, they told me it would be better to
make my background darker than my product, therefore, my product will stand out
and become more desirable.
Packaging
and shipping are also very important tactics in selling products off of
Etsy. The packaging should relate to
your products, along with protecting it from any damage through travel. The packaging could make or break the
professionalism of the store. If a
package comes in all torn and tattered, the customer might feel that the money
they paid for the product and shipping wasn’t worth it. The pricing also has to be competitive and
priced in the same arena as other items similar to mine.
With
learning all of these steps in creating an Etsy store, I also had to experience
buying from and Etsy store itself. I
found napkins from an Etsy store that I wanted to buy for my mother to go with
her china. The store that I found was
called The White Tulip and
personalization was the key to the success of this store. There were options available to choose the
napkin you wanted, the monogram type, and the thread color. I was in contact with the shop owner
frequently which made my experience very great.
I received the napkins in a very short amount of time and they were
nicely packaged when I received them.
The napkins were folded and pressed nicely and put 4 into a clear
plastic packaging with a self adhesive seal.
There was also a business car added to one of the packages with “The
White Tulip” logo on it.
Overall,
the customer service was excellent and the pricing was good for the amount of
napkins I did receive. The interaction
with the shop owner was professional and efficient. They were willing to help me choose the
colors I wanted, so something as simple as a napkin was turned into a nice
personalized item I was able to give to my mother to use for our Thanksgiving
table. Overall, my Etsy shop experience
was great and I would hope that I would be able to work as efficiently as this
store.
One of my
favorite and most interesting topics discussed throughout the entire semester
was social media and technological websites. Social media is such an important aspect to
all of our lives and these websites could help any entrepreneur with selling
their products on a site such as Etsy.
Other than Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, I found some other websites
that are very interesting and easy to manage.
To start,
I found WordPress which is a website
where you can make blogs and websites fairly easily. It is similar to this blogger site but on
WordPress you can make an actual website for your product. The software for this website is all web
based and it is free for users. There
are step by step instructions explain how to start a WordPress blog. First you find a web host, then download and
install word press and read the documentation and you are good to go! This is
the perfect solution for an entrepreneur to start up a website or blog posting
about their product.
The next
technological website I found was LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is another
fascinating website. It is like
Facebook, but for professionals.
Professionals from around the country and the world are all linked
together in this one website and can interact on a more professional level than
Facebook. You set up a profile and find
people that have similar work experience as you and interact. You can find many job and career
opportunities if used correctly. You
need to register for an account first and then start making your profile and
you are ready to conquer the world.
For a
third, my friend told me about this interesting website. Polyvore
is a website focused on fashion and how to get the look! It is very similar to Pinterest in that you
can follow people, create inspirational boards, and share fashion ideas with
other people throughout the world. You
can use real items and the website will tell you where to buy them and how
much! This website will be good for upcoming fashion designers and fashion
entrepreneurs.
These
were the three sites that I found, however, my classmate found a very
interesting website that I would like to share.
Plaxo is a website and also a
smart phone app designed to share and store business cards. As a professional, you will receive many
business cards when networking. If you
have this app or a part of this website, you can store all of your business
cards easily and keep all contacts together.
Overall,
these websites and apps can be useful for all entrepreneurs to sell their
product or get inspiration online.
Technology is a big factor in everyday interaction, and these few
websites could really change the way you interact with people throughout the
world. From these websites, promoting my
online Etsy stores could really benefit me in the future.
In
learning all of these steps in creating a fantastic Etsy store, I believe that
my store, Brown Paper Packages 12 will be a success. I feel as though this entrepreneurship class
related mostly to the handmade market and using all of this tactics will help
me in the success of my Etsy store. For
the future, I could expand my simple coasters to a wall hanging or even
something like a coffee mug painted with the exact design and could come in a
set with the coasters. These options are
all very attainable and could be executed well.
I will use a competitor analysis to find out pricing for a product such
as a handmade mug, as I did with the coasters.
I will use design thinking and create a fantastic product that many
would like to buy. I will define my
niche, market, make a prototype for the product and get other peoples feedback
or the product. I will also develop
policies, pricing, and packaging and shipping cost for any new product I will
make. I will make sure that any customer I come in contact with will feel that
I was professional and took care of their needs well. All of these strategies I learned throughout
the semester have prepared me for any future selling endeavors on Etsy.
After I
graduate, I will be able to use these selling strategies in the online
marketplace or even selling myself for a job in the Interior Design field. For example, I could use my new found skills
to promote myself through any job arena.
I could use design thinking in any future jobs I have, especially in
hospitality design, a field of commercial design in which I want to start my design
career. All of these tactics will be
very helpful in any of my future endeavors and I am excited to see what the
future will hold. 
