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[theentrepnoob]

So Long, Locker

Every candle begins to burn with a spark. And towards the end of its life, the flame flickers slowly until it’s no more.

That was how our P1SO Locker journey was, too. To this day I can’t believe our journey has ended.

It was a slow but wild roller coaster ride to reach the finale of our entrepreneurial mind journey—the final pitching. Unlike the midterm pitching where everything was mostly smooth sailing, the final pitching felt like we were sailing against the world’s tides.

During the preparations, we faced a lot of troubles with our prototype. The components were faulty, the code wasn’t working, and when everything finally felt like it was in place, the wires had to burn out. The technical team felt so hopeless, and I couldn’t do much but be there to support them. The booklet’s printing also had troubles as the printer couldn’t handle the load. The project really let it sink into me the idea of how complex is the development of a prototype for a technological startup, because you’re gambling everything—money, time, and effort—into a project that would fail over and over until it clicks.

And clicked it did, with the help of the people supporting us. Without people like Engr. Jan Joe, who was a great help in completing our prototype, it wouldn’t be possible for us to reach the final pitching chapter.

So, despite how the preparations were messy, and many delays, we still managed to deliver a great pitch. Our leader, who, a while ago, was freaking out over both the booklet and the prototype’s delivery taking so long, delivered the pitch calmly and comprehensively. The technical team also did a great job in describing the prototype’s functions. I guess the panel really loved the output judging by how they kept on asking about the prototype and gave corrections on our booklet.

A couple of days after the final pitching, we attended a lecture series. The speakers really knew their stuff. They discussed about the start-up method and how important it is to jumpstart our journey as future entrepreneurs. They also talked about the legal aspects of entrepreneurship too, like the Data Privacy Act, the guidelines in making innovation, etc. The one thing that really stood out to me was their emphasis for identifying market gaps, as that is how a business really starts—giving solution to problems.

The lecture series was a really good way to wrap up our Entrepreneurial Mind journey as it stated out loud the concepts we have learned throughout the course. In our midterms, we asked around to see the common problems the CMUan community faced. And from there, we developed the idea of creating a locker vending system with inspiration from those existing abroad. We learned how to pitch, how to market, how to develop our prototype. We also learned the value of connections in business as without it, we wouldn’t be able to create our prototype. And above all, we learned how to gamble in a smart way.

Because business is really a professional gambling game.

Like how a reader won’t realize their love for a novel until it ended, I never realized how I’ll miss the story until the ending hit me.

And this is The Entrep Noob, signing off.

[theentrepnoob]

The Beginning of the End

The Dragon’s Den

As the final pitching is nearing, I just wanna look back on how we did during the midterm pitch.

Honestly that was nerve-wracking as heck.

My group, being the crammers that we are, prepared the presentation very late and finished the preparations at the very last minute. In the span of a few hours we had to print a booklet for our pitching as well double check the financial aspects of our BMC. In fact a groupmate and I were almost late for the pitching because we were rushing to finish the booklet. It’s no wonder why the panel commented on it being hot from the press. Haha.

But despite the rush, despite us being the only group who looked severely unprepared, uncomposed (for me), I had faith in my group that we were going to succeed. Our BMC was strong and detailed to the best of our ability as civil engineering students.

Our team was also prepared (mostly). Our main pitcher, Justine Caling, had practiced extensively with our team leader, Lyzabell Colcol, to deliver our pitch. Meanwhile me and some of the other members polished the BMC and possible answers to questions days before the pitching, while Rhona, Christine, and the others have contacted the people we needed for product development.

So during the pitching, I was actually enjoying watching the panel. I know my team’s strengths, our business’s potential, and those two together is a fire combo.

The panel was… well I thought they were going to be tigers, but they turned out to be alright! I really enjoyed listening to them correcting us on the financial part of the BMC (even though it would mean a lot of work for us in the final pitching). I also loved how they suggested some additional features for our locker because it meant they saw potential in our product. Because of the way they approached the Q&A portion, I, and I think the other members too, felt very comfortable with them. They were competent and friendly. Although I have to admit that I enjoyed listening to them so much that I didn’t pick up on some of the cues my groupmates were sending me to answer the question, leaving our group leader and a couple of other members to do it. But to be fair, I did have a hand in the answers they prepared for.

Even though I was confident in our team, a part of me still doubted if we could attain their standards since, after all, they’re business major faculty members. And we’re just civil engineering students. We don’t have a clue on the theoretical part of business. To my and my group’s great relief, the panel were impressed with our presentation. It felt like we were one step closer towards finishing this project. Moreover, it motivated us to work hard on our product.

What Lies On The Other Side

I can recall that somewhere in between preparing for the pitch, we were tasked to interview some potential customers if they would avail our product using the revised BMC. Majority of them said yes to availing the product given the conditions that we haven’t thought of before and have used them in our new BMC.

The team and I—we’re nervous about the incoming final pitching, but are excited to finally see this project come to an end. To see our ideas flourish. I cannot wait for the remaining chapters of this entrepreneurial journey!

[theentrepnoob]

Vox Populi: The Demand

One of the most important things when making a business is to make sure the customers actually want to avail your product.

And so we did just that.

We roamed across Central Mindanao University’s campuses and College Park to interview at least 20 students about the following questions:

Have they struggled with bringing their things within the University?

Would they avail the vending locker?

Have they seen a similar product in the market?

What have they heard about similar products? What are their reviews?

What do the similar products offer?

In our survey, many responded that, yes, they struggle a lot with carrying things inside the campus because of its weight or the number of items they carry. Thus, they would avail the product, depending on its location and price rate. When asked about seeing similar products, they responded that they haven’t really seen anything similar to the locker’s vending system except in K-Dramas or big universities outside Mindanao. The people who mentioned seeing similar products said that consumers use a key or their ID to open the locker. And while the aforementioned similar lockers are great, only a limited number of people can use it as it is subscription-based. They are also concerned with the security of the lockers.

With that being said, our group learned a lot from their insights, particularly the issue of pricing, location, and security measures. I am confident that we will do our best to address these concerns for our consumers.

[theentrepnoob]

Is this it? Ma bagsak ba ta?

— I thought, as we prepared for our Venture Proposal.

For context, the Venture Proposal is like a pre-business pitch exercise where we test whether our business idea has the following:

a.) it addresses an issue (or desperately needed);

b.) its pros outweigh the cons;

c.) it has a clear market, and;

d.) its logistics or delivery is clear.

To be honest, the Venture Proposal made me nervous for two reasons: one, if our idea wasn’t feasible we’ll have to start over and cram for the Business Pitch, and two, it was the first time in a while I was able to be in a reporter-like role.

I did my best to prepare given the time constraints and my lack of confidence in public speaking. I have a great team, and my surveying the area with our team leader Lyzabell also gave me the confidence to be able to defend our product.

What really helped me prepare for the Venture Proposal, above all, was when we discussed the logistics of our product. Many of us raised the concern of availing the technology we needed to accomplish our product, who’d be our partners in creating it, and the cost and price estimates. Lyzabell hard-carried the financial aspects while me and Rhona and Juanito discussed the technical aspects. The others focused on brainstorming answers that would address the possible customer-related questions.

And then it was Venture Proposal time.

Oh my gosh, I gotta say, I was really, really nervous while presenting it. I almost forgot the flow we practiced and the key points of my part. Fortunately I managed to get out of my funk quickly, thanks to the energy from my partner. As our short pitch went on I lost some of my nervousness because I managed to get the point out.

I’m very happy with the results. :))

Our professor liked the idea, albeit concerned with the financial estimates and time constraints (to be fair, we are newbies in programming). I remember that we could’ve had a perfect score if we didn’t go beyond time constraints — but man we weren’t even aware of it! Haha! Anyway, regardless of that, I’m really happy that I didn’t mess up my part and that our team successfully defended the Venture Proposal.

Manifesting that we’d succeed during the Business Pitch! 🤞

[theentrepnoob]

I AM BACK—

Bringing you another round of my entrepreneurship journey!

And this time, our product is en route to be pitched.

[theentrepnoob]

Vox Populi

The Voice of the People.

It has always been important to listen to the people around us. They see what we don’t see — the problems that we aren’t aware of.

The people we interviewed came from different colleges and were of various year levels. A lot of them came from the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture, the College of Nursing, and the College of Business Management.

During the interviews, they raised and, upon comparing their responses, shared many concerns such as:

Transportation

Security

Restrictions in appliances

Lack of printing services

Waste Management

Maintenance of school materials

Finances

Storage of school supplies

As we narrowed down their concerns, we focused on these three:

Transportation

Lack of printing services

Storage for school materials

We brainstormed a couple of ideas to address these issues. We had to consider its feasibility, like whether we had the ability to make the product, to be allowed to conduct within the school premises, and if it was more than profitable enough to maintain it. I suggested a slightly modified version of the ID-anchored e-cash system that was already used in my school. Meanwhile, a friend brought up the rela-hotline we discussed during lunch. Someone mentioned a locker system and another suggested to create appliances that made use of solar energy.

Among the concepts we came up with I particularly liked the top three we chose, which were the rela-hotline, the CMU ID e-cash, and the locker vending machine. These three were the ideas we had consulted with our professor, Mr. Reymark Menguito.

After that, me and my group crossed out the rela-hotline idea as it was too popular among the higher years. We also debated between choosing to pursue the CMU ID e-cash system and the locker vending machine. Each idea had its own pros and cons.

With regards to the CMU ID e-cash system, we were inspired by an existing system in some schools, wherein their IDs served as a pass for entry into the school premises and a card to hold load to purchase items within the school. We thought that it’d be good to ease some restrictions with physical money, like the need to bring change since some stores don’t have them. It would also encourage students to get their school IDs, thus helping with security.

However, the system is hard to code, and with our current skill level in that aspect, it would take a lot of time to develop the system, and we don’t have that much time. It is also costly since we need some delicate electronic to develop the ID card prototype.

Meanwhile, the locker vending machine is a concept we came up with with inspiration from similar ones in Japan. We planned on modifying it to be simpler and integrate the PisoNet’s system of converting cash to service. It would address a many students’ need to store their stuff—stuff that they need a lot but is a pain to bring every day. Like the ID e-cash system, it will need a lot of coding, but it isn’t complex enough that it needs a lot of time to develop.

Although the professor was more inclined towards the ID e-cash system, after some debate, we agreed to focus on the locker vending machine, which would give the user a password to reopen the locker after use. The locker also has a built-in timer which charges the user a certain amount of money based on the amount of time they used it.

I know that we have a lot to do. The locker isn’t going to be easy to create. We have to bear in mind security features, technology and time restraints, and the rates we’ll charge among other things. We also need to strategize where we’ll place the lockers and the locker’s dimensions that is specifically tailored to meet each college’s needs.

But as I said before, we can’t get gold without being bold enough to take the first step. We just have to learn to plan to fail strategically and be realistic with our product given the resources. Even if that point would eventually lead to failure, it’s going to be a stepping stone to redefine our business strategy.

(IN PHOTOS: A part of the summary of the interviewees’ responses, pictures of some of us surveying a college’s building)

[theentrepnoob]

Rain, rain, go away—

Come again another day

Everyone’s hustling for the day

Rain, rain, go away

Our plans for the interviews got soiled by a class suspension memorandum.

Thank God Central Mindanao University has more than 3,000 hectares of land, many of which host boarding houses and dorms for students.

So of course we improvised and interviewed in our own current residences.

But I had to delay for a bit in starting my interviews as it was the day I was assigned to document the College of Engineering’s first joint Hard Hatting and Pinning Ceremony. Because of my org duties, as I had a strict deadline, I was unable to join the group interviews. I tried to make up for it by checking the summaries of my group’s interviews and brainstorm ideas that’d address their interviewees’ concerns. I also interviewed many of my boardmates, many of which I didn’t actually had a conversation with before.

I pat myself on the back for getting myself out of my comfort zone for that one, because man was nerve-wrackingly awkward for me.

So three of my interviewees were from the College of Arts and Sciences. Two of them are English Majors and one of them is a Sciences major. They brought up the issue of transportation, particularly how hard it is to get to your location on time because the relas follow a route around the campus, which they said wasn’t an issue when the habal-habal was still around. They also raised a concern regarding the weakness of signal within College Park. And they also talked about how difficult it is to not have a convenience store that’s open 24/7 to buy medicines and groceries in case of emergencies.

After our interview, we had a quick chat regarding the possibility of the university creating a commercial area to generate income, which was pretty nice.

I also had the chance to interview two civil engineering students, a first year and a third year. The third year student talked about how they wanted to improve the structural stability of boarding houses. Meanwhile, the fellow firstie mentioned how difficult it is to find boarding houses around the campus and would like to see a public bulletin board or a catalogue for easier research.

Overall, the interviews were very informative and have made me think of issues in a way I haven’t thought of before, like the importance of having a 24/7 convenience store.

[theentrepnoob]

Chemistry—

—is really important when you’re going to be an entrepreneur.

If you don’t get along with your team, that’s half the battle lost in starting a business.

As we’re asked to make a start-up for the second semester for the subject “the Entrepreneurial Mind”, I immediately thought of putting myself up for adoption with the people I know I have good chemistry with.

My groupmates in Purposive Communication.

So the moment an opportunity presented itself, I immediately went to some of them. Presented myself to them as a two-in-one package with a close friend of mine from the class.

And a few days later, we had our first strategic meeting.

During the meeting, first, we chose our leader, Lyzabell Colcol, to spearhead the development of our start-up. Then we proceeded to discuss how we’ll tackle our first-ever group task together.

Originally we were supposed to interview 100 students, but the professor said 25 would do.

But we went a bit extra on the given minimum.

We planned on interviewing almost 50 students. 40 to be done individually and 10 as a group. Since we had limited time and differing class schedules we decided to split the interviews into five for each of us.

And for each we interviewed, we’d ask them the problems they’ve experienced or encountered and what they think would solve these.

After some more discussions—including the creation of a group chat—we went on our separate ways.

(IN PHOTOS: Justine Caling, Rhona Balaba, Kaye Miano, Lyzabell Colcol, Allyza Delfin, Christine Suello, Juanito Lagno Jr.)

[theentrepnoob]

Hey all—

So my dad’s an entrepreneur. Negosyante siya.

I grew up listening to him raving about his passion to grow the company.

And I know that despite him not telling me directly, he wants me to join him in his journey.

So to me, a twelve-year-old noob back then, entrepreneurship was an obligation I needed to do. It was a chore that would be a win-win situation for two reasons: to secure my future and make my dad happy. Entrepreneurship is literally a road that’d lead to a pot of gold!

But what I realized too late was that to get the gold I had to be bold enough to take the first step to start my journey.

I tried to get involved in businesses. They were—uh, failures that were necessary for my “character development”.

And now, for this subject, the Entrepreneurial Mind, watch me undergo another chapter of character development in my life through this blog—

The Entrep Noob.

To all those who want to learn business, I’ll be learning with you. Fail with me and my team. Win with us. As an introvert who wants to get those ideas out, I’m going to get out of my comfort zone for God, gold, and grades (just kidding on the last part!)

Read along as me and my team wrack our brains to create a startup, a brain baby, to address the concerns of the CMU community.