Sunday, May 31, 2015
May Blog Post
For the month of May I have been wrapping up my mentorship at the Ontario Mills Mall. My mentor Alex Rehim is more of a friend then a mentor so when I conclude my mentorship when school is over I will still keep in touch and visit his business once in a while. He plans on opening more kiosks for the duration of summer and has invited me to help set up and check them out. Overall this year has been a fun time with my mentor and even though we will not be meeting any longer we will still maintain contact.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Blog 23: Final Lesson Reflection
(1) Positive Statement
What are you MOST proud of in your block presentation and / or your senior project? Why?
I am most proud of the fact that I was able to participate in my mentors business as a salesman because it gave me an entirely different perspective on how a business is made up of different but essential components.
(2) Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
AE because I feel like I was able to effectively display my entire senior project and everything went smoothly throughout my presentation
b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
P+ because some aspects of my senior project were lacking during the year but I eventually finished everything
(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
My mentorship definitely worked with the help of my mentor because he helped me understand how a business is run.
(4) (What did not work) If you had a time machine, what would You have done differently to Improve Your senior project If You Could go back in time?
I would have looked more into the marketing and advertising aspect of my mentors business because even though it is difficult for small businesses to advertise it is definitely something to look into for growth.
(5) Finding Value
How has the project senior Been Helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.
I think it helped me decide a potential career in the future, before this year I had no knowledge on how a business is run or even what comprises a business but this project has helped me look more into it and potentially pursue education on businesses.
What are you MOST proud of in your block presentation and / or your senior project? Why?
I am most proud of the fact that I was able to participate in my mentors business as a salesman because it gave me an entirely different perspective on how a business is made up of different but essential components.
(2) Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
AE because I feel like I was able to effectively display my entire senior project and everything went smoothly throughout my presentation
b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
P+ because some aspects of my senior project were lacking during the year but I eventually finished everything
(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
My mentorship definitely worked with the help of my mentor because he helped me understand how a business is run.
(4) (What did not work) If you had a time machine, what would You have done differently to Improve Your senior project If You Could go back in time?
I would have looked more into the marketing and advertising aspect of my mentors business because even though it is difficult for small businesses to advertise it is definitely something to look into for growth.
(5) Finding Value
How has the project senior Been Helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.
I think it helped me decide a potential career in the future, before this year I had no knowledge on how a business is run or even what comprises a business but this project has helped me look more into it and potentially pursue education on businesses.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Blog 22: Mentorship
Content:
LIA Response to blog:
Literal
·· Alex Rehim, Ontario Mills Mall
Interpretive
What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
-The most important thing I gained from this experience is the knowledge about running a business, many times people think that a business is just selling things or providing a good or service but I realized through my mentorship that a business is made up of so many things like customer service, supply and demand, and many more. My mentor showed me that a business is suppose to pay for itself. I think that's important because when I first started mentorship I knew nothing and thought everything was just easy going but with throughout the year I was able to generate an essential question and three answers for that question.
Applied
How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.
-The hours I spent at mentorship at first was just helping around my mentors business but then as I progressed my mentor involved me more in the business aspect of everything. He actually showed me the businesses finances and why its important to have loyal customers and pretty much all my answers to my EQ. For example a sales pitch, when selling toys you need a certain style of sales pitch because a toy is different then if you were selling beauty products, for beauty products you would need a very professional approach with a longer pitch and for toys you don't need to be professional because the product are toys and most of the people attracted to that are kids. The pitch also doesn't need to long but rather a shorter version is better because most people know what that is.
LIA Response to blog:
Literal
·· Alex Rehim, Ontario Mills Mall
Interpretive
What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
-The most important thing I gained from this experience is the knowledge about running a business, many times people think that a business is just selling things or providing a good or service but I realized through my mentorship that a business is made up of so many things like customer service, supply and demand, and many more. My mentor showed me that a business is suppose to pay for itself. I think that's important because when I first started mentorship I knew nothing and thought everything was just easy going but with throughout the year I was able to generate an essential question and three answers for that question.
Applied
How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.
-The hours I spent at mentorship at first was just helping around my mentors business but then as I progressed my mentor involved me more in the business aspect of everything. He actually showed me the businesses finances and why its important to have loyal customers and pretty much all my answers to my EQ. For example a sales pitch, when selling toys you need a certain style of sales pitch because a toy is different then if you were selling beauty products, for beauty products you would need a very professional approach with a longer pitch and for toys you don't need to be professional because the product are toys and most of the people attracted to that are kids. The pitch also doesn't need to long but rather a shorter version is better because most people know what that is.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Exit Interview
1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?
-My essential question is, what is the best way to maintain profits year round with minimal manipulation to prices. My best answer is, keep up with trends and have good salesmanship because toys are seasonal and new toys come out often. Also because most of the time as a sale person you will be pitching to parents of kids so good salesmanship is necessary to convince the parents.
(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
-No real process was undergone, the answer was found mostly by accident by the help of my mentor. New toys were coming out and he didn't have them and he saw a decrease in sales.
(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
-One problem I faced was that even though toys are for kids, kids themselves didn't have money to pay for them so the parents were the ones deciding whether or not to buy the toys. I solved by generating, with the help of my mentor, a different sales approach to parents that was shorter and related more to the child.
(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
-The two most significant sources I used to answer my EQ was my mentor and articles I found online. In the hours I did at my mentorship he helped me develop three different answers to my EQ and when I formulated those answers I did further research to further support my answers. The articles were mostly random but still related to my answers.
-My essential question is, what is the best way to maintain profits year round with minimal manipulation to prices. My best answer is, keep up with trends and have good salesmanship because toys are seasonal and new toys come out often. Also because most of the time as a sale person you will be pitching to parents of kids so good salesmanship is necessary to convince the parents.
(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
-No real process was undergone, the answer was found mostly by accident by the help of my mentor. New toys were coming out and he didn't have them and he saw a decrease in sales.
(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
-One problem I faced was that even though toys are for kids, kids themselves didn't have money to pay for them so the parents were the ones deciding whether or not to buy the toys. I solved by generating, with the help of my mentor, a different sales approach to parents that was shorter and related more to the child.
(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
-The two most significant sources I used to answer my EQ was my mentor and articles I found online. In the hours I did at my mentorship he helped me develop three different answers to my EQ and when I formulated those answers I did further research to further support my answers. The articles were mostly random but still related to my answers.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
April Extra Post
While at mentorship I was discussing with my mentor the possibility of bringing new toys for younger kids between ages 1 and 3. Since kids usually have siblings some toys that my mentor sells are no for kids under 5 because of the risks involved like choking. So with that in mind I gave my mentor the idea of selling toy bears for kids since younger kids tend to enjoy toy animals. My mentor like the idea and said he would look into it, first he would have to find a supplier.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Blog 19: Independent Component 2
LITERAL
(a) I, Brian Arteaga, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) My main source of help for my independent component was my mentor himself Alex Ahmed. I felt that he would best help me understand my EQ since he has experience with small businesses and because before opening his business he was a salesmen in his home country.
(d)When mentoring with him I was focusing mostly on my second answer, advertising more effectively and offering an experience with the business, but found that my third answer was most related to my work. While completing my 30 hours I talked and jelled many customers and would address their concerns, until my mentor gave me advice when doing so. He noticed that i was very serious when helping customers so he politely mentioned to me that I should be more out going since it was toys that we were selling. He also told me that even joking around with customers every once in a while is really good for customers to return and purchase again. Since toys are often seasonal my mentor explained to me that updating his display was crucial in maintaining sales since toys come and go he finds himself buying toys based on popularity to best keep customers happy.
(a) I, Brian Arteaga, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) My main source of help for my independent component was my mentor himself Alex Ahmed. I felt that he would best help me understand my EQ since he has experience with small businesses and because before opening his business he was a salesmen in his home country.
(d)When mentoring with him I was focusing mostly on my second answer, advertising more effectively and offering an experience with the business, but found that my third answer was most related to my work. While completing my 30 hours I talked and jelled many customers and would address their concerns, until my mentor gave me advice when doing so. He noticed that i was very serious when helping customers so he politely mentioned to me that I should be more out going since it was toys that we were selling. He also told me that even joking around with customers every once in a while is really good for customers to return and purchase again. Since toys are often seasonal my mentor explained to me that updating his display was crucial in maintaining sales since toys come and go he finds himself buying toys based on popularity to best keep customers happy.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Fourth Interview Questions
1. Would you consider yourself an expert in business?
2. How much experience is enough experience in a business?
3. Does the amount of experience you have help with maintaining profits?
4. Is wholesaling an option?
5. Do your sales decrease when prices increase?
6. How are there sales?
7. Is there a certain age that you like to focus when you are making sales?
8. How often do you encounter frequent customers?
9. How do you adjust to changes in rent/lease for your business?
10. Is there an employee there at all hours of the business?
11. Is health insurance an option for employees?
12. Do you buy wholesale?
13. How many employees are currently on payroll?
14. Do sell online?
15. Do you ship oversees?
16. When sales are high do you multiple employees work at one time?
17. Does sales experience help with making sales?
18. Do personal emotions affect ability to make sales?
19. Does the employee working dictate sales entirely?
20. Any factors that influence your sales?
2. How much experience is enough experience in a business?
3. Does the amount of experience you have help with maintaining profits?
4. Is wholesaling an option?
5. Do your sales decrease when prices increase?
6. How are there sales?
7. Is there a certain age that you like to focus when you are making sales?
8. How often do you encounter frequent customers?
9. How do you adjust to changes in rent/lease for your business?
10. Is there an employee there at all hours of the business?
11. Is health insurance an option for employees?
12. Do you buy wholesale?
13. How many employees are currently on payroll?
14. Do sell online?
15. Do you ship oversees?
16. When sales are high do you multiple employees work at one time?
17. Does sales experience help with making sales?
18. Do personal emotions affect ability to make sales?
19. Does the employee working dictate sales entirely?
20. Any factors that influence your sales?
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