Week 3: Sunday 16.10.16

We are heading towards week 4, and have only two weeks left of deciding what our buiness will sell, and to get familiar with the market we will be aiming to sell our products to.

Currently, we have different ideas of products we could possibly be selling. One of the main ideas, or the ever first one we had was to develop tote bags. Lately, the tote bags have increased in popularity. I think everyone can say they have spotted on a tote bag somewhere, it has taken over the plastic carrying bags the last years because it is a more sustainable option.

For instance, I have stopped using plastic bags for multiple reasons: it is better for the environment, I will be spending less money, it takes less space in the shelves and because it is more convenient for me to carry a tote bag on my shoulder(s) than carrying plastic bags with my hands.

I have seen a lot of girls carry tote bags with different prints, and the idea of selling tote bags sounded like it could be a successful business.

The only question was, how would we develop our bags in order to make them appear more attractive, and look like a unique product?

There are many different tote bags sold in different retail stores. I wanted our tote bags to have some special features that would make the product distinct itself from every other tote bag that has been created. The features I had in mind was to add reflective tape. Now, as the days are getting darker, I thought it would be cool to add reflective tape that would not only look more attractive but would also carry the function of being noticed by the cars in the dark. Moreover, we were thinking of adding some pockets inside, and a button to make it possible to wrap it around like an umbrella. Basically, these different features would definitely add value to our product, so our mission would firstly be to figure out if our product is sellable. And then, take it from there.

Our second idea is to sell chain handbags with cute and adorable designs, that are very popular in China. This product is from a website called Alibaba, a Chinese version of Ebay. Some of us in the group, were very into this idea, and I also liked it. However, I would prefer to sell something made from scratch and by us, rather than purchasing products from a supplier and then reselling it in England.

Alibaba is actually only purchaseable for Chinese residents, so in that way, British citizens wouldn't be able to buy anything from the website, because they do not accept International currencies. Less competition for us, as these products are not available in the British market. But, the question is if British people would be interested in these products, and the way to find that out will be to carry out a market research to see what is available out there, what are our potentially competitors doing, what similar products do they offer, and for what value? Is there a market out there that would be interested in our product, or will we be targeting the wrong market?

These questions are important to find answers to, as they determine whether or not our business will become successful.

#entrepreneurship #totebags #businessproject