Personal Log Of Business Enterprise Dazzling Stars Media

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Personal Log of Manish Abraham

Personal Log


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Dazzling Stars Media

Personal

Log

Personal Log of Manish Abraham (W11033698)2


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Abstract

This is a personal log which reflects on the various personal activities during the

entire period of:

Preparing & Establishing the Company.

The Period of Streaming.

The Liquidation of Company.

An effort has been put to demonstrate the personal contribution to the business

plan, the knowledge of the business function, commercial and legal awareness,

problem solving ability and Team working ability. In addition, I have also tried to

demonstrate the external mentor support as well as Engagement with the guest

speaker. There was an engagement with the module teaching team in the form

of Company Seminars which was scheduled with the tutor which is also attached.

The rest of evidence like due diligence meeting with young enterprise and other

evidences for the log is included in the Portfolio.



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Table of Contents

Topic

Page Number

Personal Log .......................................................................................................... 2

Abstract ................................................................................................................. 3

Table of Contents ................................................................................................... 4

The Idea Generation ............................................................................................. 4

Formation of Teams & Business Idea ..................................................................... 5

Business Planning .................................................................................................. 5

Technical Research & Development ..................................................................... 7

Data management ................................................................................................ 7

Social media harnessing ....................................................................................... 8

Increase Efficiency ................................................................................................. 8

Commercials ......................................................................................................... 9

Demonstration of the External Mentor Support ..................................................... 9

Demonstration of the Support from Guest Speakers ........................................... 11

The Idea Generation

As per Casson (1982) an entrepreneur is an individual and the explanation

given for this individual focus is that only individual persons can take

entrepreneurial decisions about coordinating the scarce resources. In case of

Dazzling Stars media, it was me who came up with the idea of starting up a radio

station long before setting up of the teams (see portfolio for the mail sent on 27 th

September 2011) because I had experience in broadcasting and in journalismand mass communication. Kirzner (1973, 1979) also suggested that

Personal Log of Manish Abraham (W11033698)

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entrepreneurial invention is usually an individualistic phenomenon. Although

purely relying on my own ideas would not be effective and after discussing with

Prof Steve Ball I was told to form a team, which much literature argues by

forming a team, entrepreneurs can develop socially extended cognitive nexus

whose computational and problem solving features is distinct from those of the

members (David harper, 2008).

Formation of Teams & Business Idea

I started looking for a team which would agree with the common goal which

Bachrach (2005), argues to be achieved by judicious joining of individual

entrepreneurial actions. In this case, I was unsuccessful, and in the third week,

the team was randomly allotted by the professors. When the team was allotted I

decided that we all will receive an equal opportunity to present individual,

business ideas in the first meeting of the company, and decide on the company

name and logo. After the first Belbin Test, (see Portfolio) I realised that I was

strong as a monitor evaluator and Implementer. In the first meeting, individual

business ideas, were discussed including selling cooked stuff, which I argued as

it was not covered with the insurance of young enterprise (see portfolio for

minutes). The team agreed with the business idea of starting a radio station. I

decided to authorize the responsibilities and gave the major task like the

managing directors responsibility to a person who was more experienced in

working in the real world (I was the youngest in the team) this demonstrated a

feeling of intense interdependence and also helped us to identify ourselves as a

team, which much literature argues as a crucial aspect to adopt an

interdependence hypothesis (Bacharach, 2006). I got the task as the marketing

director. One key factor was that none of us had a previous knowledge of

running a business as most of us were from the engineering school; I suggested

that we could engage sub entrepreneurs (Ensley et al., 2000; Timmons, 1994)

and have a nested entrepreneurial team T = {E1, S1, S2} but the team

overruled this as it would increase the expenses and time as everyone was in

their final year. So it was decided that we form a team with equal footing in a

joint venture thus T= {E1, E2...E6} (see the Portfolio for the individual team

position and team formation). For me, the most important learning was that I

understood the importance of proper team formation in a business.

Business Planning

Since the time, between the planning and feedback was very small the planning

in our case, was more effective (Locke & Latham 1980; Shane & Delmar, 2004).

We were able to manage a large amount of information and also able to expand

our cognitive limitations. Business Planning was a heterogeneous task since a lot

of areas were to be considered. Since I was the International rep, I suggestedstarting an international station which would be local in nature and would be able


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to involve communities and students in an interactive system (Bruce Girard,

2003). So the international radio became our USP (Unique selling proposition)

(Sterling. Ellen, 2011). In order to communicate effectively, we planned to

stream in different languages (Beattie & Shovelton, 2005), which was also our

unique point. My principal task in the whole process included collecting

information and innovating. This Business planning helped us to improve

performance (Lumpkin, et al.1998), though considered as a symbolic practice by

many (Stinchombe, 1965; Singh et al., 1986; Delmar & Shane, 2004) it helped to

show cast a mighty structured behaviour (Tomas Karlsson, 2007) and helped us

to deal with the institutional pressure. In the business plan, I set goals for

different tasks (copy of business plan submitted earlier) this goal setting theory

(Delmar & Shane, 2003) proved really helpful as we were able to complete a set

of tasks in a short period of time. This Knowledge will be useful to me as a

practitioner as I want to start my own business after graduation. Working on the

planning of this company was a real eye opener for me in terms of the lessons

learnt in management as well as the time delays which could take place. Ibelieve that the primary flaw lied in the formation of the team as we all did not

have a common goal while being formed. Secondly was an age difference, two of

the members were more than 40 and the rest of us including me were in 20 s,

which brought a delay in functioning as they were engaged in their own personal

interests and could devote less time to the company, knowing this in advance I

gave the prime responsibility (also see Portfolio for particular roles) like

managing director off, this was done in order to avoid conflicts in future as per

conflict management strategy (Werner Havenga, 2008) and also believing

empowerment, initiative will increase which may lead to an increase in

productivity and overall performance of a team (Wilson J 2009). What I havelearnt is that we need to check the capability of a person before delegating the

task; I would also consider hiring external consultants. I felt that at some times,

my team members were too relaxed, and discharge responsibilities on others

during the early stages of planning though, we all agree that we worked better

under pressure and by setting goals we were able to streamline our efforts.

Market Planning

We conducted our market planning due to its importance for the success of our

business (Gruber, 2004); it was my duty to obtain information and plan. As

per Stinchocombe (1965) the reference point for market planning in small firms

is the lack of internal data and historical background. My research was followed

after the research of Marc Gruber (2007) and focussed on the information about

competitors, customers and market position, this Marketing Competency

activity (Smart &Conant 1994)proved very helpful as we were able to achieve


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better knowledge of the market which in the longer run would have benefitted

(see appendix for the listening hours). I was involved in the planning & operation

of the social media platform which came in to effect after conducting a survey

(see the appendix for some survey results), to adhere with the data protection

act we did not include the name or details of the customer, which I had opposed

as I believed by getting the names and details we could contact them later &

establish a relationship with the client also known as the relationship

marketing activity (Morris et al. 2002). By a comprehensive market planning,

the other team members felt confident, and for the future, I understood the

importance of innovation, one to one approaches(Sheth et al 2000),

networking(Piercy and Cravens 1995), globalisation & technology (Day &

Montgomery 1983) which could be used to create another enterprise.

Entrepreneurial marketing is not the direct result of specific managerial decision

but more the consequence of entrepreneurial processes and culture (Hills, G. E

et al. 2008).

Technical Research & Development

We worked as a team when it came to develop technical stuff; it was my

responsibility to find a suitable server to stream the live radio. While selecting

a stream source, I kept the legal aspects in concern since we had to create a

quarterly report of the music usage (PPL guidelines 2011). I contacted various

providers and then after consultation with the team choose Voscast (see the

portfolio for chat), since they were economical as well as provided with all

necessary legal reports. This demonstrated the ability to choose from options

and conduct a survey. We had developed the website but it was not possible to

stream on that website this could be a due to incompatibility to live stream, so I

had the task to do research on the development of a new website which would

support the live stream, I contacted external lecturer on 24th Nov (copy of mail

in the portfolio) in order to examine how to set up a radio station website to live

stream and tried outsourcing it to decrease time delay (Moretto, M. and Rossini,

G, 2011), but was unsuccessful; Hence I had a meeting with carrot media in the

office on 30 Nov in order to examine the way to stream live, (see the portfolio for

the meeting) After some more research we were able to develop a website on

which we could stream. We had originally planned to come to my place, and

stream but eventually I realised it was difficult to travel as all lived in differentplaces, so I developed an additional plug with which we could stream music from

the homes of any individual making the travel easy and flexible. Having

experienced the way delays can take place I now realise the importance of

research and development in a company.

Data management

Being music based radio station there was a requirement of hard drives and data

storage facilities which was bought (See Portfolio for the bill), but I also collected

information about the potential advertisers and varying variety of music

benefitting us by improved and accurate reporting which linked the business


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function with the business process, (Jonathan Wu, 2005). At first I noticed it was

difficult, but eventually it was simpler to manage data. Once the plug to stream

from home was installed in all the computers the following question that aroused

was data transfer between members. We had a choice of auto dj, but I came up

with the idea of cloud storage. Cloud computing in business (Cloud computing,

Business Link, 2011) offered us a new method to manage data, softwares, and

information. The working practice became more flexible, and no more people

needed to come to my room to stream. In order to comply with the data

protection act 1998 we did not record any information about any of the

students. This helped us to easily deactivate the account once we liquidated. I

learnt the importance of data management in business processing, and having

learnt how to implement effective cloud computing/storage facilities, I can use it

in future business activities to reduce hardware & IT related costs.

Social media harnessing

We had decided to go for social media marketing, one to one marketing as it was

decided that the first step was to obtain trust. I suggested that we need to have

a single brand name and therefore, we changed the name of the radio station

from students radio fm to dazzling stars media radio (look at appendix for the

two websites). This helped to achieve significance in site optimisation which was

covered by Justin Turner in a presentation on 13 Feb 2012. I made a very

powerful marketing & promotion campaign which was focussed to gain attention

of the students and increase the listener count, I made a Wikipedia page, blog,

few YouTube videos, Twitter account, registered the company on Google places,

effectively used ad word campaigns (by use of free credits). This act is well

supported by studies on social networking and marketing (Stephanie maddocks,

2011). I was able to distinguish the companys profile in front of the students

union which was even passed on as a report to the student union council

(appendix for the report). I maintained and updated all these with new contents

and in liquidation deactivated all accounts. The message in local language

became an effective strategy to improve the acceptance of our brand name

which is also supported by (Ahn & LaFerla, 2008). Having read social media

marketing (Jan Zimmerman & Doug Sahlin 2010) and practising it practically I

now can promote my company, which I hope to build in a very effective manner.

Increase Efficiency

In the initial business plan, we had decided to go with the stream quality which

was the cheapest and affordable till we got advertisers, but after getting

Individual feed backs from listeners, (see the appendix). I recommended an

increase in efficiency to provide superior customer service in order to get newlisteners as well as get the same listener return, We decided to increase the


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stream bit rate to double which resulted in more customers coming back(look at

return customer bounce back figures in portfolio). In the presentation, we were

told about mail chump which could be used to send multiple feed backs,

therefore, we started a feedback section which was

online therefore made the website more interactive. This method to

Increase efficiency & maximise profit (Business Link, 2011) helped

me to understand how to maintain customer loyalty and how

important it is. We were not able to get potential advertisers because

by the time we got listeners we were asked to liquidate.

Commercials

Initially we were able to create internet based advertisements, but after

understanding the importance of on air radio commercials (Torosyan and munro,

2010) I created some radio advertisements for some clubs who initially wanted

to advertise (see the portfolio), but since we could not promote alcohol due to

legal issues (PPL licensing UK, 2010), this could be, so that no kids listen to the

promotion (Institute of alcohol studies, 2010). I had to generate new adverts, but

the trading period was over, and we had to liquidate, but I understood that radio

service also improves the commercial environment and is not only for recreation

(Rajagopal, 2011). Having experienced the whole process I can say an

entrepreneurial action is inextricable from the trial and error process of testing

out the idea Vaughn (1990).

Total Word Count 2114 words

Demonstration of the External Mentor Support

External mentor: Chris Barber (Carrot media)


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Chris Barber was our external mentor and worked as a website developer since

he graduated in 2007 from Newcastle University. He was acting as the technical

director of Carrot media. Initially once we set up the website, we had a problem

with the website because of which we were not able to live stream on the

website we had created. I contacted our external mentor and me and one of my

team mates visited the office of carrot media on 30 Nov 2011(look at the log of

meeting in the portfolio and also the first company seminar meeting).

He suggested us to create websites which are based on open source free

softwares like the word press and buddy press. He also recommended

considering companies which provide online creation of websites as it was fast

and required less coding. Based on this suggestion we created a website which

was based on the suggestion we created a website which was based on the

online portal of Wix, (Please look at the portfolio for Wix website).

I realised that the Wix website was based on flash and was not supported by allthe processors, and there was a problem in marketing it on face book. I

contacted Chris, and he suggested me to use all in one SEO optimization packs,

and try any other service provider, I transferred the website service to Yola (Look

at the website creation of Yola in the portfolio), and by transferring to Yola we

build a website using an online portal. I also used the SEO optimization methods

which fastened our marketing procedures. After undertaking the suggestions we

were able to optimize our marketing and also able to create a website which

could be used in order to stream live music. He even helped me to understand

how to optimize the website on Google, now our website

www.dazzlingstarsmedia.com is ranked as the first website on Google. (Pleaselook at screen shot of Google).

He suggested us to use the social media as an effective tool of marketing, not

only face book but other mediums like YouTube videos twitter, MySpace, as a

tool to advertise the radio. This social media marketing (Jan Zimmerman & Doug

Sahlin 2010) helped us to reach a larger section of students who were our main

consumers.

I learnt how an external mentor can help us to mould the whole business in an

easy and effective manner. I was able to get a third persons opinion on problems

we faced and learnt how it could save time and effort.

Chris left carrot media in January 2012 and joined Sage as a Web Application

Developer. He even supported us once he left Carrot Media by responding to

online enquiries. The support that Chris provided as an External mentor was

enormous. During liquidation I even send him an acknowledgement mail

thanking him for the support he provided. (Copy of mail attached in the

portfolio).

Contact Details of Chris Barber- [email protected].



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Demonstration of the Support from Guest

Speakers

Mark Renney Wubble you Ltd (Guest speaker 14th Nov 2011)

I contacted Wubble you on 24th Nov 2011 (please look at portfolio for the mail),

regarding the difficulties we faced in streaming through our website and the

problems, we faced since in the lecture we were told that wubble you specialized

in website designing and site engine optimization. Personally they had not

worked in live streaming sector before, but he suggested me some websites

which helped us in providing resources for live streaming, he also provided help

in keyword generation tools for site engine optimization. I found him responsive

in the help he provided me to get interested and enhance my knowledge, even

though live streaming was out of his table he came up with a valuable

solution. In order to remain in contact with Mark and his company in the future Ihave connected with him on Linked In. I even sent him an email during our

liquidation thanking him for his support (please check the portfolio).

Bryony Mansell - O Communication (Guest Speaker 21st Nov 2011)

After the lecture in Getting the best out of press, we decided to create a press

release, I tried to contact her but did not have her Email ID, since it was not

given in the presentation; hence I contacted her on Face book(please see the

proof in portfolio). After creating a press release we needed a medium to spread

the word, press would be the best medium, so I tried contacting her again, but

later we created a blog and uploaded the press release on the blog (please see

the blog in portfolio). This guest lecture made me realise the importance of press

releases and copyright laws, and also made me realise that in future

presentations, I would need to leave my contact details for customers to contact

me.

Justin Turner Carrot media (Visiting lecturer 13th Feb 2012)

I had implemented the Internet marketing methods which the external mentor

had discussed in the lecture on the impact of E Business. After the lecture, I

personally met the external mentor in order to understand how to get freecredits for the ad words. This helped the company to save a lot of money on

advertisements as we were able to utilize free resources available online. (Please

look at the ad word billing information which was all free because of coupons).

Justin has also helped me by constantly answering my queries with a smile. I

would say that he and his team are some of the brightest team in the creative

sector of software engineering. The lecturer also explained me the importance of

Networking; hence I connected with him on Linked in for any help in future.

Matthew Rippon Particular C&L Ltd (Guest Speaker 27th Feb 2012)


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I connected with Matthew on Linked In (please look at the linked in connection

page on the portfolio), In case of our company Young enterprise acted as

Insurers as well as legal consultants. In the lecture I realised the importance of

legal consultants and how they can help us in saving a lot of money and time. In

the future, I can always contact Matthew for patenting an Intellectual Property

Right.


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Personal Log Of Business Enterprise Dazzling Stars Media