$100.00 Challenge Final Report

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Due to the fact that my family was happy and eager to brag about my products, I was able to use them as word-of-mouth advertisers to help spread the word about my business. Quite a few neighbors were interested in my products and I was able to generate more sales. The great thing about nearly all of my customers was that they were family, friends, and neighbors so I knew all of them personally. It made advertising my business easier because I knew that my customers were willing to provide me with honest feedback regarding my product.

Since nearly all of my customers were people I knew, I felt obligated to offer them high-quality products. I made each customer a guarantee that if something was wrong with any lantern that they purchased; I’d replace it for free in one day or less or return them their money. My customers really appreciated my personal guarantee and I was grateful that I didn’t encounter any problems or returns.

Overall, my business remained fairly consistent throughout the semester and I didn’t have much trouble selling my Autumn Lanterns. Even now, I am still receiving requests from people asking me to make more lanterns. Because of this, my business is doing very well and I have given it some thought about whether or not I’d like to do this again. If I were to do this again there would definitely be some things that I’d do different though.

Some of the things I would do differently if I had the chance to reopen my business or do everything over I would find a different adhesive that didn’t take long to dry. I’ve looked online and I have seen some adhesive glue spray cans that seem to work more efficiently than the hot glue and Mod Podge. Using an adhesive spray would save me a lot of production time and I could fill more orders quickly.

Another thing I would do would be invest in the technology and equipment to accept credit and debit cards so that I could generate and keep track of my sales more quickly and efficiently. I know that if I had the means to accept more than cash I could also invest in giving my customers order receipts which would make my business not only more professional, but functional as well. This would help me keep better track of who purchased my products, how many lanterns were purchased, and whether or not the customer has paid for their order or will pay upon delivery.

Aside from those two things I was pleased from the outcome of my business and I feel that it was successful. I was able to make $250 dollars in revenue by selling 25 Autumn Lanterns. Because I only used $19.97 in capital to start my business I was able to earn $230.03 in profit. While I’ve had fun from operating my own business, I’ve also appreciated the valuable lessons I’ve learned as well.

The biggest lesson I would say that has had the greatest impact on me has been the challenge to adapt. I’ve had to adapt to the needs and changes of customer’s schedules—making products and holding them until the customer is ready to take their goods home—and wants; I’ve also learned to try new things when your first attempts don’t give you the results you’re looking forward. One of my new phrases is “If plan A doesn’t work, stay cool because there are 25 more letters of the alphabet you can plan with.” This project has been fun but it’s also a great teacher that’s enable me to adapt and grow in ways I hadn’t thought possible.