BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #9

Challenge: "For this challenge, I want you to do some research online about Instagram. Feel free to do as much research as you want, but you only have to answer the question that was assigned to you... Brennan - Explain three ways in which someone could use Instagram for business purposes."

        Instagram is a booming social networking application which uses pictures to connect people across the web. You can share a picture of your beautiful trip to the Bahamas, hard earned running medal or (like most people) your mediocre breakfast set-up at Cora's. Instagram is absolutely brilliant from a business persons stand-point, you can follow people or potential customers then simultaneously gain followers and use that newly gained follower base to showcase your new products, events or whatever it is you may want to advertise. It's free marketing, with enormous potential for any business. That being said, here are three ways someone could use Istagram for business purposes.


1) First and foremost, any business person could use Instagram (and should be using Instagram!). Instagram isn't only for the modern hipster or sneakerhead-enthusiast; Instagram is for anybody and everybody, it's very user friendly. Many people ranging from all ages use the app and more than least follow it quite frequently, people are always scrolling for new content to catch their eye or a new interesting account to follow. With that in mind, you can create your account showcasing your business and follow a potential fan/customer base hoping they might wish to follow you back to see what your business has to offer. If they see that your content is relevant and attractive to their likes and wants (i.e; your product and/or service) they can choose to follow you. BAM! Now you have one new follower and potential customer in your grasp, now you just have to keep them on the hook with what's to follow in your social-advertising future. 

2) Now that you have some followers who share the same interests as your business, you can begin to post your content! Your content will include all the relevant content necessary to properly market your product/service/business pitching it straight to your customers mobile device and/or computer. And what's the best part about this? IT'S FREE! Free publicity is always welcomed into a business.

3) Now that your customers see what you are, what you have to offer, you can show them who you are. You can continue to post simple product grids or event posters, but this is your business account. This is your businesses face in Instagram, help your customer connect. Make them feel as if someone is behind that branding, not just a corporate machine being paid by the hour. Become active, branch out a bit (but stay relevant), post some things that show who and what your business is about. Show who you are, show what you stand or don't stand for. Show your philosophy, ambitions, inspire somebody! You can get creative with this one. 

There are limitless applications to using this application within a business world, and it's truly amazing. You can demonstrate your business to your fan base and create a deeper connection, luring your customer in for some unique, everyday product placement. All for free.

Thanks for reading!

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #8

My challenge: "In many companies, the first person you may meet, before being hired, usually comes from Human Resources.  But what exactly goes on behind the HR doors?  We have an idea about what accountants do, how marketers spend their days, but what about those guards at the door who you need to get past?  For this challenge, I want you to do a little research into the lives of the HR department.  What do they do?  What are they responsible for?  Is it more than just interviews?  What professional organizations do they belong to?"


The Human Resources (HR) department of a business is an extremely important piece to your business puzzle. Although sometimes overlooked, the HR department provides your business with a representation and professional manner. Human Resources is responsible for; the recruitment and selection process; classification and pay systems; policy development and management; employee training and development programs; equal employment opportunity and affirmative action programming; and humanistic services such as Employee Assistance Programs.

As you can understand, the HR department is a dire part of any professional organization that wishes to be successful with their customers, employees and staff services such as Walmart, Diamond Supply Company, and even a bank!

   Thanks for reading!

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #7

Challenge #7 (Key Challenge 2): The Financial Plan

Using the business idea that you developed in challenge #4, you are going to create your financial plan for the first month you are in business.  These numbers will show if your business can make money. You can also use this section to convince potential lenders that your company can repay any money it borrows. There are three sections you must complete: start-up costs, financing, and income statement.

Start-up Costs

Your task here is to calculate how much it will cost to start up your business. Assume that you will require a business loan and the Ulnooweg Youth Business Loan is your only option.

The Ulnooweg Youth Business Loan is:

·         Available to Aboriginal business owners in Atlantic Canada under the age of 35

·         Can receive a maximum of $15000

·         The interest rate is fixed at 8.5 percent

·         The repayment schedule is monthly to a maximum of 5 years

Like most business loans, the borrower (you) is required to pay a percentage up front in order to get the loan – this is called a down payment. In this case, the down payment is 10%. If you decide to borrow $10,000, your down payment will be $1000. If you decide to borrow $15,000, your down payment will be $1500. As a result, when you determine your start-up costs, they must not be greater than $16,500 ($15,000 loan + $1500 down payment).

 

Start-up costs are the initial costs necessary to get a business up and running. They will vary depending on the nature of the business you are opening. Anything you plan to purchase before opening the business would be considering a start-up cost. Below is an example of the start-up costs for an insurance company.       

 

 

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #6

My Tiamuk Challenge was: "In Nova Scotia there are five universities, all of which offer a business program.  Dalhousie University and St. Mary’s University offer what is called a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and Mount St. Vincent University, Cape Breton University, and Acadia University offer what is called a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree.  What I would like you to do is to take a look at all the websites for the various universities (links below) and let write a short description on the difference (if any) between the two programs.  Look at the courses you are required to take throughout the four years and see if there are any differences in the courses required to graduate and see if there are any differences in what you can do in regards to further education or employment.  You can also do some other general searches to find additional information on the differences between the two degrees.  Based on what you have found while reading the literature on the various schools, is there one university that you would pick over the other for your business degree, if you were to take one, and why?"

Dalhousie University (DAL); offers a Bachelors of Commerce Co-Op program for anyone who wishes to study business at DAL. In this program you are required to complete three mandatory co-op work terms in which you will gain valuable "real world" work experience and learn important skills which will help you in your future business career. This program is also accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). By the end you will have the option of graduating with a general commerce co-op degree or declaring one of the seven major options.

St Mary's University (SMU); offers the Sobey Bachelor of Commerce program. The program provides students with a solid foundation in business and a wide range of specialization options (more than any post-secondary institution in Atlantic Canada) and extensive opportunity to get hands on work experience and interaction within the business community. You can also custom design your degree with the corporative education option and opportunities for international study. The first two years will be concentrated on building yourself a solid foundation of general business knowledge and skills, then you are required to peruse one of ten majors offered by St. Mary's. The co-operative education option is available to students who maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher. These students will complete three work terms in addition to degree requirements under supervision of a business co-op supervisor.

Mount St. Vincent University (MSVU); offers a Business Administration (BA) program where you can graduate with a BA and a major in either marketing, accounting, management or complete your BA without the intention of a major where you may minor in a branch of business and graduate with a BA of general business. Whatever route you choose will accompany you with quality learning experience and an exceptional knowledge of business. 

Cape Breton University (CBU); A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from CBU'S Shannon School of Business is a highly desirable route. CBU offers a flexible program to help the student achieve their truest potential with whatever path they choose to Pursue within business. CBU offers intelligent, experienced staff and professors to help you get the best out of your Shannon experience! CBU also has great ties with the local Cape Breton business community which is a great asset to students attending the Shannon School of Business allowing for rich interaction between students, professionals, managers and business owners. CBU's BBA program presents students with the chance to develop an innovative program experience including core curriculum, elective courses and if they choose, a business concentration! 

Acadia University; Acadia offers a Bachelor of Business Administration program. Acadia presents their BBA program structure in 3 cores. The first (year one) is presented as "The Foundation", consisting of introductory level courses in a broad range of areas which prepare students with the tools and knowledge to proceed to the next level (year two) of the BBA structure which Acadia calls "CORE".
"The CORE is a rigorous, focused year of study where students are registered with a common class cohort in nine required business courses, representing the major functional disciplines.". CORE provides students with an exceptional understanding of the financial, marketing and operational realities of the business world. The third and final stage of your BBA experience (years three & four) with Acadia is the "Interest-Driven Learning" level. In the third and fourth years, students complete the remaining portion of their BBA and seek out different business and non-business electives to explore themselves and their interests while completing their major.

Bachelor of Commerce (Bcom.) Vs. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA):

The BBA usually requires a major in a specific field or study of business. The BCom. normally provides students with some broadened business learning experience with theory and ideas based on "real life" business situations. By learning in a "real life" business setting the student os forced to think in such, rather than with a "text book" mind setting which in some cases can be much more beneficial. If you would ask almost any entrepreneur which has not attended an post-secondary institution, they will tell you that they've learned more valuable skills and theories pertaining to business and real life than they ever would have if they'd gone to school instead of becoming an entrepreneur. That could be said with anything, outside of business even. Even though working through the situation in a real life setting can be more valuable than working through the situation in a text book/classroom setting. Don't let that stop you from perusing a smart path with post-secondary education. If they had the opportunity, 9/10 of those entrepreneurs would have taken it.

Now personally I find it extremely hard to decide which is the better program or path for myself. A BBA presents an excellent education and mental tools to embark yourself unto the harsh business world. A Bcom. presents students with a bit less of a "text book" education and more hands on experience, with co-op work programs where you actually get to experience real life work in local business community and are presented with real life situations and theory to contemplate, work through and emirs your mind in. Overall I'd say it all depends on what you (the student) are looking for. Are you looking for a great business education in a classroom setting, or are you looking for a more hands on, self-experience workplace setting? Both programs offer the potential for the development of an excellent future business leader, it just depends what you want from your post-secondary business education. I do not know what I would choose, they both seem awesome to me! I love the idea of a co-op program but I also love the education that a BBA offers. I am undecided.

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #5

My Tiamuk challenge was: "Provide a write-up that describes how community debt will affect the youth in the future.  What are some ways that can either help reduce debt, or how can a community avoid going into debt. The length of your replies should be roughly 2 or 3 paragraphs." Here is my write-up:

"Debt is the simplest way of adding weight to the future to ease the load of today". Realistically, debt has the greatest affect on the future and it's inhabitants (the ones who end up cleaning it up afterwards) rather than the subjects who are creating the debt in the future. The youth are the future and we will be the ones having to clean it up and take care of it once it catches up with our community. Our communities should concentrate on smart investments to take and keep us out of debt. Because investments are a great way to do that, though it is and can be a great gamble, are the best option towards battling debt. Although you need to make smart investments that ultimately end in revenue, because that's what the world runs off, "revenue"! So is there any better way to go about it?

         The youth are the future of our communities, wether you're in a city, town or reservation. There's no way of getting around it, it's simple and evident. The youth will grown and develop to take place of the elders who grow too far to continue the role they are partaking in. So what happens when your community decides to use its money to make bad investments which result in debt? The youth that tale their place are the ones ultimately having to take care of it, because of the amount of debt we've fallen into! It's an under looked yet great issue that surrounds all of us everyday. Debt is a serious problem and the youth of today have to figure out how to invest intelligently with a vision of the future and create revenue and slowly carry their people out of debt.

         Our community leaders need to battle this thing one step at a time, in the sense that this is no small problem that can be taken care of with one big gamble that will take us out of debt and do good for the community with one (or multiple) "big swings". Community leaders should be concentrating on the future and take a focus on the action plan one step at a time. You can't take down a sky-scraper with "one big swing". You have to set explosives at the base of the building on the inside and implode it, which is literally taking the building down one step at a time. We need to look at debt the same way. Communities should handle debt one smart investment at a time, cumulating revenue at a slow, yet effective pace. Which in the end results in reducing debt, without further increasing it. 

         The only way to stay out of debt is to at the same time battle it. Just like imploding a building, continue to take it one step at a time. Staying out of debt requires that we make smart investments and create awesome, intelligent opportunities for our community to continue to overcome and avoid going into debt. Such as funding a small (but safe, secure and promising) business or entrepreneur. We will not overcome debt by putting big money into big projects that become dead or unfinished or just unsuccessful. 

         We should never put our problems of today onto the plate of tomorrow, because frankly that's just lazy. We need to look at it now and realize the realism that debt presents right in-front of us on our doorstep. Debt is stubborn, annoying and can pack a huge punch. So why not kick it off the door step and move onto brighter days of a debt free, economically aspiring, prospering community? Investing with a worry of the future and a smart, business look will accomplish this. We can fight and take care of debt. Community leaders, fight it today. Youth continue to fight it tomorrow. Debt will not continue to have a grasp on our communities.   

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #4

Tiamuk, Challenge #4:

"You will need to spend some time developing your business idea. One of the greatest advantages of being an entrepreneur is being able to work on something that interests you and that you are passionate about. Unfortunately, passion does not always translate into profits.

Brainstorming: Write down all of your strengths and weaknesses on a piece of paper. Include everything from work, knowledge, hobbies, music, art, etc. Is there anything you wrote down that you feel translates into a potential business idea?
Research, research, research! The more information you can gather about the potential demand for your product or service, about your competitors, and about the needs and wants of your prospective customers, the more successful you are likely to be.

Now that you have your idea, answer the following questions:
1. What is the name of your business?
2. Describe your business. What products and/or services will you be providing?
3. Why have you chosen this type of business? What skills do you bring to the table?
4. Where will your business be located? Please be specific.
5. Other than yourself, how many employees will you be needing (maximum of 5 for this activity)?
6. Who will be your main competitors? List at least 2.
7. What is your competitive advantage? In other words: why will customers buy from you instead of your competitors?

When you are finished, post your answers the Facebook group. Please be as detailed as possible, and feel free to provide any other information you think is relevant."

Challenge #4 - Brennan Googoo:

The name of my business is "Urban Tribal". Urban Tribal is a clothing business, (clothing brand) that provides todays modern stylistic lifestyle with a beautiful textile to compliment. We will jump into the extremely competitive business world of urban clothing. Though this is a very competitive market, that's not necessarily a bad thing. We will use the competitiveness to our advantage through the fact that the market and world of urban clothing is forever developing and aspiring in so many different ways as artists continue to express themselves through their art, which is textile designing.

Urban Tribal will differentiate itself from the crowd through its unique clothing style, mixing traditional native designs and style with the modern day style that clothing has taken today. Drawing deep and pure inspiration from the aboriginal peoples of our homeland, our planet. Rugged, worn clothing with a sumptuous touch along with abstract designs, inspired imaging resulting in a beautiful, particularly unique visual and feel. Anybody from all backgrounds and setting will want to get their hands on our new take on the urban clothing world.

I have chosen this type of business because I like to think of myself as a stylistic individual with an exceptional view on clothing and what it takes to run a business and run a clothing brand. I have a deep passion for both (entrepreneurial) business and the clothing industry. I strongly follow the clothing industry and I like to keep up with what's in, what's out, what's new, what's old and when and where certain things are a good choice in this area. I also have exceptional experience with different styles of art and textile(s) technology so I have a solid foundation when starting my own clothing brand.

I would like to have my clothing brand headquarters located in a rich, lively urban area, such as downtown Toronto or Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California which is an iconic location in the urban clothing industry having been home to many current power house brands such as Diamond Supply Co. when they were first starting out, entering the fierce world of urban street wear. I think fairfax would be an amazing location and opportunity for Urban Tribal and a great test to see how we measure up in the industry and a great precursor for our future.

Other than myself, I will not need a specific number of employees but a specific number of positions to help support urban Tribal on it's promising journey to great potential. We will have a family of respectable, humble, ambitious and intelligent people (rather than employees). First of all coming from a wide rage of fashion and artistic backgrounds, we will have a team of graphic/product designers that will focus on the overall designs, visuals and feel of our actual product (which will be in high quality). We will also have a marketing (strategy) team that will focus on our overall market stature and focus on getting the brand out there marketing Urban Tribal to potential customers. We will also have a basic, yet very reliable operations manager focusing on our customers and making the best of their overall experience with Urban Tribal. We will also need a Financial team/officer who will look over our accounting work and financial(s) standpoint and which steps to take forward toward a brighter financial future. Lastly, but surly not last we will have myself, CEO/founder of Urban Tribal, Brennan Googoo who will watch over each team/section and generally watch over the brand as I fill in the cracks and cement our brand as a family of dream chasers with the main goal to make sure we put out the best product and experience to our fans!

Our main competitors would be a broader range due to our style scratching the surface of multiple styles of clothing and branding; with main competitors being clothing industry power houses such as Rook, Diamond Supply Co., Hollister, Abercrombie and vans; also local clothing brands such as East Coast Life Style and G.R.O.W. But I believe that in time we will be able to compete with these brands and an advanced level.

Urban Tribal is a family of dream chasers that will produce high quality, unique clothing with a fresh look on the industry. Urban Tribal is something new, something different and something that will take the hipster, urban clothing industry to a new level that it needs. Urban Tribal takes the boots of the hard working peasant, slacks of an average mediocre persons and the golden crown of a king mixing it into one affordable product that all will want to wear.

BNAY - Tiamuk, Challenge #3

Tiamuk challenge #3:
"You have been hired as the Economic Development Officer (EDO) for your community and have been granted a business loan of $100,000 by Ulnooweg to invest in your community. Your job is to explain to the rest of the group where you would spend this money. The money must been spent in a way you think will stimulate economic development in your community.

As the Economic Developer Officer (EDO) of Millbrook First Nations community I have been granted a business loan of $100000 from Ulnooweg Development Group (if you have read my last challenge you will know who Ulnooweg is and what they are). I created a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel to help explain exactly where Millbrook's money is going into the investment (mind you these are mainly rough estimates and not exact calculations for the accounts).

I am leveraging a $100000 loan from Ulnooweg to provide a business opportunity for the Millbrook community, which is a $240000 project to start a new business. This business will be a state of the art, yet affordable unisex hair salon available to all community members and surrounding population. The hair salon could either be rented out and leased to hairdressers to use as business in which what they make and how many customers they bring in is what the business makes and as the founder/owner of the business Millbrook would gain a significant percentage of revenue from whoever decides to take the opportunity. Millbrook could also choose to run the business itself, hiring our own employee's and services creating better employment opportunity with a specific focus on the community.

There may be an opportunity to house this in the new developing hotel/convention center being built at the Millbrook power center/treaty connector. This would also potentially bring in more traffic to increase income. Overall this is beneficial to Millbrook's economic development because that's my job as the EDO, to develop economy! Because I am leveraging the loan, Ulnooweg will also be putting in a grant contribution which results in Millbrook only having to contribute approximately $15000 towards the start up and first three month of business, which is great in the long run!