The Final Dragon’s Den

It happened. 

The final Dragon’s Den.

And guess what?

It wasn’t so scary…

Sorry little guy, but it’s true.

Now Maria and I had spent the entire two days before the Dragon’s Den slaving away on the business report.

So by the time I had gotten home, I was absolutely exhausted.

And before I knew it, it was morning.

I don’t think I’ve woken up before double digits in months, but that day I was up by 7am, to eat a good breakfast and head down to the library to proof check everything before we had to hand it in.

I proof-read.

I saved.

I was done….

Now don’t get me wrong, QB was still stressing hard about this. We rehearsed our presentation and went through our Powerpoint slides multiple times, we even (unintentionally) presented in front of an entire classroom right before our final meeting with the Dragons.

And still, we were really nervous.

But what more could we do?

The Business Report was finished.

The Powerpoint was finished.

We had practiced and rehearsed.

We knew what to say, annnnnnd we had eaten bananas, proven to make you less nervous! http://www.20minutestolessstress.com/Banannas.html

Now, there was nothing left to do but wait outside until it was time.

And then, we started to get a bit stir crazy.

Now maybe it was stress relieving mechanism, but we all started singing…

….in Italian.

And it kind of helped.

So when we were finally called in, and the presentation began, and I started to feel a bit nervous…. I sang a bit of this to myself.

My advice to future YE entrepreneurs? Sing a silly song to yourself to calm the nerves.

Well, the Dragons were all very courteous and constructive, and before we knew it, it was all over. We were walking out the door feeling relived and elated, we had done great!

So take that Dragons!

You’re not as tough as you think you are.

And this YE experience is finally over.

We came,

we saw,

we conquered.

FINISHED THE BUSINESS REPORT!!!

The Business Report is finished!!!!!

FINISHED FINISHED FINISHED FINISHED!

I have to say, when I first read about the contents of our business report in the syllabus and brief it seemed a bit over-whelming.

With the amount of challenges and problems our team had through the entire YE process I didn’t think this report was capable of being done.

How to positively reflect of what seemed more like a year of lows than a year of highs?

And I’ve never been much of a liar, it takes more effort than I’m willing to give.

So how do I put a seriously positive spin on the past year of ridiculousness?

The answer? I don’t.

Confused?

Well, this is what I figure.

Regardless of all the ridiculousness of the past year, in the end this experience is really about what we learned. How we tackled our challenges and overcame our obstacles to complete the tasks laid out in front of us.

Our presentation and our report had to reflect what was really important about this experience, what we learned.

I’d like to recite for you what I learned now, but I’m saving that for my finally reflection.

Either way, THE BUSINESS REPORT IS DONE!

The Dragon’s Den

Once upon a time, long long ago, there were five maidens who all hailed from different lands.

There was Francesa of Brescia, a Mistress of Ideas.

Angelika of Deutschland, Mistress of Management.

Maria of the República Portuguesa, Mistress of Scribes.

Lucy of Great Britain, Mistress of Creation and Design.

and Natalie of the United States of America, Mistress of the Quill.

Together they combined their talents to create a parcel, a parcel capable of withstanding the harshest conditions, and with which one could carry sustenance over any terrain, while retaining an upmost fashion sense of course.

They worked tirelessly on this parcel, and when it was completed, prepared to release it to the nearby townspeople, to better enable them in their travels and encourage proper nourishment.

A little less of this.

and a little more of this

And so they prepared.

Financials, Market Strategies, Research, because in order to bestow upon the townspeople this creation of splendor, they had quite a few obstacles to overcome….

The worst of them being, the dreaded and ever deadly…

DRAGON’S DEN

The maidens had to battle 7 Dragons.

You see beyond these Dragons lay the only path to reach the townspeople, and so the maidens had to devise a plan to defeat them, for the betterment of mankind.

And so they got together, to devise a plan.

It took days upon days, until finally they agreed, there was no way they could take these Dragons by force, if they were to emerge victorious, they must sooth the Dragons with their intellect.

And so they created their Business Pitch.

A collection of information on their philosophy, product, research, target customers, marketing, and financial planning.

They were ready for battle.

It was time to journey forth.

As they approached the deadly Dragons, the feelings were grim. Were the maidens well armed? Had they trained enough? Worked hard enough?

But the time for training was over.

The battle had begun.

The Maidens commenced the attack, hoping to beat down the Dragons with all they had prepared. They were only given 5 minutes to fight, and in this short amount of time, not much damage can be done. The Maidens worked hard and strong, but before they knew it, the 5 minutes were spent, and the Dragons now had the opportunity to retaliate.

They attacked the Maidens with everything they had, their questions piercing straight through the Maidens defenses with little effort.

“Will the product withstand refrigeration?”

“Do you really see parents purchasing this for their children?”

“Are you sure you’re marketing to the correct target group?”

But the Maidens remained resilient, they were not deterred.

In Fact, they were more determined then ever,

And even though the Dragon’s had fought very hard, the Maidens had still emerged…..

VICTORIOUS!

They had survived their first Dragon’s Den.

They were prepared to move forth and introduce their creation to the townspeople.

And they were better prepared for any new obstacles they may encounter.

And most importantly, they would be better prepared for the Dragons in their next encounter!

WE HAVE A PRODUCT!!!!!! Oh Yah! & we prototyped it.

So, we have finally decided on a product.

I don’t think you heard me….

WE HAVE A PRODUCT!!!!

And when I found out we were far enough to start prototyping!??!?

You see, we’ve been going back and forth on products for a few weeks now. We worked on philosophies, business strategies, lifestyles, general public needs, and still we couldn’t settle on one product. We went through shirts, bags, spoon holders, kitchen utensils and even a whole kitchen line! We went from having 1 product, to 2 products, to 4 products, to no products, and now we finally have ONE WHOLE PRODUCT!

I mean, I’m so happy I could dance.

Our group has finally decided to make, *drum roll*

a LUNCH BAG!

Now I know, a lunch box, sounds pretty lame, but hear me out.

You see, as a person who takes my lunch to school everyday, because lets face it, the food here is not exactly 5 star, I have found there is really nothing I would want to buy to carry my lunch it. I mean, here are a few examples of whats out there.

And thats what you find when you google “lunch boxes for adults”, seriously.

So, we decided to do something a bit better. A lunch bag with a simplistic and almost vintage style, minimalistic, with just enough room for what you need. It can easily slip into a bag or be used as one on its own, with a waterproof lining and a washable canvas material, it will last quite a while, with age only adding to the cool factor.

and thats not the only styles we have!

Remember those classic brown paper bags? The coolest kids didn’t need a lunch box, cause a classic brown paper bag was where it was at. And now, you can have that same classic look, in reusable canvas!

So keep posted for when these bad boys come out.

Cause you’re going to need to grab all your friends and be all like,

Cause this product is going to be so big, people are going to be running to the mall all like,

But don’t worry, cause all you guys reading this blog have the IN. Just let us know how many you need and they’re yours! Cause the second you get one, you’re gonna be all like,

So stay tuned! They’re coming out and they’re coming out soon!