I recently took part in a program called $20 Boss. $20 Boss is a program
that aims to promote students to create businesses. We were tasked with making a business with only $20 per person as funding.

Our group were very motivated to form a business called Carry On. Our group consisted of Lehan Hendeniya, Emma Burton and Louis Wong. We planned to make tote bags. We thought of this idea because there was a demand for bags at the school to carry books and to create convenience in the process.

We did research and ideated our answers. We began making a pitch and ran a market survey, out of which not many people responded. However, 50% of people would have liked to buy our bag, so we were encouraged by the demand.

Our product were going to be cloth tote bags with screen-printed designs and logos. We wanted to give a feeling of relaxation and fresh. However, what we lacked were the uniqueness of the product.

We began to create designs and logos, out of which we chose a few to screen print. We investigated the screen printing machinery, and we began to plan how we were going to tackle the process of making the product.

Our group dynamic was okay, though we had a few arguments on how to reach our target audience. Personal improvement included my communication with people. I feel that I could have worked with the team better by explaining my ideas better.

Our pitch was denied at first because we had to clarify whether bags could be sold and used at school. It turned out we had to change our approach. We pitched to Ms Winter, and she said our project lacked uniqueness and denied it again. By then we were out of time, so we couldn’t really PIVOT nor were we interested in continuing.

We tried to make a PIVOT; we had an idea of making lasercut candle holders with designs in the side. We didn’t have time to pitch, and therefore we didn’t have much time to make the idea work.

We feel that we simply couldn’t get a great idea working, and our enthusiasm to continue is not very high. However, this has been a great learning experience for us all. Working in a team has improved my capabilities of teamwork and communication and I am glad I took part in this program.