Learning Launch Reflection 

 Challenge 

 The challenge was scaling a retail honey business that started as a side hustle and grow it into a   business that is profitable and a brand that is recognisable . The main challenge with achieving these   objectives was finding the right business model . For instance , would the sales be able to sustain having   a shop in a mall or should the business continue to be run from the home of the owner through digital   channels .   The business had been run as a side hustle for approximately one year and although it was   still making sales and acquiring new customers , the operating model was inefficient and this could be   seen from the low level of sales and non - existent repeat business . After exploring various options   including setting up a website(the downside of this is low internet usage in my country ) , creating an   agent network , where agents would receive a commission for sales ( the downside was that due to the   low cost of start - up the agents could possibly establish their own businesses with our clients ) , the   solution that held the most promise seemed to be having an actual shop in the mall . The potential   appeal of this was that the business would be easily accessible to existing and potential clients . This   proposed solution as well as the assumption that clients prefer a shop had to be tested . 

 Selection 

 I selected the Learning Launch tool as I was in the experimentation phase and wanted to assess   whether sales would be able to sustain having a shop as well as determining the size of the shop should   the data show that one should be set up . The Learning Launch is a tool that is used to determine   whether an idea can work in real life by setting up a functional replica of the idea and running it as an   experiment in order to observe whether it works and to collect any other required information from   it ( Martin Houdek , Course notes , Week 4 - page 3 ) . I selected the Learning launch because I had already   analysed the business through the preceding three phases , namely , What Is , What If , and What Wows   and had a solution that passed all the evaluation criteria . I believed the Learning Launch would be the   best tool to test my idea as I could do the experiment at a very low cost and in the very same mall that   I desired to open the shop . 

 Application 

 In order to test my solution , I set up a stall at the mall , where I would sell the honey from . I chose a   stall because it did not require a lot of money to set up as all I needed was a table , a banner , a   notebook , a pen and the honey itself . But most importantly there was no costly rental agreement . I   decided on a timeframe of one month in order to observe customers ’ behaviour at the different times   in the month . Everyday I would go the stall with my smile and business cards and talk to people about   honey and its benefits , I made sales and established relationships . I collected data about my clients   and their preferences with regards to how they would like to be sold to . The biggest challenge was the   covid-19 pandemic where most people avoided human and social interaction . 

 Insight 

 The Learning Launch taught me to think about my assumptions and to identify them as such in order   to test them . I learned to be open - minded about the experiment in order to avoid seeing things that   were not there .   I also learned how important it is to build businesses based on what people want and   not what and how we want to sell , which I feel is the true essence of Design Thinking . This experiment   validated the importance of Design Thinking as a human - centered approach to solving problems as   stated by Martin Houdek & Sarah Hood ( 2011 ) . The Learning launch not only helped me with establishing a   shop in a mall but also in determining the size of the shop . The result of the Learning Launch was that   based on the data collected , customers preferred a physical shop but a kiosk rather than an actual   shop would be needed . 

 Approach 

 The biggest challenge I had with the learning launch was the inconsistency of the data I collected .   Because I had not designed a process for selling and collecting data , the data I received was haphazard   and quite challenging to collate . In some instances I had not collected telephone numbers as the   conversations were random and often customer - led . In future learning launches I will prepare a script   ahead of the launch so that my interactions with my clients are systematic and can yield high - quality   data that is consistent . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Learning Launch Reflection 

 Challenge 

 The challenge was scaling a retail honey business that started as a side hustle and grow it into a   business that is profitable and a brand that is recognisable . The main challenge with achieving these   objectives was finding the right business model . For instance , would the sales be able to sustain having   a shop in a mall or should the business continue to be run from the home of the owner through digital   channels .   The business had been run as a side hustle for approximately one year and although it was   still making sales and acquiring new customers , the operating model was inefficient and this could be   seen from the low level of sales and non - existent repeat business . After exploring various options   including setting up a website(the downside of this is low internet usage in my country ) , creating an   agent network , where agents would receive a commission for sales ( the downside was that due to the   low cost of start - up the agents could possibly establish their own businesses with our clients ) , the   solution that held the most promise seemed to be having an actual shop in the mall . The potential   appeal of this was that the business would be easily accessible to existing and potential clients . This   proposed solution as well as the assumption that clients prefer a shop had to be tested . 

 Selection 

 I selected the Learning Launch tool as I was in the experimentation phase and wanted to assess   whether sales would be able to sustain having a shop as well as determining the size of the shop should   the data show that one should be set up . The Learning Launch is a tool that is used to determine   whether an idea can work in real life by setting up a functional replica of the idea and running it as an   experiment in order to observe whether it works and to collect any other required information from   it ( Martin Houdek , Course notes , Week 4 - page 3 ) . I selected the Learning launch because I had already   analysed the business through the preceding three phases , namely , What Is , What If , and What Wows   and had a solution that passed all the evaluation criteria . I believed the Learning Launch would be the   best tool to test my idea as I could do the experiment at a very low cost and in the very same mall that   I desired to open the shop . 

 Application 

 In order to test my solution , I set up a stall at the mall , where I would sell the honey from . I chose a   stall because it did not require a lot of money to set up as all I needed was a table , a banner , a   notebook , a pen and the honey itself . But most importantly there was no costly rental agreement . I   decided on a timeframe of one month in order to observe customers ’ behaviour at the different times   in the month . Everyday I would go the stall with my smile and business cards and talk to people about   honey and its benefits , I made sales and established relationships . I collected data about my clients   and their preferences with regards to how they would like to be sold to . The biggest challenge was the   covid-19 pandemic where most people avoided human and social interaction . 

 Insight 

 The Learning Launch taught me to think about my assumptions and to identify them as such in order   to test them . I learned to be open - minded about the experiment in order to avoid seeing things that   were not there .   I also learned how important it is to build businesses based on what people want and   not what and how we want to sell , which I feel is the true essence of Design Thinking . This experiment   validated the importance of Design Thinking as a human - centered approach to solving problems as   stated by Martin Houdek & Sarah Hood ( 2011 ) . The Learning launch not only helped me with establishing a   shop in a mall but also in determining the size of the shop . The result of the Learning Launch was that   based on the data collected , customers preferred a physical shop but a kiosk rather than an actual   shop would be needed . 

 Approach 

 The biggest challenge I had with the learning launch was the inconsistency of the data I collected .   Because I had not designed a process for selling and collecting data , the data I received was haphazard   and quite challenging to collate . In some instances I had not collected telephone numbers as the   conversations were random and often customer - led . In future learning launches I will prepare a script   ahead of the launch so that my interactions with my clients are systematic and can yield high - quality   data that is consistent .
### Output: 