CKY NEWSLETTER
A Student-led Publication
3RD ISSUE
Our JA Company - Cuscino
“We learn, we share, we work and we earn together.” Cuscino is not just a company or a brand name; it is a team of young talents who are collaborating as a team and working together to build something amazing.
JA (Junior Achievement) is an entrepreneurship club where we have fun and innovate. In this journey, we have formed and run our own company, designed and created two fabulous products, and will finally compete against 75 other secondary schools in Hong Kong at the Trade Fair organized by JAHK. Through these meaningful and enjoyable activities, hopefully we can obtain the knowledge and experience to become successful entrepreneurs of the future.
The Junior Achievement Company programme uses an activity-based learning approach which enables us to run a mini-enterprise that is governed by our vision, mission and the values of the business. It is a whole new challenge for us to start up a business. We needed to think of a brand name for our company, set up our management teams, decide what we were going to produce, and acquire funds and target our customers. All these necessitate a team of creative and responsible young people! In order to outperform our competitors in the long run, we needed to design a product that can cater for the needs of our customers, employees, shareholders and the environment as far as possible.
We endeavoured to form a business with all the management positions of an ongoing company, which consists of a CEO and a co-CEO. Moreover, a director was appointed from the Finance, Operations, Design and Technology, Resources and Development, Sales and Marketing divisions. To make it more manageable, we followed a business plan and wrote up detailed production, sales, financial and personnel reports. The rest of the participants in the Club are responsible to assist with other tasks in the company.
To make the products more market-orientated, we created an innovative product which could solve a common problem. This year, we strive to solve the problem of insufficient sleep among busy Hong Kong people and students; therefore, our ideal product is called a Cuscino (Italian for cushion): a well-designed and comfortable U-shaped neck pillow with a hoodie. Later, our product will be sold at the Trade Fair on 12th December, 2015. At this stage, we are finding a supplier and manufacturer to produce our designed products. In the run up to the Trade Fair, regular meetings have been held to discuss plans on launching a series of activities such as selling shares for raising start-up funds, presenting the product launch and video, conducting a promotional sale on the school campus, etc.
The Trade Fair is the final platform where we will showcase our products and compete with all teams in the programme. It is a milestone which highlights our achievements through the whole process. We have to come up with the best presentation for our company during the Trade Fair to stand out from the crowd!
At the end of the programme, there are many awards given to the outstanding individuals and company. Our major concern will not focus only on the awards as they are considered a bonus for us. Instead, we treasure the teamwork and experiences that hopefully will become an asset to us in our future careers.
“Something impossible yesterday may become possible today or tomorrow.” There is always hope as we pursue our dreams.
Tiann Yu (11B), 8th November, 2015