Tundra Tools Update #10: Final Updates & The Future

Yesterday, Tundra Tools had our final class and presented our Kickstarter project and reflection of the semester. It was a good way to wrap up all of our hard work. After our initial trial, we were only able to open for one more day, but we hope that our business continue to run and sell supplies (and maybe even spirit wear!) next year. Overall, we made about $55; we were not as successful as some other groups, but we worked hard to start a business we were proud of. We hope that Tundra Tools can continue to be a part of the Flint Hill community in the future!

Above is our Kickstarter Pitch video

Tundra Tools Update #8: Opening/Trial Week

Last week, Tundra Tools opened behind the circulation desk for our trial. On Monday the 20th, we ended up not opening because of miscommunication and because we were not quite prepared. On Wednesday, Tundra Tools officially opened for the first time. We brought in containers to hold our items and stored everything in Kate's locker for easy transport to the library. Many people became aware of the business because of the time we chose to open (during break). We made a few sales, and some customers gave us feedback about our store and new items we should stock. After school that day, we purchased earphones and iPhone chargers to add to our inventory. Our most popular items have been highlighters, pens, and iPhone chargers. However, we made a mistake and ended up selling one of our chargers for the wrong price, causing us to lose five dollars. It was not a huge loss, but it helped us to reassess our communication. Also, we have observed that Tundra Tools gets the most business during break rather than during our free periods. This week, we plan to meet with Mrs. Sanderson to discuss our trial week and future plans for Tundra Tools. 

Team member Adam with our first two dollars

Food? Food.

Today was a very important day for our group because we discussed everything that needs to be done by our launch date. We have planned to be ready to launch the day we leave for spring break and then actually launch when we return from Spring Break. Annie informed us about another way to fill the Keurig machines, tea bags that are designed to fit in the spot, and would cost 31 cents a cup instead of 61 cents a cup. We are talking about what we need to order, there needs to be machines, food, drinks, location and other supplies by our planned launch date. We are nervous to buy anything until we have heard back from people about what we are aloud to use and do on campus. Another major thing we discussed was an opening and closing check list. We need to create a set of rules that are for the person who is in charge of getting everything ready and putting everything away when we are opening and closing the shop. We also visited the igloo to see where possible places that we could store our supplies. We discovered several large cabinets that are empty that would be an ideal place to store out stuff, we also found some empty racks that would be suitable for us to place the igloo supplies while our store is open. We are also discussing the name for our company, Food?Food. is no longer ideal for us. We also found out there are warmers in the igloo that would be great for our bagels. Today was really good for our group because we started to really work and started to comprehend what needs to be done in the next week and a half.

Where we plan to store our supplies 

Heaters and Warmers we could use

Another possible storage place 

Where we could place Igloo's supplies 

Overall look of storage we could use 

Tundra Update #4: Logistics Work & Lean Startup Progress

This week we have been continuing to plan out our Lean Startup and working on the logistics of The Tundra. Sadly, we realized there is not currently enough money for us to buy a machine to dispense our supplies, but we hope that can become a possibility further down the road. We took a survey and found out that many potential customers are interested in our business/products, so we are on the right track. Right now, we are in the process of communicating with Mrs. Giuliani to work out if/how we will sell apparel. So far, our testing is successful and we are finishing up our Lean Startup Plan. Next week, we will hopefully continue to work out more details of our business.

Here is a picture of some of our data:

The survey was very helpful because it helped us to focus our efforts on what our customers will really be interested in. 

Food? Food.

Today we re-reevaluated our plans, we came up with questions to ask the school about what is the most efficient and easy way to charge people who are interested in coffee and other products we plan to sell. We also decided that a Keurig is the best plan for selling coffee. We founds pods for a good prices, and we evaluated our next steps for launching our business

The Tundra Update #2: Lean Startup Plan

Day 1: Today we began to draft a Lean Startup Plan for our supply business. We still have a lot of unanswered questions and are in the brainstorming stage, but our idea is definitely developing. We have discussed where we can set up our stand and how we can get supplies. So far, we think we will order our supplies at inexpensive bulk prices to make the most profit. We still have a lot of work to do, but we think we are on track!