KENYA TEACHERS STUDY TRIP TO SLOVAKIA, 2014 REPORT
Report compiled by: Gift Mtambo-Kasigau Wildlife Trust
Participating teachers: Herman Mwalukuku,
Harry Mwailengo, Felix Kioko Abok Dodo Trip Leader: David Ogiga -Kasigau Wildlife Trust
Report Date: January-2015
SoteICT project is funded by: Slovak Aid
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction2.0 Trade fair
2.1 setting up a stall
3.0 Marketing Materials 3.1 Catalogue
3.2How to make a catalogue
3.3 Business cards
3.3 leaflets/brochures
3.4 Good Communication and Presentation
4.0 Marketing 4.1 Marketing of training firms
4.2 Advertisement
5.0 Business plan 5.1 How to write a Business Plan
5.2 Purpose of the Business Plan
6.0 Documentation
7.0 Robotics Technology
8.0 Conclusion
9.0 Recommendations
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Between November and December 2014, from the soteICT project Kenya, four teachers (David Abok from Mwambiti, Felix Kioko from Buguta, Harry Mwailengo from PJ Mwangola and Herman Mwalukuku from Marungu and two project Managers from Kasigau Wildlife Trust, David Ogiga and Gift Mtambo had the opportunity to visit Slovakia for an exchange program with Slovak schools. This was the fourth trip Kenyan teachers were making to Slovakia since the project inception in February 2010. See the program below:
Day 1 & 2, 25th and 26th Nov, 2014- International Trade fair in Bratislava- training on how to conduct a trade fair.
Day 3, 27th Nov, 2014- High School of Electronics in Presov- training on how to build robots and program them.
Day 4, 28th Nov, 2014- Watsonova BA in Kosice- training on how to write a business plan
Day 5& 6, 29th and 30th Nov, 2014- Brain storming meetings and horse riding in Kosice
Day 7, 1st Dec, 2014- Levice BA in Levice- training on marketing of the training companies
Day 8, 2nd Dec, 2014- Pontis Foundation in Bratislava – training on effective feedback and how to motivate students.
Day 9, 3rd Dec, 2014- A visit to Neulogy (startup Center)
This was one of the most memorable and educative trip we ever had. The participating teachers compiled a report which we hope will be a learning tool and a useful guide for all the ten schools currently under soteICT project, Taita Taveta as well as future partners and friends. Major areas covered are; Trade Fair, Marketing materials, marketing of the training firms, Business Plan and lastly Documentation.
This trip was facilitated by Ivka Ulicna from Pontis Foundation.
Enjoy
2.0 TRADE FAIR This was the first activity during our trip courtesy of Gabriela Horecka from SCCF enabling us participate in the 2014 International Trade fair, Bratislava.
A trade fair (trade show, trade exhibition or expo) is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and on the enterprise level, there are numerous reasons for exhibitors to deploy a display at a given trade show. On a macro level it can be said that there
are only five reasons:
1. To sell
2. To launch
3. To correct a misconception
4. To create an impression
5. To get create internal "buy-in" for the initiatives above
SoteICT stall in Bratislava International Trade Fair
Trade show goals can be grouped into four reasons to exhibit:
• Increasing sales and reinforcing market share • Increasing share of customers and getting current customers to buy more • Positioning or repositioning your organization, its brand and products
• Introducing new products
2.1 Setting up stalls
1. Erect at least 3 boards to form arectangular/square room with opening at the front. If the back side has 2 or more boards the better.
2. These boards will act as notice boards where you pin up your charts which talk about your company. Fix backdrop whose colour blend well with cooperate colours of your company.
3. On the boards, remember to put your company’s Name, Logo, and slogan, also display charts that show signs of cooperation with a real company (i.e. your mentor) if the cooperation exists of course .
4. In That small room you have created, you can fix a small table (or stools) whichever will be available. This is where you place your products and documents that market your company. I.e. business cards, catalogues, brochures etc.
5. Make sure you are prepared to make sales. For example, carry with you receipts, vouchers, price lists, etc.Pictures of some stalls as displayed during the event
Slov Ken from Levice BA, a partner to Ken Slov, Mwambiti Sec Kenya was a major attraction
6. When all this is done, you need to be sure you can make a power point presentation just in case you are given an opportunity to talk about your company on stage.
3.0 MARKETING MATERIALS The Kenyan teachers also got the opportunity to learn and acquire marketing materials from Slovak students. Here are the lessons learnt:
3.1 Catalogue
A list or itemized display, or articles for exhibition or sale, usually including descriptive information or illustrations.
Making a product catalogue is an effective way to expand your customer’s base and to expose your products that you company offers.
3.2 How to make a catalogue
i. Gather your content - make sure you have all the ingredients in place before beginning any design steps. This may include images of the product, a list of products etc.
ii.Produce visually appealing product images to attract your potential customers iii. Know your product features
- you will need to know all of the technical specification of your products. You can also assign the item numbers and prices including original and discount prices.
iv.Choose an appropriate size of your catalogue - you will need to choose the most convenient size for your product catalogue so your customers aren’t overwhelmed by large catalogues or frustrated by acatalogue that’s too small
v.Write product description - keep each description short
vi.Create an impressive clear cover - the cover will be the first thing your potential customers see and it will make or break the success of your catalogue
vii. Print your catalogue
3.3 Business cards
These are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. Those cards are shared during formal introductions and in the trade fairs. This helps to market your products
3.4 Leaflets/brochures
A printed sheet of paper, sometimes folded, containing information of your company or advertising your products and usually distributed for free.
3.5 Good communication and presentation skills
We were impressed by the communications skills from the students in various training companies.
The students must possess high communication skills when introducing their companies and should also be smart and presentable. They should have a good mastery of their products since this enhances and boosts their morale.
Students in Various training companies in Slovak showing off their presentation and documentation skills during the International Trade fair in Bratislava.
4.0 MARKETING Our visit also took us to Levice Business Academy which is one of the oldest cooperation in our
project. In Levice Business Academy we learnt more about marketing and below are the
highlights.
What is marketing?
Is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.
4.1 Marketing of training firms
This is mainly done by the marketing department assisted by the production and human resource departments. The training firms should come up with a proper marketing plan which is
catalyzed by the following:
We were all smiles, Levice BA!!
i. Marketing instruments - this includes the 4 Ps, that is;
Product- product policy Price- contractual policy Place- distribution policy Promotion- communication policy
ii. Communication of the training firms- these mainly focuses on :
Name of the company -should be unique
-completeness- the legal entity
-truth- doesn’t make false impression -unity- same everywhere Company logo
- it entails good choice of colours, font type and picture Slogan
-contains the mission of the company
The marketing plan should also answer these questions:-
WHO AM I? (Search for the right product).
WHERE AM I? (Weaknesses, Strengths).
WHERE DO I GO? (Risks and opportunities).
HOW DO I GET THERE?
You need to define the market, customers, suppliers, marketing goals and suitable goals.
4.2 Advertisement
A well-designed promotion mix includes advertising, sales promotion, public relations and
personal selling which are mutually reinforcing and focused on a common objective. Advertising
plays are vital role in the training firms thus it’s important to equip our student with advertising
skill, this was very evident in our two days student trade fair exhibition in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Developing an advertising program begins with setting advertising objectives. These objectives
should be determined on the basis of earlier decisions about the target market, positioning, and
marketing mix. The impact of the advertising message depends on two things - what is said and
how it is said.
The students must find the style, tone, logos, corporate colours, video, music, exhibition stands,
words and format for executing the message. As trainers in the training firms we need to focus
our attention in presentation skills.
Students from various training companies in show casing their products to the customers
5.0 BUSINESS PLAN
Another great highlight to this trip was a visit to Watsonova Business Academy. Here we learnt how the training companies can write or create their business plan and the important of having it in the companies.
Business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed attainable and the plan for reaching those goals
5.1 How to write a business plan
a)Business description -when describing the business, discuss the present outlook as well as future possibilities
b)Market strategies these are the result of a meticulous market analysis. This allows you to be familiar with all aspects of the market so that the target market can be positioned in order to garner its share of sale c) Competitive analysis d) The purpose of competitive analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the
competitors within your market. Then also explore your own opportunities ant threats. This is also known as SWOT analysis
Kenyan teachers in Watsonova Business Academy, Kosice
5.2 Purpose of the Business Plan
A formal business plan is just as important for an established business, irrespective of its size, as it is for a startup. It serves four critical functions as follows:
Helps management or an entrepreneur to clarify, focus and research their businesses or project's development and prospects.
Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years.
Serves as a basis for discussion with third parties such as shareholders, agencies, banks, investors etc.
Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.
A short strategic plan (2-3 pages) can provide a very useful foundation on which to base a much more detailed and comprehensive business plan
As the prelude to developing a strategic plan, it is desirable to clearly identify the current status, objectives and strategies of an existing business or the latest thinking in respect of a new venture. Correctly defined, these can be used as the basis for a critical examination to probe existing or perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. (SWOT ANALYSIS) This then leads to strategy development covering the following issues:
>Vision >Mission >Objectives >Values >Strategies >Goals >Program
Kenyan teachers in Watsonova Business Academy
The SWOT analysis structure
This is the most crucial step when you want to create a business plan.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
+ -
Our O ur
+ -
Market M arket
Student take us through their departments in Watsonova
6.0 DOCUMENTATION
Finally it’s very important to document all our activities. It was evident in all the firms we visited
that all activities were well document. This will be very possible if the students understand their
roles in the training firms. As mentors, let’s train the students and encourage them to document
their activities.
Adriana Drenkova, a student from one of the companies in Watsonova explains to us the importance of documenting and having filing system in the training companies.
7.0 ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGY Teachers from Kenyan also got the opportunity to visit Electronics school in Presov where they got the knowledge of building and programing robots, Arduino and Raspberry pi.
Learning how to build and program robots in Electronics School in Presov
This is one of the newest programs we have introduced in our project in order to offer the techie students within our project to advance their knowledge and skills. Our anticipated soteICT centre in Voi will have 3D printer, robotics and will act as incubation centre for technology. Mwambiti Secondary will be at the forefront in our cooperation with Electronics School, Presov
The Kenyan team also visited Neulogy Centre, Bratislava which is a start up centre which gave us more knowledge of how training firms can be transformed into real businesses and opportunities for partnerships and growth. We met the Centre Director Petra and the team. Lastly, we underwent a special training on Decision making in Training Companies by Mrs. Velichová, EUBA in Pontis Foundation Offices.
8.0 CONCLUSION
The training firms, if successful, can be of great impetus to the students as they will acquire more skills which will enable them to fit well in the world’s competitive job market and also the students will get the opportunity to discover their entrepreneur skills at early stages.
The teachers and all other involved parties should sacrifice their efforts and work towards the success of the project.
9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
i. Training firms to partner with real companies -this will offer an opportunity for the students to learn from a real company and practice. The training firms may also benefit from materials donations and mentorship. The real company should not be far away from the training firms so that it becomes easy and cheap to visit the company and also to invite them to your school
ii. Ensuring all departments are active - this will enable the training firms to register great success since everyone is participating
iii.Designing company’s web and Facebook pages -these are powerful tools for advertising and marketing the products or services
iv.Evaluation of activities -this can be on weekly, monthly or termly basis. This ensures that all departments are active. -you can also award certificates to the most active students and other forms of motivation
A big thank you to the following persons who made this trip success: Ivka Ulicna, Jakub Simek and Ivana Raslavska from Pontis Foundation; Gabriela Horecka- SCC; Daniela Skladanova and Zuzana Meszarosova from BA Levice; Mr. Kozak, Jana Fenovcikova and Martin Ambrozy from Electronics School Presov; Ing. Peter Orszagh from BA Watsonova, Ing Simona Priecelova and all the many beautiful people we met during these trips who space cannot allow us to mention by name. Thank You!!
