In this week’s second half of the Atelier classes, the class reviewed some key points to writing and reviewing business plans. I learned that a lot of considered when writing business plans. One must sound not only professional, and get straight to the point, but one must also sound as if the proposed business is prepared and has thought out all of the benefits and risks it must take. It is also important to research any needed information to understand the industry, the competition, as well as the companies’ expenses.

The feedback from my peer evaluator helped me catch my grammar mistakes, which will enhance the language being used in the proposal. She also made suggestions as to what I should add in my proposal to build on the information provided, and also provided what to remove as it sounded redundant or is irrelevant. Not only did peer evaluation build on grammar and the information, but also it managed to catch any disconnects between statements. For these reasons, receiving feedback helped improve my report significantly.

Since I was peer evaluating a team member, I noticed there were some information that I have missed in the report, while she got. On another note, her report was a lot more condensed than mine. These were the primary factors that will help me improve on my own report because the length of my report could potentially mean I have repeating facts or that it has redundant information. Meanwhile, by condensing my report, I would have more space to add in any extra information I have missed.

An example of a successful business in the Maker’s Economy would be objects that are sold on Etsy. For example, a lot of DIY pendants are advertised on sites like Facebook, Instagram, DeviantArt, etc. and are sold on Etsy to make a profit. I mentioned a very successful one in my first blog post, called KeyspersCove. They are successful because they have a good advertisement strategy, and have gained over thousands of followers. It is hard to buy products from them because they sell out too fast for certain designs. For this reason, investors would be convinced for their business because one of their weaknesses becomes a strength. They are making quite a bit of money off of their business, and continue to grow each day. There are other pendant-making businesses out there with similar selling strategies, but with lesser marketing. The success of a business seems to highly depend on its business plan and it’s marketing strategies.