Final tidings :'(

Gosh I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. Thinking back I thought it was going to be a long week being away from my loved ones at home. Boy, was I wrong :)

But to start of the day, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy one, business awaited us, business plans to be exact. Teamed up with gal pal Heather from Scotland, and got working away, we did a detailed business plan for a wickery business from my hometown in Serbia, didn't go too bad, didn't even get the feeling I was working too hard, time flew by, and it was done, I think we did a good job, but sadly it wasn't chosen for further presenting, but I have to admit we had pretty tough competition :)

Evaluations passed sadly, I realised that this week delivered to my expectations and rose spectaculary above them, was not expecting it at all. The group was amazing, and when Bob came up with the idea of the video and showed it to the prep members, you weren't human if it didn't get to you, tears came on their own.

But the highlight of the evening had to be the WEDDING :D total surprise that was :) I got to be the grooms father, Anja did a crack of a job as the groom, laughed my head off :D

But sadly it all came to an end, as all things do, tried to stay awake, and it worked untill about 3, but an early morning was inevetaible. Finished my fuzzy notes, hope I bring a smile to every ones faces, as they did to mine.

If I had to summarize the week, one word sums it up all for me, INSPIRATIONAL, the people, the business, the participants, the sessions, the prep team, everyone and thing gave back to me something and thats the inspiration that I CAN and WILL achieve something, just the will and desire will take me through. Had an once in a lifetime week, and hope I will keep in touch with everyone :D

Going local :)

Early morning as always... getting a bit harder, these early ones are :)

Was really excited for the tour around Worcester, been looking forward to that one all week, finally SHOPPING, always a good feeling spending money :) did the cathedral tour, absolutely AMAZING, the enormity of the structure just blew my mind away. Would have loved to have heard everything the guide said about the place, but it being a late night, my brain just wouldn't cooperate, so I just ended up buying the guide, so I wouldn't miss anything, same thing really :D afterwards had free time with some lovely people, walked a A LOT, enjoyed the experience, but my legs just wouldn't function properly, body is slowly shutting down as the week is progressing :D

After a short train trip back, exhausted, every muscle aching from the Malvern hill walk last night, presentations awaited us, from experienced entrepreneurs. Wasn't expecting it to leave the impression it did :) the amount of knowledge Nick (the owner of MHOC) had, as well as John Hardman, really took to me. Experience is key in business, education doesn't really cut it if you don't know how to use it. All the little tidbits, and advice we were given, for me was priceless, hung on to every word both of them said, and that's saying something as my attention span isn't something to brag about :D
Good thing we got both of their presentations :) Claire got John Hardman to come to our evaluation meeting, quite nervous, but I was happy to say to him that his presentations had a real impact on me, glad to hear it meant something to him :)

The evening was legendary, NFYFC came over, God it was a good night :) they really put us in a good mood, and lifted the atmosphere. Glad to enjoy the fun and games with them, it was a real long night, but enjoyed every second of it, being with the right crowd can never dampen your mood.

Bit nervous about our own business planning tomorrow, putting all the knowledge we used throughout the week into one final presentation is going to be tricky :D but nonetheless looking forward to it :D

Presentation day :o

Pouring rain, horrible morining it was, at least we knew it was a day going to be spent indoors J

Big presentation day, had a good day brainstorming with my group members, loved the ideas we came up with, for the problem that was set by White Haywood restaurant and farm. Had a fun time, going through it, didn’t feel as we were actually working, but surprisingly a lot stayed in my head at the end. Pauline actually had a lot of positive comments, hopefully some of our ideas will stick and she will be able to use them. Fingers crossed J

Loved the comment that Christine from Hopes of Longtown said, about no idea being too silly, and no one should ever stop you from being what you want and doing what you, really hit home with me.

Wasn’t to excited about the walk that was organised later at night, but going through it and sticking out to the end, was rewarded with a gorgeous sight from the top of the hill of the surrounding area, Malvern, Worster... and wait for it.... The Shire J J J Hobbit fans eat your heart out J Also saw the infamous gas lantern from The lion, the witch and the wardrobe, yep yep, the one they encounter coming out of the wardrobe, soooo my night was a complete success J

Big day tomorrow, early morning, sooooo xoxoxoxoxooxox

Big day out - Herefordshire

Sooooo, today was one to look foward too :)

Really interesting day, wasn't expecting to get that much out of it, but gladly, I did.

Long day, but somehow with the right people time always passes by that much quicker :)

Just going through the English countryside, I was amazed at how much it reminded me of back home, Serbia,  got a tiny bit nostalgic, even though its been only a couple of days since I left it.

Got a bit scared of the roads, driving on the left side, everytime I saw a car coming on the right, I freaked out a bit, thought a collision was about to happen, gladly it didn't, just something to get used too.

Sooo, the main reason we went, was to visit local businesses in Heredfordshire, such as:

1. Hopes of Longtown, a quiet little country grocery store and post office. Interesting to hear all the problems shes had to come over and still overcoming to get her store on track. Little tip I got from her, is that a degree does not define you, you are only worth as much as you put into making something for yourself

2. White Haywood farm restaurant, little family run B&B, loved to hear that all the work they do, they do by themselves, from the raising of the livestock to the preparation of the food, they hire no workers whatsoever, and living on a farm myself, I know how hard it is and a risk it is to do so, to solely depend on your own labour.

3. Wiggly Wigglers, 2 businesses run on the same property, but nonetheless interlinked. Before I go on, fun fact is that its the crowns property, meaning that the queen owns it, really cool knowing, and they rent the property out, which turns out is actually cheaper in the long run then actually owning it, as it means that infrastrucure investment is a low priority, and it allows for the major investments to be made in production. One of the businesses is a cattle/grass seed/bird seed/bacashey manufacturer, turns out bacashey is a solution to all the worlds problems apparently :) and the second was a florist/worm composting business, main thing that struck me there was that even though the business started out as one thing, and even though that one thing failed, they didnt give up, just turned around and made a another thing work, soo pretty cool

All in all, business that are different, but couldnt be possible without perseverance and a hard work ethic.....

Looking forward to tomorrows workshop, solving some the problems that they put us up to the challenge to :)))

Morris folk??? What? :)

Late night update :)

Morris dancing, was not expecting that at all. Buuut that's a good thing :) Men covered in soot and rags, dancing with sticks, doesn't sound enticing, but once they started going, all I wanted to do was join in. Bringing humor into the mix didn't hurt at all, and in no time at all, all of us were up on our feet all having a big laugh.

So all in all a good night, but feeling tired after all the jumping and dancing , will have a good nights rest, fill my battery up for a looong day tomorrow.

Keep you posted
XOXOXOXO

Dan 3 - Milica RYE seminar

Prva radionica

Kako postati preduzetnik?

Zvuči jednostavno, ne treba mnogo, ako imaš novac sve je moguče.  Ali izučavajuči uspešne preduzetnike i šta sve treba da bih postao uspešan u svom poslu, uvidela sam da su svi oni stvorili nešto od ničega, i da nije dovoljno da imaš dobru ideju, daleko od toga... Ideja i sam sklop čoveka, karakteristike koje poseduje, su ključne za uspešan početak: otpornost, jaka volja, sposobnost da pretvoriš maštu u realnost..... Samo su neke od pojedinosti šta čini preduzetnika, nije dovoljno imati samo ideju :)

Druga radionica

Kako napisati biznis plan?

Osnovne pojedinosti, od početka do kraja sastava su bile objašnjene... Šta ustvari potencijalni investitori traže?  Dolazak specijalista iz banke NatWest, koji ustvari i odobravaju pozajmice, ja sam shvatila da prvenstveno TI moraš da znaš šta tačno hočeš, i da imaš dovoljno znanja i volje da ubediš drugog šta društvo može dobiti sa tvojim biznisom, i da na NAJJEDNOSTAVNIJI način objasniti šta ti hočeš, jer, ipak niko nema vremena da čita 100 stranica tvog objašnjenja    :)

Iiiiiiii treća radionica

Social Media

Dolazak govornice, Lynsey Sweales, jedno od najboljih eksperta u UK na Social Media, ne samo što nisam imala pojma šta društvene mreže mogu sve da urade, nisam znala ni upola svrhe u koje one mogu biti koriščeni. Od Facebook-a do LinkedIn-a, veruj mi ne postoji bolji način reklamiranja svojih ideja i eventualno biznisa. Tako da ako planiraš da započnes biznis bez umrežavanje ne postoji boljitak :)

Odoh sad na večeru, pa na veče tradicionalnih igara :) 

Poooooozzzzzzz

13.10.2013

Dan broj 2 – Jesenji seminar, RYE

Dobrodosli u zemlju sunca

Pitanje? Kako sam ja stigla ovde? Kao deo Srpskog centra za saradnju, imala mogučnost da dodjem ovde da upoznam mlade iz cele Evrope, i na taj način vidim kako to funkcioniše u Evropu, da steknem iskustva, razmenim znanja, i na taj način uvidim kako na najbolji način približiti Rekovac svetu.

Malvern, nikad pre čula, ali sve novo je dobrodošlo. Sad sledi malo geografije... biču brza. Birmingham, drugi najveći grad, za sve koji nisu upoznati, nekih 100km severno od Londona, e sad odatle, nekih sat vremena i tu sam ja trebala da stignem

Stigla sam juče, ali sve je proslo odlično, bolje nego ocekivano...

Najviše sam se plašila da me niko neče sačekati, ali imala sam lepu dobrodošlicu.

Nisam imala pojma šta će me sačekati kad sam stigla u kamp, ipak nikad nisam  učestvovala na ovako nešto...

Čim stigla, svi su bili topli, organizatori su nas odmah prihvatili, kroz igre smo se opustili i upoznali sa svim učesnicima. Rekoh nije loše za početak.

Danas, paaaaaa danas je bio dobar dan, razmenili smo iskustva,strahovi, očekivanja, i uvidela da su svi kao i ja, svi smo imali ista strahovanja, to me baš opustilo, znajuči da iako smo iz različtih zemalja ipak smo svi isti.

Sledile su aktivnosti napolje..... na kiši..... ali dobro ako se razbolim značu da nije džabe...

Sve u svemu za prvi ceo dan ovde, mnogo bolje nego što sam očekivala, videčemo kako će biti dalje :)

Poooooozzzzz