Wow – peer commentary is haarrdd! For this blog, I will be evaluating my peer commentary which took place on Alex (AR in online shopping), Shay (the future of netball) and Kathryn’s (future of EV’s) blogs. I will admit, I probably could have included some more academic sources for the comments however, the popular sources I provided were quite insightful. So, let’s have a look!
I provided Alex with the following sources that discovered AR in fashion in relation to cryptocurrency in the fashion industry which I found was an interesting pathway to a potential future. Massini (2006) states “our future must not only be foreseen and dreamt of, but also chosen and built” which we can see in the fashion industry as once AR was just a dream but has now been built. As well, I provided an article that discovered ‘machine vs man’ as a dystopian viewpoint of fashion in AR.
For Shay’s DA, the future of netball, I provided a popular source that discovered the impact of COVID on netball registrations which would likely impact Shay’s research into the sports future. Sardar (2010) argues that “…foresight is intrinsically singular in nature” however, it is important for Shay to look at the future of netball with a number of possible futures by focussing on the past as it can “help to shape our beliefs and aspirations about the future.” (Moore, 2019)
For Kathryn’s feedback on their DA, I focused on providing sources that took a different outlook than what she had researched. For example I provided a source which details Australia’s potential future role in manufacturing electric vehicles which can be seen as a positive. I also provided an opinion article on how fuel companies are planning to optimise themselves with EV’s and the impact this may have. Massini (1982) states ‘there is not just one future, there are many futures…’ which is why I included this source as it goes through a number of possible futures that may exist for EV’s.
To address the DA challenge, I am creating a business plan that is set for the next five years, addressing the medium-term future for my business Honey Creative. I will be focusing on what skills I need to develop in order to create an effective, profitable and knowledgeable business mind. The business plan will be based around the goals I want to achieve in the next five years, how to build my clientele, the short-term (1-2 year) goals that need to be achieved first (such as developing skills in content creation) and other business objectives. My business plan will help me (in the present) develop my skills to reach the standards I have set for future-me. It is interesting to think about Sardar and Masini’s thoughts on the future, as they both believe there is a concern of a singular point in time or one future that is focused on – rather than multiple futures (Masini, 1982 & Sardar, 2010)
Masini states “our future must not only be foreseen and dreamt of, but also chosen and built” which I believe, through creating my business plan, I will be able to turn these ‘dreams’ into a future by building a plan to achieve them. Wendell Bell (2003) has a similar view on the future being built, rather than ‘happen’. He states, “The past is not a guide to the future… Conscious decisions and efforts to achieve great purpose can shape the future.” My business plan, although it will contain all the information I need to achieve these goals based on past efforts of other businesses success, will not guarantee my own success. It will simply help make decisions but it is in my effort that will shape the future of my business. Bell (1998) focuses on the assumption that “disciplined and valid prospective thinking can help people shape their environments and their futures effectively and responsibly.” Therefore, my business will be built by the foundations I implement in the present through my business plan.
Feedback Loop
In order to improve my business plan, it is vital that I create content for a public audience to enable a feedback loop between my content and the audience viewing it. As my business plan is primarily for my own benefit, it is difficult to construct an effective feedback loop that will help me improve. To improve this element of my DA, I will share the process of creating a business plan by creating content about my research findings, tips and queries on LinkedIn and vlogs which I will embed in blog posts. I have chosen LinkedIn as I want to improve my online presence on the platform and gain feedback from the community that is present there – business professionals (or aspiring). I have chosen vlogs to help condense my research and share it with fellow BCM small business owners/side hustlers. The Business Plan can then be amended according to this feedback, as stated in the production timeline above.
I will also be using the content that I continue to post Instagram and Facebook as a feedback loop. Although this is not the primary content I will be analysing for improvement for the DA, it is a very important part of understanding where I need to develop my skillset. In turn, this will inform what I need to include in the business plan based on my strengths, weaknesses and unknowns. “According to Jouvenel, fictitious images situated in the future, futura, may actually call out a future reality by acting as the basis of intentional projects” (Paalumaki, 2001) which means the goals I set for my business, even if imagined, set a powerful basis for a future reality.
chats with chels 