Reflection ( R-Rent a car) buisness - Essay Example

You will produce a Reflection outlining your experience of working on section 3 and 4 i am going to attach. Write about 250-300 words maximum, about section 3 and 4. The following is what you have to include in the reflection. This is a final reflection of your experiences during this project. You must produce a reflection of: · problems experienced and how you dealt with them (each week) · successes and what you have learned from them (each week) · new skills you have learned · skills you feel you still have to develop to successfully complete this project · brief list of tasks completed (each week) · the Learning Process – what have you learned during this process (make a comment each week) · skills you feel you did not completely master and why you feel this way · brief description of what you feel you have learned during this process · recommendations: o if you had to do this project again what would you do differently?

o What could the college do to make this a better/more appropriate course?Reflection Paper The project was interesting at the same time relevant to our course. Also, we learned a lot of things that were very actual application of the theories we learned in class. During the first week, much of the efforts were focused on conceptualizing the marketing plan for the rent-a-car business. This meant that a SWOT analysis must be made before planning is done. After which a careful scan of competitors around Dubai must be thoroughly made so that I can have a full grasp of how it is to compete in a dense market.

It was difficult since as a new entry in this business, other companies have already the advantage of having loyal customers. Nevertheless, I was able to successfully gather enough data that can give me a complete view of the car rental industry. This also meant being resourceful by tapping networks of friends, even relatives who knows someone from this kind of business. On the second week, I doubled my efforts to get primary sources for my data. This entailed doing interviews among two rent-a-car owners so I can have some idea for the marketing strategy.

I also interviewed a driver so I can anticipate possible problems in operating this business. I fully realized that this business is not about cars, it’s about giving service which is why I incorporated “pleasure “ in my tag line. The succeeding week, it was time to put up advertisement on different media and that was not quite easy for a newcomer. There were many phone calls to make just to canvass the price of such ads. Also, I was not familiar with sizes, dimension and design of paid ads.

Indeed, the design of the website occupied also another week of the project since many considerations must be made in the B2C marketing. The four principles of marketing are the same but one must view the ad as a browser on the internet with very little attention span. The ad must immediately grasp the attention of the potential customer.There were many skills that I have learned in accomplishing this project. The first set of skills I have developed are soft skills in negotiating, problem-solving, listening, interacting with others, diffusing tension in an argument and even teaching.

These skills were learned during my interaction with people in the industry as well as people in the media. The rent-a-car business depends heavily on relationships with drivers, operators, people in promotion and most importantly, customers. I think I have to develop more skills in designing and lay-out of materials needed for marketing although this can be outsourced. The conceptualization alone of a theme for the website is really difficult. It is hard to express ideas and theories and translate them into a design.

My recommendation for those who would undertake this project is that they must have a solid background of the 4ps of marketing. Also, they must have some training in design so they would not have a hard time making promotional materials. Customer service is a key to success in this business. Lastly, they must have the patience to conduct data gathering since incomplete data would not yield to a good plan. As for the college, perhaps the school can already choose sample cases of successful businesses that can serve as a model to the students.

There is a lot of personal risk going out in the field and the college must make some arrangements with some companies in the industry that can be source of primary data. In conclusion, the project has contributed a lot in my growth as a student of marketing. I have seen the real-life application and practicality of what was studied inside the classroom. Most of all, I learned that learning is not confined in the four walls of the classroom. Indeed, this is a very enriching yet challenging course for students.