Monday, September 14, 2015

Reflections on finance:cash flow by Jackie Wilson

This was an interesting topic that focused on making decisions about purchasing equipment and advertising, deciding whether or not to negotiate discounts and trying to stay afloat.  I think a beginning entrepreneur would find this info helpful. I was frustrated by the slow response of the module at times.  At one point the screen froze and would not unfreeze.  I had the same thing happen in the P&L module under the technology section when they asked us to delete a line. The P&L would not display. If I used a back arrow, it would flash on for a second and then revert to a black square. I also feel not enough detail is given so that the student can make a decision in some cases. For example: one of the modules displayed items used in daily operations and asked us to find the hidden costs. There was a checksheet for us to click on but no final review of the hidden costs. It was just hit or miss. The response was "you got all of the costs plus one or more too many." How is that helpful?

9 comments:

  1. Jackie, thanks so much for keeping it real in your response. I found the HP site a very slow go, too. And, I was disappointed that there were not more materials for me to read in order to prepare for the learning exercises. For me, getting the answers right was really due to my determination--I just keep trying until I got it right. I would definitely not recommend this first module to students, because I wouldn't want them to get as grouchy as I was by the time I earned the certificate.

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    1. I totally agree, Brenda. So many of my students use laptops and they would not be happy with having to flounder (or is it "founder") around trying to figure out what would work so they could advance to the next screen. I was hoping these modules would be something I could use as a supplement. So far, I don't think so. However, the concepts are good, and I think I can definitely use them as a model to create my own.

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  2. I agree with both of you on this. I ended up having to use my home PC to do the modules because it wouldn't work on the new tablet. I also felt that more information was needed before moving on to the exercises in some of the modules...especially the hidden cost activity and the excel spreadsheets. After switching to my home PC things started to run a little smoother.

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    1. Exactly! They give you minimal information and then expect you to run with it.

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  3. It seems that we are all finding it a bit difficult to complete these exercises on the tablets, oh well, I still have my trusty laptop. As for the difficulty in the material, I also agree. I found myself frustrated because I felt many of the expenses they categorized... very subjective, they could have been in a different cost area. I did see some light when I went to the spreadsheet. By adjusting the numbers I learned that a profit is not always associated with the sell price, it is better controlled through buying materials at a lower costs, controlling your overhead, and equipment cost.

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    1. I agree about the subjectivity. I was also curious as to how the entrepreneur fared with the new financial knowledge. There wasn't any closure to each "story."

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  4. Hi all, So much good discussion and feedback here! Keep it up. One of the things that is so hard to do as content designer is to think about all of the different devices and how people use them. So, feedback about devices usage and ease of use is invaluable. In web design, this is UX = User Experience. Usability is the type of testing, designers do to find out what the UX is like. There is no way to test for every single setup out there, which is why sometimes a site works better in one browser than another, in spite of rigorous testing. So, you're also contributing to that body of knowledge, too. ~ Robin

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  5. I am not using the tablet because I have the "fat finger" disease. I am still finding it difficult to complete some of the technology skills because the module does not allow for more than one way to complete each task.

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  6. Many people starting out don't realize that if they put an item on sale too often then the customer starts to view the sale price as the regular price that they should pay. You have to plan out your sale prices.

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