by Jiaming, Syaz, Maryam, James, Marisa, Thomas, Darren, Serena, Koi, Baona (Singapore)
The story of how it all began started with a mix of chance and acquaintances. Most of us were randomly assigned by Ronald, our teaching assistant, during the first session of TE. About half of us were assigned together and we managed to pick up several more members through acquaintances we had from previous modules together. All in all, most of us thought that ten members were going to be problem due to the difficulty in achieving consensus, the differing working styles and backgrounds as well as the unfamiliarity among the members.
On top of that, we had an issue within the first few weeks about the business idea we wanted to engage in. We started with the video resume idea and also ran through other ideas like a fashion and art sharing online platform. We couldn’t decide until we found a common idea – Tea. All of us understood the potential of an online tea retailer coupled with a customizable concept. Needless to say, we were far from bringing the business idea to fruition and doubts about group synergy as well as the feasibility of the idea still lingered.
However, as the weeks went by and we continued to work closer together, every one of us saw the strengths and weaknesses of each member and we embraced them – creating a team of synergy, fun and focus. We learnt to delegate responsibilities efficiently and play to the strengths of each member effectively.
As things started ramping up and we got more and more progress through the course of the project, we really bonded closely with each other. Knowing each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies and spending many hours on improving the business idea and products made the experience a lot more fun – really turning our group of ten individuals into a team of ten entrepreneurs. We found that each member had different academic disciplines, backgrounds, working styles and experiences but we had one major thing in common – the passion.
As the project concluded with the academic term, we got more and more excited about the project because we saw the business idea as a great opportunity to capitalize on a nearly untapped market and wanted to take it to the next level. We did not see this as the end but rather, the beginning of how a great team of friends and entrepreneurs can create a legacy for ourselves.
