One of the main reasons I decided to pursue a degree in Communication is because of the diverse range of emphasis courses available to students. My interests aligned with many of the ones offered at BYU-Idaho, and I have had the privilege of exploring them throughout my time at school. I discovered talents for public speaking, journalism, conflict management, and marketing that I was unaware of. Due to my media law class I took for my emphasis in Strategical Organization Communication, I have decided to attend law school. For my senior project, I wanted to explore the different forms of communication and how to navigate them in a real-world setting.
Project Overview
I had the opportunity to work with Maddysen Gramm to create a communication and marketing manual for her as she starts on the path of opening her business, Flours & Co. Maddysen has been in the wedding industry for 6 years as an independent cake decorator and florist. For the past few years, she has desired to combined her talents into a small business as a cake and floral shop. However, she has struggled with dedicating time to researching business analytics, communication strategies, marketing plans, and many more elements that go into starting a business after she had her first child.
I took on the role of a researcher and consultant for Maddysen to help her fill this gap so she would have the necessary information needed in a simplified form to start her business, which is projected to start operations in 2025. The manual focuses on visual, written, and digital communication as well as business law.
Intent
My intention for choosing this project was to try to implement as many elements of communication as I could. I wanted to showcase how important communication is in an off-campus environment. I also wanted to explore my interests in law.
Research
The bulk of my time spent on the project was researching information and condensing it down into the most important facts. Maddysen and I met together often to discuss what she wanted to have included in the manual. We decided to focus on a few key elements that she struggled with the most in her pursuit of owning a business: marketing, business law, and communication principles. I spent time thoroughly researching the wedding, cake, and floral industry to specify my content for her before beginning.
Having a focus on what to research, I gathered together information and statistics on products, audience demographics, competitors, social media marketing plans, pricing, business laws, state laws, licenses, contracts, brand design tips, and other elements.
Design and Assembly Process
The second half of my project was spent designing the manual to be give to Maddysen. It is broken down into sections to be easily navigated. Listed below are the beginning pages of each section within the manual.
The entire manual is not listed in this post for the sake of length as it is over 30 pages long. However, the pages shown demonstrate how I took my research and designed a tangible manual Maddysen can use when she needs guidance, tips, or information on the different aspects of her business that she may struggle with.
Key Takeaways
This project gave me the opportunity to explore my interests within the field of communication and was a tremendous success. A few lessons I learned along the way include:
- Researching Processes: Good research takes time, effort, and patience. I learned how to analyze and understand the information I was consuming to break it down and deliver it to another person.
- Improved Skills: This project had multiple different elements that required unique skill sets. I was able to improve my researching, designing, analyzing, collaboration, and writing skills.
- Explored Future Career: There are many branches of law. This project allowed me to explore business law and the different categories that stem from it. I found myself enjoying drafting contracts for the business. I am thinking about focusing on becoming a corporate lawyer because of my time in this project.
- Management of Time: Meeting deadlines is an important skill to have as an employee, especially if the project is completely self-managed. I found myself being challenged with having to set up my own deadlines for the project. This helped me understand how I process project lengths, allocate appropriate time to tasks, and manage the workload throughout the semester to create a high-quality, finished product.
Personal Application
While thinking about what I wanted to do for my project, I decided on something that could show my skills to future employers. I believe this project has shown my ability to analyze information, create and design a proposal/manual, focus on a certain audience, manage time, and other skills that translate well in a business setting. These skills will help set me apart as I further my education and start my career.
Conclusion
Researching, analyzing, designing, and editing this manual was a rewarding experience. This project helped me showcase my skills in the different areas of communication while allowing me to explore other educational interests. The final product will fulfill the original goal of helping Maddysen start her business while being a great resume piece when I begin my career.