I worked for my parents\u2019 company, Keystone\nRidge Designs, this past summer and it was a huge eye-opening experience. Yes, it is one scenario to live with your\nfamily, but it is another to work with them in the office all day long. You really learn to appreciate what they do\nto support a family and their employees as well. KRD has excelled in terms of profitability,\ncustomer relationships, and building their brand. This allowed for attention to be focused onto\nbuilding a new business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This summer I worked with the marketing team\nas we developed a new company, START Creative Finishings. The start-up\nprocess consisted of discussing target markets, showcasing our products, and\ncreating a consistent vision across all platforms or areas of the new\nbusiness. We wanted to make sure to\ndevelop a uniform plan so that everyone would be understanding of the overall\noutlook for the future. START Creative\nFinishings is technically under Keystone Ridge Designs, but to the public it is\na completely different company. We\ncreated a SWOT competitive strengths grid, intern training guide, marketing\nplan, condensed business plan, and potential customers list as some of our\n\u201cdocumentable works.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My\nspecific task was prioritizing the \u201clook\u201d of the company and how customers\nwould perceive the business. I did this\nby curating social media posts, organizing all the photos, and designing the\nwebsite. Efficiently creating layouts to\nshowcase pictures and include important information for the customers helped me\nto better understand the sales process. \nThe marketing team taught me how it was necessary to design the website\nand social media geared to the specific audience of customers. Without them, the company would not be\npossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as\nI love only working with photography and social media design alone, my mom made\nsure to give me opportunities to make sales calls, working with the in-house\ncustomer relationship management (CRM) system, and learning aspects outside of\nmy specialties. Learning how to\ncategorize START customers, schedule follow-up communication, file accurate\npersonal information, and follow steps in a specific order were tasks that were\nuncomfortable for me. With updating\ncontact information, it was not unusual to receive bounce-back emails when the\nmass marketing mail was sent out per holiday, promotion, or sales\nreminder. It was my job to research or\nsimply call the customer to update their new email, increasing the chances of\nfuture business inquires. As tedious as\nthe process could be, it was satisfying to be able to help the company uphold\nthe strong relationships with their customers. \nOverall the summer was a great experience to better understand sales and\na real startup business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n