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A-Linked is a job Centre that connects individuals with exciting career opportunities. We assist job seekers with navigating the employment landscape and securing fulfilling positions. Furthermore, we offer educational services for employees who require certifications and qualifications to secure a position.

Our business deals with providing skills that will benefit the youth in this economy. We provide many different kinds of skills that are mostly in demand by companies. There is a standard duration for each course. However, can also customize the duration according to their preferences.

Certificates and badges are obtained by students who have fully participated and completed the course. We have a database of everyone who needs a job. The database is easily accessible by everyone. You can always upgrade your CV in our website.

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Our business idea A-Liked can be categorized as a Software and IT service thus there are many ways to protect it we will use :

Copyright: We will use a copyright to protect the code from being stolen. It is most convenient as it automatically protects original work created.

Trademark: We will also use trademark to protect the name "A-Linked". We use this so that no one can steal or use the name anywhere.

Domain name protection: We are using this protection in order to protect our business idea domain name from cybersquatting.

Social media handle protection: As we will be using social media to connect to our customers, we are to protect our social media handles to protect our business identity on socials.

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Social media marketing

Social media marketing is one of the best marketing strategies in the world currently as there are 68.5 million people using social media at this point. With so many users we as A-Linked can we’ll be able to:

Reach new customers

Build brand loyalty

Connect directly with our audience

1. Reach new Customers

The top 3 social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) would help because it is not only a keyword-centered search engine, but content is also based on the user’s interests, behaviors, and other demographic data. This would allow us to introduce our brand on the platforms and then the more interests our brand catches, the more potential customers we’ll get.

2. Build Brand loyalty

Engaging with your customers on social media helps you build stronger customer relationships. This can set you apart from your competition by showing your audience how your brand is different and reinforcing that your business cares about its customers. By engaging with your audience through valuable, compelling content and conversation, you can work to turn happy customers into brand advocates.

3. Connect directly with our audience

Getting customer perspectives on our services is easier than ever, thanks to social media. We can share new content and get immediate feedback on our brand’s offerings, as well as see what people are saying about our brand on their own accounts and we can also respond to them.

With this marketing strategy, our business should be able to help tackle unemployment.

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Group Members Info:

Initials: S

Surname: Yose

Student no.: 222065929

mailto: 222065929@stud.cut.ac.za

Initials: MF

Surname: Henani

Student no.: 222011012

mailto: 222011012@stud.cut.ac.za

Initials: TN

Surname: Mlaba

Student No.: 222009548

mailto: 222009548@stud.cut.ac.za

Initials: KT

Surname: Gaga

Student No.: 222004728

mailto: 222004728@stud.cut.ac.za

Initials: TP

Surname: Montso

Student No.: 222034315

mailto: 222034315@stud.cut.ac.za

.

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The preview of the business profile, which is currently visible to only the profile manager, is indicated by the 'NOT PUBLICLY VISIBLE' bar.

This is because Google requires verification of the business and the team cannot render this type of verification.

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Edit business profile preview where the profile manager can edit and update the business profile.

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Beginning the project put us in a very frustrated position. We knew what was required of us, but we second-guessed ourselves. As it turned out, we had great ideas in mind we just needed to get comfortable expressing our creative sides.

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Problem: Setting Up a Business Profile

Your edits will be visible once you're verified

Verification: A Business video of the location: street sign and neighboring businesses; the business sign: logo or just the business name; and clips of entering the business.

Because we cannot do such, the business profile will remain only visible to the manager.

Solution:

We think screenshots as proof of the business profile will have to be enough.

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Creating a lean canvas business plan was an unexpected and significant shift for our team. It forced us to think outside the box and consider the fundamental concepts that underpin a successful business. We had to plan out business roles and responsibilities and think ahead to anticipate potential challenges and opportunities. This exercise allowed us to approach our business idea from a different perspective and were able to make a more well-thought-out business plan.

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We used social media (WhatsApp).

We also communicated via Zoom meetings.

Most of the time we met face-to-face.

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With every great idea, there was first a not-so-great idea. Which was our decision-making dynamic. We had a lot of ideas and some ideas were better than others and more fitting. So we had to evaluate those ideas into well-suited decisions that helped improve our overall business idea.

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Pencil Project: Served as a great tool. It enabled us to visualize our ideas and to create a more elaborate and perfect design. We had no problem at all with the application.

Padlet: Even though the Padlet tool was new to us, upon getting used to the application, we were able to use it to show our creativity by presenting our Business Model

LeanFoundry: The layout of the lean canvas made it easy for us to identify, plan, and strategize our business resources, roles, and responsibilities. It forced us to break down and analyze each aspect of the business, making it easy for us to manage and control business from the backend.

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Even though we were able to finish the project on time, we faced some conflicts regarding creative differences and group meetings. Other members thought their ideas were better than other's and said we should use only theirs, but we as a group came to a uniform agreement on which business idea to use for the project.

Regarding the group meetings some members would arrive late or not at all, sometimes it would not be because they don't want to come it would be because of reasons beyond their control. We then made schedules that are convenient for each member of the group.

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Some people have research skills which came in handy when it came to finding more information on the project.

Most of us were good in creativity and problem solving of which we were able to use those skills in designing and solving all the problems we faced.

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We managed to create our own google business profile.

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We learned that time management is important, and time should be valued.

We learned how to use Padlet.

We learned how to deal and accommodate different personalities.

Unity makes group work succeed.

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THALES : https://cpl.thalesgroup.com/software-monetization/protecting-software-intellectual-property

ethuto Blackboard: Learning Unit 2