Exam 17: Entrepreneurship

Vincenzo Martin and Sasha Boudrakis have started a new firm, The Fan Base. Vincenzo is a well-known marketing guru who advises major league sports franchises on how to maximize the revenue from their teams' brands and logos. Sasha, meanwhile, is mostly silent in the operation. He has invested $2 million to get The Fan Base off the ground, and in return he receives 25% of the firm's annual profits. The Fan Base is organized as a

To answer this question, you must put yourself in the position of an aspiring entrepreneur. Below are the four steps required in uncovering a business idea. Work your way through each of these steps to identify and build on an idea for a business you would like to start. If you have not thought about starting a business, imagine that your dream is to own a "doggie daycare" service in which you take care of people's dogs during the day while they are at work, and at night and on weekends when they are away on business or on vacation. Be sure to answer each of the following questions: 1. Identify your passions, skills, and talents. 2. Identify a problem or frustration. 3. Identify an opportunity or need. 4. Brainstorm, suggest, or identify customer complaints.

What is not a core component of entrepreneurship?

In 2007, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky realized they could not afford the rent on their pricey San Francisco apartment, so they decided to put an air mattress in their living room and offer people an alternative to an expensive hotel room. This is the story of how Airbnb got started. In other words, Airbnb began when Gebbia and Chesky ________; the company grew because it ________.

List at least four positive effects of entrepreneurship (including small firms and start-ups) on society. For each positive effect, choose a company that illustrates that effect. You do not have to give specific numbers; a discussion of the general effects will suffice. (You may use the same company more than once; you may even choose to use that company for all four effects. Choose the examples that best make your point.)

Who would be considered an intrapreneur?

What is not a key difference between self-employed people and entrepreneurs?

Which of following statements regarding business start-ups and exits in the United States is false?

Unlike entrepreneurs, self-employed people tend to

Businesspeople who start new businesses sometimes say that part of their initial funding was "love money." Who are the usual sources of love money?

________ means the taking of risks to create a new enterprise. It can also increase the standard of living around the world.

Small businesses in the United States

What are the "Big Five" personality dimensions? In general, how do entrepreneurs rate on each of these dimensions? That is, what does research show to be the personality characteristics of successful entrepreneurs?

This question has two parts; be sure to answer both. First, list the nine characteristics that researchers find most important to successful entrepreneurs, providing a brief description of each. Then perform a self-analysis in which you rate yourself on each characteristic in terms of a business that you might like to start. (If you cannot think of a business idea, choose from one of the following: a landscaping service, a food delivery service, an elder care service-all of these options are open to you as a college student.) To save time, you may place your self-assessment immediately after your summary of each characteristic.

Explain the similarities and differences among the types of legal structures: sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships, C and S corporations, and limited liability companies. Identifies the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Unlike self-employed people, entrepreneurs tend to

The following are three excerpts from a business plan for The Beautiful Dog, a food truck that serves gourmet hot dogs (including vegetarian options) on a public thoroughfare near a high-enrollment college campus. Identify which section of the business plan each excerpt comes from, and explain your reasoning. Excerpt #1: The Beautiful Dog will be a welcome addition to the College Avenue community, which already sees 8 to 10 food trucks lined up on a typical day, include Bodacious Burgers, Terrific Tacos, Very Vegetarian, Tantalizing Thai, Perfect Pizza, and Champ's Chunkalicious Chicken. The Beautiful Dog will have a strong market position as the only food truck that serves hot dogs, which national market research has shown is the third most popular fast food in the United States. Our ideal customers are students, faculty members, and other members of the college community who need a quick bite to eat in between classes and on their way to their other responsibilities. Because our hot dogs are boiled, we will be able to serve people much more quickly than our competitors who cook their food to order, such as Bodacious Burgers and Tantalizing Thai. Excerpt #2: The Beautiful Dog has a very strong position with regard to pricing. The fast-food market expects to pay higher prices for hamburgers and chicken; moderate prices for pizza; and low prices for tacos and hot dogs. We will therefore be priced at the low end of the scale, making our products more affordable to college students, who are often on tight budgets. We have already begun tweeting at @TheBeautifulDog, and our Facebook page is up and running. We are gaining hundreds of new followers per day, and we will use the Facebook page not only to advertise our special "Dog of the Day" but also to reward our followers with special deals that they can get by saying the "Magic Dog Word of the Day." Excerpt #3: We expect that The Beautiful Dog will have an operating loss for the first three months as we purchase equipment and get the food truck up and running. In months three to six, we expect to break even as we pay off some of our start-up costs. By month seven, we expect to turn a profit of $8,000 per month. Thereafter, we expect profits as follows: $9,000 per month during the months that school in session full time (January through May, September through November); $5,000 per month during the summer, when there are fewer students on campus (June through August); and $2,000 in December, when the cold weather and the holiday break combine to greatly lower foot traffic past the food truck.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index, which country ranks first in terms of the environment for cultivating entrepreneurship?

Briefly explain each of the seven key components of a business plan and what you should include in each.

Rick has met with the Small Business Administration, which analyzed his entrepreneurial skills and provided him with a summary of the results. Out of these findings of the SBA, what might challenge Rick in his quest to become a successful entrepreneur?