Exam 5: Managing Entrepreneurially

Angela's Thesis Coaching Company (Scenario) Angela is finally starting to feel more at ease with her business. Six months since the launch of her Ph.D. Thesis Masters she is starting to see revenues climb and her associates are producing great work—and more importantly, her customers are happy. Ph.D. Thesis Masters (PTM) provides coaching and research services for masters and Ph.D. students working on their theses. Angela discovered that many students need help with much of the grunt work of formatting, meeting deadlines, and doing secondary research of the existing literature. Her associates are Ph.D. graduates who have successfully completed their theses and can now guide other students and help them with the related pressures and quality guidelines. Angela has worked out a formula where she charges student clients $75 per hour and pays her associates $45, leaving her with a $30 gross profit (or gross margin) for every hour of work completed. Her customers are happy and her associates are happy. -As she is six months into the business,Angela has noticed that there are three important things she seems to keep thinking about on a continual basis,all of which are related to managing growth.They are ________.

Two key elements of a feasibility study are analyzing ________ and researching ________.

Launching an On-Line Yoga Studio (Scenario) Deborah was thinking about what it would take to launch her new business. Like many entrepreneurs, she had an idea and wanted to get started but really did not know where to begin—not to mention experiencing both the normal excitement and fear of launching a new enterprise. -Deborah has been paying attention to the yoga world and looking for signals of the changing marketplace.She is being ________.

Angela's Thesis Coaching Company (Scenario) Angela is finally starting to feel more at ease with her business. Six months since the launch of her Ph.D. Thesis Masters she is starting to see revenues climb and her associates are producing great work—and more importantly, her customers are happy. Ph.D. Thesis Masters (PTM) provides coaching and research services for masters and Ph.D. students working on their theses. Angela discovered that many students need help with much of the grunt work of formatting, meeting deadlines, and doing secondary research of the existing literature. Her associates are Ph.D. graduates who have successfully completed their theses and can now guide other students and help them with the related pressures and quality guidelines. Angela has worked out a formula where she charges student clients $75 per hour and pays her associates $45, leaving her with a $30 gross profit (or gross margin) for every hour of work completed. Her customers are happy and her associates are happy. -When Angela was working on her ________ to determine the viability of her idea,she worked extra hard to clarify how much her services could be worth to a potential client,how the services would be appreciated,and how she would differentiate herself from the competition,in other words,her ________.

You are the entrepreneur behind a two-year-old firm whose main business is engineering and servicing road salting equipment.You entered the field via an innovation in salt distribution technology that reduces the need for environmentally damaging road salt by 25 percent and yet provides effective coverage in icy conditions.You are continually engaging in ________ via worldwide sources to seek other,complementary innovations and developments so you can enhance your services to clients.

One of the desirable skills for an entrepreneur is ________.

Shelley is very excited about launching her new business-providing customized and personalized umbrellas.Her business will be completely online,and she is convinced she has thought everything through.The last step is getting investors interested in her venture,but they do not seem to be as excited as she is.When they ask her what the business is about,she can speak about it,but her documentation is confusing.She is concerned that she will never find the necessary investment or financing to get the business off the ground.What is the first thing you would recommend Shelley do?

Entrepreneurs resist implementing a more deliberate organizational structure due to ________.

The choice of an appropriate organizational structure is an important decision when organizing an entrepreneurial venture.In a short essay,explain how structure and the necessary human resources management contribute to the success of the organization.Provide clear examples of strategies for employee recruitment and retention.

A ________ is an entrepreneurial venture's ability to generate revenues faster than the rate it incurs costs.

Sarah has been working hard on her business plan for her new web marketing business for the past eight weeks.She feels she has nailed down every conceivable detail of the business for the next four years.When discussing it with her financial partner,the question of a contingency plan came up.Sarah became frustrated and asked,"Why would I need a contingency plan?" In answering,her partner said that a contingency plan was important because it was a more concise version of her full business plan,which she could use to show potential clients where her company was going and what she stood for.Sarah's partner is correct about her understanding of a contingency plan.

________ is at the heart of entrepreneurship.

For many entrepreneurs,one of the challenges of their growing enterprise is having to share decision-making and operating responsibilities with those hired to support the enterprise.

In order to survive and prosper entrepreneurs must look at ________.

In exploring the context of a potential venture,the entrepreneur generally does three things: ________.

Customer creation is the first step in the model for company building.

According to one study,nearly two-thirds of respondents said that working in the same industry was the major source of ideas for a new venture.

A contingency plan is there to help the entrepreneur be prepared if there are problems or if an emergency occurs.The plan needs to focus on specific details for controlling the most fundamental aspects of running the organization: cash flow,accounts receivables,________ and ________.

You are a management consultant specializing in business planning for new ventures.You are meeting with a group of four investors who want you to develop a business plan for their new bio-diesel company.You tell them that the full business plan is really the second step.The first step is to complete a ________,which will eventually form the basis of the business plan.

Recruitment and retention are the two main human resource challenges entrepreneurs face as their ventures grow.It is insufficient to simply look at getting the right people into the business without considering how to keep them in the long run.