Exam 5: Managing Entrepreneurially

By definition,a small business is necessarily entrepreneurial.

Failure is a clear indication that one is not suited to entrepreneurial career.

Growing a Web-Development Company (Scenario) Vincent and Alice are partners in a one-year-old web development business called Spy-der Web Execution. Vincent comes from a graphic design background and specializes in the look and feel of web projects. Alice comes from the computer gaming industry and is a highly experienced programmer and web developer—with a particular leaning toward Wordpress as a website backbone. So far they have brought in less business than they had anticipated—about 25 percent less. As a result, they are operating at just a little below break even, and it is costing them about $500 a month to cover expenses (including rent on a small office space where they meet clients). The situation is disappointing and was not anticipated by either Vincent or Alice. As with many businesses like this that are easy to get into with little investment, they did not do a full feasibility study or business plan. They are unsure about how to divide up their responsibilities (who is responsible for what), and therefore neither person is proactively going after new business, managing each project's budget, and determining even if they are making money on the work. You are now in the role of advising the partners about a number of issues. -You recommend they redo their feasibility study with some of the new information they have gathered in their first year of operations.Given the speed with which Vincent and Alice launched their business,it will likely provide additional details about ________.

Growing a Web-Development Company (Scenario) Vincent and Alice are partners in a one-year-old web development business called Spy-der Web Execution. Vincent comes from a graphic design background and specializes in the look and feel of web projects. Alice comes from the computer gaming industry and is a highly experienced programmer and web developer—with a particular leaning toward Wordpress as a website backbone. So far they have brought in less business than they had anticipated—about 25 percent less. As a result, they are operating at just a little below break even, and it is costing them about $500 a month to cover expenses (including rent on a small office space where they meet clients). The situation is disappointing and was not anticipated by either Vincent or Alice. As with many businesses like this that are easy to get into with little investment, they did not do a full feasibility study or business plan. They are unsure about how to divide up their responsibilities (who is responsible for what), and therefore neither person is proactively going after new business, managing each project's budget, and determining even if they are making money on the work. You are now in the role of advising the partners about a number of issues. -You notice that the possibility of operating at a loss was not even considered a possibility by Alice and Vincent.Had they done a proper ________,they probably would have at least been aware that this could happen.

The test whether the entrepreneurial business model is repeatable and scalable is through ________.

Pursuing opportunities is at the heart of entrepreneurship.

A learning-and-discovery culture enables ________.

Businesses that are started in response to needs within a community are known as social enterprises/ventures and may be not-for-profit entities.

A Mature Café (Scenario) Sarah has been operating and growing her café in an upscale neighbourhood for almost five years. She is happy with how the business has continued to increase in revenues as her customer base has become loyal over the years. She has just over 30 employees, two of whom are managers. The lease on the space is coming up for renewal and this has brought up the notion of leaving the business and exploring other interests she has in travelling through Africa and Southeast Asia. Sarah has worked hard and she wants to be sure she gets as much out of the business as she put into it. Another factor is the increasing competition in the area and the sinking feeling she has that it will be next to impossible to differentiate her business from the big chains opening on several street corners. Her fear is that her sales may have plateaued and there in fact will be a decrease in sales in the near future. -Sarah needs to do some work to figure out what the true worth of the customer experience is to her clientele.She needs to clarify what her customers truly appreciate about her café that is not the same as her competitors.She needs to redevelop her ________.

In a short essay,describe the importance of innovation to an entrepreneurial venture and how the right kind of leadership contributes to continuing innovation for the success of the enterprise.Give examples of innovative companies and their leaders to support your answers.

Max wants to be an entrepreneur but in today's climate it is difficult to come up with a totally new idea and build a business around it.Max is scanning the environment as well as actively searching for an opportunity.He knows there is one just waiting for him,but how to find it is his challenge.He would most like to come up with something completely new where neither the supply nor the demand is known.Max is involved in the process of ________.

Kurt has built his new healthy snack company over the past year into a viable business with six employees.He is focused on innovating the company's products to fit with the current trends among older population to lead healthier lives.He understands clearly that among other things innovation must consider creating ________.

Which of the following is NOT an organizing issue for an entrepreneur when creating a new venture?

The business plan is a written document that defines and articulates how the particular opportunity will be developed and exploited.

The blueprint or road map for an entrepreneurial venture is the business plan.

In many small firms the organizational structure tends to evolve ________.

When hiring,entrepreneurial leaders are primarily concerned with matching the ________ of the potential employee to the ________ the organization.

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's idea for offering yoga classes through a new medium is grounded in a common source of new ventures in many industries.When an innovation comes along that breaks down an old way of doing something,this is referred to as ________.

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. -Before Deborah is able to complete a feasibility study for the venture,she needs to be sure she clearly defines and clarifies the opportunity as well as ________.

Management innovation is about the skills managers have in ________.