1. What benefits of entrepreneurship does Sara Blakely appear to have attained?

2. Is the desire to earn an income a key motivator for Blakely? Explain your answer.

3. What was Blakely’s opportunity cost when she started Spanx?

4. Which of Schumpeter’s five basic ways to find opportunity applies to Spanx, both at its start and today? What was the opportunity?

5. Which of Porter’s generic strategies best fits Spanx?

6. If Blakely had wanted to buy an existing business to create Spanx, what sort of company would have been logical? Why? Would an acquisition have been feasible? Why or why not?

7. If you were writing a business plan for the Spanx start-up, what knowledge, skills, and abilities would you attribute to Blakely? What expertise would you suggest was needed?

8. Create a business model canvas for Spanx at its start-up in 2000. How would it differ today?