Questions and Answers of Entrepreneurial Small Business

Basic Industries manufactures plastic recycle containers. They have contracts with a number of municipalities and state governments and these contracts amount to 100,000 units a month. The only raw
Marisha’s grandmother wants to liquidate her library. She has over 10,000 books, many of them first editions or rare books. Since buyers are likely to come from nearly anywhere in the world,
Now that Claude had mastered the basics, he was full of questions for Gray. “I keep hearing about different kind sorts accounting – financial accounting, managerial accounting? Are they
“Okay,” Claude grudgingly conceded. “I guess I do need accounting, but how can I make it easier and do it accurately? What sort of advise do you have for me on that?”What might Gary
“I hate numbers,” Claude stated emphatically. “I didn’t get into business just to have to tie myself to a computer or a calculator. All this paperwork is driving me nuts. Give me one good
Which financial report is most important for managing a small business? Why?
How does the accounting equation relate to the balance sheet?
Suggest atmospherics for the following stores:A music storeA pet storeA designer clothing storeA sports bar
Which of the typical layouts are the following entrepreneurs likely to use?Louis custom-designed furniture to order for his customers.Eugene’s sporting goods store was arranged by the different
Dana has decided to open a restaurant. He knows that he could buy, build or lease a place. Can you tell him the pros and cons of each option?
Mauricio had just visited some property he intended to lease and well telling his small business mentor, Nara, about it.“Nara, I think I’ve found the spot!” Mauricio stated. “It’s in a
Suggest one or more traffic generators for the following businesses.Video arcadePizza restaurantBankA newsstand Internet café
Entrepreneurs have a number of options to consider when they set up their businesses. Please complete the following table with the most likely option for the following entrepreneurs.Home
Aunt Rose set up an eBay story selling antiques. Almost immediately she discovered that nearly one-third of the inquiries and auction bids were from outside the United States. Byron (from question 3)
Byron has come up with a new air filtration system. This device, roughly the size of a football, effectively sucks all the dust, pet fur and other particulate matter out of the air nearly eliminating
Below is a list of entrepreneurs who are practicing a variety of direct marketing techniques – word of mouth, direct sales, direct mail, telemarketing, direct response advertising, and guerilla
All of the following entrepreneurs have carefully studied pricing strategies and have put these principles to work. From the information below, can you tell which strategy from table 9.1 they
The Lawson family was discussing purchasing a new television. Larry mentioned that he’d seen an ad from Ates Appliances pricing the model he liked at $899 and that his neighbor had paid about
Higher or lower? Read the following scenarios and decide if each entrepreneur should raise or lower prices. What basic element of setting optimum prices should they react to?Portia had projected
Assume you have developed innovative new business software and want to sell it internationally. Without doing any research, come up with a list of likely countries. Why did you choose the ones you
The chapter mentioned several unique guerilla marketing pieces that stood out from the rest – the landscaper who used a plastic sandwich bag of decorative stones with his business card and the
While displaying at a craft fair, a representative of a mail order catalog company wants to put your product in the catalog. It will pay you $40 and mark the product up to $55 for the catalog. It
Suppose you are operating a copy service. You learn that FedEx Kinkos is going to open an outlet just a few blocks away. You are concerned that you cannot compete with the marketing power of FedEx.
Dr. Bob Wagstaff developed the Orabrush. While the product was patented and manufacturing was going, sales didn’t really take off – until he enlisted the help of a couple of college students to
After careful consideration and having their numbers reviewed by the local Small Business Administration office, B & W Seamless Gutters has estimated that their share of the market is likely to
The Matthews have found that the total market for seamless gutters is 1,000 houses. What should they do next?
Brenda and Wayne Matthews operate B & W Seamless Gutters in a small town in Ohio. Suggest several ways that they might estimate the total market for seamless gutters in their town.
While delivery cookies, Kelly overheard four clients discussing their CRM programs. Can you tell what strategy they were pursuing?Allison was considering opening her coffee shops in the next
Kelly has decided that she needs to contact businesses in person in order to get them interested in her product. Go through the steps of personal selling and offer Kelly a blueprint for what she
Review the following entrepreneurial events to see what components of newsworthiness they may have:Carlos’s sports marketing company has just hired a famous ex-quarterback in their marketing
Suggest how Kelly should use some basic advertising tools to promote Kelly’s Kookies. Discuss at least five.
The table below shows a number of products or services. Name a way each could be segmented demographically and by benefits sought and explain.Product/ serviceDemographicBenefits
Kelly of Kelly’s Kookies was opening a cookie bakery. She mentioned that she had so many friends and acquaintances that she wasn’t really sure she needed to advertise – and if she did, she’d
Go to 1and1.com to find out what it would cost for a domain name and basic Website. When asked for a desired web address, give a made-up name (not one you might want to by later on) and see what it
Try Nielson’s MyBestSegments.com and look for the “zip Code Look-up” for the sip code around Contra Costa Community College – 94806. Compare the first listed segment on the PRIZM and P$YCLE
Dongzhou Gongbu combined and underutilized resources – the vast Tibetan plateau and the unique characteristics of yak milk – with and under met need – feeding the Chinese population. Even
Below are four small businesses. Can you tell in which stage of the Product Life Cycle they are?Arras Excavating does excavation for new construction in Alhambra, a city in the Los Angeles
Below are a few entrepreneurs at various stages of the product development process (idea generation, screening and evaluating, product development, commercialization). Can you tell which stage they
Describe the core, augmented and total product Donna offers. How could she use this information?
Address the four characteristics that differentiate services from goods for Donna's bed and breakfast. How might she address each one?
Donna Harsch is opening a bed and breakfast in a historic old house with a distinctive red roof. This famous home is located in a seaport in Maine. What parts of her operations are goods and what
Becky has a great idea for a basement waterproofing system she has named “B-Dry Systems.” The system really seems to work and is difficult for competitors to copy. Becky is really excited about
Kelly’s Kookies prepared one-foot diameter cookies with announcements written on them in icing. She sold these to businesses in the greater Denver area as an advertising or public relations
Fawn used the following questions, all of them scalar and rated from one to five with five being highest.How do you feel about the archery range in general?How do you rate our equipment?How do you
Fawn wants to find out how customers feel about her archery range. Write a scalar, a dichotomous, and an open-ended question that could capture that information. For a challenge, can you come up with
The following entrepreneurs are conducting marketing research. Can you tell if they are doing primary or secondary research? Carolyn counts the cars in line at the bank’s drive-up window.Ellie
Mary Lou needed to buy a gift for her grandmother’s birthday. Her mother, Samantha suggested a new mystery book by good choice. Mary Lou checked the Internet to see who had recently released a book
Tiara and Tyrone are both planning to start a business and are working on their marketing plans. Tiara states that she has always wanted to make custom decorated athletic shoes and now she needs to
What sorts of primary data could you collect using observation for your carwash?
What is the target market and how does it differ from the other types of markets (TAM, SAM, PM)?
What are the elements that go into a customer profile and why is each one useful?
What are the customer roles and what does the person in each role do?
How do the risks differ when you start your business using a purely product development process versus a purely customer development process?
Michael Cain built a loft for his dorm and when asked to make others, decided to look into this as a business opportunity. He ran into three problems and really needed to go though the business plan
Although Minnie (from above) has learned a lot, her first business plan had some problems. Below are some statements that were found in her plan. Indicate if the statement is a problem or not and, if
Below are some caselets describing situations where a focused (pioneering, new entrant, existing, or significant government involved business) or a specialized (screening, informational, invention,
Minnie knows what to do, she’s really working hard. She has gathered lots of information and is ready to put together a classic business plan. Help her decide whether each of the
Thanks to your help, Minnie has a vision statement, an elevator pitch, a pitch deck and an executive summary. Over the next week she runs into the following people and needs to decide which to use.
Minnie has decided to get some help and she has approached you for some advice. Write a vision statement and a mission statement for her firm. Write a hook for an elevator pitch for her.
Minnie was thinking about turning her cake-decorating hobby into a full time business. She had found a suitable location in her town and tracked down the necessary equipment on the Internet. She
Evaluating a Business Plan: The full text for this exercise has not been duplicated here. This exercise has the student apply her/his understanding of what should be in a business plan against an
Imagine you were presenting your plan to a consultant who specializes in your industry. Your goal is to get her help. Using the ideas in Table 8.1, what kinds of issues do you think would be of
Ronnie Scales wanted to start a search engine optimization firm. He crafted a perceptual map, but the results weren’t promising. Thinking about the Porter model, from what sectors would
Leise wants to open a dance school in her ometown. Using Porter’s five threats, discuss the possible problems she may face.
Scot wants to open a pet-sitting service. He is currently a pre-vet student at a Midwestern university and has already had considerable animal experience on his parents’ hobby farm. For a paper in
Which wedge? Using the list in the book, which entry wedge does it appear each of the following firms are using?a. Angelina Alvarez uses the fact that her tree and shrub removal service is both woman
Match the entrepreneur to the supra-strategy list in your textbook.Sonya opened a medical clinic in a ghetto area of her city.Tiffany’s Truffles feature exceptional candies going for $4
Match the company to the generic strategy it practices:Cheapseats offers discount airfare to anyone with an Internet connection.Altoids breath mint is the only one that is “curiously strong.”Liz
By using the SIC code for plumbers, Leona has found out that the industry is highly fragmented, growing, and relatively profitable. Through her study and interviews, she has found a niche for
Consider the following industries. Where do you think they fall in Industry Dynamics?Tennis shoesHigh-definition televisionPharmaceutical companiesMusic downloading industryBuggy whip
Several other students joined the group at the party (question 1). They, too, were in the same class. From their comments can you tell which of the important customer groups they were after?Ray
Evaluate the following businesses and decide if these examples are likely to be parallel competition, incremental innovation or pure innovation a. Bobbie is starting a ski-diving center to
At a campus party, four friends were discussing their projects for the Business Start-Up class they were attending. “I think it’s great that Dr. Bockhorn wants us to come up with actual
Get the industry statistic you need form the government. Go to Census Industry Snapshot page (www.census.gov/econ/snapshots) and look up “lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores” (NAICS
Small businesses that pursue cost (or focus) strategy often do so by using a location in a very low-rent district, with the store itself made up of used furniture, no decoration, and a very no-frills
A lot of famous entrepreneurs brag how innovative their product is, when it is fundamentally like the competition, although better in one way or another. How do you classify such entrepreneurs in
The following entrepreneurs have come to the end of their small business life cycle. Can you tell how they ended their business?Chiyoko was able to sell her restaurants assets and use these proceeds
Buy-out, buy-in, key resource acquisition, or takeover: which of the following examples is which?Dean is buying Hess Construction, a sole proprietorship.Sheri has purchased all the stock belonging to
Denise is now ready to begin valuing the nail salon. This year the business did $70,000, which is about the same as it did the previous four years. The owner has switched hours of operations and
Denise settled on a nail salon in her town. She is ready to perform due diligence. The current owners have provided her with a set of their financial statements and the tax reports for the last
Duane wanted to start a limo service and already had a name picked out, Amore Limos. While many limos offered bar service, he decided to also provide appropriate snacks – pate, caviar and other
Match the small business manager to the entry path he/she has used.a. Elva just opened a Subway Sandwich Shop.b. Tahir was hired to run Alligator Music.c. Doug took over Klingman Painting when his
The following entrepreneurs just completed a seminar in bootstrapping. Some of them listened well, while others must have slept through the lecture. Which ones did well?a. Jerre
Tim Hayden was introduced earlier as having an idea for connecting sports fans in a stadium with the same sorts of graphics, statistics, instant replay and other advantages the television viewers
The following entrepreneurs were eager to start up their part time businesses – too eager because they breeched ethical standards. Of what were they guilty?Pam was just about to get her first
Shari also told Donna that maybe she needed to think about delegating some of the work to others. Donna’s two sons, Percy and Tony, were 14 and 16 years old and the main reason Donna started
Donna has been canning and selling her secret recipe spaghetti sauce for a few months on a part time basis and is running into problems. Her neighbor, Shari, made it seem so easy with her part
Below are a number of entrepreneurs pursuing part time small business opportunities. Can you identify if their business would be considered home-based, internet, home retail, stand, mobile office or
James, Jeffrey and Jason were discussing they businesses they had started. James went first, “I knew I could do graphic design on my own, but I didn’t know Web design or accounting or writing a
Bill and Bob, both part-time entrepreneurs, were discussing their businesses over lunch one day. “I took that auctioneering class and decided to try it out on a part time basis,” Bill said. I
If you were going to start a home-based business consulting in a dorm room what do you think would be the greatest challenge you faced? What about if you were starting the same business from home?
Tim Hayden was at Busch Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals when Mark McGwire hit his record breaking 70th homerun of the season, however, he missed it as he was in line at the concession
Shantrail was excited. “I’ve got my really big idea for my business. I’m going to make custom designed tennis shoes. Young people want to be different; the worst thing that can happen to you is
Phaneendra and Kavitha were trying to come up with some new ideas for their housekeeping service. Phaneendra said, “We just don’t have enough customers; we need to drop our prices and to do that
Kareem wanted to open a pizza restaurant, but he wanted something different than what was out there already. He brainstormed a number of ideas. I could have the customers make their own pizzas.
Mingkit had a bad day. It started at work where he was trying to sell software upgrades to his company’s customers. “I really like your software systems, but it just takes so long to add it or to
Imitative, Incremental or Radically Innovative? Identify which strategy each business is following.Nancy opens a beauty salonNancy offers aromatherapy and massages at her beauty
List 15 new uses for a popular product or service. Try paper clips, or coffee mugs, or home delivery. Use SCAMPER to generate new uses, and make connections to other uses.
What is a business model canvas and how do you use it to assess the potential of a business?
How can entrepreneurs quickly scan a large number of new ideas?

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