Wada Kealotswe is the founder and director of Aiko Creations t/a Eco Zera in Botswana, a company that manufactures eco graphite and colour pencils. The business has been running for 2 years and today has 3 permanent employees and 15 part time employees, mostly youth who have never worked before. Wada is a Development Economist from Botswana with over 10 years' experience doing developmental work, and a graduate from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The company was a 2021 runner-up for the Catalyst SEED award in the Waste Management category, and its stories have been featured on global platforms like Forbes and Xinhua. In an Interview with Wada, here is what she narrated: Tell us a little about your team. I have a team of 3 who are employed on a permanent basis and who all work in our workshop. The team is talented and has gained experience in the art of perfecting the pencil production. We have also trained 15 young people who are engaged when the work load is beyond our capacity. What inspired you to start your company? I was inspired by the love of recycling paper. I was in the 2019 Cohort for a Youth Summit with the World Bank and pitched a paper recycling project that ended up reaching the semifinals. I was motivated to further explore the idea of recycling and ended up finding a niche with recycling newspapers. I also love nature and the thought of knowing that some trees are cut down for the manufacture of wood pencils motivated me to recycle. Why should anyone use your service or product? What makes our product special is that it is made from recycled newspapers which could be going to the landfill increasing gases that are not environmentally friendly. Furthermore, the product is 80% handmade which allows us to hire more people and create employment. What are your future plans and aspirations for your company? My future plans and aspirations for the company are to see it upscale and be able to reach the global markets while creating viable employment for the masses. Adapted from: https://www.lionessesofafrica.com/ Dated 3 July 2022

1. Discuss five (5) characteristics of an entrepreneur that has made Weda to be a successful young businesswoman. Cite examples (15 marks)

2. Wedas wants to use an industry tool which can help her to identify the opportunities and threats which could impact her business. She has approached you to assist her with information to help her assess competitive stance of her business.

a. Briefly explain each component of Porter's Five Forces (10 marks)

b. Discuss possible barriers to entry that may exist for Wedas business (4 marks)

3. Weda's eco graphite and colour pencils are unique in the market. Such unique business ideas should be protected.

i. Describe how Weda can protect her product/service from being imitated by competitors (2 marks)

ii. Discuss the importance of innovation in small business enterprises (15 marks)

4. Assist Weda to understand how to develop a Business Model canvas for her business by addressing the following: a. State the benefit of developing a business model canvas for Weda's small business (2 marks) b. Identify nine (9) key components of business canvas model (9 marks) c. Explain to her how a business model canvas differs from a Business Plan (3 marks)