Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management


Accompany Management, 10/e John R. Schermerhorn, Jr.
Prepared by:  Jim LoPresti
University of Colorado, Boulder
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Appendix: Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Planning Ahead —Appendix Study Questions
ØWhat is entrepreneurship?
ØWhat is special about small businesses?
ØHow does one start a new venture?

Study Question 1: What is entrepreneurship?
Øentrepreneurship ls Strategic thinking and risk-taking behavior that results in the creation of new opportunities for individuals and/or organizations.
Øentrepreneurs lRisk-taking individuals who take actions to pursue opportunities and situations others may fail to recognize  or may view as problems or threats.

ØEntrepreneurs are …
                -Founders of businesses that become large-scale enterprises.
                -People who:
                                -Buy a local franchise outlet
                                -Open a small retail shop
                                -Operate a self-employed service business
                -People who introduce a new product or operational change in an existing organization.

ØTypical characteristics of entrepreneurs:
                -Internal locus of control
                -High energy level
                -High need for achievement
                -Tolerance for ambiguity
                -Self-confidence
                -Passion and action-orientation
                -Self-reliance and desire for independence
                -Flexibility

ØTypical entrepreneurial backgrounds and experiences:
                -Parents were entrepreneurs or self-employed.
                -Families encouraged responsibility, initiative, and independence.
                -Have tried more than one business venture.
                -Have relevant personal or career experience.
                -Become entrepreneurs between 22 and 45 years of age.
                -Have strong interests in creative production and enterprise control.
                -Seek independence and sense of mastery.

ØCommon myths about entrepreneurs:
                -Entrepreneurs are born, not made.
                -Entrepreneurs are gamblers.
                -Money is the key to entrepreneurial success.
                -You have to be young to be an entrepreneur.
                -You must have a degree in business to be an entrepreneur.

ØChanging face of entrepreneurship
                -Necessity-based entrepreneurship:
                                -Driven by absolute need.
                                -Few to no employment or career options elsewhere.
                -Social entrepreneurship :
                                -Seeks novel ways to solve social problems at home and abroad.
                                -May include job training for homeless, improving literacy among disadvantaged youth, providing start-up capital for minority-owned businesses.

ØReasons for women becoming entrepreneurs:
                -Being motivated by a new idea.
                -Doing for themselves what they were already doing for other employers.
                -Seeking a pathway to opportunity.

Study Question 2: What is special about small businesses?
ØSmall businesses …
                -Ones with 500 or fewer employees.
                -Independently owned and operated.
                -Constitute 99 percent of American businesses.
                -Are established by:
                                -Starting a new business.
                                -Buying an existing business.
                                -Buying and running a franchise.

ØEntrepreneurship and the Internet …
                -The Internet offers numerous entrepreneurial opportunities :
                                -Online buying and selling
                                -Dot-com businesses
                -Businesses are limited only by personal creativity.

ØFamily businesses …
                -Owned and financially controlled by family members.
                -Largest percentage of businesses worldwide.
                -Can provide an ideal business situation.
                -Problems unique to family businesses:
                                -Family business feud
                                -Succession problem

ØReasons for small business failures:
                -Lack of experience
                -Lack of expertise
                -Lack of strategy and strategic leadership
                -Poor financial control
                -growing too fast
                -Insufficient commitment
                -Ethical failure

Figure A.2Eight reasons why many small businesses fail.

Study Question 3: How does one start a new venture?
ØImportant issues in new venture creation:
-Does the entrepreneur have good ideas and the courage to give them a chance?
-Is the entrepreneur prepared to meet and master the test of strategy and competitive advantage?
-Can the entrepreneur identify a market niche that is being missed by other established firms?
-Can the entrepreneur identify a new market that has not yet been discovered by existing firms?
-Can the entrepreneur generate first-mover advantage by exploiting a niche or entering a market before competitors?

ØLife cycle of entrepreneurial firms
                -Birth stage
                -Breakthrough stage
                -Maturity stage
ØEach stage poses different managerial challenges and requires different managerial competencies.
ØA business plandescribes the direction for a new business and the financing needed to operate it.
-Basic items that should be included in a business plan:
                Executive summary
                Industry analysis
                Company description
                Product and services description
                Market description
                Marketing strategy
                Operations description
                Staffing description
                Financial projection
                Capital needs
                Milestones

Study Question 3: How does one start a new venture?
ØForms of legal ownership
                -Sole proprietorship
                -Partnership:
                                General partnership
                                Limited partnership
                                Limited liability partnership
                -Corporation
                -Limited liability corporation (LLC)

ØFinancing the new venture
                -Sources of outside financing:
                                -Debt financing
                                -Equity financing
                -Equity financing alternatives:
                                -Venture capitalists
                                -Initial public offerings (IPO)
                                -Angel investors

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