Entrepreneur Interview - Assignment Example

ENTP 3000 – Entrepreneur Interview Paper What is the of the individual you met with and his/her What is the of the company and when was it founded? Why did you choose this particular individual to interview? Where did you meet and for how long? The person I decided to interview was a hookah bar owner named Mohammed. The name of the bar is Mist Hookah. He started out his company three years ago. The reason why I decided to interview this guy was because he is not American so he has a greater perspective on the American ways to do business. Because he came from another country, he is in a good position to accurately describe what it is like to be an entrepreneur in a foreign country. I met with him in his bar in Colorado, Denver, and the interview lasted around half an hour. 2. What does the entrepreneur’s company do? Are they product-based or service-based? Where are they located – do they have one facility or many, and where? Provide a brief overview of the company. Mohammeds company specializes in hookah products, such as Arabic tea, Arabic coffee, etc. The company is product-based, as most of the goods are imported from overseas and sold in America. At the moment Mohammed only has one bar, but he is planning to open more in other areas of the state. Mohammed started the company from scratch because he did not have anyone to partner with at the beginning. He ran a hookah bar before he came to the United States, so he has a wealth of experience of the industry itself. 3. What were the entrepreneurs biggest goals in starting his/her company? Has (s)he met them, considering where the company is today? Before he started his company, Mohammad worked in a regular job than went from 8 to 5. Although this job did provide plenty of security, he did not feel satisfied with his work. The main incentive for starting a hookah bar was to have the freedom of being in control of a business and giving orders instead of taking them. He said that at the start there was lots of hard work involved, but gradually as the company has grown he now has more time on his hands and can leave the business in the hands of others. 4. What were the most significant things you learned about your entrepreneur, either personally and/or professionally? I would say that the most significant thing that I learned would be that Mohammad struggled through life for so long, and it was only when he realized that having his own business did he finally find freedom. I can relate to him because he came from another culture and learned the American ways of business and applied them to his ethnic business. Another lesson that I learned was that Mohammad spent six months researching the idea first before starting the business. He said that planning is crucial because without a plan success is not an option. 5. List and describe one success or failure that most significantly stands out in the mind of your entrepreneur and to you. The most significant success that stands out is the fact that Mohammad has a strong client base. This is in large part due to the terrific customer service that Mohammad has instilled in the company. Arab people like it when a seller is personable, so this helps to create a connection between the company and its customers. Even for the occasional American customer this strong customer service attitude is good because they do really appreciate the extra hospitality. Now that Mohammad has a long list of regulars to the store, he can focus his efforts on reaching the untapped market and finding new customers to attract to the store. 6. How did the information you gained during your meeting either validate or ‘shoot down’ the perceptions you had prior to this class of what entrepreneurship involves? I think that this meeting really taught me that being an entrepreneur involves a lot of hard work. Many people think that it can be a relaxing life because there is no one telling you what to do. Actually, being an entrepreneur is harder than a normal job because you have to become the boss of yourself, and it can be difficult to find motivation at times. Although this meeting has not put me off being an entrepreneur one day, it has shown the pitfalls to avoid and the precautions to take. 7. How do you feel the interview went? What was the overall dynamic of your meeting? Was it easy to speak to your entrepreneur? Why or why not? Did (s)he provide insightful answers to the questions you asked? I feel that the interview went really well because Mohammed was open to all the questions that I asked and he gave thoughtful responses. The dynamic was personable and sometimes I even got off track and we talked about things not related to entrepreneurship. Although I had never met him before, we struck up a friendship very quickly and I would say that it was very easy to speak with him. In fact, at the end of the meeting he told me that I could come back anytime if I had any more questions or I just wanted to learn more about his business. 8. Did what you learned during your meeting at all influence your desire to become an entrepreneur, either positively or negatively? Why and how? I would say that this meeting did not really influence my desire to become an entrepreneur because I was already interesting in this area. I would say though that I was a little taken aback by some of his answers and how honest he was. However, I did appreciate this honesty because I now know everything that is involved with being an entrepreneur. Mohammed even offered to let me come by his bar on occasion so that I could see him in action and he could show me the ropes a bit. Although I might not be interested in running a hookah bar, the same concepts still apply and I can learn a lot from him. 9. Was the meeting a valuable experience to you as an entrepreneurship student? Why or why not? Be honest here. Your grade will not suffer if the meeting was not valuable, as long as you explain why. Yes the meeting was very valuable because it is one thing to read a textbook and listen to the lectures, but it is completely different going out and talking to someone about this subject. Before the interview I thought that I knew a lot about entrepreneurship, but in reflection I only ever knew the subject through reading a textbook. I can now see concepts from the book applied in real life, and this makes it much easier to identify and remember them. I can honestly say that this interview was really beneficial and I would do it all over again tomorrow if I could. 10. Provide some additional information that stands out from your meeting that has not been covered above. This can be in reference to the questions you asked, observations you had of your entrepreneur or anything else significant that left an impression on you. The one thing that stands out from the meeting is that even though he now runs a successful business, Mohammed is still not satisfied. He is always looking for ways to improve and make things run more smoothly. Although he now has more freedom because he does not need to be at work every day, he said that it is important to never stay still. Even the most successful entrepreneur still have to continually innovate and adapt because there are always new challenges, such as changing market forces or new ideas introduced to the market. Read More