Interview of an Entrepreneur - Example

ENTREPRENEUR’S INTERVIEW REPORT By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Entrepreneur’s Interview Report Part One Entrepreneurs Background The old shop was recognised as Cupcake Family, located QV Square shopping centre, which is in the heart of the Melbourne’s busiest shopping area. They are planning to move their shop from QV to 73 Cardigan St, Carlton, VIC because the area is convenient thanks to the nearby universities and residential areas. Furthermore, the business will be closer to the heart of Melbourne. Basically, the Cupcake Family provides mouth-watering macaroons as well as cupcakes, which are baked every day on site. The flavours of cupcakes include the classic red velvet, blueberry cream cheese, earl grey, and banana peanut butter, which are offered in standard and mini sizes. Furthermore, the Cupcake Family offers designer cakes that are gorgeously decorated. The company continuously offer new flavours and often decorate the cakes to meet the customers’ desires. Given that introducing another type product to the Cupcake Family product portfolio, the entrepreneur decided to relocate and rebrand to Cream & Crumbs shop, which has big space where it is easier to bake and sell various products. Furthermore, Cream & Crumbs has a neutral name; thus, it is not limited to a specific product. At Cream & Crumbs, the entrepreneur is planning to do similar things as at Cupcake Family, but new products have been introduced. At the new Cream & Crumbs, the entrepreneur is trying to integrate new and trendy ideas into desserts. The target market will be the students, the young professionals, and any other person interested in pastry and desserts. The company plan to do different flavours which will be changed over time; therefore, the company targets any person interested with new flavours. Given that there is stiff competition in the market, the company is trying to do something different; for instance, the main product at Cream & Crumbs will be calzone and also éclair. Since scores of businesses are doing calzone at the moment, the company is trying to introduce more flavours. Besides that, the entrepreneur believes that éclair will be the next big thing in the Australian market since it very popular in European market. The Cream & Crumbs will only be selling trendy and popular products. At the moment the company does not have any exit strategy because they are planning to stay in the market for long. As pointed out by DeTienne and Wennberg (2014), entrepreneurial exit normally happens when the business owner removes himself from the business after realising the full value of his/her investment. Motivations for Starting the Venture An enterprise that is newly created, according to Barba-Sanchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo (2011), improves the economies’ dynamism as well as generate employment. People normally start a venture as a result of a decision rooted in both subjective and personal motives. The motivation of the founder signifies a commitment to a business idea or project; therefore, defines the future success of the business. Stefanovic et al. (2010) posit that the success of start-up business depends on the entrepreneur’s personality and psychological traits, their training and managerial skills, and the external environment. The founder of Cream & Crumbs does not have a primary reason to start a business. According to him, it was an accident because he was swayed by his experienced partners who told him to start something small for himself, such as a small business. The entrepreneur considers his business as fast growth business venture. De Silva (2010) asserts that the motivation for starting a business venture is attributed to a combination of ‘pull’ as well as ‘push’ motives that motivates entrepreneurs to start their own venture. Basically, identifying an opportunity is widely considered as a motive by most entrepreneurs. Success in establishing a company, according to Grundström et al. (2012) depends on the entrepreneurs’ capacity to sell the right product to the right customer. Many entrepreneurs consider business co-location before starting a venture because it improves the likelihood for knowledge sharing, access to labour, as well as cost advantages. Still, the entrepreneur can source their motivations from their ability deliver the best product, customise the offer, and optimise the processes. Furthermore, access to funding plays a crucial role in starting a business since it allows for business growth. Considering that growth normally involves creating every side of the business, which includes the new products. Challenges in Growing the Venture The main challenge while trying to grow the business was finding the right person to do the right thing considering that when the right people are hired, the entrepreneur would be able to focus on other things. Without a doubt, growing businesses normally experience different challenges. When a business is growing, different opportunities, as well as problems, demand diverse solutions; for instance, what worked for the entrepreneur some months ago was no longer an ideal approach because of new trends in the market. Info entrepreneurs (2016) indicate that identifying and overcoming the common challenges related to business growth is important if the entrepreneur wants the business is to continue thriving and growing. The steps that the entrepreneur takes today could lead to additional challenges in the future. Besides that, lack of effective leadership would make it challenging for the business to capitalise on opportunities; thus, creating an obstruction to sustainable growth. Evers (2003) opinionated that creating a business venture is plagued with failure and difficulty. Scores of start-ups have under no circumstances reach the establishment stage, and most of them close-up or collapse after one year of their establishment. The owner of Cream & Crumbs understands that embarking on a new venture is not only adventurous but also very challenging since it brings forth uncertainty and high risk. Even though a number of start-ups survive as well as develop into a profitable business, Evers (2003) posit that all new start-ups normally face key problems irrespective of their new product’s innovation level, the finance sources, and entrepreneur’ knowledge and business experience. Some of the problems that main entrepreneurs face include establishing a reputation, raising the needed capital, finding reliable suppliers, high labour costs and premises constraints. According to Bhide (2003), the majority of start-ups lack innovative assets or ideas, which can help entrepreneurs differentiate themselves from their competitors. Part 2: The Value Proposition Value Proposition, according to Derle (2014), can be described as an art of communicating to the customers. It can also be defined as the promise of value that business intends to deliver as well as the customers’ belief that they will experience value. The bakery industry, where Cream & Crumbs operates has made an enormous contribution to the economic growth of Australia and is certainly amongst the dynamic and fastest changing industries in the modern-day world. As mentioned by Derle (2014), developing a value proposition is important because it is part of the business strategy considering that satisfying customers result in sustainable value creation. Basically, creating a value proposition is rooted in the analysis and review of the value, costs and benefits, which could be delivered by the organisation to constituent groups such as its current and prospective customers inside and outside the organisation. Cream & Crumbs is available for every person that desires to have a delicious baked dessert and pastries. The company eliminates the need for the customers to bake them, especially for young professionals who are busy at work. At Cream & Crumbs, customers can but trendy dessert and pastries with different flavours. They can also buy cupcakes, brownies, and a low, affordable price. More importantly, the customers can pre-order for various occasions. Cream & Crumbs offer various cakes that customers could order, and quality is guaranteed. Customers could have the contentment of having a delicious pastry or dessert devoid of having the hassle of baking since Cream & Crumbs is there to prepare desserts and pastries for all occasions. At Cream & Crumbs, the focus is not only on the flavour but also design. The company believes that taste and beauty have to be directly proportional to one another. Everything the customers see on the Cream & Crumbs’ cakes contributes to the cake’s texture as well as flavour balance. More important, the company ensure its cakes are consistent, fresh and of quality. Part 3: Factors That Makes the Company Successful and Recommendations for Improvement Before rebranding from Cupcake Family to Cream & Crumbs, the business was less successful because it was only limited to cupcakes. This demonstrates that the decision made by the entrepreneur had long-term consequences. To overcome this challenge, the entrepreneur started focusing on creating products that are desired by the customers by diversifying what the business was offering the customers. As mentioned by Kiisel (2014), diversifying product portfolio can lead to business success. Oluwagbemiga et al. (2014) argue that financial performance, like return on investment, turnover or profit can be used as a criterion to measure the business success. For a business to be deemed successful, it must experience an increase in profit or the numbers of workers. Being able to recruit the right people for right job has ensured smooth business operation at Cream & Crumbs. Thus far, the business has been experiencing growth and profitability, which are obvious measures of success. Without a doubt, a business can only survive if it is financially viable. The starting point for all business organisations is the business objective since it allows the business to thrive and it offers direction to be followed. The business objective enables the company to make as well as maximise profit. Cream & Crumbs can be considered successful because the owner is courageous since he has managed to persevere in his own business. By having courage, it connotes that the entrepreneur has a goal that he believes in and his goal is more than financial profit. As pointed out by Mamas (2016), while the business is progressing, it is inclined to accumulate costly baggage; therefore, it is imperative for the entrepreneur to cut unnecessary expenses. At Cream & Crumbs, the owner has maximised his profitability chances by pursuing the minimalist approach to overhead costs. To increase sales, the entrepreneur should build customer relationships by listening to their needs and trying to satisfy these needs. The entrepreneur can customise his offerings in order to meet the changing needs of the customers.  By creating loyal customer relationships, the company would be able to create successful and long-lasting businesses. More importantly, the entrepreneur should remember that building customer relationship is costly since he must invest his resources and time into the relationships. As pointed out by Kappel (2017), entrepreneurs should use the power of the Internet since it enables them to communicate in unique ways and reach a larger customer base. Therefore, Cream & Crumbs should base their sales models on the high number of potential customers on the internet. The company should approach online sales in a different way as compared to how does it at the bricks-and-mortar shop. Given that the number of potential buyers is exceedingly high, it is challenging to maintain a personal relationship with all the customers on the online platforms. Still, Cream & Crumbs can develop customer relationships through the creation of an easy-to-use website that offers excellent customer service and presents clear contact information. As pointed out by Churchill and Lewis (1983), for a business to be successful it must have sufficient personal resources (employees), financial resources (borrowing power and cash), business resources (supplier relations and market share), and Systems resources (control systems, planning and information). More importantly, the business owners must have goals for themselves as well as for the business. Furthermore, they should have operational abilities to do crucial jobs like managing distribution, inventing, marketing, and producing. The business owner should have the willingness and managerial ability to delegate responsibility as well as manage other people activities. He should also have strategic abilities, which is crucial for matching the company’s strengths and weaknesses with his goals. As Cream & Crumbs moves from one stage to another, failure to balance the above-mentioned resources and abilities can lead to business failure. The business owner should understand that the problems he faces as well as the skills needed to manage these problems normally change as the company grows. The development stage of the company defines the managerial factors which have to be managed; therefore, knowing business future plans and development stage could allow the owner to make choices that are more informed and be ready for future challenges. Part 4: Meaningfulness of the Interview Findings This interview was meaningful to me because I learned a lot of things that could help me in the future in case I decide to start a small business. I learned that a cake shop offers a potentially lucrative and exciting small-business opportunity. Given that I love baking products during my free time, I have found out that I can turn my skills and passion into a money-making venture. According to the interviewer, to start a small business successful, I should first find a great location, meet the licensing requirements, plan extensively, and be ready to market my products. I noted that success of a small business does not depend on the owner’s educational background, but skill and experience in managing the business. I have learned that it is imperative to research about the existing competition and search for a suitable location; for instance, a business located in a high-traffic area, like areas with students and young professionals is inclined to become successful. It is imperative to consider the type of pastry shop that would like to venture in such as a take-away stand, a restaurant, or café. Positioning the business in an area with cafés and coffee shops could offer clients who could purchase the pastries or desserts. The interviewer emphasised the need for differentiating the business offerings with those of competitors. Given that cake business is very competitive, I learned that it is imperative to stand out from the competitors. This can be achieved by providing something unique, like trying new flavours. Importantly, through innovation, it becomes easier for the customers to notice the business, but still, quality is crucial to a successful business venture. In addition, it is imperative to plan ahead; for instance, the interviewer was planning to move his cake-making business to a new location in order to develop a full-time, sustainable. Having a plan could help an entrepreneur develop a growth strategy since he can monitor his/her business development and keep up to date with upcoming bookings. I learned that it is imperative to understand when growing the business and when the business is at risk. It also came to my attention that a cake entrepreneur should be creative not just in the kitchen but also online. Selling the desserts or pastries online can enable the entrepreneur to reach a large audience. Even though it is easier to create a website on a shoestring, the quality of the products would determine whether the customers will come back for more cakes. Without a doubt, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter provide a suitable platform to showcase the business. I observed that using image social channels such as Pinterest as well as Instagram can help the entrepreneur to find new customers as well as engage effectively with potential audiences. In the future, when I start a cake café, I will make sure I use social media to market my products. Besides that, I will add business’ process videos with regard to how I make my cakes. In so doing, the customers will be able to see how professional my company is and this will help develop word-of -mouth recommendations and relationships. As pointed out by Gowan (2015), a person can make a sustainable business from a passion or hobby, which could start out as a small scale business before growing swiftly into a profitable business. Thanks to the interview, I learned that I should always compete on quality rather than price; that is to say, the profit should be made by prices which reflect the quality of the end product. Without a doubt, a quality product can lead to business growth because of increased word-of-mouth recommendations. As pointed out by Coleman (2014), before launching a business, the entrepreneur should ensure he/she hires someone who is qualified in decorating the cakes considering that customers often ask for cakes in bespoke designs. The interview enabled me to understand why it is important to tap into the market trends since most customers prefer products that are trending. Sugars (2008) concurs with the interviewer that the entrepreneur should always analyse the competition, establish what sets them apart, search for consumer pain points, and provide a guarantee. Success in the market depends on these factors and being able to recruit the right person for the right job. References Barba-Sanchez, V. & Atienza-Sahuquillo, C., 2011. Reasons to create a new venture: A determinant of entrepreneurial profiles. African Journal of Business Management, vol. 5, no. 28, pp.11497-504. Bhide, A., 2003. The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc. Churchill, N.C. & Lewis, V.L., 1983. The Five Stages of Small Business Growth. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://hbr.org/1983/05/the-five-stages-of-small-business-growth" https://hbr.org/1983/05/the-five-stages-of-small-business-growth [Accessed 14 August 2017]. Coleman, A., 2014. Bake off: How to run a successful bakery business. 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