The Entrepreneurial Life Cycle - Case Study Example

The paper  “The Entrepreneurial Life Cycle”  is a brief example of a finance & accounting case study. According to Martha Becks in her book “Finding Your Own North Star,” there are five district stages in an entrepreneurial life cycle. The first stage is stage 0, the aspiration stage; in this stage, people will want to start a business but they have not committed to starting a business. Immediately Dave finished his study at Harvard Business School (HBS) he had an idea of wanting to start a technology business due to the fact that the information technology business was growing at a fast pace, although Dave didn’t have experience in that field because he was qualified in the engineering field.

The second stage is stage 1, the entry-stage; people have started a business and are actively building their market and offers. This stage is when Dave declined the consulting position in favor of developing his own business; Faxtech International, this business was offering superior services in facsimile between the US and major cities in the world. The third stage is stage 2; the growth stage; people in this stage have business plans and are growing their business venture revenue streams with new customers. Dave was in this position when his new business was started acquiring new customers to use its services in communication.

The fourth stage is stage 3; the crucible stage; the demand for business products and services outstrips their ability to meet these demands, in other words, demand is higher than the supply can meet. This stage is when in 1993 the sales in Dave company was successful in the first six months but the sales felled apart in July, at this stage Dave morale was at an all-time low, he did not have a strategy and also he did not have confidence in existing sales director. At this stage is when Dave replaced the Director of sales and all the things got back on track, but also Dave noted that it was due to the economy which was a primary concern for his business because Faxtech was eating up more and more capital as the growth accelerated.

Q1. Evaluate Dave Santolli’s entrepreneurial thinking and leadership at Faxtech and at TTI
Dave's entrepreneurial thinking; he was able to discover new opportunities and he had a way of know-how and when to make a profit from the businesses he formed. Dave is able to find an opportunity that other people do not find and his spirits were incorporated into the goals, strategies, and values of the company which he forms.

Q2. What lessons and insights are most important for you here?
If you have an idea don’t be afraid make sure you turn it into something profitable, and entrepreneurship is a process and it takes time to realize your dreams and aspirations. In order to be a good entrepreneur, you must think of ways of recognizing opportunities that are before you in the marketplace and make sure to know the right time to capitalize on those opportunities. People don’t inherit entrepreneur skills but it takes time to train yourself to make good use of your talents and experience and to capitalize on the opportunity where others do not see them.

Q3. Evaluate the progress and situations facing TTI in 2006, what should the company do? What should the investors/directors do?
This year is when the company was not doing fine this was as a result of terrorism scare at same time, it was during this period when global recession was starting to be felt. The stock of the company was doing badly, the company could have cut down on its employees to minimize the effect of cost, while investors should have pumped more money into the business to caution the company from going under. Read More