Small Business and Enterprise Development - Essay Example

Individual Essay – Entrepreneur Name Professor Institution Course Date Entrepreneur Introduction The paper is prepared to provide an interview with Healthy Habits’ owner Katherine Sampson. The paper will also analyze major issues in the career of an entrepreneur, important skills the interviewee thinks an entrepreneur should posses, and reflection on the understanding of entrepreneurship before the interview. Healthy Habits is fast food restaurant founded in Victoria in 1992 by Katherine Sampson (Health Habits 2014). According to Health Habits website (2014), the business has since grown and now has 35 stores across Australia in places such as Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and ACT. Katherine intends to expand the fast food chain in other global markets. With the level obesity in Australia increasing, healthy habits have found a big opportunity to focus on food sector by providing healthier alternatives. Healthy Habits is known for its gourmet sandwiches. However, the company has added other product portfolio in its offers, including healthy snacks, yoghurt and fruit salad to provide its customers with a balanced, healthy alternatives in different times whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner. Healthy Habits’ website (2014) claims that every week, nearly 40,000 customers purchase sandwiches, juices and salads because they deliver quality brand. Today, most Australians are familiar with Healthy Habits, the ubiquitous sandwich bar that has from 1992 turned healthier gourmet sandwich eating into a national habit. However, few recognize Katherine Sampson, the modest founder, the managing director and the brains behind the astonishing growth of Healthy (Habits Health Habits 2014). By starting healthy sandwich's culture in Australia and delivering it to a large customer base for consumption, this eccentric entrepreneur changed a little-recognized four-store restaurant to a leading sandwich bar of across Australia. The work of Katherine is a strong message that entrepreneurship currently drives the economies of the globe. Analysis of the industrialized and developed economies shows entrepreneurship plays an important role in the development and performance of those economies (Audet & Couteret 2012, p.517). It should be noted that starting or building of a business takes a special form of person who are very smart, courageous and adaptable among other attributes Why interviewee is considered an entrepreneur Katherine Sampson is an entrepreneur because he created the Healthy Habits sandwich bar (Smartcompany 2009). Merriam-Webster dictionary (2014) also confirms this since it defines entrepreneur as an individual who starts an enterprise and keen to take risks so as to make profits. Katherine found Healthy Habits in a dilapidated situation, bought and renovated it to be what the sandwich is today. Many people might have seen a business idea and neglected it thinking it cannot be successful in future. While starting and managing it, one has to face the world of uncertainty and press on through several of hurdles for years. Some of the hurdles that an entrepreneur has to go through include running out of cash, missing payroll and bankruptcy among others. Smartcompany (2009) claims that at one point, Katherine also ran out of cash and had to seek partnership to move to the next phase. Another reason which makes Katherine an entrepreneur is her capability to spot the opportunity and envisage something which others have not. Just like any other accomplished entrepreneur, Katherine spotted rundown restaurant, renovated it and named it Healthy Habits sandwich bar. Even though, there were other health foods restaurants as she puts it, none was running a sandwich bar in Australia. This confirms that entrepreneurs hold a curiosity which identifies ignores niches and places them at the center emerging opportunity and innovation (Robinson 2014). They visualize another planet and hold the capability of communicates their vision efficiently to customers through outstanding and quality products. The major issues in the career of that entrepreneur A life of an entrepreneur revolves around business and every entrepreneur’s dream is to have a successful business which can last for many years (Frith & Mcelwee 2009, p.40). The major issues in entrepreneurship career involve starting an enterprise and promoting innovation in the corporate settings. Berggren & Winborg (2013, p.188) believe that an entrepreneur develop entrepreneurial skills through incorporating management, financial and marketing concepts to discover the establishing, growth, and the success and expansion of new businesses. Basically, managerial skills are important for the entrepreneur because it gives them knowledge and capability to perform particular managerial tasks and activities (Boissin et al 2009, p.103). In Katherine Sampson perspective, it can argued that managerial skills help her to run the business all these years and be considered successful. Katherine has also needed marketing skills in her career as an entrepreneur to be able to promote products and service offered by Healthy Habits. This is done with an objective of attracting new customers while retaining the existing ones. Parnell & Lester (2007, p.75) contends that various marketing concepts are needed such as branding, pricing and segmentation among others. However, Katherine was not an expert in marketing so he outsourced for branding strategist. She argues that there is no way the market could have accepted Healthy Habits and connected with them without proper branding. Financial is also a very important issue in the career of entrepreneurs. Mastering the financial concept help an entrepreneur to estimate funds needed to start a business and to manage (Parnell & Lester 2007, p.76). In fact, underestimation of the funds needed made Katherine to run out of cash to manage her business. She later sold 80 percent of her business stake to help raise funds to run the business. Reason that made this entrepreneur succeeds or fails In the competitive business sectors, success is measured in terms of financial performance, expansions and continuity (Okpara 2006). In Katherine’s case, she succeeded and also failed in equal measures. Some of the reasons that made Katherine successed are her curiosity and passion, outsourcing the right consultant, branding, having the best partners and good positioning. The curiosity to test the opportunity in sandwich bar and passion drove to Katherine to venture into the fast food business (Smartcompany 2009). The passion made her to push on even during financial difficulties. It is usually believed that thriving entrepreneurs are compelled by money. However, majority will claim that they are influenced by the passion to provide satisfying product and service, the opportunity to provide solutions to societal problems, make life better and cheaper (Frith & Mcelwee 2009, p.40). The sandwich bar also succeeded because of choosing the right consultant from the start. An entrepreneur also needs an advice of an expert and experience people in that industry to be able have a smooth running. Katherine worked with consultant for eight months on just the feasibility study, development of the franchise system, financial planning and induction programs. This gave her insight into what the sandwich bar should look like. As such, it can be concluded that she started on a good foundation. With success, the management has to always get it right to maintain continuity (Audet & Couteret 2012, p.521). However, this was not the case with Healthy habits. As business expands, it struggles because of financial underestimation and inappropriate planning. Failure was also fueled by the fact that Katherine did not keep her consultants to her during expansion and franchising. She was later compelled by financial constraints to sell 80% of the company stake. Three most important skills an entrepreneur should possess Katherine believes that an entrepreneur should have management, financial and marketing skills (Smartcompany 2009). Management skills will enable him or her combine different strategies to operate the business for a long term success. Financial on the other hand will help an entrepreneur to make very important decisions such as increase of stock and expansion based on the financial position of the company. She claimed the inadequate financial skills led her to expand without adequate funds. Parnell & Lester (2007, p.76) argues that marketing is also very important in the life of an entrepreneur, because it is such skills that would convince the customers that the business is actually making products which can satisfy their needs. In her place, Katherine used branding strategist. Reflection on understanding of entrepreneurship In the past and now, entrepreneurship has remained a topic that has attracted much attention. However, there are several things that people still do not know about entrepreneurship. Before the interview with Healthy Habits’ founder and owner Katherine Sampson, there many issues involved that I did not know. I actually knew the entrepreneurs do not need much education to start a business. I knew entrepreneurship is acquired and anybody can acquire such skills. However, after the interview gave me an excellent insight into entrepreneurship and skills required to be successful. Even though it is true that entrepreneurial skills can be acquired, success does not solely depend such skills. Hence some skills can be learned. Management skills, marketing skills and financial skills are learnt in class. I also learnt that entrepreneur must look for an opportunity that is not exploited, take risks and venture into it and provide satisfying products and service. A combination all entrepreneurial attributes and skills will certainly lead to success. Conclusion This essay has established that individuals who create new enterprises differ in the level of entrepreneurial capacity and skills they possess. It is therefore concluded that entrepreneurs who want to be successful today require an advantage resultant from a combination of skills, creative concept and a greater capacity to implement that idea. In addition, the interview with Katherine Sampson was a learning experience that no one does it alone; hence an entrepreneur needs consultants and partners to make it. Consultant brings skills, creativity and innovation while partner brings money into the business for expansion. References Audet, J & Couteret, P 2012, Coaching the entrepreneur: features and success factors, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 19, No.3, pp.515 – 531. Berggren, E & Winborg, J 2013, The role of entrepreneurship education and start-up experience for handling communication and liability of newness, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 19, No.2, pp.187 – 209. Boissin, J, Branchet, B, Emin, S & Herbert, J. I 2009, Students and Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study of France and the United States, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 22, No.2, pp. 101 – 105. Frith, K & Mcelwee, G 2009, Value-Adding and Value-Extracting Entrepreneurship at the Margins, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 22, N0.1, pp. 39 - 41. Health Habits 2014, Healthy Habits Official Website, Viewed on 15th August 2014 http://www.healthyhabits.com.au/ Okpara, F 2006, The Practice of Entrepreneurship, Enugu, precision Publishers Ltd Parnell, J. A & Lester, D. L 2007, Reevaluating the Entrepreneurship-management Conundrum: Challenges and Solutions, Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 74 - 77. Robinson, J 2014, The 7 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur, Viewed on 15th August 2014 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230350 Smartcompany 2009, Katherine Sampson: It's been hell, on 15th Viewed on 15th August 2014 from http://www.smartcompany.com.au/leadership/profiles/7974-katherine- sampson-its-been-hell.html Merriam-Webster dictionary 2014, Entrepreneur definition, viewed on 15th August 2014 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur The interview Transcript Me: Hello Katherine and Welcome to “Know Your Brand Leader Program”. Katherine: Hello, thank you Me: Today we are discussing Healthy Habits and fate of entrepreneurship in Australia, is it right? Katherine: Exactly, entrepreneurship is a very important topic. Me: Katherine, briefly explain to us when and how you established healthy habits and the direction this Sandwich bar has taken? Katherine: Well, during one of my outings in Victoria in 1992, I came across one of sandwich bar in a dilapidated condition and decided to buy it. I went ahead and refurbished it and gave it a name “Healthy Habits”. It soon turned into a busy store in food industry after McDonalds and KFC. I felt the store was a success, I decided to expand into new market; that’s where I established the second and many more. After the first outlets were successful, I decided to franchise because I realized an opportunity in the market with Healthy Habits as the market leader in a sandwich bar segment. So in reality, I feel good about the opportunity of offering unique and product to market. Me: How did you realize of no franchise offering the sandwich? Katherine: This was my experience from research. I realized there was no brand identifying itself as sandwich in Australia; in a nutshell, no company had realized that opportunity. It should however be noted that numerous of fast food restaurants were providing healthy foods such as McDonald’s and Subway but none was running a sandwich bar. Me: What move did you make upon realizing there was an opportunity in the market sandwich? Katherine: I embarked on creating a strong franchising foundation and base. In this process, i brought in a consultant with the ability to assist me build this business. We set aside 8 months to do feasibility study of the business, financial planning, marketing planning and other induction programs Me: what are the requirements of an entrepreneur to create a successful business? Katherine: one need experienced advisors and mentors because no one can do on his or her own. Such people must be successful entrepreneurs. Other things include finance, strong work ethics, and passion for the business and business partners who can help in making decision make. Me: Successful Companies depend on their branding strategy. What components are needed to create a good brand? Katherine: The first and main thing I required to make an outstanding brand was to outsource an experienced branding strategist. Bringing in a brand strategist ensure that a company has better marketing strategies because the company will be able to convince customers with the products and be accepted and connected. Me: What can be the number one error the entrepreneurs make when looking to franchise? Katherine: The mistake here is underestimating cost of franchising. Such mistake holds back the expansion plan. Another reason is overlooking how difficult it can be to create a successful business or franchise. Me: What was the major challenge you underwent when creating Healthy Habits, and how did you prevail over the challenge? Katherine: Finance was my major challenge. I absolutely undervalued the cost of starting the business. At the end, I was prompted to trade off some assets to carry on growing the business venture, and ultimately I became short of money. In this process, I then required to a partner who could help me with funds to take the Healthy Habits to the next phase. Me: What is advice would do have for a person wanted to a business? Katherine: Anyone intending to start a business must look for an opportunity which is not exploited, then venture into that segment. In brief, he or she must look for need gap that have not been satisfied and fulfill it. Manufacture a product which is not in demand. He or she must also look for a business that can be replicated. It makes no sense having an enterprise which can only operate as one or two stores yet cannot run at 100. Anytime one goes to start a business venture he or she has to start a business as if they own have 200 or 500 outlets. Read More