“Generally, the start-up phase of a company begins with the germination of a concept or a business idea and lasts till it has been able to successfully commercialise the idea for the initial scale of operations. Knowledge industry businesses such as IT, ITES, Biotechnology, CROs, media etc. fall under this category. Other businesses which are process-driven or investment driven such as FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Auto ancillaries or other conventional manufacturing units have to survive the initial implementation and market risks to come out of the start-up phase.” (Subramanyam, undated) [Read more]
“Launching a business is not as risky as you might imagine. There’s a huge distinction between risk, which can be characterized as the possibility of loss, and uncertainty, which refers to the lack of knowing what lies in your short- and near-term future. In many ways, launching a business is less risky than sticking it out at an uncertain job in today’s fast economy. Just look at the continued layoffs from established companies, which even in the best of times are striving for ways to streamline staff in the name of efficiency.” (Ehrenfeld, 2001) [Read more]
- Read Chapter 1 of Ehrenfeld’s book, The Startup Garden. [Click here]
- Read also the business insights from Microsoft Small Business Center. [Click here]
The required readings above will be supplemented with a lecture on Business Idea Germination. The lecture notes can be downloaded from the yahoogroup Files section.
Answer the following questions and submit your answers in a PDF file, which you need to upload to the folder Activity No. 2 inside the Files section of the yahoogroup site. Use the same filename as required in the previous activity.
- What is a staircase person according to Tom First?
- Describe how Mary Baechler came to be head of a 10-million-dollar company.
- What do you think is a major factor that contributed to the success of Amy Miller’s ice cream business?
- Discuss how to generate a business idea according to Tom Ehrenfeld.
- How does one expand the customer base?
- A company may have what it takes to attract customers, but what can be done to keep them coming?
- What are the 10 financial yardsticks for a small business?
- Cash flow is important for the smooth operations of a company. Give 7 ways to improve cash flow.
- Of Joseph Anthony’s 7 Signs of an Entrepreneur, to which three could you relate most?
- What are some elements that any sufficient business research will contain? Give at least 5, and describe each.
