Chapter 1: Lesson 2 What is Entrepreneurship? - Characteristics of Ventures - Technology & Change

The Components of Successful Entrepreneurial Ventures Business Plan The Entrepreneur Opportunity Resources Organization Strategy

Outline of the Entrepreneurial Process Decide to go into business for yourself Assess your potential Find an appropriate product or service idea Buy a business Start a new business Acquire a franchise Conduct a feasibility study Technical feasibility Market acceptability Financial viability Organize your business structure and legal requirements Protect your idea Arrange the necessary financing Develop a comprehensive business plan

Business Ventures fit into one or more of the following categories:

For Profit, Non-Profit, or Not-For-Profit Ventures are usually undertaken for profit (to make money). Ex: East Side Board Supply, Booster Juice, Incline Sports. Non-Profit (Not-for-Profit) - ventures that are created for social or community service purposes. Ex: YMCA, Terry Fox, The Salvation Army, etc. The goal is to raise the money needed to deliver a special service or satisfy a specific need in society.

Large Scale or Small Scale Entrepreneurship is NOT dependent on the size of the business or organization, nor should a venture’s success be measured by it! Large scale – satisfy needs/wants nationally or internationally Small scale – satisfy needs/wants at a smaller more local level.

Can Produce Goods, Service, or both Good/Product Providing Venture – the venture provides members of society with a tangible object/thing, such as clothes, food, and items in general. Examples of Goods/Products – cars, bottled water, shoes, popcorn, etc. Service Venture – the venture does something for a member of society. Examples of Service Ventures – hair salon, mechanic, lawn mowing, etc. Ventures can provide both products and services. A salon might provide the service of cutting a customer’s hair, but also sell products such as shampoo.

Can be Physical or Virtual In the past, most ventures were “brick-and-mortar” stores that you physically visited for goods/services (mall, car dealership). With the arrival of the computer and Internet, you never physically have to “visit” a store to receive goods and/or services...you can now virtually shop for what you need and/or want. This is often referred to as “e-commerce.” More and more businesses today have a store front and a website. Example: Future Shop

Local/Provincial/National/International Local entrepreneurship happens when the venture provides a good or service to the area in which it originated, usually a city or town. (Incline Sports) Provincial occurs when a venture offers its goods/services to all areas of a province. (Theatre New Brunswick) National occurs when an entire nation (i.e. Canada) is able to use the good/service (Trail Blazer Products/Dartmouth) International entrepreneurship occurs when more than one country in the world is making use of a good/service provided by a venture. (Major Drilling Group/Moncton)

Technology & Change Positive Effects of Technology: The growth of e-commerce (online business) has made it possible for small businesses to compete with large ones; the playing field has been evened out. Entrepreneurs now have access to large data banks and search engines; small businesses can gather more kinds of information faster than they ever could before. Inexpensive software is on the market to help small businesses.

Negative effects of Technology A negative effect of technological change is job loss due to downsizing. Much of the technology created has eliminated the need for human employees. Downsizing – to reduce operating costs in an organization by reducing the number of employees; often takes the form of layoffs.

Chapter 1 Questions