Entrepreneurship 2e Video Discussion Guide
Chapter 1
Should You Become an Entrepreneur?
Ziba Design
This video features Ziba Design, which, in 2001, became the first firm in the world to win four Gold Awards in the annual Industrial Design Excellence Awards Competition run by the Industrial Designers Society of America.
The teamwork environment at Ziba is extraordinary. The team has learned that culture is not just a nationality. It also is a way of seeing things from a different perspective, which is the heart of creativity. The team has learned that culture is not just a nationality. It also is a way of seeing things from a different perspective, which is the heart of creativity.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/600/613/homepage.jsp
1. In the beginning Sohrab never had limitations in his mind. He was always wondering “what if,” challenging the norm, and believing that everything can be improved. Think about an item or product you use every day. Using Sohrab’s “what if” philosophy, write a brief paragraph on how you would change that product or item in order to improve its function.
Student answers will vary but should demonstrate creativity and possibility thinking, as well as be clearly viable.
2. People from all over the world vie for a position at Ziba Design. Write a brief paragraph explaining why so many people make working at Ziba a career goal.
Student answers will vary but should include: Ziba is a team-oriented company that attracts people from all over the world and is known internationally for encouraging employees to be creative. The multinational work environment is fast-paced on a wide variety of projects, and designers often get to interact with clients.
3. Ziba operates with two types of client contacts: a program director and a project manager. At Ziba, what differentiates the program director from the project manager?
Student answers will vary but should include: At Ziba the program director will have a strong capability and a deep appreciation for what it takes to do the work itself. They are not only managing a relationship, but also are responsible for giving their clients the confidence that Ziba can get the right job done and do it well.
Chapter 2
What Skills do Entrepreneurs Need?
Gadabout Salon
This video features Pam McNair, founder of Gadabout Salon and Spas, who has created 225 jobs and made millions in sales. She did it by building a team. Pam believes in looking at the big picture and effective delegation. She said, “I’m not the star; I build the stars.”
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/500/504/homepage.jsp
1. What workplace attitudes helped Pam create 225 jobs and a company with more than $11 million dollars in sales?
Student answers will vary but should include: Pam mastered the art of team building. When people feel good about where they work, what they do, and who they are, a company can be successful at anything it does. Pam encourages employees to have ideas. She knows that her employees will care more for their clients if they know someone cares about them.
2. What does Pam mean when she says she wants her employees to “feel safe” at the workplace?
Student answers will vary but should include: People don’t feel safe in an environment where their voice isn’t heard and they cannot speak their opinion. Pam also feels that the ability of management to admit making a mistake gives all the people in the company the freedom to talk about mistakes and work to correct them. She wants all of her employees to feel safe and calm and confident both in what they do and who they are because each individual is important to the company.
3. What qualities does Pam have that makes people love to work for her?
Student answers will vary but should include: Pam’s employees feel that the salon is like family and they help each other. They like working for Pam and with other well-trained and knowledgeable co-workers. They feel that they can count on their employer to care about them. Pam stands behind her employees and encourages continuing education because she wants them to have the opportunity to be as successful as possible.
Chapter 3
Entrepreneurs in a Market Economy
Nicole Miller
This video features the Nicole Miller Company that was started in 1982 by Bud Konheim and Nicole Miller. Today the company has 165 employees working in New York at company headquarters, in the warehouse, or in the retail stores. There are 30 Nicole Miller Boutiques around the country. Nicole owns 15 of them and the other 15 are owned by licensees. Department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom also carry Nicole Miller clothing.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/900/901/homepage.jsp
1. What is the secret to Nicole Miller’s success?
Student answers will vary but should include: The Nicole Miller Company has achieved success by creating fashions that they love, developing their own sales channels, and licensing Nicole’s designs to 15 different firms who make handbags, travel accessories, socks and other items.
2. What are the functions of the different departments at Nicole Miller?
Student answers will vary but should include: The production department calculates costing based on labor, fabric, and trim. The sales department decides the best price to be competitive, and the garment is scheduled for production.
3. Why did Nicole insist on having a runway show? What was Bud’s opposition to having a runway show, and how did they resolve the conflict?
Student answers will vary but should include: Nicole felt that department-store customers were only getting to see the pieces that the buyers decided to put in their store and were not able to see everything she created. Bud argued that a runway show was a waste of time and money and was all about making nice pictures of flamboyant clothes that people would never really wear. They decided that the best way to show Nicole’s entire collection was to open a boutique, which was successful from the very first day it opened.
Chapter 4
Select a Type of Ownership
FASTSIGNS
This video features FASTSIGNS, a company designed on a napkin over breakfast in 1985 by company founders Gary Salomon, Steve Mailman, and Bob Schanbaum. Using their personal funds and a loan from a bank, they set up their first store. They identified a niche market that could not be serviced until the technology made it financially feasible. Now they sell franchises to their company and help others realize their dream of having their own business. Today there are more than 400 franchise locations worldwide.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/200/215/home.jsp
1. What niche market does FASTSIGNS attract?
Student answers will vary but should include: Temporary signs such as vehicle graphics, banners, and posters that other companies no longer want to bother with. They created a niche that was not being serviced properly and one that no one cared about.
2. How did franchisee Myra Phillips use her product to build her business? What qualities did consultant Mike Mackey say a business must have in order to be successful?
Student answers will vary but should include: Myra put up a “Now Hiring” banner over her store. The business must become part of the community and establish relationships with customers so customers will keep coming back.
3. When someone is considering purchasing a franchise, what are some of the most important things that they should know?
Student answers will vary but should include: A franchisee should be willing to invest in the business from the beginning, follow the system because it has already been tested, and make a commitment to being trained and retrained in order to keep up with the newest concepts.
Chapter 5
Develop a Business Plan
Renegade Animation
This video features Renegade Animation, a commercial animation company started in 1992 by Ashley Quinn and Darrell van Critters when they left Warner Bros. to strike out on their own. Although there are only four employees, in its first year Renegade had $1.2 million dollars in sales.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/200/224/home.jsp
1. Why did the Renegade Animation team decide to start its business?
Student answers will vary but should include: They wanted to have more control over their own lives.
2. What was the first project that Renegade Animation produced, and where did it appear? How much does a 30-second animated product cost?
Student answers will vary but should include: The first project was a 90-second ad for Nike which aired during the Super Bowl. A 30-second animated ad costs between $120,000 and $180,000.
3. How has the use of the computer shortened the time it takes to create an animated product?
Student answers will vary but should include: Each hand drawing can be photographed and instantly put into the computer and viewed immediately.
Chapter 6
Identify and Meet a Market Need
eHarmony
This video features Dr. Neil Clark Warren who wrote the book Finding the Love of Your Life in 1993. He believed that if the divorce rate could be lowered from more than 50 percent to 9 percent or less, it would change the country. In August of 2000 Dr. Warren joined with Greg Forgatch to research how it would be possible to help people make better choices when selecting a mate. Together they started eHarmony.com.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to: http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/700/710/homepage.jsp
1. Finding a mate for life is something that most people desire but don’t know how to go about doing well. Write a brief paragraph explaining how eHarmony.com helps clients do a better job of finding a mate for life.
Student answers will vary but should include: Using the two principles that the Dr. Clark believes are most the important, emotional health and the idea that most people want to find someone else like them, eHarmony developed a compatibility model and asked clients to input their answers. The compatibility models are then compared and any matches are shared with clients who are then given the opportunity to contact their match.
2. Last year 55 million American singles went to Internet dating sites. How did eHarmony create a niche in the midst of all that competition?
Student answers will vary but should include: eHarmony understood that while others were also providing matchmaking services, those companies were not doing it well. eHarmony knew that the most important key to success is to take a complex task and do it better. To that end, they created an in-depth questionnaire for potential clients to fill out so that their personalities could be assessed. Those questionnaires were compared against others for potential matches.
3. How did eHarmony.com’s successful marketing campaign attract more customers?
Student answers will vary but should include: eHarmony’s commercials showed happy customers, listed Dr. Clark’s credentials, and showed his credibility. The commercial also repeated the business name several times, and encouraged potential customers to act immediately in order to find the love of their life.
Chapter 7
Finance, Protect, and Insure Your Business
NoUVIR
This video features NoUVIR, a manufacturer specialized lighting products specifically developed for museums. Founded in 1990 by Jack and Ruth Ellen Miller, father and daughter, NoUVIR’s specialty lighting emits no damaging ultraviolet rays or infrared energy. The fiber optic lighting systems allow paintings and documents to be viewed indoors with a more natural light, which enhances their beauty.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/600/609/homepage.jsp
1. Why does Jack advise all inventors to hold more than one patent on a design?
Student answers will vary but should include: Jack cautions inventors that any large, aggressive company will, with their attorneys' advice, often intentionally infringe a patent. The company will do so because it believes that it has a good chance of beating one patent by getting it declared invalid in court or because the individual inventor can't afford to fight them in court. Once the inventor has the second patent, the lawyers will think twice before advising a client to infringe. To warn potential infringers that an item is patented, Jack makes sure to put the company’s patent numbers on the items in all of the product literature so that any potential infringers are fairly warned.
2. How does NuUVIR teach potential clients about its products and how does educating clients pay off for NuUVIR?
Student answers will vary but should include: NuUVIR gives seminars four or five times a year for museums or museum associations. Although their travel expenses are paid, Jack and Ruth Ellen donate their time for free. The museums or associates usually invite 50 to 100 people and charge them 50 to 100 dollars to attend. The Millers will usually see an increase in orders for their product within a few months of giving a seminar.
3. Explain why some small business owners might get frustrated with the sales cycle.
Student answers will vary but should include: Many small business owners get frustrated with the length of time it takes to close a deal. They get frustrated because they have spent a lot of money and worked hard to help their business grow without understanding that the gestation period for new growth, from the time of first contact to the time of purchase can be as long as a year.
Chapter 8
Choose Your Location and Setup for Business
Wahoo’s Fish Taco
This video features Wing Lam, Ed Lee, and Mingo Lee who started Wahoo’s Fish Taco. Wahoo’s markets fast healthy food to a market the owners know: the beach and surfing community. Serving good food with generous portions at a low price, their target market is the 18-to-24-year-old male. This market segment is the biggest consumer of commercially prepared food in the United States, which, according to the National Restaurant Association, eats out 5.9 times per week.
To learn more about this episode of Small Business School, go to:
http://smallbusinessschool.org/webapp/sbs/400/411/homepage.jsp
1. What was the motivation behind the décor of Wahoo’s Fish Taco?
Student answers will vary but should include: The Wahoo’s team wanted to package an experience. They knew the food was going to be good, but they also wanted their customers to walk in and experience a getaway to the ownership team’s favorite surfing spots in Baja, California.