You Make the Call
Situation 1
1) This venture should definitely be considered entrepreneurial. This business owner prefers slow growth over rapid growth and this fact should not automatically qualify his venture as non-entrepreneurial. One of the things that comes to mind from our class discussions is that founders of firms are pure entrepreneurs. In this case, we do not know if the business was founded by this owner or if it’s a franchise business. In either case, this business owner is an entrepreneur. We must remember that there are different types of entrepreneurs. This particular entrepreneur has chosen to run a lifestyle business in order to give his current customers more personalize service and maintain strong family bonds while providing room for future growth.
2) The philosophy expressed here is valid one. Not every entrepreneur desires exponential growth for his or her business. Some prefer to increase their businesses in small, manageable bite-size increments. While this philosophy may not represent the best choice for this owner’s family, it fits his life style and his business style. Then again, we do not know enough about his family’s culture, religion, customs, values, traditions, etc…
3) This owner is trying to avoid a number of different problems that may come about as a result of rapid growth. One such problem is that his current staff may not have the necessary experience to handle the rapid increase in sales volume. This could represent a need to provide further training and he may or may not have the adequate resources to do so. Further training means more cost to the business. The major problem however, is the idea of having to give up some of the freedom and independence that he now enjoys as a sole proprietor. The idea of bringing on partners means that he will no longer be in total control of his
