PAUL’S FOUR SHORTCOMINGS
Paul Enden has always been very reliable and a hard worker. For the past eight years Paul has been working in a large auto service garage. During this time he has made a number of recommendations to the owner regarding new services that could be provided to customers. One of these is called the “fast lubes”. With this service people who want to have their oil changed and their car lubricated do not have to leave the auto and come back later in the day. Three service racks handle this job. It generally takes less than 10 minutes to take care of a car, and most people can have the job completed within 25 minutes of the time they arrive. The service, which has become extremely popular with customers, resulted in an increase in overall profits of 5 percent last year.
Paul’s wife believes he has a large number of ideas that could prove profitable. “You ought to break away and open your own shop,” she has told him. Paul would like to do so, but he believes for things help account for entrepreneurial success and he has none of them. Here is how he explained it to his wife:
“To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be a thinker, not a doer. I’m a doer. Thinking bores me. I wouldn’t like being an entrepreneur. Second, those guys who do best as entrepreneurs tend to be inventors. I’m not an inventor. If anything, I think of new approaches to old ways of doing business. I’m more a thnkerer than an inventor. Third, you’ve got to be lucky to be a successful entrepreneur. I’m hardworking; I’m not lucky. Fourth, you have to have a lot of money to do do well as an entrepreneur. I don’t have a lot of money to do well as an entrepreneur. I don’t have much money. I doubt whether $50 000 would get me started as an entrepreneur.
Questions
1 Does Paul need to be an inventor to be an effective entrepreneur? Explain your answer 2
