Entrepreneurship & Small Business Enterprises Essay Questions & Answers.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20. PDF

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Entrepreneurship essay questions

1. Discuss the conditions under which an entrepreneur might consider bootstrap financing. Give several examples to validate your clear comprehension of the concept.

2. Abraham Maslow classified human needs as a hierarchy with five distinct levels. Describe the characteristics of each level & discuss how each can be met by the entrepreneur at the workplace.

3. ''Merger motivations range from survival to protection, to diversification to growth.'' Discuss analytically from an entrepreneur's perspective

4. The Ghana Government has recently been interested in encouraging joint ventures with foreign companies. As a Ghanaian company, what might be your advantages to forming a joint venture here with a Chinese company? What factors would ensure the success of the joint venture? Discuss any drawbacks to consider.

5. Explain the use of franchise as an option for new venture expansion strategy for an entrepreneur & discuss its relative advantages & disadvantages both to the franchisor & franchisee.

6. Innovation is invaluable to the field of entrepreneurship yet beset with definitional & measurement problems/ Innovation is considered as bedrock of entrepreneurship & no business, regardless of its size can ignore, though beset with definitional & measurement problems. Define innovation & critically appraise, with concrete examples, four misinterpretations of innovation & deliberate on the problems associated with innovation measurement

7. Cheryl Beverley/ George Atuguba/Peter Woyome/ Mrs. Felicity Nimdie Hemaa, a shs student, has been told that an outright purchase of a business is only one of the several options of a business entry strategy & others include buy-in, buy-out & BIMBO which sound very confusing. As a student of entrepreneurship, you have been approached to briefly explain these terminologies with concrete examples & critically evaluate the advantages & disadvantages of buying an existing business against starting a new venture.

8. You were recently asked to interview an entrepreneur by focusing on his or her key competencies & skills as well as how his or her business idea was identified & transformed into a business. With the aid of the template below, critically present your major findings about this entrepreneur? 1. Background 2. Opportunity identification 3. Entrepreneurship process 4. Measuring success 5. Judgment

9.. The answer to ''what's entrepreneurship'' is tightly bound about the traditional perspectives of entrepreneurship & particularly around the notion of a new venture being created. You're required to: A. Critically differentiate between corporate entrepreneurship, mediated entrepreneurship, public sector entrepreneurship & social entrepreneurship B. Assess how entrepreneurship varies in different contexts.

10. A heated argument has ensued between two small business entrepreneurs on the relevance & usefulness of business planning & business plans on small business performance. As an expert in entrepreneurship & small business management, you're required to: A. Discuss the pros & cons of business planning & business plan. B. Account for four of the entrenched values which impede strategic planning & how they could be overcome.

11. It's a considered opinion of many Ghanaians that multinational businesses are the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy & that small businesses are just footnotes in terms of the SMEs' contribution to the advancement of Ghana especially in jobs creation.

You're required to: A. To account for the extent to which you agree or disagree with this assertion. B. To identify & critically appraise three of the theories accounting for the revival of small business worldwide.

11. Reframed The Small business sector is considered to make important contributions to any economy & currently small businesses have increased in number reversing the previous decline & centuries of neglect. You're required to: A. Discuss the three theories propounded to explain the small businesses revival. B. Deliberate on any four practical factors accounting for the resurgence of small business.

12. Entrepreneurship is seen as a fundamental important part of modern economic & social life, yet there's an extraordinary lack of clarity concerning what entrepreneurship is,exactly what entrepreneurs do & what set them apart from other managers. You're required to: A. Discuss to what extent are entrepreneurs born & not made? B. Account for variations in the levels of creativity in any society using three agents of socialisation.

13. Format franchising provides a unique vehicle to business ownership globally. However, this concept is apparently not widespread in Ghana, & TDB Consult, a reputable financial think-tank, is organizing a forum to promote format franchising. As a Resource Person for this occasion, you're required to: A. Demonstrate how the format franchising concept differs from product & trade agreements B. Discuss the relative advantages & disadvantages of format franchising to a franchisee. C. Argue the extent to which the concept of entrepreneurship is compatible with franchising

14. A heated debate ensued between Moses & Saul with the former forcefully arguing that an enterprise is better than a limited liability company with the latter arguing to the contrary. As an expert: A. Clearly distinguish between an enterprise & a limited liability company by shares. B. Critically evaluate the various legal trading forms or structures of a business while paying particular attention to the pros & cons of each C. Advise Moses & Saul on the best legal trading form to adopt & why.

ANSWERS

10. A heated argument has ensued between two small business entrepreneurs on the relevance & usefulness of business planning & business plans on small business performance. As an expert in entrepreneurship & small business management, you're required to: A. Discuss the pros & cons of business planning & business plan. B. Account for four of the entrenched values which impede strategic planning & how they could be overcome.

Answer: Business Planning is a process that defines the business's goals & the means by which they will be achieved. The process involves a thorough analysis of the major factors involved in achieving a success. A business plan is a document that presents the basic idea for the venture & includes descriptions of where you're now, where you want to go & how you intend to get there. Thus, it's the entrepreneur's game plan.

Pros/Advantages: It helps one assess the feasibility & viability of the business or project.

Setting objectives & budgets: having a clear financial vision with believable budgets is a basic requirement of everyone involved in a plan.

It gives you a glimpse of the future - forecast idea to see if it's possible.

It's an easy way to identify core demographics.

Lenders need business plan to appraise the quality of management & to assess the overall competence of the entrepreneurial tasks.

Cons/Advantages: A business plan can turn out to be inaccurate.

Too much time can be spent on analysis.

A great business plan requires great implementation practices.

There are no guarantees.

B. . 4 entrenched cultural values which impede strategic planning are: Stability: the desire to maintain the status quo is a major impediment to any longer term strategic planning. Often it results from ''competency trap'' where business owners find it increasingly difficult to change the way they do things because it appears that what they are doing works just fine. When business owners or managers are able to or ready to move out of their ''comfort zones'' & to achieve higher,they'll want to plan strategically to be able to achieve more.

Internal orientation: companies of this nature holds the view that all company problems are to be found via intra-company analysis. External analysis is no longer viewed as legitimate. In order to overcome this, companies must be educated about how much external forces can contribute to their problem & such they'll need to plan strategically to overcome these external forces.

Management practices: the manager's style of management, particularly a ''hands-on'' approach can focus on tactical issues at the expense of strategic responsibilities. Strategic planning is therefore not carried out. To overcome this, management must adopt better approach to issues having in mind their strategic responsibilities which will require them to plan strategically.

Reactiveness: while reactionary decision making is a necessary component of most organizations, many managers consider reactive decisions more appropriate than proactive planning. Manager must be aware that for a company to be much successful, both deliberate & emergent strategies are needed. As such they also need to take proactive steps or decisions to save the company as loss which arises only out of reactive decisions. In order to do this, the company will have to plan strategically. Compartmentalization: Short-term cost orientation:

7. Cheryl Beverley/ George Atuguba/Peter Woyome/ Mrs. Felicity Nimdie Hemaa, a shs student, has been told that an outright purchase of a business is only one of the several options of a business entry strategy & others include buy-in, buy-out & BIMBO which sound very confusing. As a student of entrepreneurship, you have been approached to briefly explain these terminologies with concrete examples & critically evaluate the advantages & disadvantages of buying an existing business against starting a new venture.

Answer: A would-be entrepreneur may choose to buy an ongoing business as a means of market entry than to start a new venture altogether. An existing small business owner may also decide to expand by purchasing another small enterprise. The barriers to entry for a new start-up are sufficient & high to make the purchase of an existing business the most common route (Eartner & Bellamy, 2008). Outright purchase involves buying an existing business from somebody else; although there's a new owner, the business doesn't start from scratch but is already trading in some way. Other forms of business entry strategy include buy-in, buy-out & BIMBO.

Buy-in: this occurs when the existing owners accept new parties or a shareholder who buys into a small firm which already exists. This is more common place in some sectors & types of small business than others.

Buy-out: refers to the purchase of a business or a significant part of it, by its existing management. It's buying an existing business from within rather than from the outside.

BIMBO: combines outside & inside management in the purchase of a company. The risk of buying into a company from the outside can be reduced if the existing management of the company are also involved. It's possible to have the benefit of a fresh approach & wider experiences from the buying-in managers linked to the in depth knowledge of the company & its markets provided by the buy-out managers.

Advantages of Buying An Existing Business Overcomers barriers to market entry: in industries, where there are significant barriers to market entry for a small business entrant buying an existing business may be most realistic alternative. For example, the planning permission & other legal permits required to restaurants, hotels, bars & public houses make market entry through acquisition the better option.

Buying immediate turnover & income: this could be of great importance especially when the buyer has no other sources of income or limited income.

Buying market share: for a small business to be successful, it means that it has built a high share of a specific market & if that business has control over a significant percentage of the desired market, then it may be advantageous to buy into them rather than completed them.

Existing assets of property, equipment & staff: when you buy an existing company or business, it comes with the existing assets, equipment & staff of the business. The costs & time required to put these into place as a startup can be time & cost consuming & it may be more appropriate to focus resources & energy on the market place through an existing operation.

Goodwill with existing customers: the evidence of the viability a business is its existing customer base & therefore takes some of the risk out of small business ownership. It can also provide a good platform for future growth.

Existing track record: the ability to look over the past performance of a company provides comfort, not only to a potential buyer, but also to financial supporters such as banks. A business showing evidence of a good track record over a number of years is easier to fund than one with no history at all.

Insider knowledge: when existing managers are part of an existing business, they gain insider Knowledge of the business.

Disadvantages: Buying possible liabilities with assets: there's a high possibility of buying liabilities as you purchase an existing business. Even if only assets are purchased, liabilities can still be attached to them for example employee liabilities. If shares in a company are bought, then liabilities will certainly exist. Liabilities can form part of an acceptable risk when they are known; the greatest problem is the possibility of liabilities, unrecognized at the time of purchase, emerging at a later date.

Uncertainty over records: in acquiring an existing business, one may be uncertain about information especially when the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership as these two forms of business are not required to have their accounts audited. A business for sale will obviously be presented in the best possibility. Some information may be withheld. The one is on a buyer to ask the right questions, not on the seller to provide all the information.

Risk in intangible assets: when a new owner makes inappropriate or too much changes in the business, the goodwill inherent in an existing business can disappear very rapidly. A previous business owner or manager may represent a substantial part of goodwill which goes with them when they leave.

Historical problems in the business: an existing business may have some negative goodwill which is not immediately apparent. There may be a history of poor relationships with suppliers or staff for instance which outlives the departure of the owner.

''Not all my own work'' mentality: some of the satisfaction an entrepreneurial gains from a new business startups derives from taking a business idea from conception to successful implementation. Buying an existing business can diminish the sense of achievement & therefore the motivation to make it succeed.

14. A limited liability company, incorporated under the Companies Act 2019 Act 992, is a legal body which has a separate identity to that of its owners. It can be bought & sold as a whole or in part, go bankrupt without its owners suffering the same fate, have legal documents signed on its behalf by a director & employ staff whilst an enterprise is any type of operation that is involved in providing goods or services with the anticipated outcome of earning & profit. B. There are four legal trading forms or structures of a business & there are: sole trader/ proprietorship, partnership company (limited & unlimited company) & cooperatives. (I) Sole trader: the law considers the owner & the business to be inseparable. There is no legal separation between the assets & liabilities of the business & the assets & liabilities of the individual who owns it. This makes for simpler & more informal arrangements for operating a business. Advantages of a sole trader I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.

Quick, easy & inexpensive to form. Only one person is needed. No annual company returns are necessary No audits of accounts legally required No monthly tax returns required They are the sole recipients of all profits A sole trader can employ as many people as he wills Disadvantages of a sole trader I. The individual is personally liable for the debts of the business II. Personal assets may be sold to discharge business debts III. Profit taxed as personal income whether retained in business or taken out IV. Prospects for expansion are limited & it may be more difficult to access credit V. Some may see Limited company as more professional business & for this reason prefer to do business with them

Partnership: a relationship that subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view to profit. Partnerships are restricted to 20 partners. A partnership exists where two or more people join forces to own & run a business which is not a limited company. Partners pool assets & share profits. Each partner is liable for all of the liabilities of the business. Each partner is entitled to full disclosure concerning all aspects of the business. Advantages of a partnership I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

Easy to set up & exist Access to the experience of other partners Larger pool of capital Confidentiality is maintained, as no public access to accounts. Ability to attract limited partners Limited government regulations Disadvantages of a partnership I. Partners are liable for debts, jointly & severally II. Lack of continuity (death, bankruptcy & retirement dissolves) III. Difficult ownership transfer IV. Possibility of forced liquidation V. High degree of mutual trust required

Limited Liability Company: is a legal body, which has separate identity to that of its owners. It can be bought & sold as a whole or in part, go bankrupt without its owners suffering the same fate.

Advantages of Limited Liability Company I. Limited liability of shareholders II. Finance easier to raise externally especially from equiry III. Easier to widen ownership base IV. Some formalized structures make management clearer V. Existence not threatened by death or personal bankruptcy of one of the owners VI. Income tax is paid only on salaries drawn or money actually withdrawn; higher rates of personal tax can be avoided when profits are retained. Disadvantages of Limited Liability Company I. More time consuming & expensive to set up II. Double Taxation (tax on profits & dividends)

III. IV. V. VI.

Annual returns must be made to the Registrar General Department Loss of confidentiality as some records are publicly filled Potential loss of control by founder(s) The owner must make monthly PAYE returns (income tax deductions) * SSNIT Co-operatives: jointly owned & controlled by their members. Cooperatives are usually limited companies, cooperative societies or more rarely partnerships. Advantages of cooperatives I. High level of commitment by members II. Increased motivation which comes putting ideology into practice III. Share equally in the control & rewards of an enterprise IV. Higher than average sense of purpose & satisfaction from work Disadvantages of cooperatives I. Many start in difficult economic conditions II. Decision making can become confused III. Difficulty in gaining access to the market place

C . The choice of business identity is usually between sole trader, partnership & limited liability company as the other forms are much less common. However, their appropriateness depends on the circumstances of the business & the objectives of the owner. 6. The term innovation comes from the Latin word, innovar,meaning ‘to make something new.’ Innovation is understood to be a key driver of productivity. Innovation helps businesses to improve the way that products & services are made & delivered or to introduce entirely new ones. Innovation has been defined broadly as the successful exploitation of ideas- or turning ideas into profitable products,processes, services or business practices. Innovation is sometimes taking something else & this...