AFM 131 Module 3: Chapter 7 - Entrepreneurship and Starting a Small Business (Questions)
What is a small business?
A small business is often defines as a business that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field, and meets certain standards of size in terms of employees or annual revenues.
What goes into a business plan?
A business plan includes a section on company background, the financial plan, and the location analysis
What sources of funds should someone wanting to start a new business consider investigating?
A new entrepreneur has several sources of capital: personal savings, relatives, banks, finance companies, venture-capital organizations, government agencies, angel investors, and more.
What advice would you give someone who wants to learn about starting a small business?
An entrepreneur can improve the odds by learning from others. First, take courses and talk with some small-business owners. Second, get some experience working for others. Finally, study the latest in small-business management techniques, including the use of programs for things such as payroll, inventory control, and mailing lists.
What online sources are available to assist entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs can start by visiting government sources, such as the industry Canada website. Financial services providers also have sites dedicated to small businesses.
Why are people willing to become entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is accepting the challenge of starting and running a business.
Outline the advantages and disadvantages that small businesses have in entering global markets.
Foreign buyers enjoy dealing with individuals rather than large corporations because: - small companies can support a wide variety of suppliers and can ship products more quickly - small companies give more personal service Some disadvantages for small businesses trading internationally - financing is often difficult to find - many people don't know how to get started - some don't understand the cultural differences in foreign markets - bureaucratic red tape is often overwhelming
Where can potential entrepreneurs find help in starting their businesses?
Help can be found from many sources: accountants, lawyers, marketing researchers, loan officers, insurance agents, the Business Development Bank of Canada, and your instructors.
Why are small businesses important to the Canadian economy?
In Canada, 98.2% of businesses have fewer than 100 employees, of which 55.1% are enterprises. Depending on various estimates, small businesses contributed between 25-41 percent to Canada's gross domestic product. Perhaps more important to tomorrow's graduates, small businesses employe a large portion (69%) of the total private labour force.
Why do so many small businesses fail?
Many small businesses fail because of managerial incompetence and inadequate financial planning. Some of these causes include attempting to do too much business with too little capital, underestimating how much time it will take to build a market, and not allowing for setbacks and unexpected expenses.
What are a few of the reasons people start their own businesses?
Reasons include profit, independence, opportunity, and challenge
What are some of the special problems that business owners have in dealing withe employees?
Small-business owners often have difficulty finding competent employees. Grooming employees for management responsibilities can be challenging.
What factors increase the chances of small businesses being successful?
Some reasons include wether the product is not easily made by mass-production techniques, whether sales are not large enough to appeal to a large firm, and whether the owner pays attention to new competitors.
What are the attributes of successful entrepreneurs?
Successful entrepreneurs are: self-directed determined action-oriented highly energetic tolerant of uncertainty able to learn quickly
What is the first step in organizing a business?
Writing a business plan