1.0 BACKGROUND ON SMALL BUSINESSES Public perceptions of the small business have been influenced by politicians and theorists from the extremes of neglect and ignorance to hype and over-expectation. In the 1950’s and 60’s small business’s were seen as out-of-date. By the 1970’s and 80’s they were seen as a great contribution towards the economy and by the 1990’s, SME’s were seen as the post to improving employment. Record numbers of people have launched companies over the past two decades, from 2.4m to 3.7m (Appendix 1(i)) in the UK. A variety of competitive, economic, demographic shifts have accounted for this, “society depends on entrepreneurs to provide the drive and risk-taking necessary for the business system to supply people with the goods and services they need”. (Scarborough and Zimmer, 2000, p.
34) On a global comparison, the increase has a common feature across all borders. The UK and Europe have similar profiles. The USA concentrates its workforce in larger companies compared to Europe and Japan. (Appendix 1(ii)) It is worth noting the difficulty to compare as definitions vary. The failure rate for small businesses is high; primary cause is incompetent management. Successful entrepreneurs hold a positive attitude that these are just stepping stones to success.
2.0 BACKGROUND & HISTORY Sun Worldwide Express (SWE) is a courier company founded in 1999, pioneered by Mr. Desai and Mr. Thompson. The partnership emerged when one of the entrepreneurs risked facing job loss from the parent company; United Cargo Handling (UCH).
The Business plan on Is A Small Business Owner An Entrepreneur
... 24 Aug. 2003 Ryan, J. D. and Hiduke, Gail P. Small Business: An Entrepreneur's Business Plan 6 th ed. United States of America: Thompson ... Thompson PWS-KENT Publishing Company, 1988. Table of Small Business Size Standards. Office of Size Standards. 7 Jul. 2003. Small Business Administration. 13 Aug. 2003.... ...
Mr. Desai and Mr Thompson own an equal share of the company of 49% and UCH owns 51%, however, SWE operates independently. Initiation reasoning results from several factors, e.g. redundancy, experience development, customer support and determination.
2.1 SWE OPERATIONS SWE is concerned with business-to-business transactions in the Courier and Despatch sector. Service involves deliveries from small packages at very short distances at very short notice and to despatch or parcel delivery tends to demand speed and reliability, with time constraints usually on a 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour basis. The internet revolution has aided SWE for proof of delivery which is invariable required. (Appendix 2(i)) 2.2 COURIER AND DESPATCH INDUSTRY The sector has seen an increase in 1999, from 4.21bn to 4.5bn in 2000. (Mintel International Group Limited, 2000) The reason for such an increase is number of external developments impacting on the market SWE have to adapt to a rapidly changing business environment. The most obvious factor is the development of email and E-commerce generally. The speed with which businesses can now transfer documents between each other on a global basis is such that one of the courier and despatch service industry’s key selling points is speed in relation to conventional postal services. 3.0 MATTER OF SIZE There are differences in the comparable definitions of ‘small’, (Appendix 3(i)) due to objective opinions from various sources on quantitative and qualitative grounds.
3.1 OWNER VIEW Mr. Desai, states “this company is considered relatively ‘small’ in terms of the Balance Sheet total and number of employees”. It can be said, overall the company is ‘small’ due to the sector it operates in; there is an abundance of competitors in the transport industry, 99.8% accounts for small firms, not to mention the key players, DHL, FedEx and UPS. 3.1.1 REFLECTION & PUBLISHED CRITERIA It is evident that SWE fits into the published definitions to some extent; the most dominant; the EU and pragmatic definition of Wynarkcyk et al. (1993) The EU does not specify financial statistics and the fit requisites, employees, at micro level. The Wynarkcyk can be implemented on all three aspects in various senses.
The Business plan on Swot Analysis Business One Company
SWOT Analysis This type of analysis is designed to help identify several areas of a business that may need improvement and other areas where the company may be able to improve upon. SWOT is an acronym for; Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. A company should consider this analysis to be one of the most important steps to becoming one of the leading stores and schools of this nature in ...
Uncertainty corresponds to employees; limited resource, this conflicts the customer base present. There are marginal differences to key players in the industry which SWE mirrors in terms of global transportation to over 200 destinations. Lastly, they are continuously evolving through market and structure; the logistic operation is rapidly expanding due to growth of economies in developing countries, e.g. China and Africa. Bolton’s definition does not coincide with SWE as turnover resides under two headings; road transport and turnover, these variables consider the company to be ‘small’. Although SWE operates under a parent company, in respect to characteristics, it is personalised to the employees needs.
There is no formal structure and representation of employees, metaphorically speaking is a ‘family’. In addition, they have a low market share in proportion to the sector. 3.2 DEFINITION FORMATION The Bolton and Law definition CA85 require updating; this may be the reason why their definition does not shape SWE. Bolton at one extreme uses very low figures where as the CA85 has a large distance criterion. According to research carried out it is impossible to define ‘small’. A broad definition utilising the classification from the numerous sources has been formed, “A small business should possess a small market share accompanied by a small customer base, employing fewer than 15 people, with a turnover of 100,000”.
Therefore, if ‘small’ were to be defined it should be qualitative, if not for government policy measures, quantitative terms can be argued till the light of day. 4.0 ENTREPRENEURS 4.1 “TO BE OR NOT TO BE, THAT IS THE QUESTION?” A trait test was conducted to identify the constitution Mr. Desai represents; entrepreneur or owner-manager; results observe that he is entrepreneurial. Hence, traits possessed are aggression, profit seeking and determination; however 3/8 can also be interpreted as an owner-manager. Section 2 reflects entrepreneurial traits, (Appendix 4(i)) however; there has been controversy in that such theories suggest entrepreneurs carry specific traits although this is not wholly true for the fundamental reason that everyone is unique. 4.1.1 REFLECTION OF RESULTS There are debates to whether entrepreneurs are born or made.
The Essay on Human Characteristic traits that make them good or evil
Humans can be good, evil, or even both, and the characteristics they portray represent who they are. Throughout many cultures around the world humans have characteristic traits that are good and evil. Universally speaking good defined by Webster’s dictionary: Being positive or desirable in nature; not bad or poor. And Evil: Morally bad or wrong; wicked. Now one can say that bravery is a good ...
Several psychologists believe that the ‘enduring, inner characteristics’ Hollander (1971, quoted in Bolton & Thompson, 2000, p. 15) come from core and is relatively permanent. Backed by this statistical evidence from Eysenck (1965) states in Bolton & Thompson (2002, p. 15) that genetics contribute 75% to personality and 25% due to environmental influence (Appendix 4(ii)).
Contradictory to this some argue that there is too much diversion from the learning and development process, “the individual entrepreneur acquires skills and abilities through entrepreneurship”, (Deakins & Freel, 2003, p. 34) however, Karatko (Karatko, 2001, p. 17) believes “educators cannot make people into entrepreneurs”. 4.2 FINAL DECISION Studies have been carried out from economic to psychological standpoints (Appendix 4(iii), such as, Cantillon, Schumpeter, Bolton, Burns, Hisrich, Kirzner and Drucker. Drucker, for example, defined an entrepreneur as someone who “always searches for change, responds to it and exploits an opportunity”, (Stokes, 2002, p. 30) He consequently embedded innovation.
Whereas Hirsrich summarised this as “entrepreneurship is the process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic and social risks and receiving the resultant rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction”; (Stokes, 2002, p. 30) innovation is the focus of thinking and behaving. Owner-managers are not a single body that can easily be defined and their background is the focal point, which identifies them. Therefore it is difficult to assess which category Mr. Desai falls under, force to do so consequents in classifying him as an entrepreneur solely upon the need for achievement (McClelland, 1965), wealth (Cantillon, 1734), determination (Zaleznik, 1990), the risk-taking trait is not present (Carsud et al, 1986) as well as the creative (Shackle).
The Term Paper on Most Commonly Cited Characteristics Found in Successful Entrepreneur
There has been extensive research conducted on the characteristics that successful entrepreneurs possess. These attributes vary widely across literature, however there are common key traits that are required to achieve any form of success. Frederick et al (2013) suggest entrepreneurs are risk takers, optimistic, have sound judgement and an ability to manage. While a review of literature relating ...
Mr Desai holds typical characteristics of an owner-manager identified by Bolton (1971), thus justification cannot be made upon characteristics. 4.3 IMPLICATIONS The implications of characteristics can have an impact on the learning experience and struggles arising, externalities such as the environment can affect the business, w ….
