Busn Ba532 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning - Interview an Entrepreneur Assignment

BUSN BA532 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning

Interview an Entrepreneur Assignment

Winter 2019

Student name: Yihu Ouyang

Student ID:000756526

Date of interview: Feb 9th, 2019

Due Day: Feb 15th, 2019

Interview an Entrepreneur Assignment

This paper aims at developing a profile based on my interview with an entrepreneur, the owner and the founder of Teahut. The interview sought to evaluate a variety of issues surrounding business environment and entrepreneurship. Teahut is a Chinese bubble tea store and café. It is located at 100 Main St East. The interview was conducted on Saturday last week, and it was a face-to-face interview where I got a chance to interact with the entrepreneur for a period of 35 minutes. From the personal background based on the introduction given, I discovered that the owner’s name is Harun Shaheri and he comes from Iran and married a Chinese wife come from Taiwan. Harun can speak multiple languages such as Arabic, English and even Chinese. The interview conducted created insight on business startup and entrepreneurship. The primary aim of every business is to achieve growth by acquiring and retaining a significant market share.

Analysis

        Bygrave, Zacharakis & Corbett (2017) connoted that every business idea starts with identifying the market need. It is after identifying the market needs that now the entrepreneur comes with the means to meet these needs. When I asked Mr. Harun why he wanted to open the business at the beginning, he explained to me that he actually wanted to open an Iran style restaurant. However, her wife reminded him that there are many are many Chinese students in their location than Iranians. Therefore, Chinese food would be more popular. With the time that the business has been in existence, Harun said that he now agrees that his wife was right. Students who come from China and other countries like their food and bubble tea. Identifying the market need helps in designing a product and service that guarantees value creation to the customers. Also, it facilitates the process of market targeting and market positioning.          

Teahut just like any other business inspires to attain growth. For instance, when I asked Mr. Harun about the number of employees that his business has, he explained to me that he started the business when only him and his wife were the employees of the business. He said that the business had been operations for one and a half years now it has eight full-time and part-time employees. He stated that by the end of this year they might be about 15 employees with several other branches. This was a clear indication that businesses are aiming for growth and expansion. Business growth can be measured in different ways; these include the number of employees, client base or market share, branches or outlets, and even sales revenue. A growing firm has a gradual increase in all these. According to Drucker (2015), entrepreneurs must have goals and objectives supporting the growth of the business. This was affirmed during the interview as Harun also claimed that their motive is to have more than 15 employees by the end of this year and even have more branches.

Developing a plan is also much vital for the success of the business. Entrepreneurs must possess the planning skills as the managers of their businesses. Harun has got a good time management plan and a schedule of activities he undertakes on a daily basis. He explained to me that he wakes up at 9:30 AM and arrive at the restaurant at 10:30. The first activities he does is to check the inventory and place orders for the raw material where necessary. He said that most of his purchases are came from China and hence he must make sure that all inputs required are ordered on time to keep the café continually operating. After confirming the inventory, he goes to the kitchen to supervise the chefs boiling water for tea. The café opens at 12:00 noon and from this time Mr. Harun sit and the cashier's desk while still supervising his workers to ensure customers are welcomed warmly and given the best service.