Entrepreneurship - Planning & Building a Business

Which of the following is NOT a creative thinking exercise entrepreneurs use to generate ideas?

• Challenge the Usual

• Think Backward

• Judge Each Idea as Realistic or Not

• Draw Idea Maps

Sharon is thinking about opening a bakery. She knows she wants to set her own hours, reduce her stress and make a profit. But she still has a lot to think through. Which of the following would NOT be a good early step?

• Immediately finding a storefront property for her business, putting down a deposit, and signing a lease.

• Contacting a mentor who has experience in the restaurant industry.

• Creating an initial elevator pitch with her limited information and starting to ask around for advice.

• Beginning to estimate her target market for her business.

Sharon realizes that she needs additional research before she approaches potential investors. What kind of research should she do to effectively evaluate her potential business opportunity?

• Conduct market research to determine whether her business idea is a business opportunity that meets a consumer need or want.

• Discuss the situation with her cousin who has shopped at the local bakery a few times.

• Discuss the situation with a family friend who has money and might want to invest in her idea.

• Analyze a national chain that sells pies and model her new business after it. This will save time and money that would otherwise be spent on independent research and planning.

What are the four parts of a SWOT Analysis?

• Sales, Work ethic, Organization, Training

• Strengths, Weaknesses, Obstacles, Threats

• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

• Strengths, Weaknesses, Options, Threats

George and Miguel are considering opening up a shoe store but first need to do market research. Which one of these is NOT part of the market research process?

• Identify research objectives and write down the questions they want answered.

• Conduct research--both primary and secondary--to hear from people firsthand and determine if there is a need for their business.

• Start promoting their shoe store to people in the neighborhood.

• Draw conclusions and make decisions for their business based on the research results.

George and Miguel want to know more about their local and online competitors and about the retail industry. What is the best way for them to find all of this information?

• Go online to find trade associations, listings of local and national competitors, and any information on financials.

• Explore websites of other shoe retail businesses and take notes.

• Try to think of friends, family members or acquaintances who have experience in retail and ask them about it.

• All of the above

Which of these is NOT part of a consumer profile?

• Demographics

• Polygraphics

• Psychographics

• Buying Patterns

Regina is looking to start a knitting business and completes a target market profile to include in her business plan. Identify which item in her target market profile is in the wrong category and where it should be moved.

• Regina is looking to start a knitting business and completes a target market profile to include in her business plan. Identify which item in her target market profile is in the wrong category and where it should be moved.

• "Willing to spend a little more for good quality products" …she should move this from Buying Patterns to Psychographics.

• "Don't spend money on unnecessary items" …she should move this from Demographics to Buying Patterns.

• Everything is in the correct category.

Regina is creating her competitive analysis. She understands why it's important to know her direct competitors, but she's not sure why indirect competitors matter. She asks you if indirect competitors are important to know about. What should you say?

• No. Indirect competition isn't something to worry about because they sell different products.

• No. Indirect competition is only important to understand if things change and it becomes direct competition.

• Yes. Indirect competition is important to understand, since the different product fulfills the same customer need.

• Yes. Indirect competition is important. Indirect competitors are competitors who compete in areas other than money, such as in hiring.

Which of the following is a fixed expense for Maria's sandwich food truck?

• Salaries for her employees

• Truck insurance

• Advertising

• All of the above