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CASE: Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria’s New Business
Arielle and Sanjay met while they were both taking the Business Diploma Program at SaskPolytech. They became fast friends and shared an interest in starting their own business. They both loved to golf, but neither of them was very good at the game. As a result, they lost a lot of golf balls by hitting them into tall grass, bushes, and other places where they just couldn’t find them despite prolonged searches. Not only was this delay of game annoying to other golfers, but it was also costing Arielle and Sanjay a lot of money – they were buying new golf balls all the time.
One day, over drinks after a round of golf, they began discussing an idea. This idea quickly turned into what they believed was a great business opportunity. They would develop a golf ball with a built in GPS locating device that golfers could connect to a tracking app on their smartphones. That way, lost golf balls could be easily located. The pair knew that other companies were working toward this as well, but they felt that they could win the race to make theirs a reality first, and in a way that was cheap enough for the average golfer to want to use. They had a secret weapon – their computer engineering friend, Victoria.
They got Victoria on board with the idea and soon she had developed a working prototype. Now they had to officially start their business. Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria knew that they could work well together. Arielle could always see the “big picture” and was an extremely logical thinker. Sanjay was more of a “people person” with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
The trio were, however, worried about how they would find money t fund their startup. They were also concerned about privacy. They didn’t want to have to disclose any of their research due to the competitive nature of this endeavour. the trio wants to maintain total control over their business. Risk was also a factor that they considered — the couple did not want to put their personal assets at risk in this venture.
Question 1
When Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria were thinking of starting their own business, they came to you for advice. Explain three advantages and two disadvantages of owning a small business such as the one they wanted to start.
Question 2()
Describe two demographic and one technological/economic trend that would likely have the most impact on Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria’s small business in the future.
Question 3
Fast forward a couple of years. Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria’s business is now thriving and growing. They have assembled a fairly large workforce of highly skilled, educated and, self-motivated employees. They all work in close physical proximity, and our original trio performs more of a supervisory/leadership role at this point in the well-established process of GPS-enabled golf ball production and sales. They know that they have to remain competitive through enhanced communication within the business and they want to minimize the money that they spend on administration.
They begin to discuss whether the business should have a wide or narrow span of management. Should it be centralized (tall) or decentralized (flat)? Based on what we discussed in class, provide advice for the trio regarding their business’ internal structure. Incorporate the pros and cons of each option. State any assumptions that you make.
Question 4
Which of the forms of business ownership that we discussed in class would you advise our trio of budding entrepreneurs to choose when officially forming their business: sole proprietorship, partnership (general, limited, or limited liability), or corporation (public or private)? Explain your reasoning, incorporating the main advantages and disadvantages of each form of business. State any assumptions that you make.
Question 5
In order to manage their business effectively and efficiently, Arielle, Sanjay and Victoria will need certain skills. Based on what we have discussed in class, name and explain the types or categories of skills that they will need. Give an example pertaining to this case to support your explanation of each skillset.
