Lemar Williams

MGMT(541­191)
Midterm, Spring 2015

1.
In the text, Hiduke and Ryan and discuss ten success factors for entrepreneurs (Hiduke
& Ryan, 2014). These factors include, relying on your team and being persistent. When organizing a business, the best results come when you have an organized team. Having an excellent group of people around you can be a very important to the overall success of the business and its future. This can be illustrated in an case study written by Shelley Morissette and Louise Hatfield, in which they discuss the journey to success for Batter Blaster. Sean
O’Connor, the inventor of Batter Blaster, truly was not able to fully put together his dream without the help of his team. They were able to place Batter Blaster in over 10,000 stores with only 11 employees, and this could not be done without hard work and excellent efficiency. With such a small team of workers, each and every person needed to play a unique role and perform to the best of their abilities.
Another important success factor is being flexible but persistent. From the original can of Batter Blaster to now, the product and the business has been ever evolving. Sean had an amazing idea when creating Batter Blaster but he needed to be flexible when achieving his goals, because factors were always changing. To better the product, he needed to hire a food science lab to help perfect the recipe and make the product perfect, but his original idea of getting help to finance the research thru investors was a failure. He also went to several institutional investors and private equity firms, but they also showed skepticism. So he had to exhaust every resource he had to gain enough money to perfect the product and build the manufacturing line. Just two years after getting his new product on a store shelf Sean had to refocus. In 2009, he moved Batter Blaster out of the wholesale club store market and into the retail grocery store market. So, Sean had to be able to change when things did not work out, while also staying persistent when being denied or facing obstacles.
3.
In the case study on Crocs, we see that they faced a change in the social/cultural environment. Their consumers fashion taste was beginning to change and they had to find a way to keep up with the changing trends. Many people felt that Crocs were a one trick pony and needed to expand their brand to include other trendy products. Crocs responded to its critics by moving beyond shoes to increase the variety of its product line, but in doing so the firm has encountered entrenched competitors that have fought back against Crocs’ market encroachment. Crocs leaders hoped to increase its market overall by giving customers a wider range of choices. In the spring of 2007, Crocs added nine new models to its product line. These models include a high heel, a new flip flop style, and versions similar to the more traditional
Crocs, except in two-tones and patterns. In addition, a modified color palette is available including new colors like celery, lavender, cotton candy, and sea foam (Droege & Dong, 2009).
6.

Lemar Williams

MGMT(541­191)
Midterm, Spring 2015

The biggest component to opening a small restaurant/carry-out is finding the best way to distinguish yourself. Whether it be through the food itself, the service, or the decour, entrepreneurs are always trying to find the best way to stand out and be unique. I believe the best way to for my restaurant to be successful is to find a unique marketing niche. I think by conducting primary research through surveys and taste test, i can gain a feel for what consumers like and are willing to pay for. My marketing niche is based on the idea of a “ Late
Night Dessert Happy Hour.” Many late night snacks consist of something sweet, so why not take that theory and move it into a restaurant setting. By offering a sweet, cheap, and fun option for consumers, who develop a sweet tooth in the late night hours, it can give us a competitive edge
if