Entrepreneurship and Small Business

This assignment delves into the crucial aspects of entrepreneurship and small business management. It examines various definitions, theoretical frameworks, and historical perspectives surrounding these topics. The emphasis is on understanding the entrepreneurial process, the challenges faced by small businesses, and the role of government policies in fostering entrepreneurial growth. The document provides a comprehensive overview of key concepts such as innovation, market analysis, funding sources, marketing strategies, and management techniques relevant to successful small business operation.

Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Different types of entrepreneurial ventures and typology......................................................1
P2 similarities and differences between entrepreneurial ventures...............................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................4
P3 Assess relevant data about how small and medium organisations affects the economy of a
country.........................................................................................................................................4
P4 Importance of a SME and business start-ups within the growth of social economy in UK...5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................5
P5 Characteristics traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs and their difference with
business managers.......................................................................................................................5
P6 Aspects of the entrepreneurial personality on mind set and motivation................................6
LO4..................................................................................................................................................7
P7 How background and knowledge can hinder or foster the growth and development of an
entrepreneurial venture................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship and their small firms plays a very vital and crucial role that includes the
proper management of ideas and the action plans that are been taken in consideration by an
individual or an organisation. The entrepreneurial ideas that are been followed by the firm will
help the organisation to meet the business activities and management of their activities to a
greater extent (Laukkanen and Tornikoski, 2018). For the report, Nom foods is been chosen. It is
a UK based packaged food firm.
In the report, different entrepreneurial ventures, and its typology is discussed with
similarities and differences in entrepreneurial ventures. Various entrepreneurial venture in public
and corporate sector is been evaluated with assessment of skills, scope and development.
Characteristics and traits of an entrepreneur with their mind set. Also, the role of background and
knowledge in development of entrepreneurial venture is been made.
Task 1
1 Different types of entrepreneurial ventures and typology
Entrepreneurship is an activity of establishing a business or business functions, by
undertaking the financial risks and applying efforts to generate profits.
The entrepreneurial activities are the processes that are been followed by the organization
or an individual to set their business or small entrepreneurial firms (Fayolle and Gailly, 2015).
An enterprise is the project or a business start-up that is been set by an entrepreneur to
generate a decent amount of profit and may or may not have a scope of expansion.
There are various types of entrepreneurial ventures that are been managed and handled in order
to have a good rise in the setting up of an enterprise. Other than this, different entrepreneurial
ventures that are operational in nature are as follows:
Serial entrepreneurs: This is the form of entrepreneurial venture where an entrepreneur comes
up with an idea and set up a business and then move on to another venture or idea. For example,
Richard Branson started his business as a record store owner but then moved to many other
business venture one by one, including telecommunications, Airlines and media.
Intraprenuers: This is the form of venture, which includes the person within a firm to manage
the risky situations and handle the other business activities simultaneously in an organisation.
They work to handle the bigger issues within an entrepreneurial firm.
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Owner manager: It is a form of entrepreneurship where an individual owns and manages the
start up or his/ her venture. He is the concerning person in the organisation and will look after all
the activities of the management.
Different types of entrepreneurial ventures are:
Micro organisations: This are the firms that are been set and managed by one person and might
have the friends or family members as the workers in the firm.
Small organisation: Small level firms are quite bigger than the micro level organisations. They
operates on a local or zonal basis and may have a scope of expansion. They have moderate
profits (Dees, 2017).
Medium sized organisation: They are quite bigger than the small organisations and operates on
inter city or state level. They have more than 250 employees and can have high amount of profits
to have a better scope of expansion.
Social enterprise: They are the firms which works for the betterment and growth of the society.
Their main aim is to serve people and their profit count is been used on the social welfare.
The entrepreneurial ventures and the typologies of the entrepreneurial ventures that are
been discussed above are closely related to each other as it will help in the effective setting up of
the entrepreneurial venture and thus will lead to the setting up of different business operations
and action plans in an effective way.
2 similarities and differences between entrepreneurial ventures
There have been a huge range of similarities and differences between various
entrepreneurial ventures that operates within the market (Solomon and Linton, 2016). Some of
the major similarities between different entrepreneurial ventures are as follows:
Factors Entrepreneurial ventures
Need of investment Despite being different in size and
functionality, all the entrepreneurial ventures
needs investments and capital to grow.
Requirement of work force All the entrepreneurial ventures needs effective
work force to carry out their operations in an
effective way (Laukkanen and Tornikoski,
2018).
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Management structure All the entrepreneurial measures are required
to have a management structure that will lead
to management of a wide range of business
operations and activities.
However, there are certain difference within the entrepreneurial ventures which makes
them different from each other. Some of the major differences that are been taken in
consideration are:
Factors Micro
organisation
Small
organisation
Medium
organisation
Social
organisation
Scale They have the
minimal scale in
the market.
Their scalability
is higher than
that of a micro
organisation
(Goss, 2015).
It has bigger
scale than that of
micro and small
organisations.
They may be
small to medium,
depending on the
number of people
they serve.
Employees They have 1 or 2
employees to
work on the
enterprise.
The small firms
have about 25
employees to
work within the
firm.
They have about
250 employees
working in its
various divisions.
It depends on the
number of
volunteers that
are been
associated with
the firm.
Using of profit The profit gained
is used on the
personal
expenses and
running the
business.
Some part of the
profit gained is
been distributed
among the
employees in
form of salary.
The profit gained
is used for the
business
expansion and
growth purposes.
The firm used the
profit gained for
the development
of better services
and products for
the society.
3 Entrepreneurship in public and private sector
The entrepreneurship in the public sector will be held in the collaboration of the firm with
the government. They usually work to provide the good quality services and products to society.
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The profit generated by them is used for the betterment of their services and products. On the
other hand, the private sector organisations work for the profit generation and expanding their
business in the way possible. For example, the profit generated by Virgin group is not liable to
get accessed by UK’s government except the taxations.
4 Scope of growth and development
Various entrepreneurial ventures have a wide range of scope related to their growth and
development. The different firms will grow and develop in a varied way on the basis of their
entrepreneurial functionality. For instance, the micro organisations have the minimal chances of
growth and development in a market due to their limited resources and functioning capacity
(Hatten, 2015). On the other hand, the small and medium enterprises can grow and develop
effectively due to their work force efficiency and the amount of investment and operations
performing capacity. The social enterprises grow on the basis of the popularity of their products
and services in the society.
TASK 2
a) Evaluate critically the contribution of micro and small businesses to the U.K economy in the
last three years
Covered in PPT
b) Assess relevant data about how small and medium organisations affects the economy of a
country
Covered in PPT
c) Importance of a SME and business start-ups within the growth of social economy in UK
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
1 Characteristics traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs and their difference with business
managers
As an entrepreneur, the individual person will have certain traits and activities that will
help the organisation to carry out the business operations and activities in a significant manner.
Looking at the case study of Nom foods, we can say that its founder and an entrepreneur Steph
Croft Simon had certain qualities and traits that helped him to have a good market and business
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growth opportunity for its popcorn business (Burns, 2016). Some of the major traits that are been
possessed by him are:
 Taking Risk: Mr. Simon was aware about the risk that are been associated with the
business operations and the action plans that are been taken within the organisation which
will help the firm to manage the business and launching its innovative popcorn products
in UK market.
 Not giving up attitude: He made several trials before launching his popcorns and potato
fries within the organisation. Other than this, despite many major issues like major firms
entering in the market, stiff competition in potato fries market and changing taste of the
customers, he never stopped and thus launched his products successfully.
 Keeping a adaptability towards market trends: Mr. Simon see through the proper
management of the fluctuating market trends and customers’ requirements and made the
timely and regular alterations within its products and services that is potato fries and
popcorns, making them successfully established (Burns and Dewhurst, 2016).
Other than this, the skill set like time and resource management can be possessed by the
entrepreneur will help him to carry out the different business operations in an effective and
significant manner. Apart from this, it will also help the individual to carry out any sort of
resolution measures in case of occurring of any sort of risk.
These traits and qualities make the entrepreneurs very different from that of the business
managers. The business managers just look after the problem and its solution approach, while an
entrepreneur will see through the effective placing of the product within the market resolving
issues related to it and improving the product quality. Some of the major differences in between
an entrepreneur and business manager is as follows:
Entrepreneurs Business managers
They aims for social reputation, product or
enterprise success and generation of a decent
amount of revenue.
They just aim for the enterprise growth and
development.
They look after overall decision making within
the organisation or enterprise.
They are related to make the decisions related
to their department.
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2 Impact of aspects of the entrepreneurial personality on mind set and motivation
The entrepreneurial personality and traits that are been undertaken by an individual will
help in the developing of a positive mind set and will motivate them to carry out the
entrepreneurial operations and ventures in more effective and significant way (Schaper and et.al.,
2014). For example, Mr. Smith has all the traits and qualities that made him a successful
entrepreneur. This traits and qualities motivated him to carry out his ventures and business
operations in most effective and significant manner. The never giving up attitude and having a
positive perspective towards the customer and market trend led him to innovate new and latest
products to cater his clients and buyers (Armstrong, 2018).
Other than this, the adaptability to change with time and making the alterations in work
processes and action plans along with the product has supported the organisation to meet the
operational requirements of the organisation in a more significant and effective way
(Scarborough, 2016). This will also lead the firm to handle the business operations and activities
and most effective and significant manner. This qualities and attributes allowed him to have a
sustainable market position which will lead to effective development of Nom foods and their
products like popcorn and potato fries in UK’s market (Gupta, Chiles and McMullen, 2016).
This will help Mr. Simon to make Nom foods stand against the major food producers and big
brands like Metcalfe’s Food Company’s Skinny Popcorn and Tyrrell’s Poshcorn. The smart
entrepreneurs like Mr. Simon, the owner of Nom Foods have used the marketing strategies that
are been implemented by this big brands as an opportunity to create a market for popcorns and
fries. This has helped him to create a good market and operational base for promoting and selling
its products and services in UK.
3 Explore and examine different arguments relating to entrepreneurial characteristics, such as are
entrepreneurs born or made? Can anyone learn to be an entrepreneur
Based on the assessment that are been taken place at the organisation this can be said that
the proper management of the organisational activities and operations will help the firm to have a
good management of the different operations and activities. This is completely based on the traits
and skills of an individual as an entrepreneur (Alvarez and Barney, 2017). The skills and
qualities that are been possessed by an entrepreneur can be opted and imbibed by anyone in an
effective and significant manner. On this basis, it can be said that the entrepreneurs are not born
but made. However, the entrepreneurial skills and qualities that are been taken in the
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consideration by the organisation or an individual is based on his/her perception, motivation and
mind set, which will encourage him/her to be a successful entrepreneur like owner of Nom
Foods, Mr. Simon.
4 The way background and knowledge can hinder or foster growth and development of an
entrepreneurial venture
The background and knowledge that is been owned by an individual plays a very deep
role in the management, growth and development of an entrepreneurial ventures (Boh, De-Haan
and Strom, 2016). For instance, the immense development and growth of Nom’s Foods in the
UK’s market is due to the effective leadership and guidance along with the market knowledge of
Mr. Simon. The deep market knowledge and experience helped Mr. Simon to crack down the
customer’s requirements and market opportunity which he fulfilled with his popcorns and potato
fries. This showcases that the good entrepreneurial background and knowledge about one’s
actions fosters or support the proper growth of their venture of selling popcorn and potato fries
under the name Nom Foods. He effectively used the marketing operations of his competitors to
create a consumer base for his products and services.
On the other hand, the lack of business knowledge and experience to run it effectively
may have the adverse and devastating consequences on the Nom foods and well as the
entrepreneur as an individual (Mariotti and Glackin, 2015). The inability to carry out the
business operations and judge the market and customer requirements may restrict the
entrepreneur to make the suitable and vital changes within its products and services that can lead
to failure of enterprise. The basic idea about one’s own entrepreneurial functions is required to
be possessed by an entrepreneur in order to achieve effective growth and sustainability in market
place.
5. Analyse the link between entrepreneurial characteristics and the influence of personal
background and experience to specific successful entrepreneurs
The entrepreneurial characteristics and the impact of personal background and experience will
help a person to be a successful entrepreneur (Suddaby, Bruton and Si, 2015). The traits and
qualities and action plans that will help the in to manage the business operations and activities
that have promoted a positive growth and carrying out of entrepreneurial functions in an
significant manner like by Mr. Simon at Nom Foods.
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The personal knowledge and business experience helped him to develop the products and
services as per the needs and demands of the customer helped Nom Foods to have a good market
share and meeting of their operational requirements in an effective way. His entrepreneurial
qualities and skills with a supportive environment lead Mr. Simon to be a successful
entrepreneur in UK.
CONCLUSION
Hence, on the basis of the analysis that is been carried above, this can be said that
entrepreneurship is deeply related to a business. Various ventures are been discussed which will
assist to have a good knowledge about the classification of entrepreneurial ventures within the
firm. Also, the impact of small and medium business on the economy of a country has been
analysed with its impact on society helping to get the knowledge about their significance in a
country. Other than this, the traits and qualities of a successful entrepreneur of a selected firm is
been evaluated with a proper assessment the impact of this traits leading to motivation and
setting a mind set for entrepreneurship in an individual. Apart from this, the importance of
knowledge and experience background to promote or restrict a business is been analysed.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alvarez, S.A. and Barney, J.B., 2017. Resource‐based theory and the entrepreneurial
firm. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset. pp.87-105.
Boh, W.F., De-Haan, U. and Strom, R., 2016. University technology transfer through
entrepreneurship: faculty and students in spinoffs. The Journal of Technology
Transfer. 41(4). pp.661-669.
Burns, P. and Dewhurst, J. eds., 2016. Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Burns, P., 2016. Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Dees, J.G., 2017. 1 The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. In Case Studies in Social
Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (pp. 34-42). Routledge.
Fayolle, A. and Gailly, B., 2015. The impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial
attitudes and intention: Hysteresis and persistence. Journal of Small Business
Management. 53(1). pp.75-93.
Goss, D., 2015. Small Business and Society (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Gupta, V.K., Chiles, T.H. and McMullen, J.S., 2016. A process perspective on evaluating and
conducting effectual entrepreneurship research. Academy of Management Review. 41(3).
pp.540-544.
Hatten, T.S., 2015. Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond. Nelson
Education.
Laukkanen, M. and Tornikoski, E.T., 2018. Causal mapping small business advisors’ belief
systems: a case of entrepreneurship policy research. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. 24(2). pp.499-520.
Mariotti, S. and Glackin, C., 2015. Entrepreneurship & small business management. Pearson.
Scarborough, N.M., 2016. Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management.
Pearson.
Schaper, M.T. and et.al., 2014. Entrepreneurship and small business.
Solomon, G.T. and Linton, J.D., 2016. Standing at the crossroad of knowledge: Technology,
innovation, entrepreneurship and the small business management–Policy
perspectives. Technovation, (57-58). pp.1-3.
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Suddaby, R., Bruton, G.D. and Si, S.X., 2015. Entrepreneurship through a qualitative lens:
Insights on the construction and/or discovery of entrepreneurial opportunity. Journal of
Business venturing. 30(1). pp.1-10.
Online
Armstrong, B., 2018. The Qualities That Define a Successful Entrepreneur. [Online]. Available
through: < https://www.groco.com/readingroom/lead_successful_entrepreneur.aspx>
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