Analyzing Entrepreneurship: The Lesley Gillespie Bakers Delight Case

This case study examines the entrepreneurial journey of Lesley Gillespie, the driving force behind Bakers Delight. Established in 1980, Bakers Delight has grown from a single bakery into a global network of over 700 stores. The study highlights Gillespie's key entrepreneurial attributes, including vision, execution, problem-solving abilities, dedication, and risk tolerance. It also discusses her personal approach, emphasizing self-awareness and a focus on personal development. The case study outlines the entrepreneurship process, from initial idea generation to managing and harvesting the business, and addresses the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, such as resource acquisition and dealing with uncertainty. Bakers Delight's success is attributed to its quality products, community involvement, and Gillespie's effective leadership.

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Entrepreneur

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Executive summary:
Entrepreneurship is considers as the process through which an individual design, launch, and run
a new business, and generally this new business is the small business. The individual who run
and design this business is known as entrepreneurs. There are number of factors which affect the
entrepreneur while conducting their business, and there is huge risk involved. Entrepreneurs take
this risk in the hope of profit. The most important elements which contribute in the success of
entrepreneurs are their courage, understanding, and strength. Their capacity and willingness to
develop and manage the business venture makes them entrepreneur, and their ability to take risk
for the purpose of making profit contributes in their success. This paper discusses the journey of
Lesley Gillespie, who is responsible to manage the business of the Bakers Delight.

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Contents
Executive summary:....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................4
Discussion:...................................................................................................................................................4
About Entrepreneur:...............................................................................................................................4
Attributes of entrepreneurship:..............................................................................................................4
Personality & personal approach:...........................................................................................................6
Products or services offered by entrepreneur:........................................................................................7
Entrepreneurship process & Challenges:.................................................................................................7
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
Entrepreneurship can be said as the most simple and pure adventure taken by the individual for
the purpose of getting the profits and success. Entrepreneurship is the process through which an
individual design, launches, and run a new business, and generally this new business is the small
business. The individual who run and design this business is known as entrepreneurs. No
permission or test is required to conduct the entrepreneurship, and in similar manner individual is
accountable for every profit and loss occurred from the business.
Entrepreneurs only required the possible crazy notion that someone wants to pay the money for
their goods and services, and also the strength to make arrangements for initiating their venture.
It can be said that, this way is very different from other paths, as there is no certainty.
Structure of this paper includes the brief discussion about the chosen entrepreneur, main
attributes of the entrepreneur which contributes in success, personality and personal approach of
the selected entrepreneur, products and services offered by the entrepreneur, and process related
to the entrepreneurship and also the challenges faced by the entrepreneur. At the end, brief
conclusion is stated for the purpose of list down the key facts of this paper.
Discussion:
About Entrepreneur:
As stated, journey of Lesley Gillespie is discussed in this paper, which is responsible to manage
the business of the Bakers Delight. This company was established in 1980, and currently it earns
the revenue of $595 million in 2016.
Bakers delight is the business which comes far way,, as this venture is initiated by the Gillespie
with the help of her husband Roger on Melbourne’s Glenferrie Road in 1980. Now, this bakery
owns the global network of more than 700 stores, and these stress are established across
Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.
This bakery is involved in number of initiatives taken for community from last 37 years, and this
also includes the 15 years long partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia. Lesley
Gillespie also gets the award for providing the services to the community1.
1 Bakers Delight, About Us, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/company/.

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Attributes of entrepreneurship:
Following are the most important attributes which contributes in the success of the Lesley as an
entrepreneur:
Vision and execution: The most important trait possessed by the successful entrepreneurs is
vision, as successful entrepreneurs hold the capability to get the things done in terms of their
vision. Generally, entrepreneurs do not spend too much time in context of making and
developing the business ideas. Maximum ideas are changed by the entrepreneurs when they enter
into the market and execute by the individuals. In other words, entrepreneurs must be goal
oriented by ensuring flexibility, and does not focus much on execution of strategy and results2.
Ability to find alternative: Another important trait of the successful entrepreneur is the
capability of the individual to resolve the problems and analytical in nature, and they also try to
resolve the problems in creative manner. The successful entrepreneurs does not trying to be
eccentric and unconventional in nature, they just try to think in different and creative manner.
Dedication level: Entrepreneurs willingly work for the long hours, as idea of the Facebook was
created in dorm room and it resulted in the billion dollar company. In other words, success is
considers as the thankless and demanding job which required long hours of working. Hours of
working are intense in nature, and generally rate of success is low. It takes long time in context
of generating the results, and the amount of work involved in the entrepreneurship is deep and
immense, especially for those who did not tried yet.
Sell or build: Usually, successful entrepreneurs fall in two buckets that are seller and
manufacturer. In other words, one who sell the products, and second who manufactured the
product. Some entrepreneur’s conduct both the actions, and this will considered as icing to the
cake. Entrepreneurs need to expertise in at least one of these areas for the purpose of getting the
success. This can be understood through example, Steve Jobs was the good communicator, but
still his capability lies in his product3.
2 Brian Hamilton, 6 Attributes of Great Entrepreneurs (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252049.
3 Jay Glotz, Six Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/six-attributes-of-successful-entrepreneurs/.

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Products and services provided by the entrepreneur is the only strength of the entrepreneur,
because this is the only thing which helps the entrepreneur in capturing the market and ensuring
their growth in the market.
Tenacity: Entrepreneurs are now aware much about the market, till the time they started but with
the time they gain knowledge in context of the market and also the techniques through which
they ensure their survival in the market. At the initial stage, entrepreneurs make number of
mistakes and they learn from that and also try to ignore such mistakes in future. Some other
things are also there which affects the working of the entrepreneurs such as changes in economy,
changes occurred in customer preferences, etc. In such cases, it is necessary for the entrepreneurs
to be stubborn in the business and stick to their vision.
Risk Tolerance: it is not possible for the individual to conduct the activities of the business
without taking the risk. There are number of people, who do not even handle their credit card
balance, and other people take big amount of loans without any hesitation. A successful
entrepreneur has high risk tolerance capacity, as they deal with the things in confident manner4.
Risk tolerance is considered as most important attribute of an entrepreneur, as risk lies in each
and every single activity of the entrepreneurship and it is necessary for the entrepreneur to
understand that risk and manage it effective for the purpose of ensuring the long term survival
and profitability in the organization. Entrepreneur not only needs to understand the risk but also
needs understand each and every aspect of the risk, because detailed analyses is important for the
purpose of understanding the risk and manage it in effective manner.
Personality & personal approach:
Entrepreneurs possess different personality characteristics, and these characterise are studied in
this field from long period of time. Generally, there are two types of personality approach under
the psychology in terms of entrepreneurship that are trait approach and behavioural approach5.
In case of Lesley Gillespie she adopts, there is adoption of the trait approach. As per this
approach, traits are considered as the broader dispositions of the personality which directed
towards the particular response. In this approach, individuals are categorized on the basis of their
behaviour such as outgoing behaviour, friendly behaviour, etc. Trait personality approach results
4 Ramananda singh & Habib Ratvi, Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs, International journal of scientific reaserch,
no. 2(2013).
5 Andreas Rauch & Michael Frese, A Personality Approach to Entrepreneurship, (2009), The Oxford Handbook of
Personnel Psychology.

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in the conversion of the individuals either into the entrepreneurs or into the non-entrepreneurs.
This personality approach is also known as the supply side explanation of entrepreneurship and it
mainly includes the psychological, sociological and anthropological variants.
This theory mainly states that, behaviour of the people is shaped as per their personality,
different conditions, and also their interaction with the situation. This theory further states that,
changes occurred in the attitudes and also in the personality traits as per the different social
attributes. However, this theory fails to consider the dimensions of the situation, and also the
measurement of the effects of interaction6.
Personal approach of the individual play most important role in the success of the individual and
following is the attributes of the Lesley Gillespie personal approach:
 Self-awareness is the most important approach of the entrepreneur, and nothing is
possible to achieve without developing this attribute.
 Another important attribute is the focus on personal development, as it is considered as
the key element for achieving success in this modern world.
 Understanding of the field is necessary for executing the plans and idea developed by
individual, because effective execution of ideas can only be done with the help of
understanding7.
Products or services offered by entrepreneur:
Bakers Delight is the bakery franchisee which is owned by the Lesley Gillespie with her husband
Rogan Gillespie. This franchisee established almost 700 stores across the globe. It offered
variety of bakery products to its customers.
This bakery offers sweet, savoury, crusty, soft, delicious, pastries, and bread. It also offers its
customers classic loaves and their famous hot cross buns, crusty artisanal sourdoughs. They
ensure that they offer fresh products to its customers, and in this context they baked their breads
on daily basis8.
Entrepreneurship process & Challenges:
Following is the process of the entrepreneurship, which includes five stages that are:
Discovery:
6 Rauch & Frese, Born to Be an Entrepreneur? Revisiting the Personality Approach to Entrepreneurship. The
psychology of entrepreneurship (2007) (pp. 41-65). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
7 YEC, Approaches That Work: Nine Ways Entrepreneurs Can Achieve Success, (accessed August 2 2018); Available
from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/05/22/approaches-that-work-nine-ways-entrepreneurs-can-
achieve-success/#6660bff5a497.
8 Bakers Delight, Products, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/.

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This is the first stage of the entrepreneur process, and this is also considered as most important
stage. Process initiates with the idea generation in which entrepreneur identifies and evaluates
the opportunities of business. Evaluation of the opportunities is considered as the difficult task. It
is necessary for the entrepreneur to consider all the aspects of the opportunities before taking the
decision. Once all these aspects have been analysed, then next step is to take decision.
Developing a business plan:
Business plan must be developed in context of opportunity identified by the entrepreneur in first
stage. Entrepreneur need to develop the business plan which is comprehensive in nature.
Business plan is the most important factor for the success of any venture, and it is necessary for
the entrepreneur to prepare this plan with complete focus9.
Resourcing- this is the third step of the process which includes the arrangement of resources for
executing the business plan. In this entrepreneur analysed the different ways through which they
can arrange the human and finance resources.
Managing the company- once resources are arranged by entrepreneur, then next step is to focus
on the business operations. In other words, entrepreneur focuses on conducting their business
operations effectively and also managing their business operations.
Harvesting- last step of the entrepreneur process is harvesting, which means, now individual
focus on considering their future aspects of the business10.
Challenges faced by entrepreneur:
 Abandoning any other career and initiate own start-up is the biggest challenge faced by
the entrepreneur.
 Arrangement of resources is the other big challenge faced by the entrepreneur.
 Dealing with the uncertainty is another challenge which is faced by the entrepreneur11.
9 Star Adom, The 5 Critical Stages You Will Go Through As An Entrepreneur, (accessed August 2 2018); Available
from http://startuptipsdaily.com/the-entrepreneurial-process/.
10 Business Jargons, Entrepreneurial Process, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://businessjargons.com/entrepreneurial-process.html.
11 Larry Alton, The 8 Biggest Challenges for New Entrepreneurs, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254721.

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Conclusion:
After considering the facts of this case, it is clear that entrepreneurs face number of challenges
while developing their business as the start-up venture. However, it is their personal approach
and personality through which they deal with the things. Entrepreneurs only required the possible
crazy notion that someone wants to pay the money for their goods and services, and also the
strength to make arrangements for initiating their venture. It can be said that, this way is very
different from other paths, as there is no certainty. Entrepreneur need to develop the business
plan which is comprehensive in nature. Business plan is the most important factor for the success
of any venture, and it is necessary for the entrepreneur to prepare this plan with complete focus.
There are number of factors which affect the entrepreneur while conducting their business, and
there is huge risk involved. Entrepreneurs take this risk in the hope of profit. The most important
elements which contribute in the success of entrepreneurs are their courage, understanding, and
strength.
Bibliography:
Andreas Rauch & Michael Frese, A Personality Approach to Entrepreneurship, (2009), The
Oxford Handbook of Personnel Psychology.
Bakers Delight, About Us, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/company/.
Bakers Delight, Products, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/.
Brian Hamilton, 6 Attributes of Great Entrepreneurs (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252049.
Business Jargons, Entrepreneurial Process, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://businessjargons.com/entrepreneurial-process.html.
Jay Glotz, Six Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs, (accessed August 2 2018); Available from
https://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/six-attributes-of-successful-entrepreneurs/.
Larry Alton, The 8 Biggest Challenges for New Entrepreneurs, (accessed August 2 2018);
Available from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254721.
Ramananda singh & Habib Ratvi, Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs, International journal of
scientific reaserch, no. 2(2013).

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Rauch & Frese, Born to Be an Entrepreneur? Revisiting the Personality Approach to
Entrepreneurship. The psychology of entrepreneurship (2007) (pp. 41-65). Mahwah, NJ, US:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Star Adom, The 5 Critical Stages You Will Go Through As An Entrepreneur, (accessed August 2
2018); Available from http://startuptipsdaily.com/the-entrepreneurial-process/.
YEC, Approaches That Work: Nine Ways Entrepreneurs Can Achieve Success, (accessed
August 2 2018); Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/05/22/approaches-
that-work-nine-ways-entrepreneurs-can-achieve-success/#6660bff5a497.