Exploring Business Development: Interviews with Three Entrepreneurs

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INTERVIEW REPORT 1
INTERVIEW REPORT
Student Name-
Student ID-
Course name-
Due date-

INTERVIEW REPORT 2
Introduction
The report will be based on the interview conducted on three entrepreneurs and study the journey
of their business development and struggles. This will analyze the various theories that were
used by the entrepreneurs in business development and application of the same in the business
environment.
Entrepreneur 1
Summary: The entrepreneur that was interviewed in the first round was Mr Paul Smith who is a
CEO of Gilliam Groups a constructing company. He used to do construction jobs initially and
then he decided to open his own company in some time. The company has a good team of five
senior managers and some consecutive workers working under them. The interview was
conducted on 09/02/2019 that was a Saturday over coffee. The behavior of the CEO was very
polite and expressive. The major task that has been done by the Gilliam group includes general
construction, design-build, general contracting, integrated project delivery. The business plan of
Smith includes focus on a niche market and providing them with excellent services. The
approach that has been used by Smith is the “Partnership Model” as they believe in maintaining
good relations with the customers and the stakeholder. They have implemented SWOT analysis
to check the feasibility of current services and the impact of potential threats in the construction
business (Hill, et al., 2014, PP:1- 43).
The process is formal enough to allow the team to develop a virtual outlook and interface for
their major stakeholders who are their clients and suppliers to share their issue and gets the
services done. Based on the interview the objectives of Smith were clear as they are more

INTERVIEW REPORT 3
focused on their internal strategies and resources and they are not much influenced by the macro
factors. They are focused on their internal stakeholders and believe in giving hustle free services
to the customer by providing an effective payment gateway to them. Based on the feedback of
the customer and the attained revenue in the business they believe that the policy is successful in
the business. This shows the visionary and focused behavior of Smith. The limits in the
company’s internal resourcing are the tailored practices that the company uses for its clients
(Nikjoo & Saeedpoor, 2014).
Entrepreneur 2
Summary: The entrepreneur that was interview was Traci Costa, the founder of Peek-a-boo
Clothing. Traci had been working as a banker for 10 years, but when she realized the clothes she
purchased for her daughter were not justifying to the active habits of her daughter, she decided to
launch an eco-friendly section for kids. On 08/02/2019 the interview was conducted over Skype
and Traci was very excited to share her journey with us. The major goal of the company was to
do direct selling which was very difficult initially as people don't take importance on that. She
adapted VRIO strategy to develop her business as her value was to analyze the market and
neutralize the threats, rarity was there as the clothing was innovative as compared to the
competition, she was focused on minimizing the imitability of her products, organization and
its features were well aligned and structured. There focus was on mothers and new parents and
gradually with time the strategy changed to Porter's five force model. They have always taken
care of their stakeholders who are there customers, suppliers and their distributors. Stacy says
that macro-environment has only a superficial impact on her work and she does not compromise
with the quality of her products. The only limit is the variation in the product line and the
constantly changing fashion trends. They are always focused on the needs of the customers and

INTERVIEW REPORT 4
constantly tries to improve their products from feedback they receive. The current strategy is
more focused on customer base development while the future strategy is on the expansion of
business vertically and horizontally. This vision and focus help identify the inner strength Stacy
has also has given a mission to the team to develop the business globally in coming years
(Cardeal & Antonio, 2012, p-1-3).
Entrepreneur 3
Summary: This interview was conducted on Sunday 10/02/2019 with Dr Wendy McClelland
who started a mobile vet service in Canada. The meeting was done personally at her office over
coffee where she showed the pictures of her journey and explained the need for this venture in
the market. As she has always been kind for animals, she decided to open a mobile service for
those who are in strong need of vet at their doorstep. They initially launched an in in-house vet
services to the nearby areas then they gradually moved to other options. They followed Porter’s
Five force model to study the threats of new entrants as the number of vets is high in Canada,
they studied the substitute services like hospitals and dog groomers, they went through bargain
power of customers and suppliers in order to satisfactorily see the internal resources and attain
external resources, they are somewhat affected by the microenvironment and external resources
in the competition. They planned to implement their ideas by doing advertising and door to door
selling of the services and personally explain the same to their stakeholders. They are planning to
change their business strategy by adapting the PESTLE model and making changes in the
services timings. They are planning to continue the 24/7 services of the Vets to Go plan dog
grooming and other animal welfare services in the business model. The major limitation of the
internal resources is the lack of trained staff in the company (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2013). This
is not a major issue, but it takes a lot of challenges to deal with everything every time someone

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comes to the service. Dr McClelland has been keeping a record of the feedback of her
stakeholders those are her patient and also helps them in health issues in the future. The
development in the health of animals and positive feedback helps them understand the actual
application of their business strategy (Arasa & K'Obonyo, 2012, pp:201-211).
Reflection
Before conducting the interview, I was very nervous and confused about the nature and attitude
of the entrepreneurs. I was assuming them to be highly formal and serious individuals, but their
attitude was very healthy and down to earth. I thought I might be facing difficulty in meeting
with them, but they were all more than happy to meet me, and they welcomed the thought of
meeting me. Meeting with them changed the perception towards the aims and goals about them
and making effective changes in the business plan reflects on the business. Based on the
interviews and the nature of the entrepreneurs this can be identified that the application of
SWOT is needed to identify the microenvironment factors in an individual and the internal
qualities they needed to see and changes in self they can apply. The application of PESTLE
analysis has helped to understand the effect of macro-environment factors that have been
affecting the development of the business and the impact it has on the production and variation in
the business. The five force model has helped in determining the effect of competition and
stakeholders on their business. Smith and Traci were quite similar as they are focused more on
business expansion and self-development while Dr. McClelland was more focused on helping
others. This has helped me understand the importance of various theories and models that can be
applied in business development. What surprised me was the dedication and optimism that they
had reflects on the development of business opportunities. I learned the need to study the internal
and external resources in the development of a business and subsequent changes needed in the

INTERVIEW REPORT 6
plan. This made me understand the concept learned during the course and the practical
application of the same in building concepts about the various theories in the business. This has
helped me in understanding the nature and outlook of various entrepreneurs.
Self-Reflection
By taking this interview, I identified the confidence in myself to talk to someone of great
position. I analyzed that my personality contains a need to do an in-depth analysis of any
research. I felt in need to be more creative and innovative in learning new things and make
application of my knowledge and understanding of my assignment. I have good problems
analysis and problem-solving skills that are needed to face the issues in market operations and
administration. This has helped me in developing skills for strategic planning and analysis for the
development of need and making plans for business development and expansion. In my next
interview, I will use more of my analytical skills and will ask the interviewee to tell more about
the business in terms of working capital and the revenue and expenditure in the business. I will
use my interpersonal skills well to make an effective application of business needs and resources.

INTERVIEW REPORT 7
References
 Arasa, R., & K'Obonyo, P. (2012). The relationship between strategic planning and firm
performance. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(22), 201-213.
 Cardeal, N., & Antonio, N. S. (2012). Valuable, rare, inimitable resources and
organization (VRIO) resources or valuable, rare, inimitable resources (VRI) capabilities:
What leads to competitive advantage?.
 Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
 Nikjoo, A. V., & Saeedpoor, M. (2014). An intuitionistic fuzzy DEMATEL methodology
for prioritising the components of the SWOT matrix in the Iranian insurance
industry. International Journal of Operational Research, 20(4), 439-452.
 Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Designing business models and similar strategic
objects: the contribution of IS. Journal of the Association for information systems, 14(5),
237.

INTERVIEW REPORT 8
Appendix
List of questions
1. What gave you the motivation to start this venture?
2. What was the initial business strategy you adopt while developing the business?
3. What was the impact of the micro and macro environment on your business strategy?
4. What difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them?
5. What are the major stakeholders involved in the business?
6. What is your vision and mission for business sustainability and growth?
7. What is your company size and how do you rate your journey so far?
8. What methods do you use to generate innovation and maintain the same in the company?
9. What is your approach for the team and their development?
10. What is your future strategy?
11. Is there any experience over time that you would like to share with us?