Karen Walker: Entrepreneurial Journey, Strategies and Recommendations

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Karen Walker, a prominent New Zealand fashion designer, examining her entrepreneurial traits, background, and business strategies. The report begins by establishing Walker's background, highlighting her education and entry into the fashion industry. It then delves into her entrepreneurial traits, such as creativity, leadership, and personality, while also acknowledging some of her less positive characteristics. The analysis further explores Walker's opportunity recognition and idea development processes, referencing Schumpeter's theory of innovation and her brand's global expansion. The report also evaluates her competitive advantage, including her collaborations and marketing strategies. Finally, the report offers recommendations for Walker, focusing on areas such as improved interpersonal skills, brand expansion, and social media presence. The report concludes with a summary of Walker's journey and the importance of franchising as a growth strategy.

Karen Walker
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Karen Walker
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of the entrepreneur......................................................................................................2
Entrepreneurial traits.......................................................................................................................2
Opportunity recognition and idea development process.................................................................3
Competitive advantage....................................................................................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6
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Karen Walker
Introduction
In this paper, the entrepreneur that is selected for the task is Karen Walker. She is one of the
famous designers of the New Zealand and also she has the skills that should be possessed in an
entrepreneur. The first phase of the report will discuss about the background of the entrepreneur
in which basis details will be included. The next phase of the paper will emphasize on the
entrepreneurial traits that are possessed in her. In the next part, the emphasis will be on the
opportunity recognition and idea development process that should be considered. The next phase
will emphasize on the competitive advantage in which the comparison will be made with the
other competitors. The last part of the report will emphasize on the recommendations that will be
given in relation to the suggestions for the entrepreneur to consider different types of business.
Background of the entrepreneur
Karen Walker is one of the biggest entrepreneurs in the field of fashion designer. She operates
her business in New Zealand. She was born in1969in New Zealand. The schooling was done by
her from Epsom Girls Grammar School, then in 1988 she decided to enter into the field of
fashion and later in 1995 she completed the degree course. After completing the degree she was
having interest in opening the two boutiques. For the first time she focused on selling the designs
to the biggest departmental store of America with headquarter in New York. But presently, she
manages the fashion outlets of her own in Auckland and Wellington (Edwards et al., 2018).
It is examined that in 2000, the designer was awarded for her solo show that was showcased at
New York Fashion Week. Later, in 2007, she received the Pirx De Marie for the creative talent
that is present in her. She stated that it is simple to get the sidetracked by the administrative task
but it is important for the entrepreneur should focus on the daily important job of selling the
products and services but she also stated that she struggle at the time of following her own
advice. The childhood of the Karen was not so good because she faced the challenge relate to
unstable relations with her mother (Ahwa, 2017).
Entrepreneurial traits
 Creative: one the Entrepreneurial trait that is related to her is creativity. She is creative
and she always emphasizes on creating new and innovative techniques. Due to creativity she was
awarded many times and is considered as one of the best designer in the market of New Zealand.
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She is having the creative ideas that have given success in the sector of fashion. Only because of
creative thinking Karen attained success in the market as her designers are liked by majority of
the individuals (The University of Auckland, 2017).
 Pleasant personality: It is noted that an Entrepreneur should always have good
personality so that it could be easy to influence the mindset of the other people. Karen Walker is
having a pleasant personality that is showcased through her intelligence, confidence and also by
her attitude towards her relatives (YMC, 2019). But there are many cases when she was also
portrayed as a cruel person at the time of interacting with the individuals. It has been stated that
there are many such cases when she fired her employees without having any valid reason. It has
also been stated by her that many times she prefer to chew off her own foot rather than
conducting the activities in an honest manner. She is rude towards the work which has also
created the issue for the other individuals who are working with her (Smith and Finn, 2015).
 Leadership traits: She is passionate and also dedicated towards the work. She always
offers value to the activities of the company by maintaining proper strategy. She can be
described as the silent leader in the workplace that can negatively impact the activities of the
company. Karen herself stated that in context to leadership, it is important to maintain the
difference so that it could be easy to get something in return. She is also brave and risk taker in
context to the activities that are managed by her (West-Newman, 2015).
Opportunity recognition and idea development process
In relation to Karen, it can be stated that she always emphasizes on the opportunity recognition
and development of the idea process as it provides a platform to manage the work in an effective
manner. One of the perfect theories that should be taken into consideration in relation to
entrepreneurship is Schumpeter’s theory of innovation. This theory relates with the
entrepreneurs that emphasizes on distributing the overall economy by launching innovative
products. In the present era, Karen Walker can be known as one of the popular fashion icon in
New Zealand. She also emphasized on enhancing its brand on the global platform. There are
many top celebrities who use her clothes and they are awarded for their dresses also that are
designed by her. The celebrities who used her designs are Lady Gaga, Le Bron James and Gigi
Hadid (Fandom, 2019).
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It is observed that the brand of her is present in more than 42 countries and there are 1020 stores.
She is also invited for the guest speech at the different centers which has also helped her to attain
goals and objectives. The entrepreneurial advice that is given by her relates with the paradigm
shift that impacts the different part of the human life. Karen also stated that it is important to
aspire the entrepreneurs and it can only be done when they develop new ideas and helps to
maintain the view point of the people (Taylor and Littleton, 2016).
Collaboration is also one of the aspects that are considered by Karen to attain success.
Collaboration has been made by Karen with the photographers of the New York so that it could
be easy to introduce the new designs introduced the market that helps to inspire the youngsters.
Karen Walker also believed that it is necessary to focus on collaboration as it will help in
targeting the women who are in the age of 60 to 70 (Fandom, 2019).
One of the main aims of Karen is to focus on quality, connection and also on ethical
responsibility. She always ensures that the products that are offered to the customers should be of
good quality so that it satisfaction level can be boosted. Also, she ignores to consider the child
labor at the time of designing the products in the market. She believes that collaboration is one of
the important aspects for the business that can be considered by the designers only and it is noted
that the husband of the Karen was known as the business partner as he managed the
nontraditional marketing campaigns. In this way Karen emphasized on maintaining the process
of idea development and also boosted the demand of the products in the highly competitive
market (Connor-Crabb, Miller and Chapman, 2016).
Competitive advantage
It has been seen that competitive advantage is one of the important factor that should be
maintained by the entrepreneurs. Barneys New York also considered the Karen Walker as the
popular designer in 1998. The overall sales also boosted at the time of introducing the Madonna
in the pair of the Killer pants that are designed by the Karen. Also, the focus is given on effective
advertisement that was given from VCU Brand center in Richmond in which she maintained
specialization. The overall sales of the company Karen have touched the heights and it has been
reached at $35 Million in 2019. To maintain the competitive advantage she also worked in
different advertisements such as in chocolates and in the advertisement of Visa. This has helped
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her to maintain its competitive advantage in the market and also boost the success ratio in the
highly competitive market. The ways that are considered by the Karen were effective and helped
her to attain growth (Ergler, Kearns and Witten, 2016).
Recommendations
Karen Walker is considered as a designer so it is important for her to bring modification in her
attitude and behavior. She should deal with the people in a polite manner so that it could be easy
for her to maintain collaboration and also to focus on the strategy of expansion in the competitive
market. She should maintain collaboration in the different countries by emphasizing on the
patents and trademarks at the time of designing the products. So, it can be said that Karen
Walker can also take advantage from the social media channels as it will help to grow in the
career.
Conclusion
It is concluded that Karen Walker has struggled and considered different ways to achieve growth
in the highly competitive market area. It is important for the Karen Walker to focus on
franchising its products or the designs in the market as it is one of the best platforms that can
help attaining growth in the competitive market. She should emphasize on giving franchisee to
the other designers so that products or the designs can be easily available for the customers in the
market.
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References
Ahwa,D.,2017. Karen Walker's Business Tips.[Online]. Available on:
https://www.viva.co.nz/article/fashion/karen-walker-business-tips/. [Accessed on: 6 April 2019].
Connor-Crabb, A., Miller, K. and Chapman, J., 2016. Design strategies for the eternal
reoccurrence of the new. Fashion Practice, 8(1), pp.22-43.
Edwards, K., Rosenbaum, M.S., Brosdahl, D. and Hughes, P., 2018. Designing retail spaces for
inclusion. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 44, pp.182-190.
Ergler, C.R., Kearns, R. and Witten, K., 2016. Exploring children’s seasonal play to promote
active lifestyles in Auckland, New Zealand. Health & place, 41, pp.67-77.
Fandom.,2019.Karen walker.[Online]. Available on:
https://willandgrace.fandom.com/wiki/Karen_Walker [Accessed on: 6 April 2019].
Smith, A. and Finn, A., 2015. Built for niche: Rethinking the role of manufacturing in
developing designer fashion in New Zealand. International Journal of Fashion Studies, 2(1),
pp.29-42.
Taylor, S. and Littleton, K., 2016. Contemporary identities of creativity and creative work.
Routledge.
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND, 2017. Karen Walker - Thriving in a digital revolution.
[Online].Available on: http://www.cie.auckland.ac.nz/newsroom/artmid/20949/articleid/527/
karen-walker-thriving-in-a-digital-revolution. [Accessed on: 6 April 2019].
West-Newman, C.L., 2015. Fashioning globalisation: New Zealand design, working women and
the cultural economy [Book Review]. New Zealand Sociology, 30(4), p.257.
YMC.,2019. Entrepreneur Of The Week: Karen Walker.[Online]. Available on:
http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/amy-and-danielle-mom-ink/20140223/entrepreneur-of-
the-week-karen-walker. [Accessed on: 6 April 2019].
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