Writing Homework Help

I will be needing my initial post and two classmate responses done on this topic this week.

Think of a small business owner or entrepreneur with whom you are familiar. Perhaps it is the local service provider that you have used for years or the owner of a favorite family-run restaurant in your town. Describe the entrepreneur and the traits and characteristics that he or she exhibits. What about you? Would you rather go into business for yourself or work for someone else? Why?

Resources:

1. Chapter 1 and 11; and, Chapter 2 and 4: The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Launch and Grow Your New Business
2. Sage Case Study from SNHU Shapiro Library: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook: Intelligence or Social Skills?

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

References

Harvard Business Review. (2018). Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur’s Handbook : Everything You Need to Launch and Grow Your New Business. Harvard Business Review Press. This is for chapters

http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/cases/mark-… This is for the case study

I am doing a small business as an LANDLORD on properties that we own.

Here is my 1st classmate response needed.

Week One Discussion

Emma Scanlon posted May 3, 2021 7:43 PM

I currently work as the accounting manager for a small manufacturing business. My boss would be the small business owner whom I am familiar with. He is an older gentleman who has worked for Fortune 500 businesses in the past but has always wanted to own his own company. He bought the company that I currently work for about 25 years ago after he had worked there for some time. After owning that company for a few years, he also purchased another company in another state. He operates the locations as separate companies; however, I work for both companies as the accounting manager. He splits his time between each location, keeping a close watch on both and making sure to support all his employees. He is very kind and has a gentle management style. He tries not to micromanage; however, he likes to be involved in all the decision making, large and small. He has a vision for the future of the company and how we can grow. Nearly a year ago we started a new program that sets time out of every week to work on the business rather than for the business. We have management meetings each week in which we work on various issues throughout the company and figure out ways to solve them. This can range from issues such as increased customer complaints to cultural issues within the company. We take what we gather from the management meetings into smaller cross departmental meetings with the rest of the team. My boss believes that these meetings are detrimental to ensuring a positive future for the company. He works very hard to empower his team and hopes that his management style will help to instill self-motivation in his employees that will encourage them to work hard for a company that treats them well. For the most part, this works out well.

While I love my job and enjoy working for my current company, my dream is to someday own my own business. I have not figured out exactly what that will be yet, however. My father in-law owns his own business. Calling it a small business is an understatement as he is currently a one-man operation, but he does very well for himself. I have tossed around the idea of buying his company one day as I already have some ideas for how to grow the business. I have shared these ideas with him, however he said that although they are good ideas, he is not currently interested in growing his business as he does not want the additional workload and he is living very comfortably. There has also been talk of me potentially taking over the company that I currently work for once our current owner is ready for retirement. I also nearly jumped on the opportunity to purchase a small local retail sporting store. My husband is a sport shooter who is very educated on firearms as well as other sporting equipment. The store that he frequents went up for sale and I thought it would be a great opportunity to go into business together. He however did not share the same vision. He was on the fence but by the time he came around to the idea they had already signed a deal with another buyer.

I am two terms away from receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance and I will then be moving on to a master’s in business administration with a concentration in finance. I am confident that this career path with provide me with the fundamentals that I need to move forward with my dreams of becoming a business owner. Hopefully, I can narrow down my business criteria in the next few years so I can begin building my future.

I am extremely excited to be taking this class and am really looking forward to what I will learn over the next few weeks. When I told my boss that I was taking this class he said, “Great! Maybe you can teach me a thing or two!”

My 2nd classmate response needed.

1-1 Discussion

Sara Chartier posted May 4, 2021 1:10 PM

Hello Class,

I know many small business owners, but the one I will focus on today is the owner of a small mom-and-pop pizza shop that I worked for for a decade. She ended up giving up her dream job of being a labor and delivery nurse to take over the family business. I think she saw opportunities with the business that would give her autonomy to take it to new levels and create financial stability for her and her children. The business was so small, but so successful that it has put each of the owner’s children through college with no loans and given them the opportunity to purchase their homes outright. Some traits that the owner exhibits is ambition, drive, inclusivity, and a strong community presence. She has very strong core values in helping others. She would offer opportunities for employment first to those who needed it most. This ranged anywhere from people who had prior legal convictions, to those who needed flexible work to support other obligations such as having children. She also has created many programs that support certain percentage of proceeds to be donated to small charity organizations that support the direct community. During the pandemic, their numbers have gone through the roof and she has had very limited staff and has had many supply chain issues. She was able to overcome this by streamlining some of their practices to better support their volumes. With all of this taken into consideration, I think it shows, vision, compassion, passion, and people skills which are all valued in order to make a small business successful.

Personally, I would rather work for someone else rather than run my own small business. While I do exude some of these traits, I tend to get burned out easily and generally take the brunt of all issues on myself versus asking for help. I know my personality style, and it is best suited to work for someone or company I believe in, and help them organize things and help with process/flow improvement to be the best it can be. I am someone who really needs a good work/life balance. I think that if I were to open a small business I would never be able to rest or take my mind off of it due to my overachiever personality type. So for me, it is important to have a career that will support disconnection time and boundary setting.