Final Task 2 Entrepreneur entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurship 300 Theory Application Component ‘Manoj Dassaye- Le Point’ Prepared by: Ameerbeg Junaid (17235569) 1

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Transcript of Final Task 2 Entrepreneur entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurship 300Theory Application Component

‘Manoj Dassaye- Le Point’

Prepared by: Ameerbeg Junaid (17235569)

Bhuruth Gunness (17213455)

Chady Yahidj Khan (17233110)

Tutor/tutorial time: Vikramsingh Gungah/ Mon (13h30)

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Executive summary

This aim of this report is to analyses the characteristics of an entrepreneur and compare it to the

literature review done previously in task 1. An interview was conducted and the information

gathered was used to write our task 2. The goal was to analyse three aspects of the entrepreneur

which are namely: how to recognize opportunities, how they managed the growing business and

how do entrepreneur plan strategically. This essay starts with an introduction of the chosen

entrepreneur Mr Manoj Dassaye and consist of a business overview of Le Point Stationery Ltd.

The study spreads as follows: The opportunity recognition- Growth- Strategic planning part each

consisted of a brief recap of the task 1, it was then followed by the analysis of the interview and

ended with a conclusion on this specific topic. Opportunity recognition key component of all

entrepreneurial projects. The term opportunity recognition was analysed and defined using

various journal article and journals. The anlaysis of the interview compared the traits of Mr

Dassaye to our previous literature review to see if it correlates with theories like Schumpeter,

Drucker and Kirzner theories. The analysis of the interview discussed on his motivation, business

opportunity at first, challenges and business opportunities for the future. Strategic planning is

indeed very important in any business. Our entrepreneur Mr Manoj Dassaye explains that

strategic planning is the best tool use to increase performance. Strategic planning lays more

emphasis on how to execute plans through analysis and procedures. In the literature review we

mainly explain about the main theories that an entrepreneur can use namely SWOT analysis and

value chain. In this report there will be the main theories that our entrepreneur use in practice

that is interactive planning and a balance scorecard.Managing growth is an important

characteristic an entrepreneur needs to possess as he will have to know to what extent to grow

and at what pace to still have control over the business. Delegating and empowerment of staff

plays a major role during this period as one person doing everything in a business will make it

stall and affect the growth. Mr Dassaye shows the required skills for managing growth based

from studies of different authors and he possess those traits described in their research.

On a final note, a final conclusion was written to define the entrepreneur. The definition was

based on information gathered from our interview Mr Dassaye and also previous researches

made from publication by different authors.

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction......................................................................................................... Page 4

1.1 The Entrepreneur

2.0 Opportunity Recognition..................................................................................... Page 5

2.1 Summary of Task 1

2.2 Analysis of interview

2.3 Conclusion

3.0 Strategic planning.............................................................................................. Page 7

3.1 Summary Task 1

3.2 Analysis of the interview

3.3 Conclusion

4.0 Entrepreneur managing growth....................................................................... Page 10

4.1 Summary of Task 1

4.2 Analysis from the interview

4.3 Conclusion

5.0 Final Conclusion................................................................................................. Page 13

6.0 Appendix: Interview Questions........................................................................ Page 14

7.0 Reference List.................................................................................................... Page 19

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1.0 Introduction

Starting with a wise quote from Napoleon Hill, if u cannot do great things, do small things in a

great way. (BrainyQuote 2014) This will be our entrepreneur interview projects and theory

application component which will be in a report format. To start we will briefly discuss who our

entrepreneur is. In the main body, at first we will discuss how an entrepreneur recognizes

opportunities then we will tackle how an entrepreneur manages growth and finally we will

discuss how an entrepreneur plans strategically. We will also summaries all theories in the

literature review then we will come up with the analysis from the interview.

1.1 The Entrepreneur

Mr. Manoj Dassaye is the entrepreneur who was interviewed for our Entrepreneurship Task 2;

Mr. Dassaye is the one who founded Le Point Office Stationery Ltd. As a child Mr. Dassaye

dreamt of becoming a successful man, he wanted to be a Judge. Unfortunately due to some

family restrictions he had to seek for a career rather than study law. At first, Manoj was not

supported by his family on his decision to enter the business world even though his father

possessed a small shop. However he wanted to help and support his large family, and for him,

doing business was the right solution. He believed that being self-employed was better and did

not want to work for someone else. In 1993 Mr. Dassaye saw an opportunity in the stationery

sector, an idea which initially came from one of his friends. He therefore decided to set up Le

Point Office Stationery Ltd starting from scratch. Today the Entrepreneur has a main outlet

which is situated at Port Louis and his main warehouse is found at Vallee des Pretes. 21 years

after the creation of Le Point, the business status with large corporations has been going up while

still satisfying and supplying the local customer and the businesses. Nowadays Le Point has

expanded and deals with the retailing and wholesaling of office supply and stationery.

Importation and distribution also forms part of the business activities.

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2.0 Opportunity Recognition

The main element of all entrepreneurial projects is the recognition of opportunity by the

entrepreneur (Bhave, 1994; Hills, 1994; Shane & Venkataraman, 2000; Timmons, 1994). An

opportunity is seen by entrepreneur as a way to solve a real issue or to add value to people

everyday life (Frederick and Kuratko 2010). Some describe an opportunity as an unexploited

project (Casson and Wadeson 2007) while others view it as an idea (Davidsson, Hunter, and

Klofsten 2004) .In fact, opportunity recognition can be defined as the link concerning an

unfulfilled market needs and the solution that could satisfy it (Gina and Rice 2001).

Endres and Woods (2007) said that creativity was also linked to opportunity recognition and that

in order to recognise opportunities, a range of technical skills were needed. These include

financial analysis and market research, and less tangible forms such as team building and

leadership (Long and McMullan, 1984; Hills, Lumpkin, and Singh, 1997). Opportunity

recognition also has a multidimensional perspective which is often described as a development

process that takes place over time and consists of various activities (Hansen, Lumpkin and Hills

2011). Based on this research, the theories reveal that an entrepreneur has a large panel of option

while identifying opportunities. This can be it in a cognitive form as opportunity recognition is

associated in a certain way to the cognitive skills of certain individuals (Baron, 2006; Shane

2009). Sometime is can be in form of an innate trait or intuition, by which the individual has the

capacity to identify opportunities.

2.1 Summary of Task 1

Previously in Task 1, the perspective on how entrepreneurs can disclose and identify

opportunities was discussed. In order to analyse and have a better view on the topic, a literature

review was prepared. Several journals articles and authors with different school of thought were

compared and contrasted in relation to the chosen topic. The paper analysed mainly Schumpeter,

Drucker and Kirzner theories. It elaborated on micro perspective about how entrepreneurs can

recognise opportunities. Theses authors related opportunity recognition to innovation and

entrepreneurial profit. On another perspective, competition between businesses is evolving due

to expanding globalization. The economic sectors are turbulent, uncertain and are dynamic as it

keeps on changing. Entrepreneur must adapt to these changes and their businesses must be both

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proactive and reactive with initiatives of change; highlighting the importance of opportunity

recognition.

2.2 Analysis of interview

This section is about the personal opinion and practices of the Mr. Dassaye concerning the first

topic which is related to opportunity recognition. The first question asked the entrepreneur about

his motivation to start the business. His response was spontaneous, saying that necessity was the

mother of invention. This relates to (Williams 2014) study saying that some entrepreneurs are

largely driven by necessity into entrepreneurship in the absence of alternative means of

livelihood. He wanted to support his family and wanted to start his own business (M.Dassaye,

personal communication Oct 15, 2014). He viewed it as an ideal opportunity to achieve whatever

he wanted since elsewhere the choices were limited. He perceived an opportunity as there was

scarcity in the stationery sector and that it was very expensive at that time (M.Dassaye, personal

communication Oct 15, 2014). His ambition to succeed and the fact that he liked to deal with

customers was of great help.

When asked how he manages to recognise this business opportunity at first, Mr. Dassaye who is

a risk taker told us that he had an intuition, and generally entrepreneur do see what others don’t

see. In fact according to (Ray and Myers, 1990: 249) if we combine our intuition and our reason,

we can respond in an evolutionary sound way to our problems. The price at that time was

exaggerated and he wanted to reduce the gap. He decided to innovate and provide delivery

services at customers door step to build relationship with customers. This goes in line

Schumpeter’s theory, which says that: “the entrepreneur initiate change through innovation to

actively create new opportunities” (Śledzik 2013).

Concerning the challenges faced, according to the entrepreneur, when starting a business from

scratch, the main issues are the lack of experience and financial constraints (M.Dassaye, personal

communication Oct 15, 2014). He did not did not customers trust yet, and did not know if the

reaction of customers and suppliers would be positive or not. To overcome these difficulties,

Manoj used a tactic that many people would have avoided. He used to buy on credit and sell for

cash, often selling at cost price or below cost (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15,

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2014). He limited all cost and tried to master the job. He is a man who value good relation with

customers/suppliers and relies on positive word of mouth. This is related to (Bhattacharyya

2010) paper which says that networking is the key to entrepreneur so as to create and grow an

enterprise.

Mr Dassaye is very enthusiastic about the future of Le Point. As the entrepreneur is someone

who likes to develop with time, the business is currently working on a website so as to enable

them to have a presence online as e-commerce is an emerging trend.

The next step for the firm would be to open a new outlet in Grand Bay La Croisette. On a

personal plan the entrepreneur has identify an opportunity in the home furniture sector and is

planning to enter the market in the near future. This go in line with Kirzner theory that

opportunities are not created and that they already exist and are eligible to be discovered

(Kirzner 1979). He is also looking for the possibility of opening a furniture outlet in the East of

the Island afterward (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014).

2.3 Conclusion

Base on previous research linked to literature review with the interview of our entrepreneur, we

came to the conclusion that Mr.Manoj Dassaye has the trait and characteristics of an

entrepreneur. Studies shows that some are his traits about innovation and creating opportunities

are linked to Schumpeter and Kirzner theories. We also discovered other aspect of his

personality and other characteristics that an entrepreneur may possess, these includes necessity,

risk taking intuition, networking as well as a customer driven approach.

3.0 Strategic planning

Strategic planning is very important and it is commonly accepted by all managers and

professional. Strategic planning is the best tool use to increase performance. Strategic planning

lays more emphasis on how to execute plans through analysis and procedures. The main

objective of strategic planning is to enable the organisation to reduce gaps between its current

situation and future expectations. (Rajasekar et al 2014). Strategic planning will enable

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organisation to be more productive and competitive. . It was found that strategic planning is

complimentary to small business as it is intensely related to the victory of those small businesses.

(Brockmann and Lacho 2010) Moreover strategic planning is becoming more and more

demanding because of business growth and changes in the environment. According to Saxena

Strategic planning lays more emphasis in achieving goals and it also a way to prevent pass

mistakes during the future. Hence this may impact on how effective planning is to evaluate

performance. (Narsingh Saxena et al 2008).

3.1 Summary of Task 1

In the literature review, several theories were analysing to see how the entrepreneur can plan

strategically. First of all a SWOT analysis was analyse to evaluate the strength and weakness of

the entrepreneur. Another tool which can help the entrepreneur will be porters five forces

analysis which will determine how competitive the market is and it will also help to search where

power is found. Porters five forces can also be a benefit for those entrepreneur who innovates as

porters will determine whether the product is profitable or not. The five forces will help the

entrepreneur to better plan. A value will be very useful as it cares and identify set of actions

business develops and purpose which has to be done relatively to produce publicity and

distribute services. (Lumpkin et al. 2010, 6). Moreover theories like relativism, in-activism,

proactivism and interativism which are ackoff interactive planning strategy can also be used to

plan. (Haftor, 2011).

3.2 Analysis of the interview

This where in our report we will write the answers of our interview. First of all according to our

entrepreneur Manoj Dassaye strategic planning is indeed important for him. He said that without

proper planning, he would never have been a good entrepreneur. According to Mr Dassaye

planning far ahead is very important but planning strategically should be done wisely.

During the interview Mr Dassaye says he often reads the book of Robin Sharma and he is very

inspired from him. He often act and do according to Robin Sharma. He acknowledge that he plan

strategically using a balance scorecard and often make use of interactive planning which he finds

very important tool for his business to prosper. According to Mr Dassaye the balance scorecard

is an important tool for him which enables him to plan strategically. He said perfection and

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planning always lead to strategic management. Mr Dassaye uses a balance scorecard to measure

performance and always tries to do better. Dassaye further argued that the balance scorecard is

not only for measuring performance but it also help him to keep track upon customers and

innovate. (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014).

The BSC measures performance and it appears suitable for any business. (Giannopoulos et al.

2013). The balance scorecard helps to search for the missing links and required language. It

helps to link vision mission and strategies of the business to every employer. This is mainly done

by translating all strategies into clear priorities and objectives while also relating it to strategic

outcomes. (De Waal, A., A. 2003). For example Mr Dassaye explain to us that once he was

facing problems whereby customers were not satisfied, the key indicator help him to know where

to improve and how to make customers satisfied again.(M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct

15, 2014).

Moreover the balance scorecard is an agenda that also helps organisations to interpret strategy

into objectives that would be able to increase performance. The BSC helps the company to reach

its mission vision values and objectives set. Normally a balance scorecard approach will

enormously help Mr Dassaye in both financial and non-financial. The BSC was developed by

Kaplan and Norton. (Kulkarni et Al, 2008)

Another tool which Mr Dassaye acknowledge he use is interactive planning. He argued that

interactive planning is indeed important for him to be a successful entrepreneur. He uses

interactive planning because it’s a well organizes step by step process which can be easily

followed. (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014). Interactive planning was

conceived by Russell Ackoff. According to him it is a step by step process which guides a

systematic development of the organisation. Interactive planning has four types of planning

namely Reactivism, Inactivism, Proactivism and Interativism. Mr Dassaye says that he doesn’t

adopt reactivism and inactivism and is against them, but he often makes use of Proactivism and

Interativism. Mr Dassaye likes to forecast and modernize which is being proactive while

interativism means how much effort has been done till now and our future depends at least on

how much we need to do. Mr Dassaye fully agrees to this sentence and thinks alike. (Haftor,

2011).

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3.3 Conclusion

To conclude we can say that Mr Manoj Dassaye is a very good entrepreneur who needs planning

to better tackle problems in his business. He understands the needs to plan and has some

preference to which theories he really need. Mr Dassaye is well aware that he does not plan his

business would not have attain so much success. Nevertheless he argued that at times he needs to

take decision instinctively but shows much concern about a feasibility study.

4.0 Entrepreneur managing growth

According to Storey, growth of an entrepreneur result from the resources they input and the

strategy they adopt to stay on the market and grow. (Storey 1994) Growth happens after the

business has been set up and started. During the first few quarters, the entrepreneur may not

notice the growth as he is always fighting to survive which can be due to lack of resources

available and fierce competition on the market. Growth has several stages and every stage must

be carefully monitored so as to keep the brand image and also customer satisfaction. (Juntunen et

al. 2010) According to Naldi and Davidsson, growth of a business also means the increase in the

variety of products that are being traded and this impact on the turnover of the business and gives

a positive growth (Naldi and Davidsson 2013).

4.1 Summary of Task 1

Before coming to task 2, there was a previous task which was done where a literature review was

written relating to the growth management of an entrepreneur and the characteristic an

entrepreneur possesses concerning growth. In the literature review, researches and papers from

different authors were compared and contrasted namely from Green, Welsh and Dehler who

talked about the past mistakes and lessons learnt from past experiences. Some authors said that

there is a positive side of failure where people learn from past mistake but some authors also

mention that entrepreneur are discourage from mistakes or losses and never get back on track

and close down. (Gordon 1994) stated that skills and abilities to set up the business is not the

same to that needed to run it. Also during the growth period, several situations may arise and

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entrepreneur must be able to find ways and means to overcome those situations and keep the

business on track and try to move at a constant pace.

4.2 Analysis from the interview

After having conducted an interview with Mr Dassaye based on the growth of his business and

how he managed it. We asked him about his own view about growth and how could he define it.

He said that growth means to start from zero to reach a comfortable level where the business has

expanded and diversified also. But he also mentions that a business never stops to grow, growth

has to continue through your career as an entrepreneur (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct

15, 2014).

When he was asked about how he managed that growth during the 21 years existence of Le Point

Stationary, he replied that for someone to be able to grow, he need to build relationship. In fact

his business was based on building relationship with customers, suppliers and this is what helped

him achieve big. (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014) According to research

made by (Majumdar 2010) where he mentioned that building relationship and focusing on social

capital is an important element to help an entrepreneur grow. At first he was the only one in the

business taking orders, delivering goods on foot, by bus, doing all the petty works in the office,

but as he grew, he recognised the need of having someone to help him with the delivery as his

business was based on delivering stationary products at the doorsteps of customers which was a

competitive advantage at that time. . (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014) Then

gradually when he opened his first outlet, he employed 2 salespersons.

Having a manager or some senior staff was not important at that time as he was focusing on

cutting overhead costs to be able to survive and was spending more on marketing rather than

salary (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014) . As he grew bigger when he got

contracts from the government and had to supply stationary to large corporates, he realized the

importance of delegating and empowering other people in the company. This is when Mr

Dassaye decided to employ some qualified staff in the administrative and marketing field to

boost up his business and also manage it properly. (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15,

2014)

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Being a very proactive person, Mr Dassaye never found it a problem to change rapidly or to

adapt to changes. He was always on the move, always going with the trend, the needs and taste

of customers. So coming to the question about adopting changing which can be due to

technological factors, he mentioned that he will soon have an e-commerce component to his

existing website and negotiation is taking place with his banking institution. (M.Dassaye,

personal communication Oct 15, 2014) This goes in line with the study made by (Kelmar and

Wingham, 1995) where they stated that performance of entrepreneur is based on how proactive

they are and their ability to adapt to changes which are also is technological.

When he was questioned about his future plans, Mr Dassaye mentioned that he is diversifying

into a new field which is dealing in furniture made of solid wood. He is focusing mainly on

large orders for renovations of buildings (M.Dassaye, personal communication Oct 15, 2014).

He mentioned that this is being quite successful as two containers of furniture has already been

sold on catalogue before the business has been officially launched.

4.3 Conclusion

After analysing the interview with Mr Dassaye and the characteristics of an entrepreneur from

the literature review, it can be concluded that Mr Manoj Dassaye has the traits of an

entrepreneur, as his way of doing business and how he manages his business are in line with

description made by several authors namely Majumdar, Kelmar, Wingham and Gordon among

others. His ability to adapt to changes, to handle losses and to get back on track also to build

good relationship with stakeholders.

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5.0 Final Conclusion

On a concluding note, after having gone through the three main characteristic that an

entrepreneur must possess namely finding opportunities, strategic planning and managing

growth, it can be seen that Mr Manoj Dassaye, owner and founder of Le Point Stationary who

started his business from scratch with very limited capital shows characteristics of an

entrepreneur. He was able to choose the right product to market and he had the ability to see

which field would be profitable for him and had loads of opportunity to grow. Throughout his

career as an entrepreneur, Mr Dassaye has been taking risks when it came to selection of

products to market but most importantly when he decided to sell the products at cost price or

even below cost price. This strategy could have cost him his business and investment if he had

not succeeded in selling all the items. Also he has been taking decision based on his intuition

and they came out to be right decisions. Mr Manoj also uses the balance scorecard when it

comes to planning for the future. This is an appropriate tool that helped him achieve the required

objectives as mentioned by various authors. Finally for Mr Dassaye, a good and successful

entrepreneur is defined as someone who has the ability to identify potential opportunities in

business, someone who is able to use different planning techniques for the short and long term

growth of his business and also someone who is able to manage that growth not alone, but with

the help of a team.

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6.0 Appendix: Interview Questions

1. You are recognise as one of the well-known entrepreneur in Mauritius, tells us how

you decided to start this business and what was your motivation?

“People are born entrepreneur. As you know, necessity is the mother of invention. I come from a

basic family with many children. When I was younger, I wanted to become a Judge, but due to

some restrictions I was unable to go abroad to study law. Therefore I had to find a career for

myself. My father used to have a small shop and I often helped him, I liked the interaction with

customers and wanted to be on my own boss rather than join an existing company. At that time, I

thought that there was a scarcity for stationery and I have always love stationery.”

2. How did you recognize your current business opportunity at first?

“At that time, prices for stationery was exaggerated and the margin between the cost and selling

price was too high. I wanted to reduce the gap as there is always a demand for stationery, the

market was not supplying good materials also. I started business in my bedroom and my office

desk was the one I used as a student when I was at college. In fact as an entrepreneur, you have

to take risk and you have some kind of intuition and the ability to see what other would not see.

An entrepreneur usually thinks far ahead. In order to flourish, I had to go to the customer door

step to sell my items as I was not known at that time. In fact if somebody wishes to go at

100km/h and the environment of this person allows him to exploit only 80km/h, this individual is

not attaining his full potential.”

3. What challenges did you faced at the beginning?

“Financial factor and lack of experience are the main challenges of starting a business from

scratch. There was a lack of capital, and I had to use my brain so as to make things work. I

decided to buy credit sold for cash, often selling at cost or below initial cost so as to show

competitiveness. This systems permitted me to start my business. Most importantly, I had to

create relation with my customers and suppliers. I had to seek a market for myself and in order to

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master the job, I had to limit all cost and do everything on my own. In fact I relied on positive

word of mouth and I was even ready to make debt to advertise in the beginning.”

4. As an entrepreneur, how do you identify the potential business opportunities for the

future?

“We are currently working on our website. I believe that the future of business will be related to

online selling and e-commerce. We have to go with market trend and adapt to changes. Usually I

do not have a pre-defined set of step that I follow for identifying opportunities. I believe that

entrepreneur do not really make a lot of feasibility study and I personally do things base on my

instinct.”

5. Le point currently have only one outlet across the country, what is the next step for

the firm? What are you plan for the future?

“We currently have our main outlet which is found in Port Louis and our main warehouse is at

Vallee des Pretes. In a near future we are planning to open a store at Grand Bay La Croisette. On

a personal note, I will soon enter home furniture sector and I am planning of opening an outlet in

the East of the Island.”

6. How do you define growth?

For me growth is starting from scratch to standing where i am now, a well-established business,

always expanding, diversifying into new fields. Going through all the difficulties and competing

with the powerful businesses in the field.

7. During the last 21 years, Le Point Stationary has grown quite big, how did you

manage that growth?

Well during the first few years of operation, it was not very easy with all the difficulties that

arise at that time. Without the help of friends and family i had to rely on myself and my intuition

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to survive. Employing the first staff was a great step and i was very proud of it. Since then we

have been employing more and more staff as a business cannot be ran by one person.

8. During your career as an entrepreneur/businessman, have you encountered failures,

crisis or consequent losses? How did you take it?

In business there are always failures and you must be brave enough to face them and accept

losses at time. But most importantly, you take out lessons from those failures and you try to

improve the next time to as it don’t happen again. But on the other hand, when you just start a

business, you think millions time before you invest your money and you make intelligent

decisions which was in my case and failures was very rare.

9. What help you overcome those losses?

Overcoming losses is in the mind, you need to be strong to be able to accept losses. Sometimes I

made the wrong choices while ordering stationary products and had to sell those products half its

price so that to free stock. I also built a good relationship with suppliers which enabled me to

exchange those goods.

10. Do you see the importance of having a manager? At what point in time did you

realise that you cannot do all the work on your own and that you need to delegate.

As your business starts to grow, it is obvious that you will have to employ staff and as it grows

bigger you will have to employ managers and supervisors. When I opened my first stationary

store, I employed 3 staff and it kept on increasing. Now I can relax a bit and practice my hobby

which is horse racing peacefully.

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11. Did it ever happen to you that while you had everything planned and everything

was running smoothly when suddenly you had to change your plans and adapt to

changes like for example the technological changes over years and also the economy

crisis?

We always have to move with time and understand the market to minimise loss. With time we

had to have a website and now we are working on e-commerce of our products. We have to go

with trends and what people want.

12. Do you plan to expand more? What are your future plans?

We are actually expanding our business by opening an outlet in Grand Bay La Croisette

shopping mall. Also we are diversifying into new markets by importing and commercializing

solid wood furniture and floorings. I believe this will do very good in Mauritius due to our

competitive price and high quality products.

13. Do you know what is strategic planning? If yes, do you prefer any type of strategic

planning? Is it successful?

Strategic planning is the best way a business can be successful. According to our entrepreneur

Mr Manoj Dassaye strategic planning means to forecast the future and plan what are your goals

and objective. He also said that strategic planning helps to devise a good mission and vision

which will be in line with business goals. Mr Dassaye is against using swot analysis because it is

time consuming and not so reliant to him as he is in the business of stationary he argued that

interactive planning and a balance scorecard often help him to plan.

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14. Are you aware of the advantages that strategic planning bring to your organisation?

According to you what skills and knowledge do you have to apply to your business?

Our entrepreneur explains that strategic planning is very important in any business as it clearly

define its purpose and create realistic goals. When someone plan they develop a sense of

ownership to that plan. Planning provide a form of progress which can be clearly seen. Mr

Dassaye says that when someone plans and he achieve what he had plan it’s produces

satisfaction and increase the level of motivation. Mr Dassaye explains that when doing a

business one should know what the market is demanding and what is your customer’s

knowledge.

 

15. Do you use strategic planning in everything or you plan instinctively?

Our entrepreneur explains that he cannot plan everything in his business. At times he needs to

plan instinctively and take important business decision rapidly. For example if ordering a pen but

the pen is out of order then he should order another model with the same price.

16. Do you think in the business of stationary it is important to plan ahead?

Mr Dassaye explains that it is indeed very important to plan ahead because he need to plan how

much to order, what quantity he will sell in the near future and what types of product will he

order for his client.

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7.0 REFERENCE LIST

Baron, A. R. (2006). Opportunity Recognition as Pattern Recognition : How Entrepreneurs "Connect the Dots" to Identify New Business Opportunities. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20, 104-119

Bhattacharyya, Arun. 2010. "The Networking Entrepreneur." The Journal of Entrepreneurship 19 (2): 209. http://search.proquest.com/docview/756340116?accountid=10382.

Bhave, M. P. (1994). A process model of entrepreneurial venture creation. Journal of Business Venturing, 9, 223-242.

BrainyQuote,. 2014. 'Napoleon Hill Quotes At Brainyquote.Com'. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/napoleonhi152848.html.

Brockmann, E. N., & Lacho, K. J. (2010). STRATEGIC PLANNING: A PRACTICAL PRIMER FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR. The Entrepreneurial Executive, 15, 25-32. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/807619862?accountid=10382

Casson, Mark and Nigel Wadeson. 2007. "The Discovery of Opportunities: Extending the Economic Theory of the Entrepreneur."Small Business Economics 28 (4): 285. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11187-006-9037-7. http://search.proquest.com/docview/220912056?accountid=10382.

Davidsson, Per, Erik Hunter, and Magnus Klofsten (2004). “The Discovery Process: External Influences on Refinement of the Venture Idea,” in Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. Ed. C. Brush, P. Davidsson, J. Fiet, et al. Wellesley, MA.

De Waal, Andre,A. 2003. "The Future of the Balanced Scorecard: An Interview with Professor Dr Robert S. Kaplan." Measuring Business Excellence 7 (1): 30-50. http://search.proquest.com/docview/208737302?accountid=10382

Elaheh Enteshari, Najaf Abadi, Najaf Abadi Ali Karbasi, and Iraj Soltani. 2012. "Strategic Planning Model Formulation Based on Balanced Score Card: A Case Study." International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 2 (7): 354-372. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1437617946?accountid=10382

Endres, Anthony M. and Christine R. Woods. 2007. "The Case for More "Subjectivist" Research on how Entrepreneurs Create Opportunities." International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research 13 (4): 222-234. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13552550710760003. http://search.proquest.com/docview/212111078?accountid=10382.

Frederick Howard and Kuratko Donald F. 2010. Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice. 2nd Asia-Pacific Edition.

Giannopoulos, George, Andrew Holt, Ehsan Khansalar, and Stephanie Cleanthous. 2013. "Thuse of the Balanced Scorecard in Small Companies." International Journal of Business and Management 8 (14): 1-22. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1419019221?accountid=10382

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Gina, Colarelli O. and Mark P. Rice. 2001. "Opportunity Recognition and Breakthrough Innovation in Large Established Firms."California Management Review 43 (2): 95-116. http://search.proquest.com/docview/216138940?accountid=10382.

Green, Stephen G, M Ann Welsh, and Gordon E Dehler. 2003. 'Advocacy, Performance, And Threshold Influences On Decisions To Terminate New Product Development'. Academy Of Management Journal 46 (4): 419--434.

Haftor, Darek M. 2011. "An Evaluation of R.L. Ackoff's Interactive Planning: A Case-Based Approach." Systemic Practice and Action Research 24 (4): 355-377. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11213-010-9188-y. http://search.proquest.com/docview/878733589?accountid=10382

Hansen, David J., G. T. Lumpkin, and Gerald E. Hills. 2011. "A Multidimensional Examination of a Creativity-Based Opportunity Recognition Model." International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research 17 (5): 515-533. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13552551111158835. http://search.proquest.com/docview/888254638?accountid=10382.

Hills, G. E. (1994). Marketing and Entrepreneurship: Research Ideas and Opportunities. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Hills, Gerald., G. T. Lumpkin, and Robert P. Singh (1997). “Opportunity Recognition: Perceptions and Behaviors of Entrepreneurs,”in Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. Wellesley, MA.

Kirzner, Israel M., 1979, Perception, Opportunity and Profit,Studies in the Theory of Entrepreneurship, Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press.

Juntunen, Mari, Saila Saraniemi, Milla Halttu, and Jaana T\"ahtinen. 2010. 'Corporate Brand Building In Different Stages Of Small Business Growth'. Journal Of Brand Management 18 (2): 115--133.

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Luis, G. Flores, F. Catalanello Ralph, Devaki Rau, and Narsingh Saxena. 2008. "Organizational Learning as a Moderator of the Effect of Strategic Planning on Company Performance." International Journal of Management 25 (3): 569-577,594. http://search.proquest.com/docview/233228680?accountid=10382.

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Majumdar, Satyajit. 2008. 'Modelling Growth Strategy In Small Entrepreneurial Business Organisations'. Journal Of Entrepreneurship 17 (2): 157--168.

Naldi, Lucia, and Per Davidsson. 2013. 'Entrepreneurial Growth: The Role Of International Knowledge Acquisition As Moderated By Firm Age'. Journal Of Business Venturing

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Shane, S. and S. Venkataraman (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25, 217-226.

Shane, S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Organization Science, 11, 448-469.

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Rajasekar, James and Arooj Al Raee. 2014. "Organizations' use of Strategic Planning Tools and Techniques in the Sultanate of Oman." International Business Research 7 (3): 159-177. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1510281748?accountid=10382.

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Williams, Nick and Colin C. Williams. 2014. "Beyond Necessity Versus Opportunity Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons from English Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods." International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 10 (1): 23-40. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11365-011-0190-3. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1501014399?accountid=10382.

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