Q.

1. Visit a newly started small business in your neighbourhood and interview the owner. Prepare a report on how he or she decided to start the enterprise, the difficulties faced and the steps taken to overcome them, and discuss your findings in class.
2. Study the life history of a great entrepreneur (such as Dhirubhai Ambani, Jamsetji Tata, G. D. Birla or Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw), prepare a list of the common traits of such people, and discuss whether you can imbibe some of these qualities to start an enterprise later in life.

This project asks you to learn about entrepreneurship first-hand — by interviewing the owner of a newly started local business, and by studying the life of a great entrepreneur — and to draw out the common traits you observe. …

The idea being tested

The project checks whether you can connect the chapter's concepts — how an entrepreneur spots an opportunity, mobilises resources, faces risk and shows characteristic competencies — to real entrepreneurs, both a small local one and a famous one.

How to approach it

For part 1, choose a genuinely new small business nearby, fix an appointment, and ask the owner how the idea came about, what difficulties were faced (finance, licences, competition, staff) and how they were overcome. For part 2, read about one great entrepreneur and note the traits behind their success. Then draw out the common qualities. The samples below show one way to write them up.

Sample report 1 — Interview with a local entrepreneur

• The business. A small home-bakery started six months ago by a young owner in the neighbourhood.
• How the idea was decided. The owner enjoyed baking, noticed steady demand for fresh cakes for birthdays, and spotted the opportunity — an example of opportunity-scouting.
• Difficulties faced. Arranging initial funds, obtaining a food licence, building a customer base and competing with established shops.
• Steps taken to overcome them. Started small with personal savings (bootstrapping), took orders through word of mouth and social contacts, focused on quality and reliable delivery, and slowly reinvested the profits to grow — reflecting calculated risk-taking and persistence.

Sample report 2 — Life history of a great entrepreneur …