Additional Resources (Interview)
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This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (‘Act’). The
material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of
copyright protection under the Act. Kaplan Business School is a part of Kaplan Inc., a leading global provider of educational services. Kaplan Business School Pty Ltd
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MAN303 Assessment 1 Additional Resources (Interview)
The following are a collection of resources available for you to use to complete your assessment.
This assessment is based on the “Visit with an Entrepreneur” Exercise in Timmons, Jeffry A., Gillin, L.M.,
Burshtein, S., and Spinelli, Stephen Jr. (2011). New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century,
A Pacific Rim Perspective, 1st Ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin (pp. 29-31).
Suggested Questions for the Interview (you don’t have to ask them all!)
1) Would you tell me about yourself before you started your first venture?
a) Who else did you know growing up that owned a business; did they influence you, anyone currently?
b) Were your parents, relatives, close friends entrepreneurial?
c) Did you have role models?
d) At the time of your start-up, what was your education and job experience? In hindsight was it helpful
and, if so, in which ways?
e) In particular, did you have any marketing or sales experience? How important was that, or the lack
thereof?
f) When, under what circumstances, and from whom did you become interested in entrepreneurship
and learn some of the critical lessons?
2) Describe how you decided to start your venture.
a) How did you spot the opportunity? How did it surface?
b) What were your goals? What were your lifestyle needs of other personal requirements? How did you
fit these together?
c) How did you evaluate the opportunity in terms of the critical elements for success? The competition?
The market? Did you have specific criteria you wanted to meet?
d) What kind of financing did you start with? How much capital did it take to start your business?
e) How long did it take you to reach a positive cash flow and break-even sales volume? If you did not
have enough money at the time, how did you keep going? What type of bootstrapping did you
undertake?
f) What outside help did you get? Did you have experienced advisors to fall back on, lawyers,
accountants, etc.? How did you develop these experts and how long did it take?
g) How did outside advisors/mentors make a difference in your business?
h) What did you perceive to be the weaknesses and strengths of your venture?
i) Describe your most triumphant moment? Your worst moment?
j) Did you find or need partners? Did you want to have partners or go it alone? Why?
3) Once you got going with your venture/business:
a) What were some of the most difficult gaps to fill and problems to solve as the business began to
grow?
b) When you looked for key personnel, either employees or partners, were there any personal attributes
or attitudes you desired because you knew that criteria would fit with you and were important to the
future success of the firm? How did you find these individuals?
c) Are there any attributes or attitudes that you would avoid when looking for new employees or
partners?
d) Do you spend more, less, or about the same amount of time with your business now than you did
early on?
e) In terms of the future, do you plan to harvest, to maintain, to expand?
Additional Resources (Interview)
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (‘Act’). The
material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of
copyright protection under the Act. Kaplan Business School is a part of Kaplan Inc., a leading global provider of educational services. Kaplan Business School Pty Ltd
ABN 86 098 181 947 is a registered higher education provider CRICOS Provider Code 02426B.
f) In your ideal world, how many days do you want to work? Explain.
g) What are some keys that you learned from both success and failure?
h) What were/are some of the most difficult trade-offs you face (e.g. trade-offs between business,
family, hobbies, community)?
i) Describe a time when you ran out of cash, what pressures did this create, how was the issue
resolved and what lessons were learned?
j) Can you describe a venture that previously did not work out and how that might have prepared you
for this one?
4) Questions to conclude the interview:
a) What do you consider your most valuable asset – the thing that enabled you to make it?
b) If you had it to do over again, would you do it again, in the same way?
c) As you look back, what do you feel are the most critical concepts skills, attitudes, and know-how you
needed to get your company started and grown to where it is today? What will be needed for the
next five years?
d) Some say there is a lot of stress in being an entrepreneur, what have you experienced? How would
you say it compares to other hot seat jobs such as running a big company or partner in large law or
accounting firm?
e) What have you found personally rewarding and satisfying as an entrepreneur?
f) Who should attempt to enter entrepreneurship as a career and who should not? Can you give me
any ideas there?
g) Do you have any final words of wisdom before we conclude this interview?
Example of an interview with an Entrepreneur
https://smallbusinesscharter.org/life-entrepreneur-interview-gemma-clarke/
Further examples of interview questions
https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/questions/entrepreneurial-informational-interviewing