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Entrepreneurship Case Studies

Connecticut innovations 2022: managing a state venture capital agency’s investments.

Jean Rosenthal and Song Ma

Asset Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Investor/Finance

Matt McCooe had been navigating the similarities and differences between managing private and state-sponsored venture funds since he was appointed Connecticut Innovations’ CEO. Seven years in, McCooe and his investment team were considering whether yet another difference between private venture firms and Connecticut Innovations (CI) was an opportunity or a hazard for CI’s funds.

Khalil Tawil and Umi

Khalil Tawil and A. J. Wasserstein   

Customer/Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Leadership & Teamwork   

Khalil Tawil (Yale Law ‘19) started Umi began with a simple idea: Home Cooking, Delivered. But now Umi was experiencing turbulence and flagging. With funds running run out from his venture capital raise, Tawil had to confront the reality that Umi was possibly unviable, and that he might have to wind up operations. He had founded Umi in 2014 as a law student at Yale. After raising an impressive amount of capital, Tawil had launched Umi in Brooklyn in March of 2016.

European Wax Center in Manhattan

Joseph Golden and A.J. Wasserstein  

Competitor/Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Investor/Finance, Leadership & Teamwork  

Karen and Twan Bentlage had opened two locations of the European Wax Center in Manhattan. When Karen and her husband Twan had secured exclusive rights to develop the Manhattan market for European Wax Center, they had recruited an operating partner to manage the Centers on their behalf. That worked for the first few months, until the Bentlages’ hand-picked partner suddenly walked away from the venture in the summer. Out of necessity, Karen had stepped in to fill the leadership void on a temporary basis. By December 2011, five months later, Karen was exhausted.

Easy Expunctions

Evan Okun and Song Ma  

Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Investor/Finance, Law & Contracts, Social Enterprise, Sourcing/Managing Funds  

Investors poured in, eager for a slice of his Series A raise. Yousef Kassim’s company, Easy Expunctions, boasted nearly a $2 million run rate and the round’s price tag was cheap: $18 million pre-money. Yet amidst investor enthusiasm, Kassim wrestled with how his company would balance social impact and commercial viability.

Connecticut SNAP 2019

Gwen Kinkead and Teresa Chahine  

Employee/HR, Innovation & Design, Leadership & Teamwork, Social Enterprise, State & Society   

From 2011 to 2019, the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), under the direction of Roderick Bremby, managed to transform its $570 million food stamp program from one of the worst in the nation to one of the best. Having achieved such a remarkable turnaround, observers wondered what else the DSS might do to further deliver on its mission of "providing person-centered programs and services to enhance the well-being of individuals, families and communities."

Bovard and Majid

Allison Mishkin and A.J. Wasserstein  

Entrepreneurship, Investor/Finance  

Lia Majid had spent nearly a year and a half searching for a business to acquire and thought she’d finally found a deal worth pursuing. She spent months negotiating with the firm’s sellers and believed she was on the verge of a purchase. However, at the last minute, her backers and mentors at the Search Fund Accelerator (SFA) wanted her to completely restructure the deal.

Majid was part of the first cohort of SFA. SFA was the brainchild of Timothy Bovard who founded the accelerator to help search fund entrepreneurs vet deals, review proposals, and provide emotional support during the search. Through SFA’s leads, Majid had identified a target company that was willing to sell one of its divisions, but she still needed Bovard’s input before drafting a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the seller. Bovard, however, was concerned about the proposed carve-out acquisition, a complex task for even a seasoned CEO, let alone a first time CEO.

Faced with Bovard’s concerns and SFA’s new deal structure, Majid had to decide whether to reengage the target firm with this new deal or to move on to investigate other prospects.

Jean Rosenthal, Kate Cooney, and Jaan Elias

Arts Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Investor/Finance, Social Enterprise

Titus Kaphar was a highly successful artist. One dominant theme of his work was creative reuse  of classical images to expose hidden relationships of race and subjugation. When he moved back to New Haven, Connecticut, he began a project that required creative reuse and reframing on a much grander scale. He co-founded an organization, NXTHVN, to take an old factory building in a rundown neighborhood and reconfigure the space into an art incubator, artists’ studios, and a community center.

I Said, You Said: He's the Entrepreneur

A.J. Wasserstein

Employee/HR, Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Teamwork

The case consists of written responses from Justin Schulte and his wife Samantha, who agreed to answer a set of identical questions on their views and perspectives about Justin’s choice of becoming an entrepreneur after graduating Yale SOM. These are the types of questions likely to come up for other entrepreneurs making a choice about their next steps, and how their decisions will play out with their own families. Some entrepreneurial couples have the foresight to explore these interesting, and potentially raw, conversations, and some do not. Aligning expectations and aspirations between partners in an entrepreneurial marriage can attenuate ambiguity and stress in an inherently nebulous and anxiety filled path. For Justin and Samantha, it is interesting to see where their thoughts align and where they veer apart, what concerns they have about Justin’s career decision, how it will impact various family members, and how they each perceive risk and uncertainty.

Smith Brothers Insurance: Managing Successions at a Growing Insurance Agency

Jason Pananos and A.J. Wasserstein

Employee/HR, Entrepreneurship, Investor/Finance, Leadership & TeamworkSourcing/Managing Funds

In October 2014, Joe Smith, the CEO of Smith Brothers Insurance, reflected on the fact his business was caught in the midst of three separate succession challenges. Smith Brothers was an insurance agency owned by Joe and his sister, Kim, in Connecticut that had achieved strong growth over the previous decade.

FARM: An Impact Investing Collaborative

Patrick Sissman and AJ Wasserstein

Asset Management, Entrepreneurship, Investor/Finance, Leadership & Teamwork, Social Enterprise, Sustainability

Tom Bird, founder of the early-stage impact investment nonprofit The FARM Fund, settled into his seat for a flight from Boston to Amsterdam in February 2016. The seven-hour transoceanic flight would give him plenty of time to mull over two dilemmas – one a long-term question of the future of FARM and the other an investment opportunity FARM had recently been presented.

Mike Erwin: An Accidental Social Entrepreneur

A. J. Wasserstein

Employee/HR, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Leadership & Teamwork, Social Enterprise

Mike Erwin, a decorated army veteran from West Point, never envisioned himself as a social entrepreneur or activist. Yet in 2012, he found himself the CEO of an organization with 15,000 members and 34 chapters reaching from Syracuse, NY to Houston, TX. Though Erwin was proud of his organization’s growth and had excelled in leadership positions, he questioned whether he was the right person to scale Team Red, White and Blue. Would someone else with more experience be more appropriate? If he indeed moved on, how could he ensure the organization would continue to thrive amid a change in leadership and potential restructuring?

What is Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

Entrepreneurship, Investor/Finance, Leadership & Teamwork

During his time at the Yale School of Management, Matt Dittrich (Yale SOM ‘18) became interested in how recent MBA students gathered search funds, structured small acquisitions, propelled themselves into being a CEO, and then participated in a liquidity event only a few years after acquisition and graduation.  He appreciated the case studies about entrepreneurs facing acquisition, strategy, and financing issues.  But what did entrepreneurs do after their exits?  At the urging of his teacher, A.J. Wasserstein, he interviewed former search fund entrepreneurs who had experienced an exit to learn what exactly they chose to do, and why. Overcome by curiosity, Dittrich was excited to begin his informational interviews (summaries included here). 

Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

Employee/HR, Entrepreneurship

Before entering the Yale School of Management, James Guba (SOM’18) had thought about becoming an entrepreneur. He did not have a specific idea to build a business around, but he did aspire to take charge of an organization and grow it. At Yale, Guba discovered an entrepreneurial niche called “search funds” that would allow him to acquire and lead a company that he had not built from scratch. Inspired, Guba met with search fund entrepreneurs to learn about their different paths to building their funds.

Kalil Diaz: A DR-based search firm considers its first acquisition

Customer/Marketing, Entrepreneurship

After nearly two years of searching, Kalil Diaz (SOM '14) wondered if he had finally found the company for which he had been looking. The decision he was facing would have a big impact on his investors as well as his own life. He was somewhat confident he could access funds from his current investors to purchase the company despite several investors being slow in their response to commit. However, Diaz still wondered if making the investment was the right move. How would he transition from the search to being CEO and running a company? Would the acquisition provide suitable financial returns for his investors and himself?

Clorox, Inc

Elise Rindfleisch and Allison Mitkowski

Customer/Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability

In October 2007, Clorox announced that it would buy Burt’s Bees for $925 million – more than five times Burt’s Bees’ annual sales. Clorox’s move caught many in the industry by surprise - Burt’s Bees had a folksy image and natural appeal for customers. Could such a brand find a home within a company best known for a toxic cleanser? Would Clorox’s push into “green” cleaners satisfy Burt’s Bees’ faithful customers? Had Clorox paid too much for its acquisition? Or, were there potential synergies that justified the purchase? What was the future of this market?

Project Samaan

Rodrigo Canales, Jean Rosenthal, Jaan Elias, Ashley Pandya and Samuel Sturm

Entrepreneurship, Healthcare, Innovation & Design, Social Enterprise, State & Society, Sustainability

In a unique partnership, governments, designers, architects, academics, and NGOs had come together to create new sanitation solutions for India's urban slums. Specifically, the group set about tackling one of the developing world's leading problems – open defecation in crowded urban settings. But by fall 2013, not a single community toilet had been approved. What had gone wrong? And what could this experience teach others about an overall solution to the problem?

Project Masiluleke: Texting and Testing to Fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Rodrigo Canales, Jean Rosenthal, Jaan Elias, and William Drenttel

Entrepreneurship, Healthcare, Innovation & Design, Social Enterprise

The traditional Zulu greeting, "Sawubona," literally translates as "I see you." The major challenge faced by Project Masiluleke could be captured in this local greeting – could Project M see the lives of the individuals they hoped to help? Could they find ways to understand each other and the individuals threatened by HIV/AIDS well enough to design effective solutions to a major health crisis? PopTech, frog design, and the Praekelt Foundation joined with iTeach, an HIV/AIDS and TB prevention and treatment program, to look for new approaches to address South Africa's health issues. Access to this case has been made freely available to the public.

Haiti Mangoes

Andrea Nagy Smith and Douglas Rae

Entrepreneurship, Operations, Social Enterprise, State & Society

JMB S.A. had been in the mango processing business since 1998, and CEO Jean-Maurice Buteau had built up a profitable business that exported around 2,000 tons of mangoes per year.  The January 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti, but JMB appeared to survive intact, and the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) was eager to move forward. In spring 2010 SEDF proceeded with a $1.3 million loan and a $1 million equity investment in JMB. But by spring 2012, after pouring $2.55 million into JMB, SEDF realized that it had to make a decision: invest another $2 million and reorganize the company under new management; sell the company, or shut down JMB S.A. altogether.

Allison Mitkowski, Alexandra Barton-Sweeney, Tony Sheldon, Arthur Janik, and Jaan Elias

Customer/Marketing, Innovation & Design, Social Enterprise, State & Society, Sustainability

In 2009, SELCO was considering its plans for how the company might expand. The company decided to institutionalize its design process by building an innovation center. SELCO also added products that provided energy solutions beyond solar. Some within the company were hoping the company would go “deeper” and look at designing solutions for even poorer members of the Indian population. Others were hoping that the company would go “wider” and expand beyond its current geographical areas in Karnataka and Gujarat. Whatever its direction, the strategic choices the company made at this point in its evolution would be crucial to determining its continued success.

360 State Street: Real Options

Andrea Nagy Smith and Mathew Spiegel

Asset Management, Investor/Finance, Metrics & Data, Sourcing/Managing Funds

In 2010 developer Bruce Becker completed 360 State Street, a major new construction project in downtown New Haven. The building was a 32-story high-rise with 500 apartments, a parking garage, and a grocery store on the street level. In the summer of 2013, Becker had a number of alternatives to consider in regards to the open lot adjacent to his recent construction. He also had no obligation to build. He could bide his time. But Becker also worried about losing out on rents should he wait too long. Under what set of circumstances and at what time would it be most advantageous to proceed?

Achievement First

Fawzia Ahmed, Jaan Elias, and Sharon Oster

Social Enterprise, State & Society

On the edges of a warehouse district in New Haven, Connecticut, an intrepid group of educational pioneers were turning conventional theory on its head. Amistad Academy, a charter school founded by two Yale Law School graduates, was not only getting students on par with their grade levels in reading and math, but was pushing them to perform as well as the best suburban school districts too.  Five years after opening Amistad, McCurry and Toll opened an additional school in New Haven and four schools in Brooklyn, New York – all of which showed the same promise as Amistad. They dubbed their network of schools Achievement First (AF), and garnered national attention and funding from “venture philanthropists” interested in educational reform. However, in the summer of 2006, AF was facing critical questions about its future direction.

Carry Trade ETF

K. Geert Rouwenhorst, Jean W. Rosenthal, and Jaan Elias

Innovation & Design, Investor/Finance, Macroeconomics, Sourcing/Managing Funds

In 2006 Deutsche Bank (DB) brought a new product to market – an exchange traded fund (ETF) based on the carry trade, a strategy of buying and selling currency futures. The offering received the William F. Sharpe Indexing Achievement Award for “Most Innovative Index Fund or ETF” at the 2006 Sharpe Awards. These awards are presented annually by IndexUniverse.com and Information Management Network for innovative advances in the indexing industry. The carry trade ETF shared the award with another DB/PowerShares offering, a Commodity Index Tracking Fund. Jim Wiandt, publisher of IndexUniverse.com, said, "These innovators are shaping the course of the index industry, creating new tools and providing new insights for the benefit of all investors." What was it that made this financial innovation successful?

Governors Island

Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Social Enterprise, State & Society

The political players had changed since President Clinton and Senator Moynihan’s helicopter ride. Clinton was no longer President, his wife had taken Moynihan’s seat in the Senate and Michael Bloomberg had replaced Rudolph Giuliani as New York’s Mayor. What remained the same was that the city, state, and federal government had yet to reach a deal. The question of what to do with Governors Island and who should do it remained very much open. Indeed, there were those within the new Bush administration and the Congress who believed in scrapping Clinton and Moynihan’s deal and selling the island to the highest bidder be that the local government or a private developer.

Ant Financial: Flourishing Farmer Loans at MYbank

Jingyue Xu, Jean Rosenthal, K. Sudhir, Hua Song, Xia Zhang, Yuanfang Song, Xiaoxi Liu, and Jaan Elias

Competitor/Strategy, Customer/Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Design, Investor/Finance, Leadership & Teamwork, Operations, State & Society

In 2015, Ant Financial’s MYbank (an offshoot of Jack Ma’s Alibaba company) was looking to extend services to rural areas in China through its Flourishing Farmer Loan program. MYbank relied on the internet to communicate with loan applicants and judge their credit worthiness. Initial tests of the program had proved promising, but could MYbank operate the program at scale? Would its big data and technical analysis provide an accurate measure of credit risk for loans to small customers? Could MYbank rely on its new credit-scoring system to reduce operating costs to make the program sustainable?

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4 Entrepreneur Success Stories to Learn From

• 20 Jan 2022

Entrepreneurship is a risky but potentially rewarding endeavor. According to the online course Entrepreneurship Essentials , 50 percent of startups last five years, and just 25 percent survive 15.

“For every Amazon.com or Uber, there are scores of companies few can remember,” says Harvard Business School Professor William Sahlman in Entrepreneurship Essentials.

So, what separates successful ventures from those that fail?

“When a company succeeds, it’s because it has discovered and made the right moves along the way,” Sahlman says. “It has found out how to create and capture customer value.”

If you’re exploring entrepreneurship or in the early stages of launching a venture, it’s important to learn from others to avoid common pitfalls and discover which decisions impacted a company’s survival. Here are four stories of successful entrepreneurs to inspire your entrepreneurial journey.

Access your free e-book today.

4 Successful Entrepreneur Stories

1. adi dassler of adidas.

Some of today’s biggest brands started with humble beginnings, and no one embodies this better than Adidas founder Adolf “Adi” Dassler.

Dassler’s shoemaking career began in his mother’s washroom in a small town in Bavaria, Germany. It was there that Dassler began designing and cobbling shoes and decided he wanted to make the best possible sports shoe for athletes.

While there were plenty of shoemakers at the time, Dassler was committed to standing out in the market by gathering feedback from athletes about what they looked for in a shoe, what pain points could be improved on, and how they felt about his early models.

This feedback allowed Dassler to craft an athletic shoe that was highly valued by his customers and gave him legitimacy when he registered “Adi Dassler Adidas Sportschuhfabrik” in 1949 at 49 years old. It was that same year the first shoe with the soon-to-become-signature Adidas three stripes was registered.

Dassler’s vision to create the best shoe for athletes proved itself in 1954 when the German national football team won the World Cup final against the Hungarians—while wearing the new model of Adidas cleats.

“Their unbelievable victory would be heard around the world for decades to come,” Adidas states on its website , “and it made Adidas and its founder a household name on football pitches everywhere.”

Since then, Adidas has grown into an international brand known for high-quality athleticwear. Dassler’s story sheds light on the importance of listening to target customers about their dreams, needs, and pain points.

“Adi Dassler’s secret to success had an additional personal ingredient: He met with athletes, listened carefully to what they said, and constantly observed what can be improved or even invented to support their needs,” reads Adidas’s website . “The best of the best trusted Adidas and its founder from the beginning.”

Related: 5 Steps to Validate Your Business Idea

2. Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble

After leaving dating app company Tinder and an abusive relationship in 2014, Whitney Wolfe Herd was inspired to create an empowering dating experience for women.

“For all the advances women had been making in workplaces and corridors of power, the gender dynamics of dating and romance still seemed so outdated,” Wolfe Herd writes on Bumble’s website . “I thought, ‘What if I could flip that on its head? What if women made the first move and sent the first message?’”

Wolfe Herd, along with dating app Badoo co-founder Andrey Andreev and former Tinder employees Chris Gulzcynski and Sarah Mick, designed a dating app that requires women to make the first move in heterosexual matches.

The brand took off—largely on college campuses—and the app reached 100,000 downloads in its first month.

As its user base grows, Wolfe Herd remains a strong advocate for gender equality and sexual harassment prevention, building in-app features that block hate speech and blur inappropriate images. Wolfe Herd and her team also lobbied the state of Texas—where the company is headquartered—to pass a law prohibiting the sending of unsolicited lewd photos, which passed in 2019 .

“I’m more dedicated than ever to helping advance gender equality—and putting an end to the misogyny that still plagues society,” Wolfe Herd writes in a letter to Bumble users . She later adds, “I want nothing more than for your connections to be both meaningful and healthy.”

Wolfe Herd’s story serves as a reminder to use your own life for business inspiration and use a cause you care about to differentiate your product and brand in a saturated market.

Related: How to Identify an Underserved Need in the Market

3. Melanie Perkins of Canva

In 2007, Melanie Perkins was working a part-time job while studying in Perth, Australia, teaching students how to use desktop design software. The software was expensive, complex, and required a semester’s worth of instruction to learn how to use, prompting Perkins to ask, “Is there a way this could be simpler and less expensive?”

Perkins’s goal to create an affordable, simple, online design tool was originally turned down by over 100 investors—it wasn’t until three years into her pitching process that Canva received its first investment.

Perkins credits this investment to a shift in her pitching strategy: She began leading with the relatable problem Canva aims to solve.

“A lot of people can relate to going into something like Photoshop and being completely overwhelmed," Perkins said in an interview for Inc . "It's important to tell the story, because if your audience doesn't understand the problem, they won't understand the solution."

Today, 60 million customers use Canva to create designs across 190 countries.

Perkins’s story reflects the importance of effectively communicating the value of a business idea , as well as the tenacity and resilience required for entrepreneurial success.

Related: How to Effectively Pitch a Business Idea

4. Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andy Hunt, and Jeff Raider of Warby Parker

One example mentioned in Entrepreneurship Essentials is that of innovative online eyewear company Warby Parker. In 2008, Wharton MBA student Blumenthal lost his prescription eyeglasses. He was reluctant to purchase a new pair because they were so expensive. He also didn’t want to visit an eyeglass store.

The idea came to him in the middle of the night, and he emailed three friends—Gilboa, Hunt, and Raider—immediately: Why not start an online company to sell prescription glasses at an affordable price?

They set to work, and Warby Parker was poised to launch just after the four founders graduated with their MBA degrees in the spring of 2010—that is, until GQ reached out to Blumenthal about writing an article to be published on February 15 of that year. The founders sped up their process and launched Warby Parker’s website the same day the article was printed .

The article called Warby Parker “the Netflix of eyewear,” driving interested customers to the new site in droves. The founders’ one mistake was forgetting to add a “sold out” functionality to the website. The waitlist for Warby Parker eyewear grew to 20,000 people, and the company hit its first-year sales target in three weeks.

"It was this moment of panic but also a great opportunity for us to provide awesome customer service and write personalized emails to apologize and explain," Blumenthal says in an interview for Inc . "That really set the tone for how we would run customer service."

A few things set Warby Parker apart from the eyewear market at the time:

• Its online model : A new way of delivering the product helped it break into a stagnant industry
• Its affordable prices : A pair of Warby Parker frames with prescription lenses cost $95—much less expensive than other brands at the time
• Its home try-on program : This enabled customers to try on five pairs of glasses and send back the pairs they didn’t want to purchase.
• Its commitment to giving back : For every pair of glasses purchased, Warby Parker donated a pair to someone in need

Warby Parker donated its millionth pair of glasses in 2019 and continues to be an example of innovation in an existing market.

Why Learn from Case Studies?

Reading about the trials, tribulations, decisions, and successes of other entrepreneurs is an effective way to gain insight into what your experience could be like. What common threads do you notice in the aforementioned examples? What characteristics do these successful entrepreneurs share ? Use their experiences as blueprints to inform your strategic approach and in-the-moment decision-making.

When building your entrepreneurial skills, seek out courses that incorporate case studies into their teaching method , such as Entrepreneurship Essentials. Not only can you imagine yourself in their situations, but you can take their wisdom with you on your entrepreneurial journey.

Are you interested in honing your entrepreneurial skills and innovation toolkit? Explore our four-week Entrepreneurship Essentials course and other online entrepreneurship and innovation courses to learn to speak the language of the startup world.

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Entrepreneurship →

• 17 Sep 2024
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Fawn Weaver’s Entrepreneurial Journey as an Outsider in the Spirits Industry

In 2017 Fawn Weaver launched a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest. It became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America, despite the challenges Weaver faced as a Black woman and outsider to the spirits industry, which is capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive, and male-dominated. In October 2023, Weaver announced plans to expand into cognac with the goal of building the next major alcoholic beverages conglomerate. But the company was still heavily reliant on capital. How could Weaver convince new investors that her plans for cognac would yield success? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Weaver’s leadership style, growth strategies, and her use of storytelling to connect customers with her brand in the case, "Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy."

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• 03 Sep 2024

How the US Government Is Innovating in Its Efforts to Fund Semiconductor Manufacturing

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Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports

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How a Mission to Cut Food Waste Launched a Multimillion-Dollar Venture

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Why Great Ideas Get Stuck in Universities

Academic institutions incubate novel ideas and are important innovation partners for companies, but getting products out of universities and onto the market can be challenging. A study by Maria Roche and Justine Boudou illustrates how researchers might be getting in their own way.

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Transforming the Workplace for People with Disabilities

In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, needed to decide the best path forward to grow her small consulting firm. Springboard works with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and the workforce. Should Vogel expand the topics she works on with her current clients, or should she explore the possibility of moving into a new market of smaller businesses? Vogel joins Harvard Business School professor Lakshmi Ramarajan and Harvard Kennedy School professor Hannah Riley Bowles to discuss her experience starting and scaling her firm, while also being a caregiver to two children with disabilities, in the case, “Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities.”

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Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Brand Building

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• 09 Apr 2024

Sustaining a Legacy of Giving in Turkey

Özyeğin Social Investments was founded by Hüsnü Özyeğin, one of Turkey's most successful entrepreneurs, with a focus on education, health, gender equality, rural development, and disaster relief in Turkey. The company and the Özyeğin family have spent decades serving and improving communities in need. Their efforts led to the creation of one of Turkey’s top universities, the establishment of schools and rehabilitation centers, post 2023 earthquake humanitarian shelter and facilities, nationwide campaigns, and an internationally recognized educational training initiative for young children, among other achievements. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Christina Wing and Murat Özyeğin discuss how the company is a model for making a significant impact across multiple sectors of society through giving and how that legacy can be sustained in the future, in the case, “Özyeğin Social Investments: A Legacy of Giving."

• 22 Mar 2024

Open Source Software: The $9 Trillion Resource Companies Take for Granted

Many companies build their businesses on open source software, code that would cost firms $8.8 trillion to create from scratch if it weren't freely available. Research by Frank Nagle and colleagues puts a value on an economic necessity that will require investment to meet demand.

• 12 Mar 2024

How to Bring Good Ideas to Life: The Paul English Story

Paul English is one of the most imaginative and successful innovators of his generation. He cofounded several companies, including Kayak, before starting Boston Venture Studio, where he is currently a partner. This multimedia case, “Bringing Ideas to Life: The Story of Paul English,” explores his process of creative idea generation, examining how he was able to bring so many ideas to market. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei and English discuss how to tell the difference between a good idea and a bad one, the importance of iteration, and taking a systematic (but fast) approach to developing new ideas. They also explore how his process dovetails with Frei’s “move fast and fix things,” strategy from her recent book.

• 05 Dec 2023

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Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in? How aggressively should an executive team align sales with customer success? Senior Lecturer Mark Roberge discusses how early-stage founders, sales leaders, and marketing executives can address these challenges as they grow their ventures in the case, “Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing Vignettes.”

• 10 Oct 2023

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Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice, as well as her property management and development company. What strategy will benefit both businesses, and is there a downside to scaling them together, rather than focusing on each one separately? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeffrey Bussgang and Estrella discuss her unique founder’s journey – from immigrating to the U.S. to building both of her businesses in Lawrence, Massachusetts despite the specific challenges she faced as a minority entrepreneur. The related case is “Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses.”

• 01 Aug 2023

Can Business Transform Primary Health Care Across Africa?

mPharma, headquartered in Ghana, is trying to create the largest pan-African health care company. Their mission is to provide primary care and a reliable and fairly priced supply of drugs in the nine African countries where they operate. Co-founder and CEO Gregory Rockson needs to decide which component of strategy to prioritize in the next three years. His options include launching a telemedicine program, expanding his pharmacies across the continent, and creating a new payment program to cover the cost of common medications. Rockson cares deeply about health equity, but his venture capital-financed company also must be profitable. Which option should he focus on expanding? Harvard Business School Professor Regina Herzlinger and case protagonist Gregory Rockson discuss the important role business plays in improving health care in the case, “mPharma: Scaling Access to Affordable Primary Care in Africa.”

• 05 Jul 2023

How Unilever Is Preparing for the Future of Work

Launched in 2016, Unilever’s Future of Work initiative aimed to accelerate the speed of change throughout the organization and prepare its workforce for a digitalized and highly automated era. But despite its success over the last three years, the program still faces significant challenges in its implementation. How should Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, best prepare and upscale its workforce for the future? How should Unilever adapt and accelerate the speed of change throughout the organization? Is it even possible to lead a systematic, agile workforce transformation across several geographies while accounting for local context? Harvard Business School professor and faculty co-chair of the Managing the Future of Work Project William Kerr and Patrick Hull, Unilever’s vice president of global learning and future of work, discuss how rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation are changing the nature of work in the case, “Unilever's Response to the Future of Work.”

• 16 May 2023
• In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

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• 14 Mar 2023

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Globally there are too few park rangers to prevent the illegal trade of wildlife across borders, or poaching. In response, Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was created by a coalition of conservation organizations to take historical data and create geospatial mapping tools that enable more efficient deployment of rangers. SMART had demonstrated significant improvements in patrol coverage, with some observed reductions in poaching. Then a new predictive analytic tool, the Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security (PAWS), was created to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to try to predict where poachers would be likely to strike. Jonathan Palmer, Executive Director of Conservation Technology for the Wildlife Conservation Society, already had a good data analytics tool to help park rangers manage their patrols. Would adding an AI- and ML-based tool improve outcomes or introduce new problems? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Brian Trelstad discusses the importance of focusing on the use case when determining the value of adding a complex technology solution in his case, “SMART: AI and Machine Learning for Wildlife Conservation.”

• 17 Jan 2023

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

Quiet quitting. Inflation. The economy. This year could bring challenges for executives and entrepreneurs, but there might also be opportunities for focused leaders to gain advantage, say Harvard Business School faculty members.

• 10 Jan 2023

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

So many people shift from one job to the next, with little time to consider how the experience changed them and what they want out of future ventures. Julia Austin recommends that entrepreneurs look within and reflect on these questions before they jump into a new opportunity.

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Case Studies and Successful Entrepreneurial Ventures

Introduction to case studies in entrepreneurship.

Studying case studies of successful entrepreneurial ventures can provide valuable insights into the strategies, challenges, and lessons learned by real-world entrepreneurs. By examining these examples, aspiring entrepreneurs can gain a better understanding of what it takes to launch and grow a successful business.

Key Elements of Entrepreneurial Success

Identifying Market Opportunities : Successful entrepreneurs are skilled at identifying unmet needs or problems in the market and developing innovative solutions to address them.

Developing a Strong Business Model : A well-designed business model that clearly articulates the value proposition, target customers, revenue streams, and cost structure is essential for entrepreneurial success.

Building a Talented Team : Entrepreneurs who surround themselves with skilled, passionate, and complementary team members are better equipped to navigate the challenges of starting and growing a business.

Adapting to Change : Successful entrepreneurs are agile and able to pivot their strategies in response to changing market conditions, customer needs, or competitive landscapes.

Perseverance and Resilience : Entrepreneurship is often characterized by setbacks and failures. Successful entrepreneurs demonstrate perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity, learning from their mistakes and continuing to pursue their vision.

Case Study 1: Airbnb

Airbnb, founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk in 2008, revolutionized the travel and hospitality industry by creating a platform that connects travelers with local hosts offering unique accommodations.

Key Lessons :

• Identifying a market need: Airbnb recognized the demand for affordable, unique travel experiences and created a platform to address this need.
• Leveraging technology: By developing a user-friendly platform that simplifies the booking process and facilitates trust between hosts and guests, Airbnb was able to scale rapidly.
• Building a strong brand: Airbnb's emphasis on authentic, local experiences and its "Belong Anywhere" motto helped create a strong brand identity and loyal customer base.

Case Study 2: Warby Parker

Warby Parker, founded by Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider in 2010, disrupted the eyewear industry by offering stylish, affordable glasses online and through a home try-on program.

• Challenging industry norms: Warby Parker identified an opportunity to disrupt the traditional eyewear industry by offering a more convenient, affordable, and socially conscious alternative.
• Focusing on customer experience: By providing a seamless online shopping experience, home try-on program, and exceptional customer service, Warby Parker built a loyal customer base.
• Incorporating social responsibility: Warby Parker's "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" program, which donates a pair of glasses for every pair sold, helped differentiate the brand and appeal to socially conscious consumers.

Case Study 3: Slack

Slack, founded by Stewart Butterfield, Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, and Serguei Mourachov in 2013, transformed workplace communication with its innovative messaging platform designed for teams and organizations.

• Solving a real problem: Slack addressed the challenges of effective team communication and collaboration, providing a more efficient alternative to email and traditional messaging tools.
• Focusing on user experience: Slack's intuitive interface, customizable features, and integrations with popular tools and services helped drive adoption and user satisfaction.
• Leveraging word-of-mouth marketing: By offering a free version of its platform and encouraging users to invite their colleagues, Slack was able to grow rapidly through viral word-of-mouth marketing.

Common Questions and Answers

What can entrepreneurs learn from studying case studies of successful ventures?

Studying case studies of successful entrepreneurial ventures can provide valuable insights into the strategies, challenges, and lessons learned by real-world entrepreneurs. By examining these examples, aspiring entrepreneurs can gain a better understanding of what it takes to identify market opportunities, develop strong business models, build talented teams, adapt to change, and persevere in the face of adversity.

How can entrepreneurs apply the lessons learned from case studies to their own ventures?

Entrepreneurs can apply the lessons learned from case studies by critically analyzing the strategies and tactics employed by successful ventures and adapting them to their own unique contexts. This may involve identifying similar market opportunities, developing innovative solutions to customer problems, focusing on user experience and customer satisfaction, leveraging technology to scale their businesses, and incorporating social responsibility into their business models.

What are some common challenges faced by successful entrepreneurs, as highlighted in case studies?

Case studies of successful entrepreneurial ventures often highlight common challenges such as navigating competitive landscapes, securing funding and resources, attracting and retaining talented team members, adapting to changing market conditions, and overcoming setbacks and failures. By studying how successful entrepreneurs have addressed these challenges, aspiring entrepreneurs can develop strategies and resilience to overcome similar obstacles in their own ventures.

Studying case studies of successful entrepreneurial ventures is a valuable way for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from real-world examples and gain insights into the strategies, challenges, and lessons learned by successful entrepreneurs. By examining cases like Airbnb, Warby Parker, and Slack, entrepreneurs can identify key elements of entrepreneurial success, such as identifying market opportunities, developing strong business models, building talented teams, adapting to change, and persevering in the face of adversity. By applying these lessons to their own ventures, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of success and make a meaningful impact in their industries and communities.

Entrepreneurial Failure and Lessons Learned

Social entrepreneurship and impact investing, family businesses and succession planning, entrepreneurship and innovation, entrepreneurial ecosystem and support networks, pitching and presenting the business plan.

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A Systems View Across Time and Space

• Open access
• Published: 11 July 2017

Community-based entrepreneurship: evidences from a retail case study

• Sazzad Parwez 1  

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship volume  6 , Article number:  14 ( 2017 ) Cite this article

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Community-based entrepreneurship is considered to be an important instrument for the realization of potential among marginal and deprived communities isolated from the mainstream economy and is important in bringing social upliftment. Cultural values, shared resources, linkages, and mutual trust work for the community, nurtured through close personal relations for the functioning of economic activities. Entrepreneurial activities creating local public goods for a community have a comparative advantage over the absolute market-oriented activities. This paper tries to follow a case study method to analyze the community-based entrepreneurship in a marginal community (Muslim). Many self-employed Muslim workers and small businesses in urban centers in a non-Islamic society indicate that they bound to have a great propensity for entrepreneurship compared to the indigenous population. The government needs to introduce a policy with implicative measures for financial and technical support to these entrepreneurial activities.

To alleviate poverty, development agencies and multinational organizations have been greatly involved in interventions in the developing world for many decades. It has been observed that the most widely adopted approaches have often been paternalistic, even if unintentionally, while ignoring the strength of local institutions (Davis 1993 ). Most of the poverty alleviation programs have degenerated into “charity” rather than building the local and durable self-reliance (Burkey, 1993 ). It is evident that the real effect of developmental interventions has been compromising in respect to community development and eventually contributes to the creation of real poverty rather than alleviation (Cornwall 1998 ; Crewe, and Harrison 1998 ; Sachs 1992 ).

A major issue in developmental activities is that projects are generally conceived and implemented by agencies rather than by community members. This has often led to a lack of ownership on the part of the local population and beneficiaries. It is exemplified by the fact that once the finances of a project dry out, the interest of the local population also recedes. Identification of this trend has forced several international and domestic agencies to conceive and implement projects with enhanced local participation (Brinkerhoff 1996 ; World Bank 1996 ).

To enhance collective development, it has been identified that focus should be on the creation of sustainable economic activities rather than welfare projects (Parwez 2016b ). It has been commonly acknowledged that enterprise development can be a crucial element in the process of economic development [Drucker 1995 ; Schumpeter ( 1934 ) 1983 ]. Numerous initiatives that have been taken and executed aimed at promoting entrepreneurship development to improve the socio-economic condition. It is discouraging to observe the general lack of success of the entrepreneurial venture as very few examples are there to be replicated.

These failures suggest that there are many gaps in our understanding of entrepreneurial processes. A recent research and theory on transitional economies, together with growing interest in micro-credits, has an effect on community issues as principal elements of entrepreneurial activity among underprivileged people (Bates 1997 ; Cornwall 1998 ; Anderson, and Jack 2002 ; Parwez 2015 ). Further, values of the western world emphasize continuation of the conventional view of entrepreneurship (Peterson 1988 ), and efforts to encourage entrepreneurship in developing countries have been shaped by a western outlook. But societies differ substantially in the degree to which they incorporate elements of entrepreneurship (Hofstede 1980 ).

Generally, developing or poor countries suffer from adverse determinants in the context of entrepreneurial activities. In the case of India, these determining factors are more in number and pronounced. India being the materially disadvantaged economy is characterized by hierarchical social systems based on ethnicity, caste, gender, religion, economic and social status, and other factors; limited or non-existent welfare systems; subsidies eliminated as part of debt reduction programs; and a high level of unemployment. These features can be a stimulant to prospective entrepreneurs, though such entrepreneurs face characteristics uncertainty and risks due to political, social, and economic instability and lack of access to capital and institutional support (Leff 1979 ; Parwez 2016c ).

This study tries to examine a community-based entrepreneurship through a case study approach with an implicit research question on how it can lead to livelihood development and eventual empowerment of the community at large. This paper is comprised of a conceptual and empirical analysis, with the application of a case study method in a community-based retail chain for furthering of the concept, with the application of a case study method in a community-based retail chain with an aim of understanding the concept further.

Concerning the type of research applied in this form of study, a qualitative research approach is evidently dominant. New insights might be gained by applying a quantitative research approach more frequently. Although this study emphasis on qualitative research for the formulation of key concepts and operationalization; another important requirement is the availability of a requisite data, and it is rather problematic in general for the formulation of key concepts and operationalization, a second requirement is the availability of a requisite data, and this is still rather problematic in general. Expectedly, this study is based on primary data on the case. In addition, inquiries suffer from a uniformity of methods, and a case study design reigns.

This study follows a single-case design. The study has taken Friendly Mart as a case study to understand community-based entrepreneurship; events and activities are limited to a single occurrence. However, the drawback of a single-case design is its inability to provide a generalizing conclusion. To overcome this limitation, triangulation technique has been applied to confirm the validity of the process. By replicating the case through pattern-matching, a technique linking several pieces of information from the same case to some theoretical proposition has helped to raise the level of confidence in the robustness of the method.

The examination of the data is most often conducted within the context of its use (Yin 1984 ), that is, within the situation in which the activity takes place. To explore the strategies the reader uses, observing the subject within her environment provides great depth which isolates a phenomenon from its context, focusing on a limited number of variables. Second, variations in terms of intrinsic, instrumental, and collective approaches to case studies allow qualitative analyses of the data. Application of a case study relied on qualitative data which give descriptive accounts of the behavior of an individual, group, and enterprise. The detailed qualitative accounts not only are generally applicable to case studies to explore or describe the data in the real-life environment but also help to explain the complexities of real-life situations which may not be captured through experimental or survey-based data or research. A case study can give access to not only the numerical information concerning the strategies used but also the reasons for the strategy use, and how the strategies are used in relation to other strategies.

Community-based entrepreneurship

People, in general, are faced with issues related to poverty, illiteracy, lack of skills, poor health care systems, etc. These are problems that cannot be tackled individually but can be better solved through group efforts. There is a need to organize the poor and marginalized to come together for solving individual or collective problems (Yunus 2008 ). Community-based entrepreneurship is now seen as a viable alternative for development processes.

A general model of a community-based entrepreneurship is the same across the region. It is led by an individual or a group, economically homogenous in nature. It has been recognized as an effective tool for capacity building of the marginalized section (Rao 2003 ). Several empirical pieces of evidence suggest that it does enhance the qualitative equality economic cultural spheres (McKiernan 2002 ; De, and Sarker 2010 ; Parwez 2014 ). The basic directive principles of community-based entrepreneurship are group approach, mutual trust, and motivation towards economic activities encouraged by institutional support. Suresh et al. ( 2003 ) summaries several factors associated with community-based entrepreneurship: functions like operations, internal problems, effective leadership, and support towards establishing a business venture.

Minniti and Bygrave ( 1999 ) argue that individuals’ decisions towards entrepreneurship is influenced by “three simultaneous elements: (1) subjective initial endowment is personal, (2) institutional and economic circumstances of economy are community specific, and (3) the existing level of entrepreneurial activity in that community is perceived by the individual.” The nature of these determinants suggests prevailing interventions some way or other addressing the issue or not. Bygrave and Minniti ( 2000 ) imply that determinant variation in entrepreneurship led processes from region to region, even with similar economic conditions. They conclude that there are threshold effects of entrepreneurship, and policy interventions that do not raise equilibrium in a community will not be successful.

The community-based entrepreneurship has evolved due to the efforts of committed individuals to promote self-employment. There is banking and non-banking, and national and international developmental agencies have also played a significant part in creating resources for these forms of activities. During the early 2000s, policy makers and agencies realized that it can be an effective developmental instrument.

The community-based entrepreneurial venture is facing problems in every step from societal barriers to the market. This form of entrepreneurship takes place among the marginalized group because of socio-economic constraints. Studies have shown that they can lift themselves from the morass of poverty and stagnation through entrepreneurial activities based on collective action (Suresh, and Saravan 2013 ).

The formation of a homogenous group with the purpose of furthering entrepreneurial activities is the challenge, directly or indirectly in the process of the empowerment (Asia and the Pacific Division, IFAD 2006 ). Further concentration can be towards the economic well-being, providing an opportunity for participation in the function of community-led economic activities (Kannabiran 2005 ).

The community-based entrepreneurship has given way to mobilization and empowerment of the poor, who can now manage their own well-being and be benefited from economic activities. The expansion of entrepreneurial activities is an important tactic for the overall strategy of economic development (Jonathan 2010 ). Community-based entrepreneurship is fairly simple; management is sustainable and their investment is on intensive entrepreneurial processes. The purpose is limited by unsatisfactory institutional support from finance to technical assistance and affects ability to fulfil basic requirement of entrepreneurial activities.

There is a certain limitation in institutional support programs; entrepreneurial activities create a possibility of safety or guaranty with respect to fulfilling their ambition. The support system is mainly concentrated to the bank network in India that too in limited extent (Satyasai 2003 ); hence, expecting a miraculous result without correcting the imbalances in the outreach is a mere illusion (Satyasai 2008 ). It is the need of the hour to formulate policies focusing on organizing people in a participative manner to be part of entrepreneurial activities rather than solely concentrating on unsustainable welfare schemes (World Bank 2003 ).

It is possible that several societal features of the poor or marginalized communities may serve as a barrier; entrepreneurship can take place in socially and culturally diverse settings (Dana 1995 ; Holt 1997 ). Economic crises and the adverse situation can also be a catalyst for entrepreneurial activity (Harper 1991 ). In challenging situations, there exists an array of reasons and only a few alternatives for an entrepreneur (Parwez 2014 ). The most compelling among these reasons is survival and the consequent need to recognize opportunities that will lead to desirable outcomes (Yusuf, and Schindehutte 2000 ).

A determining factor for enterprise development in these societies depends on the prevailing characteristics of the community. This characteristic leads to further understanding of entitlements of individual members in relation to the standing and legitimate requirements of the community itself (Peterson 1988 ). The more community-oriented a society is the more members will be entitled to certain societal benefits, including the satisfaction of needs connected with survival, such as basic income, healthcare, and safety.

It is essential to recognize, if that community orientation is inconsistent (Peterson 1988 ) then entrepreneurial accomplishment may not only be compatible with diverse social arrangements but may also benefit from the integration of specific cultural values and norms (Basu and Altinay 2002 ). Evidence suggest that a possibility of cultural identity may function as a tool for entrepreneurial activity. It appears that entrepreneurial activity can flourish in a diverse and dynamic societal and cultural environment. In many communities, especially in developing countries, a variety of combinations simultaneously creates space for a different economic logic to take place. Local public goods are mainly created by the community-led entrepreneurship rather than by the market public or private intervention (Parwez 2016a ; Hayami 1997 ). This is because the community relationship prevents free riders.

Measuring the condition at a methodological level (case study) with respect to community-led entrepreneurship is a new form of entrepreneurial behavior (Dees and Ba le Anderson 2006 ; Dorado 2006 ; Short et al. 2009 ). Existing literature confirms that these are the early years of this concept. There are a good number of articles on community-based entrepreneurship both conceptual and empirical which are written in the last two decades; although, the absolute and relative number of empirical studies remains limited. It has been observed that agreement on the definitive concept is lacking; it is worth paying considerable attention to the explication of the concept with further research orientation.

Community-oriented enterprise: a Friendly Mart case study

Community-based enterprises use business to improve the life of a community in general. They are different from private enterprises; their business activity is undertaken as a means of achieving the benefit for the community, not for private gain. The key characteristic of community-based enterprises is that assets belong or dedicated to the community. It ensures that the enterprise is accountable to the community and that the profits or a surplus created are to be reinvested or distributed for the benefit of the community. However, for the sustainability of the enterprise, it needs to be profitable while serving the community.

Entrepreneurs such as Nazeer Khan of Friendly Mart and Ali Holdar’s Qamar Restaurant are the perfect example of how a community-driven business can be successful while creating public goods for the community at large. Both these business enterprises belong to Chilea community. A business enterprise, supported by the community with community-oriented required support system, have potential to generate jobs, scale up, earn a profit, and return the benefit to the community beyond those directly employed personnel. They run an enterprise as a worker-owned cooperative or a member-based association, as much of the human resource belongs to the Chilea community. There is a role for community-based social enterprises to help strengthen local economies.

Entrepreneurs such as Nazeer Khan and Ali Holdar are the reflection of a new form of a livelihood process as for the entrepreneur’s minority community. Their success has been an inspiration to others. Generally, a large part of the minority population in India is stagnated to low-cost and low-paying jobs. Only when there is a scope that wealth generated can be used locally to improve the socio-economic condition of some or more in the community. Community-based social enterprises are unique as they organize business activities around the community in quest of providing direct benefit. They provide purposeful employment and cash income to the marginalized community members and add value as it stops cash to leak out to the non-community member. Supplying products for local consumption to the community to spin off more community enterprises leads to the development of economic decision-makers and actively engages citizens to the positive direction. Community enterprises involve stakeholders across the community; to the certain extent, the Chilea community has been successfully achieving by being brave and adventurous and by enterprising to set up an enterprise which is the reflection of change. But community-based enterprises are rare, mainly due to the low level of success and being confined to the only marginal community.

The above arguments are well supported by existing literature. In the last few decades, academics, politicians, and civil analysts have cited the falling level of community involvement, an issue for concern; community involvement has been fundamental to the process of development. Fyfe ( 2009 ) says that community engagement is the most important approach to addressing demographically and geographically emphasized programs. While many argue that engagement initiatives among communities are difficult to estimate empirically, some studies also reveal reviews of major regeneration development, demonstrating the importance of community engagement. It has been argued that despite the acceptance of community engagement, evidence does not support the prevalence of such engagement, which met mixed results. Furthermore, the critical analysis suggests that community engagement creates a sense of responsibilities for communities in terms of taking care of their surroundings (Lawson, and Kearns 2010 ). The literature around “community participation” is discussed in depth; the notion is that it is difficult to define in most accepted ways. The term is understood and spelt differently by numerous bodies as well as individual scholars, with some conflicting ideologies (Morris 2006 ). The benefits of community participation in a society are very extensive; some would say it is very comprehensive. Following decades of professional or state-led interventions, to be seen, the community has been an important knowledge resource, if captured, will lead to enhanced and responsible services. This aspect is based upon the simple base that the community knows best about their own problems, thus allowing policy makers to act according to that (Rydin, and Pennington 2000 ; Maguire, and Truscott 2006 ).

It has been observed that minority-owned firms hire minorities in high proportions. An unusual co-ethnic recruitment process by an ethnic minority’s enterprises accompanied by new jobs leads to an increase of employment among minorities themselves. Co-ethnic employment processes stimulate self-employment, work flexibility, and furthering of socio-economic benefits within the community. Entrepreneurship provides an opportunity and an alternative to unemployment. In the current situation in a developing nation like India, entrepreneurship could be the right foot forward in tackling the evils of poverty.

Recent times, minority entrepreneurship has emerged as a contemporary area of interest among social scientist due to obvious reasons. There are both social and economic reasons that make minority’s entrepreneurship important, considering unemployment and lack of formal education among minorities. Minority businesses are the essential part of the development of any society; personal initiative is encouraged and there is equal opportunity for citizens (Alvord et al. 2004 ). Considerable increases in minority-oriented business ownership can be an engine of economic growth, helping a good number of people. Minority business enterprises can make the economy stronger, facilitates community building and information flow, and enhances relationships.

A notion of social entrepreneurship is the comparatively new initiatives that employ entrepreneurial capacity to resolve existing social troubles (Shaw and Robinson 2010 ). However, most writing in social entrepreneurship has tended to center on a prominent social entrepreneur’s experiences, personal distinctiveness, leadership, and success factors (Alvord et al. 2004 ). There is inadequate literature about social entrepreneur’s activities in terms of actions and outcomes. Most social entrepreneurship studies are not based on clear theoretical underpinnings (Mair and Martí 2006 ). Therefore, generalizability inhibits the existing social entrepreneurship studies, and we cannot develop consistent theorization of social entrepreneurship. Consequently, we contend that social entrepreneurship is more than individual characteristics; it is about their actions, and impact on society that should be studied using the clear theoretical framework. Social entrepreneurship is mainly viewed in literature as a social change which remotes social values and improves the well-being of people involved in the process of enterprising (Mair 2005 ).

Relevant for a case here, namely, Friendly Mart as a social enterprise in search of opportunities and devising ways to use capital eliminates constraints for a section of society. In a fragmented polity of a state like Gujarat, where social divisions of religion exist as an obvious limitation, overcoming and providing communal economic empowerment across geographical and class barrier in Chilea community (a Muslim sect), by sharing profit with the community, is deprived by existing political economy of the state.

The classical concept of broad-based development beyond the pockets of “upper classes” dates to the publications of Marx’s volumes which elaborately deal “with classes.” Socialist view of class doctrine fails to capture a secluded religious community’s hopelessness. Even a socialist redistribution policy may not reach out to a religious minority group; policy biases towards minorities for empowerment could be helpful. In such market, imperfections of the non-Pareto efficiency of political economy in a community-oriented franchisee-based model of entrepreneurship seem to portray an innovative option and the possible path to inclusive development (Parwez 2016b ).

Setting up of Friendly Mart

Nazeer Jafri is a cousin of Pir Syed Jafri (sect head of the Chilea community) from North Gujarat, who runs a network of approximately 100 restaurants in and around Ahmedabad along with restaurants in the highway of Ahmedabad to Mumbai. These restaurants are owned in a trusteeship form, having investment from several partners.

In 2002, when he was associated with the Grey Worldwide, he had an opportunity to visit Big Bazaar, located in the same building and was inspired by the ongoing activities; people were moving around and lifting things, putting it in the trolley and taking it to counter. He found the experience empowering for customers, different from the retail shops in Ahmedabad, and the people were shopping with smiling faces, enjoying the experience, and was also amazed by the grandeur of the mall. It led him to explore the idea of retail business further, also motivated by a subconscious desire to help the community. The belief that if any entrepreneur is ready to work hard, one can compete with big brands and can create one’s own space in the market also took him further.

The restaurant was a business that could have been easier to start with due to the nature of his family background, but the restaurant business was cluttered in Gujarat; the restaurant business would be a run of the mill, not motivating enough. His ambition was to open a retail shop and grow it as a chain across the region. Retail sounded as a promising business as the market seems to be in a highly row (close to 4% organized retailing in India). It led to early discussions on the idea with peers for setting up a retail shop.

Nazeer discussed his ideas with Ali Bhai, with the proposal to set up a retail shop, who in turn told him to think big, maybe a supermarket. Additionally, he also advised Nazeer to communicate about the business plan in a social circle for investment. Otherwise, a loan from the banks can always be availed. Nazeer had Rs. 5 lakhs at his disposal from savings and could get Rs. 5 lakhs from close relatives to start the venture. But there was need of Rs. 40 Lakhs for setting up a supermarket of 700–1000 ft 2 area, which requires 20–25 lakhs for construction. After a meaningful discussion with his friends and family, he was flooded with offers for investment and, in fact, said no to some prospective investors.

The next major challenge was to identify the right location for setting up the shop; the following factors were crucial for the decision on the location: it should be in the neighborhood, the absence of an organized retailing, real estate should be reasonable, and the future developmental prospects of the area. Based on these considerations, the location of Vishala Circle (Ahmedabad) was zeroed-in for the first shop of Friendly Mart venture.

Other factors were comprised of the proximity to Vishala Restaurant, the mass number of households, the education level in the area, and the circulation of English and Gujarati newspapers. But the question whether locals will be able to appreciate retailing remained, targeting a customer base that is preferably from the middle and upper-middle class in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood.

Locations such as Navrangpura, Khanpur, and Sarkhej were also considered for the purpose. The second best choice was Navrangpura, as it is a hub of the city and cosmopolitan culture; but it was already the hub to several organized retail shops, return on investment is far stretched, and real estate price was too high; and so, they decided against it.

Adani Super Market and others mushroomed all over Ahmedabad, so Nazeer saw opportunity in the old city. The third best choice was Khanpur, as it was the main area in the old city, which possesses a cosmopolitan area, an English medium school (Mount Carmel), clubs, hotels, a college (Bhavans), and a riverfront beautification project but the absence of an organized retail shop in the area; however, there was an issue of civil disturbances and the congested environment of that area. And, it was a cramped area so the real estate price was high and future development of the area was saturated.

The options that were left were Sarkhej or Vishala in Ahmedabad. As far as Sarkhej was concerned, the proximity of the area was the major issue, the household profile was not up-market, and locals may prefer the Kirana store to a supermarket. In the end, Vishala was chosen for the start of the venture. The major determining factors were as follows: relatively cheaper real estate prices, new residential schemes were being built, in the vicinity of the Vishala Restaurant, and the area emerged out of Juhapura (a Muslim Ghetto); so, future development prospects were bright. There was no organized retail outlet in the area, and people needed to be educated. The most threatening factor of the area was that Juhapura did not have the positive image among suppliers.

Because of the post communal riots (2001), Muslims from Navrangpura, Paldi, were moving to Juhapura in the sense of security, as lives were lost elsewhere in the city. The spot for the shop in Vishala circle was a vantage point as people returning from Paldi or Ashram Road or even from the industrial area of Narol could come and shop. The place was close to densely populated middle and upper-middle class Muslim community dwellings.

In hindsight, the success of the Friendly Mart in Vishala circle could be attributed to the ability of a young Muslim entrepreneur to understand the need of the people of a convenience store in the vicinity. Nazeer could easily enter the social spaces of the Juhapura and Sarkhej inmates due to the services offered in store, and his cultural status which ultimately yielded him success. Friendly Mart was gradually able to move into the personal spaces of customers and could create customer loyalty.

Vishala Circle has situated approximately 12 km from Ahmedabad airport and has been named after the theme restaurant Vishala Village, which provides traditional Gujarati cuisine in a village ambience. It is a major landmark in this part of the city. Vishala Circle offered a lot of promise, as the area was developing rapidly, and new residential schemes and various commercial complexes like Ellicon Tower and Sunrise Complex were coming up with good connectivity by roads.

Meanwhile, the following findings emerged from a dipstick survey by Nazeer: (i) Out of the 588 households in and around, 399 households were a ready customer base. (ii) The target business was to the tune of Rs. 30, 63,522. (iii) The potential business was worth Rs. 45, 14,664. This survey was conducted to find the household size, average monthly expenditure, purchase practices, and consumer behavior towards organized retailing. Nazeer contacted the builder of Ellicon Towers; there were six shops and ten floors owned by a close friend of Aljibhai, with enough parking spaces in a grand neighborhood. He decided to purchase two shops with a total of 700 ft 2 , which was manageable in his budget in the complex.

Now, there was a need for a brand name, to create shop patronage. The brand name needed to be unique should be able to “connect” with the customers. To capture it, the brand was named as “Friendly Mart” with a baseline of “the friendly supermarket.” The positioning needed to be long-lasting and unique, which depends on the customer’s expectations and services offered. Due to the location of the store, it was a matter of access as people used to go to Vijay and Paldi; this was needed to be branded as the ideal neighborhood store. So, the positioning theme “SABSE KHAAS, GHAR KE PAAS” came to the table.

There was a need to create awareness of the shop, establish confidence among the suppliers, and build a friendly image among customers. To achieve it, he got guidance from a friend regarding the software to be used for computers, equipment to be bought, the layout of the interior in store, etc.

The store was to launch, and he employed a young man Anwar, who possessed experience in the field and lived nearby which provided him with the access to distributors. A week before the launch, orders were made to the distributors. He did commit some mistakes in the ordering process but it was a learning experience. The promotion started 10 days before the launch, he advertised through signage and the auto rickshaw with a loudspeaker, and inserts were distributed along with news sheets distributed in nearby colonies. On the launch day (12 February 2004) prominent people were invited, and he made a sale of Rs. 50,000/less on day one.

Expansion into rural franchises

A visit to Mundra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad, gave him (Nazeer Khan) the idea of leveraging the business with a franchising structure across Gujarat. Expending in the locality where his credibility was in place made more business sense; it meant expanding into the north and central Gujarat, which possesses a sizeable population of the Chilea community. He discussed the idea with Sabir and Shabbir (managers of Ahmedabad Store) and assigned them to work on it, who later discuss the franchise model with the interested people in the village (north and central Gujarat). Two entrepreneur brothers Mehndi and Mahmud both farmers owning some land in Ilol volunteered to start off a franchise in April 2007.

The framework developed as the franchise would first register his company as a firm under the Companies Act. Technical and other support systems will be provided to them based on monthly fees on agreed terms and conditions. The benefit for the franchise was that if there were some issues to come up then later then the shop could become independent but need not be closed. The new shop at Ilol was registered as Friendly Mart Smart Shop Ilol. If there was an issue between the two parties Friendly Mart could move out of the agreement, and the franchise shall become Smart Shop Ilol.

The Friendly Mart Smart Shop in Talaav (Ilol) which was situated near a pond in the village and Pahaadiya (Ilol) was one and a half kilometers from Talaav on a slight elevation near a Kirana (convenience) store called Sahyog Kirana. Few store owners were keen to open a franchise seeing a good response to a smart shop but lack enough space, so, it may not pass muster as a Friendly Mart franchise. At time, the idea of a Saral store would be ideal to convert small Kirana stores into more organized shop, material organized in a systematic way, and sold across the counter. Thus, Friendly Mart Saral Sahyog Kirana Store came into being in October 2007. Then, a whole sequence of setting up stores in the villages’ one after the other started.

Distinctive features of Friendly Mart’s business model

Friendly Mart aimed to be the best in the locality in terms of perception and services offered; a convenience store which caters to the daily needs of people situated near, so, the target audience was the residents of the area. But now Friendly Mart has slowly spread its wings in different regions of Gujarat. Their franchises are operating in certain villages of Sabarkantha, and they wish to cover many more villages in the state.

In the organized retail industry, particularly the food retail, sales highly depend on the convenience of the customer. Evident by stories of big grocery stores like Subhiksha and Reliance Fresh, there is a wrong assumption that price is the deciding factor for any organized retail to be successful. In the Indian context, the housewife still bargains with the roadside vendor for her daily vegetables. The glamor of an organized retail has not made her change her purchasing habit of vegetables and fruits. Perhaps that is the reason many roadside vegetable vendors are in business near organized retail houses. A store which is conveniently located has much better chances of being successful than a store depending on promotional schemes, and convenience rules over pricing.

There are many product categories and brands which have been added and removed from the store over the last 5 years. He had launched a section called 20–20, every product was worth Rs. 20/less. Initially, he got a good response, but slowly, consumers turned away as the quality was a major issue, and the section was removed as it was hurting the Friendly Mart brand image.

He also tried a ready-made dress material section and a section for imitation jewelry, soon realized that huge space is required for these additional products with proper range and that having them in place is useless. It also created confusion among the clientele as Friendly Mart was perceived as a food and grocery convenience store and not a lifestyle store. Considering the continuous demand of sections on plastic products and crockery at Friendly Mart, these sections were later added. The customers received well both the sections; it also enhanced the image of the store.

Initially, when he launched Friendly Mart, his first purchase was based on speculation, conventional wisdom, and gut feel. There was no scientific way of understanding the right inventory mix and inventory size; an experience of running the store led to the realization of requisite inventory for the store.

Friendly Mart is the only organized retailer in Sarkhej-Juhapura road. This unique situation has many advantages and has a flip-side too. The distributors of products tend to have fixed their route and scheduling, which is once in a week or fortnight. As Friendly Mart is the new store, on the list of priority destination for distributors they fall downward; if for a certain reason they are out of stock of a brand, they must wait longer and may not get the emergency visit in between due to the low bargaining power. At times, certain merchandise which is not readily available at the store may disappoint customers. To solve this problem, Nazeer started ordering more quantity than the anticipated demand from the distributor and the second step was to purchase out of stock products from wholesale markets from areas like Kalupur if the distributor’s visit is not expected in few days.

Does the characteristics of Friendly Mart differ considerably from those of the competition allows adequate differentiation? It is a typically organized food retail outlet, by that logic, it is like any other good retail outlet. Friendly Mart is in the process of expansion, and once his network is in place, planning to foray into private labels can then become key differentiators and provide advantages of economies of scale.

His subsidiary company Friendly Mart Enterprise caters to more than 150 highway hotels and 100 city-based hotels across Gujarat. He realized that he has access to a network of restaurants and if he is successful in creating a business around them in such a manner that it can be an asset to his retail venture. Then, he decided to foray into bulk hotel supplies of groceries and food item. It has also helped him earn negotiation and buying capacity of loose groceries, spices, and food items; and the benefits are transferred to the store and the franchises. He is also contemplating to develop rural-focused products which can uplift the living standards of the villagers and can effectively cater their needs wide franchise network.

With more than 5 years of existence as an organized retail store in Juhapura, the goodwill of the business has enhanced and given an intangible growth. He also got the first mover advantage in this area and which again has contributed to the growth in brand value of the organization. When Friendly Mart was launched in Juhapura, in the year 2004, the area was still developing, and real estate prices were in the limit. Over the years, increasing residential schemes and apartments were established and the area has started gaining prominence. This has led to an increase in the real estate price, and investment in Friendly Mart outlet has grown manifolds. The prices of real estate have grown 4 times in 6 years, and this is a tangible part of his investment growth.

To leverage the business opportunity formation Friendly Mart Enterprise took place, a sister concern organization catering over 100 restaurants in and around Ahmedabad and 300 restaurants in other cities of Gujarat. For this purpose, Nazeer collaborated with two budding entrepreneurs Wazir Ali and Husain Abbas to look after the operational part of the business. Friendly Mart Enterprise was formed in 2008, and within the span of 2 years, turnover has gone up by 300% and profits have soared more than 4 times since then. Friendly Mart Enterprise is involved in developing private labels for supermarket business and hotel supplies.

Considering the huge demand of tea from his restaurant customers, although tea business is different from food–grocery, it led to the launching of a new subsidiary “Friendly Mart Tea Packers” with the brand name of “Day Break” in the year 2009–2010, which gave a launching pad to yet another budding entrepreneur (Abdul Basheer) in the community. The expertise of Friendly Mart in catering to hotels was a great help for Abdul. In the last year, Nazeer launched a new company “Friendly Mart (Surat) Enterprise” in Surat (financial capital of Gujarat) on the lines of Friendly Mart Enterprise, to cater to the local restaurants of the region. Local entrepreneurs and staff were trained at Friendly Mart Enterprise (Ahmedabad) for 1 year and then later sent to Surat to care of the venture.

To integrate the business even further, an off-shoot was introduced, namely “Friendly Mart Logistics” in the year 2009–2010; as the name suggests, it is a supply chain company for transport of merchandise from Friendly Mart Enterprise to franchise networks, hotels, and restaurants. Logistics arm also converted into the stockiest to other related product mixes like confectionery, biscuits, and food items, which can be provided to other distributors and retailers. Friendly Mart Logistics is run by an independent entrepreneur under Nazeer’s guidance and supervision. To strengthen the backwards integration, another subsidiary was introduced, namely “Friendly Mart Farm Services,” which mainly provides consultancy services (technical) to the farming community on the best farm practices to increase productivity and reduce production cost. In return, Friendly Mart Enterprise would purchase the produce as per the market rate and would benefit the farmers and the enterprise mutually. If the produce is more than Friendly Mart Enterprise would market the same, farmer may end up earning better returns.

Nazeer’s purpose is to help the entrepreneurs with their franchise business as the growth of the franchise network and the subsidiary will reflect on the growth of the overall business.

Results and discussion

This paper is a preliminary effort to elucidate the concept of community-based entrepreneurial activities based on evidences from a case. It tried to identify the determinants leading to formation, composition, operation, and offering of community-based entrepreneurship as a means of economic or livelihood development. There is obviously a considerable scope of further research which remains as conjectures offered in origins, evolution, and collateral effects of the said phenomenon to increase our comprehension connected with the construction, progression, and performance of under-recognized (or unrecognized) form of enterprising processes.

Major determinants could be shared locality or values (e.g., “kin-based” and various forms of voluntary as well as “natural” associations as evident in Chilea community). Factors such as rural, urban, indigenous reserves, and new settlements are also could be an impacting one. Juhapura locality happens to be the new settlement for a Muslim community after the communal riots in 2001, in another word a Muslim ghetto. Deprived socio-economic status of Muslims can be considered as a key determinant of entrepreneurial activity as observed in the case. The study also suggests that entrepreneurship among a Muslim community characteristically emerge in an environment of economic stress, drawing from the community’s traditions of helping each other. The question could be the extent to which community-based economic activities may be an effective instrument in the context of developing the livelihood that can be replicated in communities that may or may not have a shared a characteristic.

The likely impact of community-oriented enterprises towards sustainable benefits of marginal communities helps in better understanding of a new form of entrepreneurial activity but limited by scarcity of literature. In case of Friendly Mart, benefits are limited to few people involved in the related commercial activities irrespective of place, language, religion, or community. So, spillover effects are absent or limited in nature (Peredo, and Chrisman 2006 ). There are many aspects of community-based entrepreneurship which require both qualitative and quantitative assessment for furthering the knowledge.

Community-based enterprise offers a promising approach towards poverty reduction in deprived communities to the limited extent. However, economic and non-economic goals can enhance the realization of social and material resources of the communities as suggested by the case. It also touches upon the role of cultural values, institutional arrangements, and structures in the formation of the enterprise. Study emphasis on the management skills is required in a day-to-day decision-making while keeping the consistency with the broader goal as a commercial entity.

The close coupling between capitals and capacity, resource tenure, and informed leadership can work as an analytical framework for furthering the research. The challenge is the interaction between the local regulatory framework based on one’s institutional values and norms with the national and international frameworks built on different logic. Although it can be noted, this is an ongoing process.

Finally, as reflected in this paper, leadership is the most critical element for the success of community-based enterprises (Anderson et al. 2006 ). In the early days of community-based entrepreneurship, leadership is the most crucial factor to recognize opportunities and risks while mobilizing capitals and capacities to realize social benefits.

The case study also reflects that asymmetry of the information creates a moral hazard in the community. Personal interactions among people play a vital role in avoiding moral hazard. In other words, community-based entrepreneurship can be considered as a window of opportunity to realize potential, otherwise remained isolated from the mainstream economy. This is important as to bring social upliftment of a community.

It can be stated that access to capital to mainstream connections can be a determining factor towards entrepreneurial success or failure. Community-based activities lead to dependence on sect partners, personnel, and customers which can be limiting in nature. This form of entrepreneurship is also plagued with communal cultural limitations about business ethos, lack of managerial experience, formal business training, and familiarity with the institutional and legal environment. The capital concentration of enterprises in urban ghettos and societal hostility are few of the principal challenges faced by ethnic entrepreneurs in Muslim communities are prone to. Many self-employed Muslim workers and small business in urban centers in a non-Islamic society indicate that they are bound to have a great propensity for entrepreneurial activities.

Conclusions

This study tries to emphasize on the development of a comprehensive approach towards community-based enterprising to enhance livelihood prospects for local population. It is evident that entrepreneurial ventures are motivated by community orientation and undertaken with the expectation of profits to be used for an expansion and the empowerment of members. But it remains to be established as an effective model for achieving community goals, as current evidences are limited in nature. Reflections from the study suggest that community affiliation combined with requisite entrepreneurial skills is essential for this form of enterprising to be successful. A community-based entrepreneurship should reflect on the multiplicity of local needs; however, this factor is missing in this case which needs to be explored further. The empowerment promoted by community enterprises suggests a shift towards the strengthening of existing capacities at an individual level and groups in a community. The major limitation of this phenomenon is the lack of community orientation in a modern society, capacity, and generalization of a model elsewhere. Community-based entrepreneurial activities could be an effective response to the “structural and functional disconnection between indigenous, informal, and formal institutions.” Few policy initiatives need to be taken for fostering a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among members of weak communities and encouraging the catalytic role towards further development.

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Parwez, S. Community-based entrepreneurship: evidences from a retail case study. J Innov Entrep 6 , 14 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-017-0074-z

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These are the reasons why businesses are getting started in 2023, 29% of entrepreneurs say they wanted to be their own boss, 17% were dissatisfied with corporate life, 16% wanted to pursue their passion, and 12% say the opportunity presented itself. Entrepreneurship in India has witnessed a remarkable surge over the past few decades. With a burgeoning economy and a dynamic ecosystem, the country has produced a plethora of successful entrepreneurs and startups. In this article, we delve into the top 10 case studies on entrepreneurship in India, each offering unique insights, lessons, and inspiration for aspiring business leaders.

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Table of Content Top 10 Case Studies on Entrepreneurship in India

Top 10 Case Studies on Entrepreneurship in India

Flipkart: revolutionizing e-commerce.

Founders : Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal

Year Founded : 2007

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Key Takeaway : Customer focus and innovation can disrupt traditional industries and lead to exceptional growth.  

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OYO: Disrupting the Hotel Industry

Founder : Ritesh Agarwal

Year Founded : 2013

Ritesh Agarwal's story is a prime example of young entrepreneurship in India. OYO, which began as a budget hotel aggregator, has expanded globally, becoming one of the world's largest hospitality chains. Ritesh's vision is backed by a robust technology platform, and streamlined and standardized hotel operations, offering affordable, quality stays.

Key Takeaway : Identifying a market gap and using technology to address it can lead to rapid business expansion.

Read more:  Top 12 Examples of AI Case Studies in Content Marketing

Byju's: Changing the Face of Education

Founder : Byju Raveendran

Year Founded : 2011

Byju, the edtech unicorn, was born from Byju Raveendran's vision to make learning engaging and accessible. He built a unique platform offering interactive online classes for students across India. Byju's became one of the world's most valuable edtech companies, catering to millions of students.

Key Takeaway : Leveraging technology for education can create substantial opportunities and impact a wide audience.  

Paytm: A Digital Payment Pioneer

Founder : Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Year Founded : 2010

Paytm, initially a mobile recharge and bill payment platform, became a pioneer in digital payments in India. Vijay Shekhar Sharma's journey from a small town in Uttar Pradesh to building a fintech empire is an inspiration. The company's success can be attributed to its innovative approach and the ability to adapt to evolving market needs.

Key Takeaway : Flexibility and adaptability are crucial in the ever-evolving fintech industry.

Zomato: From a Restaurant Guide to a Food Delivery Giant

Founders : Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah

Year Founded : 2008

Zomato began as a restaurant discovery platform but swiftly evolved to include food delivery services. The founders, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, navigated challenges like fierce competition and the logistical complexity of food delivery. Their ability to pivot and cater to diverse customer needs allowed them to expand globally.

Key Takeaway : Adapting to changing market demands and diversifying offerings can lead to substantial growth.

Related article:  Top 10 Ways to Achieve Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategies

MakeMyTrip: Trailblazing in Online Travel

Founders : Deep Kalra

Year Founded : 2000

Deep Kalra founded MakeMyTrip at a time when e-commerce was in its nascent stage in India. Over the years, the company transformed the way Indians booked travel. With continuous innovation and expansion, MakeMyTrip is now a leading online travel company in the country.

Key Takeaway : Identifying an untapped niche and being a pioneer can result in long-term success.

Nykaa: Redefining Beauty Retail

Founder : Falguni Nayar

Year Founded : 2012

Falguni Nayar, a former investment banker, ventured into the beauty and cosmetics industry with Nykaa. The e-commerce platform revolutionized the beauty retail sector by offering a vast range of products, including both luxury and affordable brands. The company's success underscores the importance of understanding consumer preferences and delivering a seamless online shopping experience.

Key Takeaway : Customer-centricity and a diverse product range can lead to rapid growth in e-commerce.

Suggested:  Nykaa Case Study on Digital Marketing Strategies 2023

Freshworks: SaaS Unicorn from India

Founders : Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy

Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy co-founded Freshworks with the aim of creating a customer engagement software company. The company's suite of SaaS products has gained global recognition. Their approach to building a robust software platform with a focus on customer satisfaction exemplifies their journey from a Chennai-based startup to a SaaS unicorn.

Key Takeaway : A strong product and customer-centric approach can drive international success in the SaaS industry.

Lenskart: Redefining Eyewear Retail

Founder : Peyush Bansal

Peyush Bansal recognized the need for a reliable and convenient way to purchase eyewear in India. Lenskart introduced an online platform for buying eyeglasses and contact lenses. By integrating technology, Lenskart streamlined the purchase process, offering a wide range of eyewear and personalized services.

Key Takeaway : Identifying gaps in the market and providing innovative solutions can create new business opportunities.  

Rivigo: Revolutionizing Logistics

Founders : Deepak Garg

Year Founded : 2014

Deepak Garg's Rivigo introduced an innovative approach to logistics and transportation in India. Their relay model and tech-enabled trucking system optimized supply chain operations, reduced transit times, and enhanced efficiency. Rivigo's success in a traditional industry showcases the power of technology-driven solutions.

Key Takeaway : Applying technology to traditional sectors can lead to significant improvements and growth.

These 10 case studies on entrepreneurship in India provide a diverse range of success stories, demonstrating the versatility, resilience, and innovative spirit of Indian entrepreneurs. Each of these entrepreneurs identified market gaps, harnessed technology, and adapted to changing dynamics to build successful businesses. Their journeys serve as inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and underscore the limitless possibilities that await those willing to take risks and pursue their visions in the Indian business landscape.

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[i]  Gaylard, A. (2017a), interview with Barbara Queally on 8 June, GMPF, Johannesburg.

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No of pages : 9 pages

Habitaz: Growth Beyond Success

Walking around a potential new building space of over 2000m2 in July 2006, Hein Koen and André Sharpe, joint founders of Habitaz, a provider of integrated virtual workspace infrastructure and related services, noted that they had achieved great success since the start of the business two years ago. They were, however, faced with the urgent challenge of making the right strategic decisions regarding the future growth and financing of the business. As they pondered their options, the directors hoped that they would end up making choices that could catapult the company to even greater levels of achievement.

No. Pages: 15

Legendary Retail Brands: A Sustainable Business Model?

With many years of experience as an entrepreneur and businessman, Alan Reeves, chief operating officer (COO) of Legendary Retail Brands (LRB), which was the shareholder and administrator of the Mica, DIY Depot and House of Paint and Décor voluntary buying group (VBG) brands, was continuously thinking about the next step for the group. Member profitability was good, despite a tough economic environment, but Reeves was aware that this could change easily. “That’s why we need to plan ahead for the next five years,” he thought. [i]  As he planned for the next board meeting in September 2016, Reeves considered the options for the group and what he could recommend regarding the way forward.

[i]  Beswick, C. and Soicher, A. (2016), Interview with Alan Reeves, 13 July 2016, Johannesburg.

MCM Wines in China: Taking on the Dragon

In July 2009, businessman and entrepreneur, Martyn Mills of MCM Wines, reconsidered his marketing strategy. He had been exporting his own wine to China since 2003 and had recently signed an agreement with the prestigious South African wine estate, Groot Constantia, to export its wine to that country as well. However, conducting business in China was complex and expensive and, earlier that year, he had partnered with a new importer in China to help combat certain of the challenges. Mills wanted to support his new business partner as much as he could in promoting MCM wines; however, he had a limited budget. Given this fact, how could he grow his market in China, he wondered?

No. Pages : 22

Nando’s Chilli Sourcing: Innovation for Social Impact

In late 2013, Nando’s, a global chicken restaurant chain, marked the successful implementation of a project for ethical sourcing of African bird’s eye chillies (ABE) – the signature ingredient of the brand. The initiative had set Nando’s on the road to securing its annual requirement of ABE from traceable sources, while improving the lives of participating small-scale farmers in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. However, Jed Goldstein, programme manager of the initiative, wondered whether Nando’s could sustain ethical sourcing of ABE in a context where procurement of other goods and services continued unchanged.

No of pages : 25 pages

Nando’s Chilli Sourcing: Innovation for Social Impact Teaching Note Synopsis

In late 2013, Nando’s, a global chicken restaurant chain, marked the successful implementation of a project for the ethical sourcing of African bird’s eye chillies (ABE) – the signature ingredient of the brand. The initiative had set Nando’s on the road to securing its annual requirement of ABE from traceable sources, while improving the lives of participating small-scale farmers in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. However, Jed Goldstein, programme manager of the initiative, wondered whether Nando’s could sustain the ethical sourcing of ABE in a context where the procurement of other goods and services continued unchanged.

Ndaba Ntsele: Entrepreneurial Vision

On 19 May 2010, Ndaba Ntsele – Ernst & Young World Best Entrepreneur (SA, 2007) and CEO of Pamodzi Investment Holdings (PIH), a diversified investment company – was preparing for the launch of Pamodzi Aviation the next day. The company had secured a licence from the Ukraine-based, government-owned Antonov Aeronautical Scientific Complex to service and sell Antonov planes in Africa. However, he still had to negotiate the terms of the relationship that Pamodzi Aviation would have with Denel Aviation, the organisation providing the necessary technical expertise and infrastructure for the venture. His gut told him that Pamodzi Aviation could make millions – if not billions – of rands, but he was aware that real-world realities might get in the way and he wondered if he had missed anything.

No. of pages: 12 

PtiP: A Bumpy Road to Solar Success

Not for the first time since opening his company’s demonstration facility in the Stellenbosch Technopark, Professor Vivian Alberts – chief executive and co-founder of Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property Innovations (PTiP) – stood back and admired what he saw. Twenty years had passed since this academic physicist began working on thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technology. He believed it had the potential to make a significant impact on South Africa’s energy problems and to capture a share of the international market. Interested parties, including Eskom, had come to see the facility, but by September 2016, Alberts had yet to sign his first deal to license and build a turnkey solar module factory. He was unwavering in his belief that PTiP had something the country needed, but he was also aware that if it didn't take off fairly soon, the commercial window of opportunity would close. What was the solution?           

Raizcorp:Planting the Seeds for Entrepreneurial Growth and Prosperity

Raizcorp chief executive Allon Raiz was faced each day with many applications to join his business incubation Prosperator programme. He knew what to look for in an entrepreneur, but it was not always “cut and dried”. In September 2012, he and his panel were considering an applicant who had passed all the tests with flying colours, and they were unanimous in their belief that he had what it took to be successful. His business, however, left them in doubt. It was a struggling IT support company, which they felt had no differentiating factors in an already overtraded industry.

Raizcorp believed in “backing the jockey but not the horse”, which often meant having to change the entrepreneur’s mindset and helping them explore new ideas. Would they be successful in this case? And was it worth the investment of time and resources? It worried Raiz, because he knew if the individual was to embark on a new venture, it would take some time before Raizcorp would see any return on its investment.

No of Pages: 12 

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Raizcorp:Planting the Seeds for Entrepreneurial Growth and Prosperity Teaching Note

Raizcorp was a South African business incubator founded by Allon Raiz in 2000. The company, which was the only privately held, unfunded, profit-making incubator in South Africa, provided a variety of business support programmes aimed at guiding individual entrepreneurs to profitability. By 2012, Raizcorp had established itself as one of Africa’s leading business incubators, supporting around 300 companies throughout South Africa, with an average 86% success rate. Raizcorp had developed a rigorous eight-step selection process through which it chose its entrepreneurs. Successful candidates embarked on one of the company’s Prosperator divisions, the two main ones being Partner Elite (an ongoing partnership with Raizcorp) and Arize (shorter programmes for BEE candidates).

According to Raiz, most of those involved in entrepreneurship in South Africa were in the early stages of their business and had no access to any sort of business incubation, with two thirds of them operating as survivalists and only 4% of businesses surviving for longer than 10 years. Raizcorp did not believe in a “one-size-fits-all” scenario for business incubation, but preferred to fit a programme to an entrepreneur, according to their individual needs and experience, and the nature of the business. In addition, personal development was a high priority for Raizcorp, where caring for the individual as well as the importance of networking as a support mechanism were stressed. Raiz constantly tweaked and reworked his company’s systems and processes to find better ways of operating, and to increase his success rate.

No of Pages: 12

Reel Gardening: Making a Profit to Fight Poverty

On 1 July 2013 Claire Reid, founder and director of Reel Gardening, a manufacturer of prefertilised vegetable and herb seed strips, met with Emily Jones, head of Reel Life, the community-focused arm of Reel Gardening. Reel Life aimed to address food security in South Africa by helping low-income communities plant food gardens using Reel Gardening’s products. Reid was concerned that Reel Gardening was not making the profits it needed to fund the growth she envisaged for Reel Life. How could they grow Reel Gardening into a more substantial business, so that Reel Life could have maximum impact on needy communities, she wondered.

No of Pages: 20

Shanduka Black Umbrellas: Giving Impetus to Black Enterprises

In September 2016, Seapei Mafoyane, chief executive officer (CEO) of Shanduka Black Umbrellas (SBU), a business incubator targeting emerging black-owned enterprises, was busy writing her annual review for inclusion in SBU’s 2016 annual report. She believed that SBU had an essential role to play in ensuring the success of black entrepreneurs [1]  in South Africa, among whom the failure rate was notoriously high.

No of pages : 18

[1]  In this case study, the author used the term entrepreneurship in its broadest form, and thus it implied all small businesses ventures and not only new, innovative business ventures. 

Sling Aircraft: Gearing Up for the Big Time

Despite the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 had been productive for South African small-aircraft manufacturer Sling Aircraft. Globally, sales of its aeroplanes had increased and the company had just finished a development prototype of a high-wing four-seater. Now, in January 2021, founder Mike Blyth and his business partners, James and Andrew Pitman, felt certain that there was space in the market for a five-seater aeroplane, and they were meeting to discuss how to set up the business for success, so as not to put all the hard work of the last 15 years in jeopardy.

No of pages : 28 

SolarTurtle: Searching for the Game Changer

James van der Walt, founder of SolarTurtle, looked out of his office window at the people sitting in the common area of Stellenbosch University’s LaunchLab. Van der Walt’s mind was, however, far from the LaunchLab’s collegial environment that afternoon in May 2018. SolarTurtle had not been growing fast enough to make the company self-sustaining, and the current finance model for franchisees had proven to be unsustainable. Van der Walt wondered whether the introduction of the BabyTurtle and the MiniTurtle, the company’s newest products, would improve the growth rate of the company. 

No. Pages: 12

Women in Wine: Can Principles Turn a Profit? Abridged

In October 2016, the management team of Women in Wine – South Africa’s first wine brand to be owned and controlled by black women – gathered to prepare for the annual meeting of company shareholders. Operating conditions locally and abroad over the preceding year had once again proved extremely challenging, and chief executive officer (CEO) Beverly Farmer felt the firm needed decisive action to improve its fortunes. Accordingly, she was going to present two possible courses of action to shareholders: focus resources on developing a more innovative marketing strategy for the company, or acquire a property to enable diversification into hospitality and farming ventures. Farmer wondered which option would be most effective in enabling Women in Wine to fulfil its central purpose: giving black women – particularly farm workers – a meaningful stake in a sector that had traditionally been controlled by white men.

No of pages : 22

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Case Questions

Smart phones are everywhere today. You probably have one nearby right now. However, access to landline phone service has not been complete for very long, and wireless service is not as widespread as many people might think. The first phone lines (landlines) connected Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts in 1877. The last town in the United States to receive landline service was Mink, Louisiana, a small community 100 miles south of Shreveport, which received landline service in early 2005. Check any major US wireless carrier, and its maps have gaps in service. Building networks of any kind takes planning, money, and time.

• What are some similarities between an entrepreneur starting a new business in a new profession in a new market and a telephone service network?
• How are the requirements for a telephone network infrastructure like those for a new entrepreneur?
• What are some estimated costs, not necessarily monetary ones?
• What are some benefits to an entrepreneur who enters a market with established networks?
• How do established networks save the entrepreneur valuable money and time?
• With limited resources, what criteria should an entrepreneur use to determine priorities of spending time, effort, and money in developing networks?
• Does each criterion have equal weight? Why or why not?

The Internet Association (IA, https://internetassociation.org/) was founded in 2012 as a trade association devoted to Internet-based companies. Founding companies included Google , Amazon , eBay , and Facebook . These Internet-based companies founded this new trade group because they did not have a voice in Washington, DC, with respect to potential regulations and laws. The IA has synergy—more influence as a group than each company would have individually.

• What prompted the formation of the IA?
• Was it for marketing purposes?
• Management support?
• Industry advancement?
• Regulatory influence?
• What are some secondary purposes for the IA?
• How might the original purpose of the organization shift as the industry matures?
• Will small companies enjoy the same benefits of the larger founding organization?
• Any new venture involves substantial risks and costs. How might a new Internet startup benefit from joining the IA?
• How else do the large corporations benefit besides having a say in the political discussion in Washington, DC?
• What time commitment should a new business make before expecting any positive return on investing time and money in a trade association?
• If joining the IA requires a membership fee, what determinants should you use to place a value on the amount spent for dues?
• What benefits of a trade association may be not easily linked to membership expenses?

In 1989, the new NFL owner of the Dallas Cowboys , Jerry Jones , fired the legendary coach Tom Landry and hired one of his former college football teammates, Jimmy Johnson , as the new head coach. Johnson faced the same problems that a new entrepreneur has: Who should be on my leadership team? What should be their responsibility? Out of twelve key coaching positions, Johnson kept only three coaches from Landry’s staff in the same positions and moved one coach to a different position. Within four years (1993), the Dallas Cowboys, under head coach Jimmy Johnson, won Super Bowl XXVII with six of the original coaches Johnson hired his first year still in the same positions.

• How is a startup similar to an existing organization that needs to be turned around? How are they different?
• What are some reasons to surround yourself with others instead of taking the attitude that “I can do it myself?”
• For any leader, what are some reasons that skills in identifying and recruiting key people are more important than technical skills?

Every four years, the United States elects a president. Although the incumbent might be reelected, the United States is guaranteed to have a new president at least every eight years. On winning the election, the new president must identify candidates for cabinet positions. Some potential candidates decline the invitation and voluntarily withdraw themselves from consideration. Those who accept the invitation are put through an intensive screening process. The president then submits cabinet-level nominees to the US Senate for confirmation. As in any close group, recruiting and selecting individuals to join the presidential cabinet is critical for the president to achieve any objectives or goals.

• What kind of experience is beneficial to members of a board of directors for a local performing arts group? Should they be experienced in industry? Government? Fundraising? Management? Marketing? The arts?
• Besides experience, what other type of backgrounds should be considered? What about board members’ ages? Education? Gender? Residency? Financial Status? Connections to local or regional major employers?
• What can a new entrepreneur learn from an executive director of a nonprofit about selecting candidates to build a winning team? How important is it that some candidates decline to join the board? How long should members be on the board?
• How important is diversity in building a winning team? What skills must the entrepreneur perfect? What skills can be learned and developed later by the entrepreneur? Why is a variety of backgrounds, in the technical field and outside of the industry, important?
• Who is the actual team leader? (1) Entrepreneur? (2) Strongest personality? (3) Smartest? (4) Most technically skilled? (5) Financier? (6) Most experienced in management?

Narciso Gómez has worked in the service department at an auto dealership for about twenty-five years and has served as the service manager for the past seven years. He is qualified for retirement through the dealership but wants to open his own business. He is looking at buying a franchise, either a Jiffy Lube quick oil-change franchise that is for sale or a new SuperGlass Windshield Repair franchise. Both are automotive service and repair related, where he has plenty of experience.

• Besides his technical skills, what does Narciso need to consider before purchasing a franchise business?
• How might the estimated volume of work required to generate enough sales to cover his financial obligations affect his decision?
• The Jiffy Lube business model requires a four-bay facility. What does Narciso need to calculate in developing his business plan?
• The SuperGlass Windshield Repair is an on-site repair model whereby the technicians drive to the vehicle’s location for work. What should Narciso’s main concerns be in developing a business plan for this business model?

Han Jia-ying was an office manager for a construction company until she decided to be a stay-at-home mother with her kids. Her former employer has called her to take over some administrative work at home, such as payroll processing, payroll tax filings, bookkeeping, and other general administrative work. Her employer has said that some of his customers probably could employ her for their general administrative tasks.

• If she works from home, what type of scheduling issues does Jia-ying face? What might be some interruptions to her ability to meet specific deadlines, such as processing paychecks each week?
• If Jia-ying needs additional help, what options does she have? Would she be wise to hire an employee or seek some support from someone else? Who might that be? What problems might Jia-ying encounter when seeking a nonregular employee?
• Jia-ying will need new office equipment, including a new computer, a new scanner/printer, phone service, Internet connections, and so on. However, she is not tech savvy. How might she best manage working from home by herself, especially is something goes wrong or does not work?

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Case Studies in Entrepreneurship

• Innovative and exciting cases that present common business scenarios, offering practical perspectives for up-and-coming entrepreneurs
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An ideal companion for instructors and students, this book is essential reading for MBA courses in entrepreneurship, non-profit management and social entrepreneurship, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business and management that specialize in entrepreneurship

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The economic environment demands companies to be able of innovating and presenting new products and technologies. However, current industrial environments are composed of big established companies, small or medium family businesses and regional clusters. This business map does not comply with the dynamism required for detecting needs and proposals in form of new products that meet the current customer requirements. The creation of start-ups in the field of engineering is considered as a possibility to cover a growing market in designing high technological products. However, despite the importance and economic impact of the start-ups for less industrialized environments the courses in the engineering field do not include activities that contextualize theoretical knowledge and entrepreneurship. The paper presents the results of creating an entrepreneurial environment focused on the student as entrepreneurial unit. In this context, a series of new activities based on new design proposa...

Industry and Higher Education, 2021

Creative problem-solving has been identified as one of the most critical future-proof skillsets we can develop in our society. When educating future designers, entrepreneurship skills are now considered essential; however, designers find it difficult to establish themselves as entrepreneurs. Therefore, graduate designers are increasingly in need of these skills to complement their creative ability. This paper offers information to academic institutions looking to implement entrepreneurship modules in existing design and creative programmes. The paper seeks to understand the entrepreneurship skills required for product design graduates through a case study. Current teaching practice is described, and interviews and co-design sessions with relevant stakeholders are conducted to inform future entrepreneurship education for product design students. From these findings, a module descriptor entitled 'Entrepreneurship for Designers' was created for an existing programme and delivered through both practice and theory. This module is intended to provide an understanding of the entrepreneurship process and to offer students the confidence to pursue design-related ventures post-graduation.

The handout \' Men wanted to sell fried- ground nuts, monthly salary Rs.10,000, boarding free\' advertised by a budding, not the Hovered educated Entrepreneur down in the streets of T.Nagar, a busy bazaar in Chennai with its round the clock hustle and bustle is graphical enough to display the amount of unexplored Entrepreneur Potential that remains latent in TamilNadu,and by extension the cities ,villages across the nation as a whole. one can\'t deny the fact that an engineering graduate after spending his or her Capitation fee that runs into few lakhs ,has to settle down for a paltry \'package\' as it were Rs.8000 odd amount, should think twice before pursuing higher studies any more if this is what his exacting educational destiny prepares him or her to be. The wisdom of practical experience as it is encapsulated in the Tamil adage \'Kai tholil ondrai Katrukol Kavalai Unakillai Othukol\' the translation of which is \'Learn a Craft( vocational training in entrepreneurial parlance) and bother no more\' serves it right for the tens and thousands of the so called \'Engineering \' folks to not only aspire big in life but also expand the horizon of professional advancement, economic prosperity, and contributions to the national Development and growth as responsible citizens .The present paper undertakes to study the untapped entrepreneurial potency that our nation has in terms of its educated youth, especially among the engineering students, the unemployability crisis that the country wrestles with and finally the hitherto unexplored domains of entrepreneurial excellence that the country needs to zero in on. This paper also endeavors to demystify the concept of Entrepreneurship, the need and scope of entrepreneurship in India, and finally unearths some of the potential domains which could be capitalized with proper leverage.

The South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 2012

FGF studies in small business and entrepreneurship, 2023

Purpose This research investigates the effectiveness of an experiential learning approach, available to students in all disciplines that combined a hands-on entrepreneurial and enterprise experience with professional consultant mentoring by using a competition to win business start-up funding. Design/methodology/approach Students at a UK university had the chance to enter a competition in which they developed an entrepreneurial idea and then designed and presented a business plan to win business start-up capital. Students who were entrepreneurially motivated, but who lacked capital to start up their business, were targeted, as these students have been argued to benefit the most from a combination of business plan training and entrepreneurial development. Feedback and data was obtained from the students at each stage of the process and was thematically analysed to assess the development of students' entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through the experience. Findings The research found that the benefits gained from this approach included both enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, with the greatest impact being on student confidence and belief in their ability to start a business. The practical skills had a 'demystifying' effect on students that made them feel like entrepreneurship and enterprise start-up were attainable.

Market Forces, 2015

Entrepreneurship is imperative for growing economies in times of environmental uncer¬tainties. Pakistani mentality is undergoing a change and more and more educated people are looking at business of their own rather than a &quot;naukri&#39;. This bold initiative by a few is likely to motivate young budding professionals to follow suit. Entrepreneurship is all about identifying a business opportunity and adding color to it to sound compelling. Idea has replaced finances as an engine to entrepreneurial spirit. Another factor that stands out is the ability of making calculated risks and being persistent in your struggle. Entrepreneurial character also helps in making you successful. The need of time is to allow small and medium enterprises SME to grow disproportionately to double the GDP growth of the country&quot;. This is a story of five entrepreneurs who surmounted the odds and build their enterprise into successful businesses.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design Iced, 2013

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2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurship. Mark Casson, Bernard Yeung, Anuradha Basu and Nigel Wadeson (Eds.) Oxford University Press, Oxford (2006/2008) xviii + 790 pp. £89.00 ISBN 0-19- 928898-4 (hbk.) £27.50 ISBN 978-0-19-954699-2 (pbk)., 2006

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DS 117: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&amp;PDE 2022), London South Bank University in London, UK. 8th - 9th September 2022

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Entrepreneurship is at the root of business. Some entrepreneurs become so successful that their companies last long for 4-5 generations (and beyond), while some last for their generation. And many fail few years after taking off. Is there an equivalent of Level-5 Leadership (as propounded by Jim Collins) in entrepreneurship? No answers yet, though. IBSCDC�s case studies on entrepreneurship cover various topics connected with entrepreneurship � business models, business plans, entrepreneurial finance, founder-succession, social entrepreneurship, etc. The case studies enlisted here trigger your intuitive reasoning and question established wisdom. Come and explore what it takes to script a successful entrepreneurial venture. Read the interviews with experts that can enrich your learning from the case studies. View the videos on some highly successful entrepreneurs.

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How Intrapreneurship Accelerates Organizations: 4 Case Studies

Fostering an intrapreneurial culture can reap long-lasting rewards for your business, what is intrapreneurship.

Intrapreneurship is a people-centric approach to developing an entrepreneurial culture . Unlike entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs are actual employees who work with an existing company’s resources to achieve corporate innovation.

While the term “intrapreneurship” has a debatable history, it was first coined by Gifford Pinchot III and Elizabeth Pinchot in their published paper “Intra-Corporate Entrepreneurship” in 1978 and used again in their 1985 book “Intrapreneuring”. The term is a portmanteau of the words “inside” and “entrepreneur”.

Intrapreneurs are not building ventures from scratch, nor are they investing their own money into businesses. Instead, these people use an entrepreneurial mindset to develop innovative products and ideas that benefit the companies they’re working for.

Intrapreneurship can be achieved in 2 ways:

• Experimenting with new lines of business through investment in new internal ideas
• Instilling an entrepreneurial approach to strategy and execution into existing business lines

Why intrapreneurship accelerates growth

Companies that embrace innovation while optimizing existing products see lasting growth and profitability. A powerful yet simple approach to achieving innovation is capitalizing on the most important resource within your company: your people.

Research shows that intrapreneurship elevates both productivity scores and employee engagement . This is especially true for those employees who are more motivated by rewards as opposed to punishment. (As you might expect, employees that have a cautious and risk-averse mindset generally do not make good intrapreneurs.)

Why it’s hard to achieve

Intrapreneurship runs the risk of pinning all hope on a “genius who can save the day” which results in unpredictability of results and returns. This in turn can make it hard to champion intrapreneurship again in the future in front of boards and execs.

Furthermore, intrapreneurship isn’t as perfect a fit for all industries, especially where capital requirements and regulatory burdens are high. Some industries like aerospace and energy may face headwinds simply because the investment into internal startups must be more significant to generate data and measurable returns—and usually without the typical funding channels available to the rest of the business.

Intrapreneurial projects are also different from a traditional startup that is usually based on a blank canvas. As Bill Aulet, director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship puts it, startups are generally worry-free compared to larger companies. When you’re operating an enterprise, there’s already “a lot of paint on the canvas”.

An established business like this has several products, revenues, staff, processes, and an organizational structure—all those things that a startup is still trying to obtain—which can be both an enabler and a decelerant.

As startups mature, staying flexible and avoiding rigidity becomes harder. An entrepreneur has nothing to lose, but when you’re part of a bigger business you just don’t have that much freedom anymore due to potential threats and risks. Maintaining a balance in cases like these is crucial.

The right way to do intrapreneurship

Companies leveraging intrapreneurship the most fully tend to have 4 traits :

• They embrace uncertainty
• They assemble the right team and resources around intrapreneurs
• They reward agility and incremental proof
• They widely explore new customer needs and segments

Let's explore 4 companies that have had stellar results from intrapreneurship.

Case study 1: Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a global cloud computing service provider. The story of how AWS became the workhorse of the cloud computing industry, now standing next to such giants as IBM, Microsoft, and Google, is fascinating, to say the least.

According to Andy Jassy, AWS leader and SVP , no “ah-ha” moment lead Amazon, then an online bookseller, to become a game-changing force in the technology market. Instead, the idea to expand gradually emerged out of the company’s frustration with its ability to support existing customers, and launch projects.

Amazon stumbled upon the concept of AWS while trying to solve a recurring need for faster technology deployments. The reason for this was the company’s focus on delivering better experiences both internally and for its partners. 

The AWS team soon started as an intrapreneurial venture within Amazon. After some time, the company began to look seriously at what this branch of business would look like in the long term. Amazon’s early-stage startup questions included:

• Is there a market need for a better solution?
• Do we have the competency to provide a successful product?
• Is the space large enough to become part of the business?
• Do we have a differentiated approach?

The answer to all of these was a solid yes. AWS was launched in 2006 and soon manifested itself as a disruptive approach to cloud computing development.

Case study 2: PlayStation

PlayStation is a captivating story of a successful product creation launched by Sony’s intrapreneur Ken Kutaragi.

Ken joined Sony in Japan in 1975. He was working as an electrical engineer at Sony sound labs when he bought his daughter a Nintendo game console. As his daughter played games, he noticed that the quality of the sound was sub-par. Ken figured that a digital chip dedicated to sound would drastically improve the quality of the gaming system. 

Long story short, he started working as an outside consultant for Nintendo while keeping his day job at Sony. Ken managed to develop the SPC7000 for Nintendo games, and as he continued working as a part-time consultant, he eventually developed a CD-ROM-based system for Nintendo.

Nintendo decided not to move forward with the CD-ROM system. That’s when Ken saw the market opportunity of gaming systems for Sony. Being a natural intrapreneur, he pressed hard to convince Sony to enter the electronic gaming industry. Sony’s then-CEO Chairman Ohga recognized Ken’s creativity and innovation-focused mindset. He backed Kutaragi’s plan despite most of the senior management opposing the idea.

Ken went on to lead the effort to help Sony develop a gaming system that later became widely known as PlayStation. The product became a global success, taking a significant market share of the same consoles and selling more than 70 million units in the late 1990s . By 1998, the PlayStation made up 40 percent of Sony’s operating revenues.

Case study 3: Post-It Notes

Post-It Notes is the classic business school example of an intrapreneurial mindset. It all started in 1974 when a 3M engineer Arthur Fry saw that a special adhesive developed by the company was failing. He noticed the glue had a slight tacky quality so he tried some of it to stick a note in his hymnal. Not only did it work, but it was also easily removable. 

However, after the initial discovery, 3M management failed to see value in the non-sticky adhesive. There was no internal senior support for the concept until a change in management in 1973. That’s when the new products laboratory manager Geoff Nicholson was convinced to give this a go. 

It wasn’t until 1977 that the product has been finally tested for real-world sales, and the rest is history.

Case study 4: Gmail

As Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt puts it , Google’s business is all about innovation. A notable aspect of Google’s innovative culture is its legendary 20 percent time policy that allows employees to invest about a day per week to pursue projects outside of their area of duty. Through this practice, Google encourages its employees to act as intrapreneurs and think outside the box. Most of the time, Googlers that work on 20 percent projects join forces with others to create an internal start-up.

One of the most notorious and successful examples that resulted from this practice is Gmail. It all started with Google’s employee Paul Buchheit and his idea to expand Google’s services by developing a web-based email that could provide a search engine.

Most within the company thought this was a bad idea from both the strategic and product point of view. But all worries were set aside when founders of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided to go ahead and support Paul’s project.

As a result, Google’s Gmail launched in 2004 and became the company’s first landmark service since its search engine service started in 1998.

Today, Gmail has more than 1.5 billion active users from around the world. It has gone from a small intrapreneurial experiment to becoming one of the key services of Google’s product offering.

Final words

It’s important to understand that intrapreneurship is by no means the catch-all solution for companies looking to innovate. As mentioned earlier, intrapreneurship is not made for every business, and it certainly can’t solve all problems. Think of it more like one of the many elements that can be applied to foster company innovation.

The case studies provided in this article all point out one simple truth: intrapreneurship isn’t just about doing things in a certain way but is more of a mindset that enables your employees to think and act in a way that supports entrepreneurial culture within the company.

It’s also not about hero employees saving the day. Developing an intrapreneurial culture takes time and has to be supported at an organization-wide level to bring lasting results.

Photo by Riccardo Annandale .

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Home » Modern Management Concepts » Case Study on Corporate Entrepreneurship: Steve Jobs of Apple

Case Study on Corporate Entrepreneurship: Steve Jobs of Apple

Corporate Entrepreneurship is broadly described as the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization . This definition includes two aspects of CE, a new business creation within existing organizations and renewal of the current strategy of the corporation. The vital notion is that corporations must capitalize on the entrepreneurial thinking of the managers to chase future evolution under changing and uncertain environments. Overall, studies suggest that Corporate Entrepreneurship activities are composed of three areas: idea generation, selection, and implementation or retention. Autonomy is an integral and central part of CE. Under conditions of change and uncertainty, providing autonomy to enterprising managers and encouraging them to elaborate on their own experience and ideas is a more promising approach than formal strategy development that relies solely on top management. It has been argued that although CE is partially due to individual characteristics of entrepreneurs who hold positions of middle and operational managers, CE is also a product of autonomy set up by such organizational dynamics as control and reward systems, top management support, resource availability, a supportive organizational structure , and a risk-taking culture. It is significant to recognize that autonomy here is linked to an incentive for risk averse entrepreneurial managers to take a risk of thinking and experimenting with new ideas i.e. “ think outside the box ”.

Corporate Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of entrepreneurial activities and ingenuities that alters the present organization through strategic rejuvenation processes, it may enable the extension of the corporation’s scope of operations into new realms. Similarly CE is the practice of organizational regeneration and transmits two diverse but connected phenomena. First is innovation and corporate venturing actions. Corporate venturing refers to creation of new businesses, which could either be internal or external. Example Apple Inc. creation of Macintosh, which divided the company into two group inside the company- Macintosh and the rest in early 1980. Second, CE symbolizes regeneration actions that enrich a corporations’ capacity to participate and take risks, which may or may not involve the addition of new businesses to a corporation. Here the example of second comings of Steve Jobs at Apple , where the development of iPod mp3 player regenerated the company in early 2000. CE is initiated at the top level of the corporation in order to create a companywide strategy and gain competitive advantage . Some scholars have labelled CE as Intrapreneurship . Intrapreneurship is derived from the knowledge of using entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and start-up business practices within an organization. As we will see from the case study of Apple Inc., Late Mr. Steve Jobs belonged to this category.

To sum up, the key notion that underlies the concept of CE or Intrapreneurship is a behavioral phenomenon and all corporations fall along a theoretical continuum that ranges from highly traditional to highly entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial corporations are risk-taking, innovative, and proactive in their strategies. Similarly, entrepreneur managers are calculated risk takers, out of the box thinkers, confident individuals, who see opportunity where there is chaos. The combination strategy of organizations and individuals in the organizations who bear entrepreneur values is what creates an aura of CE.

Case Study: Steve Jobs of Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur who turned into an intrapreneur due to demands of the environment he worked in. The concept of corporate entrepreneur , initially called ‘Intrapreneuring’ is essentially start-up entrepreneurship turned inward. Apple was established on April 1st, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. The kits were hand-built by Wozniak. Steve Jobs was booted in 1985 and returned as CEO in 1997. By the time of his death in 2012 at the age of 56, he had transformed a company that was in such weak financial shape that it accepted a $150 million investment from Microsoft, into the most profitable technology company in the world. A consummate showman, Jobs was adept at explaining his vision to a mass audience and he built Apple into one of the world’s most powerful brands. The company’s annual revenues climbed to $108 billion (CNN most admired company 2012). Jobs and Woznick, both had a steady job but their entrepreneurial needs were unsatisfied and hence this gave rise to Apple Inc.

But by 1980, increased competition pooled with poor sales of the Apple III and its follow-up, the LISA, resulted in loss of its market share to IBM. Faced with bad sales, Steve Jobs introduced the Apple Macintosh in 1984. The first personal computer to feature a graphical-user interface controlled by a mouse, the Macintosh was a true breakthrough in terms of ease-of-use. This move by Apple demonstrated innovativeness and risk taking at the time of adverse conditions. This was partially because of Steve Jobs entrepreneur skills and partially of the entrepreneurial corporate strategies in place, this resulted in CE. Steve Jobs and his handpicked group of twenty Apple Computer engineers detached themselves from the other Apple employees to innovatively and intrapreneurially create the Mac. The MAC group, under Steve Jobs’ personal leadership , operated totally autonomously and without meddling from anyone at Apple. This is an example of how Steve Jobs exercised autonomy and disengaged from the organizational boundaries to lead a new business creation inside the same Apple. This action links up with the points of “Autonomous” and “Innovativeness” of the framework. It also fits in well with the definition of CE in question, since it created a new innovative business venture inside the organization.

However due to creative difference between Steve Jobs and the board, Jobs quit Apple in 1985. Here we see that Steve Jobs need for autonomy and power got in the way and eventually resulted in his leaving his beloved Apple Inc. Entrepreneur need to be autonomous and locus of power can sometimes result in unfavorable results. This marked a turbulent time for the company. It can be said that Apple lost it’s in the words of Schumpeter, J. A. (1952) “Creative destruction” entrepreneur and hence entrepreneur orientation was lost and so was CE culture. However as entrepreneurs are “wild spirits” and always looking for new challenges, later that year, using a share of the money from the stock sale, Steve launched NeXT Computer Co. with the objective of developing an innovative computer that would revolutionize higher education. Here we see the “never say die” spirit of the entrepreneur that Steve Jobs was. He despite all odds and failures stood back on his feet and created a new business venture. He portrayed attributes of innovativeness and proactiveness. He took a big risk with his savings and it could be argued that it was a calculated risk but others see it as a move to show his doubters that he can create “anything from nothing”.

Introduced in 1988, the NeXT computer boasted a host of innovations, But at $9,950, the it was too expensive to create enough sales to keep the company afloat. Undeterred, Jobs switched the company’s focus from hardware to software. He also began paying more attention to his other business, Pixar Animation Studios, which he had purchased from George Lucas in 1986. Here we see that Steve created branched out from the primary product and created an alternative business inside a business by utilizing his entrepreneurial skill of learning from failures. Steve Jobs could be said was a serial entrepreneur. He created a new organization and when the organization business was not enough for his appetite of entrepreneur orientation, he created a created a new business inside a business to satisfy the hunger of “creative destruction”. Following on the success, soon Apple bought NeXT for $400 million and re-appointed Jobs to Apple’s board of directors as an advisor to Apple chairman and CEO Gilbert F. Amelio. It was an act of desperation on Apple’s part. The physician of ancient Greece, Hippocrates in his aphorisms stated “For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable.” Because they had failed to develop a next-generation Macintosh operating system and incurred heavy financial loss, the firm’s share of the PC market had dropped to just 5.3% , and they hoped that Jobs could help turn the company around . One could argue that the move to buy NeXT and bring back Steve Jobs was risky and innovative in some sense and that was Apple’s entrepreneur orientation as its best for many years. On the other hand one could say that emotional embedded reasons were behind Steve Jobs accepting the offer to work for Apple Inc.

Once again, head of Apple and having gained back the “locus of power” and “autonomy” , Steve went to his old style of leadership by example but the past taught him lessons and he fully learned from those mistakes like any other good entrepreneur would. Jobs struck a deal with Microsoft to help ensure Apple’s survival. Next, Jobs installed the G3 PowerPC microprocessor in all Apple computers, making them faster than competing Pentium PCs. He also spearheaded the development of the iMac, a new line of affordable home desktops, which debuted in August 1998 to rave reviews. Under Jobs’ leadership, Apple returned to success, and by the end of 1998, boasted sales of $5.9 billion. Jobs’ first major innovation was the introduction in 2001 of the original iPod and iTunes music store, which altered how digital music was purchased. In January 2007, after years of rumor’s, Jobs rocked consumer electronics with the introduction of the first iPhone, which has since undergone four successive renovations. The device was not the world’s first touchscreen handset, but its design and easy-to-use user interface became the standard for all smartphone aspirants. However in Apple’s iPhone case, they created market or developed a new market by innovating and reinventing the existing product itself. Apple’s reconfiguring of the smartphone market caused old-fashioned players, from Microsoft, Nokia, and RIM, to reconsider and alter their own mobile strategies in the wake of the disruption caused by the iPhone. Apple Inc. under Steve Jobs adopted an unconventionality style to strategic design to identify opportunities in its external environment and to position the company to seize these opportunities. Profoundly, this involved the leader, in this case Jobs to think not only about needs of stakeholders but also how the Apple can reinvent or create new markets, products, customers, and services.

Nevertheless, Jobs stressed that the company had a longer-term strategy past personal computers, and that he was waiting for the next big thing, which turned out to be iPod and iPhone. Apple’s corporate entrepreneur strategy was heavily influenced by Steve Jobs personal values of regular and steady entrepreneurial way of doing things. It is important that CE requires consistency in approach and regularity in behavior. Jobs succeeded at seizing opportunities because he was able to recognize and initiating trends by taking a calculated risk at the time. He perceived himself akin to Henry Ford who, when asked about the of the automobile stated, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse”. Hence, it can be said that Steve Jobs had a “knack” of seizing opportunities because he was a risk taker and so did Apple Inc. as a company. Apple Inc. embraced “creative destruction” by altering the rules of the game in an IT industry. It also involves the aptitude to recognize industry dynamics and the key success factors that drive performance. Apple is known to be obsessed about the strategic action of its competitors and encourages his employees to do the same so that the company does not become complacent. They with the help of “aggressive marketing” are always looking to “compete intensively”, another dimension of the framework that is very relevant in Apple’s strategy. This is very clear from the mp3 devices market, where iPod’s monopoly has resulted in lack of competitors in the sector.

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