Introduction:
An entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, either with a new idea or a new angle on something already in existence. They take the responsibility and the risks either because they can make big profits – the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward – or because they believe passionately in their idea. Some might just enjoy the risk taking because they will set up a business and once it is running smoothly, go off and start another one.
Innocent Drinks is a story I got from my dyslexia tutor, Tracy Jenkins, which is about three friends who always had the idea of starting a business together. Because of their own unhealthy lifestyles, they came up with the idea of a healthy smoothie which would not need any effort except buying and drinking it. They tried it out at a music festival and asked their customers to tell them if they should give up their jobs to make the smoothies full-time by putting the empty bottles into a bin labelled Yes or one labelled No. As the answer was an overwhelming ‘yes’, they gave up their jobs and started the business. However, they didn’t know much about mass production and had problems raising finance but they refused to compromise on quality as many people suggested. They also had problems finding a distributor until they personally went round shops and proved that there was a demand. Because money was limited, they couldn’t pay for any advertising but had to rely on word of mouth and well designed packaging. Despite the difficulties, they persevered and made a success of the business
What I have learn from this:
Depending on what I’m selling, whether it’s a service or a product, I might approach it differently. Products usually need distributors and equipment if being produced in bulk and if it expands, more people and equipment will be needed. Advertising these days is often via Internet (Facebook, Twitter), flyers/posters I could create myself but I would need help on the calculations and the finance side.
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