ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE

Visit with an Entrepreneur and

Create a Lifelong Learning Log
Through an interview with entrepreneurs, you can gain insight into an entrepreneur's
reasons, strategies, approaches, and motivations for starting and owning a business.
Gathering information through interviewing is a valuable skill to practice. You can learn a
great deal in a short time through interviewing if you prepare thoughtfully and thoroughly.
The Visit with an Entrepreneur Exercise has helped students’ interview successful
entrepreneurs. While there is no right way to structure an interview, the format in this project,
has been tested successfully on many occasions. A breakfast, lunch, or dinner meeting is
often an excellent vehicle.
Select an entrepreneur and businesses about which you would like to learn (and assists you
in preparing your business plan project). This could be someone you see as an example or
role model to which you aspire, or which you know the least about but are eager to learn. If
possible interview an entrepreneur with high potential (e.g., $1 million revenue plus) and a
lifestyle business (usually much smaller, but not necessarily).

Create a Lifelong Learning Log

Create a computer file or acquire a notebook or binder in which you record your goals,
triumphs and disappointments; and lessons learned. This can be done as key events
happen or on some other frequent basis. The record of personal insights, observations, and
lessons learned can provide valuable anchors during times of difficult decisions as well as
interesting reading-for you at least.

STEP 1
Contact the Person You have selected and make an
appointment
Be sure to explain why you want the appointment and to give a realistic estimate of how
much time you will need.

STEP 2
Identify Specific Questions you would like to have answered and General Areas about
Which You Would Like Information (See the interview in Step 3)
Using a combination of open-ended questions, such as general questions about the
entrepreneur got started, what happened next, and so forth, and closed-end questions, such
as specific questions about what his or her goals were, if he or she had to find partners, and
so forth, will help keep the interview focused and yet allow for unexpected comments and
insights.

STEP 3
Conduct the Interview
Recording this interview on audiotape can be helpful and is recommended unless you or the
person being interviewed objects. Remember, too, that you most likely will learn more if you
are an interested listener.

The Interview
Questions for Gathering Information
Would you tell me about yourself before you started your first venture?
o Who else did you know while you were growing up who had started or owned a
business, and how did they influence you? Anyone later, after you were 21 years
old?
o Were your parents, relatives, or close friends entr~preneurial? How so?
o Did you have role models?
o What was your education/military experience? In hindsight, was it helpful? In what
specific ways?
o Did you have a business or self-employment during your youth?
o In particular, did you have any sales or marketing experience? How important was it,
or a lack of it, to starting your company? what skill, competencies needed to
succeed? How you get your first sales? How do you find problems in the market
and turn it into opportunities (products) How do you design your bootstrap
marketing strategies during early years? do you hire sale peoples? How you motivate
them or you do it alone? how you make yourselves better from others. Any secret of
success in sales and marketing? How you handle objections in sales.
o When, under what circumstances, and from whom did you become interested in
entrepreneurship and learn some of the critical lessons?

Describe how you decided to create a job by starting your venture instead of taking a
job with someone else.
o How did you spot the opportunity? How did it surface?
o What were your goals? What were your lifestyle needs or other personal
requirements? How did you fit these together?
o How did you evaluate the opportunity in terms of the critical elements for success?
The competition? The market? Did you have specific criteria you wanted to meet?
o Did you find or have partners? What kind of planning did you do? What kind of
financing did you have?
o Did you have a startup business plan of any kind? Please tell me about it.
o How much time did it take from conception to the first day of business? How many
hours a day did you spend working on it?
o How much capital did it take? How long did it take to reach a positive cash flow and
break-even sales volume? If you did not have enough money at the time, what were
some ways in which you bootstrapped the venture (bartering, borrowing, and the
like)? Tell me about the pressures and crises during that early survival period.
o What outside help did you get? Did you have experienced advisors? Lawyers?
Accountants? Tax experts? Patent experts? How did you develop these networks
and how long did it take?
o How did any outside advisors make a difference in your company?
o What was your family situation at the time?
o What did you perceive to be the strengths of your venture? Weaknesses?
o What was your most triumphant moment? Your worst moment?
o Did you want to have partners or do it solo? Why?

Once you got going:

o What were the most difficult gaps to fill and problems to solve as you began to grow
rapidly?
o When you looked for key people as partners, advisors, or managers, were there any
personal attributes or attitudes you were particularly seeking because you knew they
would fit with you and were important to success? How did you find them?
o Are there any attributes among partners and advisors that you would definitely try to
avoid?
o Have things become more predictable? Or less?
o Do you spend more time, the same amount of time, or less time with your business
now than in the early years?
o Do you feel more managerial and less entrepreneurial now?

2
 o In terms of the future, do you plan to harvest? To maintain? To expand?
o In your ideal world, how many days a year would you want to work? Please explain.
o Do you plan ever to retire? Would you explain?
o Have your goals changed? Have you met them? Has your family situation
changed?
o What do you learn from both success and failure?
o What were/are the most demanding conflicts or tradeoffs you face (e.g. the business
versus personal hobbies or a relationship, children, etc.)?
o Describe a time you ran out of cash, what pressures this created for you, the
business, your family, and what you did about it. What lessons were learned?
o Can you describe a venture that did not work out for you and how this prepared you
for your next venture?

Questions for Concluding

What do you consider your most valuable asset, the thing that enabled
you to make it?
If you had it to do over again, would you do it again, in the same way?
As you look back, what do you believe are the most critical concepts, skills, attitudes,
and know-how you needed to get your company started and grown to where it is
today? What will be needed for the next five years? To what extent can any of these be
learned?
Some people say there is a lot of stress being an entrepreneur. What have you
experienced? How would you say it compares with other "hot seat" jobs, such as the
head of a big company, or a partner in a large law or accounting firm?
What things do you find personally rewarding and satisfying as an entrepreneur? What
have been the rewards, risks, and trade-offs?

Who should try to be an entrepreneur? And who should not?

What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur? Could you suggest the three
most important lessons you have learned? How can I learn them while' minimizing the
tuition?
Would you suggest any other entrepreneur I should talk to?

Are there any other questions you wished I had asked, from which you think I could
learn valuable lessons?

STEP 4
Evaluate What You Have Learned.
Summarize the most important observations and insights you have gathered from these
interviews. Contrast especially what patterns, differences and similarities exist between
lifestyle and high potential entrepreneurs. Who can be an entrepreneur? What surprised
you the most? What was confirmed about entrepreneurship? What new insights emerged?
What are the implications for you personally, your goals, career aspirations?

STEP 5
Write a Thank You Note.
This is more than a courtesy; it will also help the entrepreneur remember you favorably
should you want to follow up on the interview.

STEP 6
Prepare a written report with one and a half line spacing on 12 points Time Roman and must
be bounded. Include photo images in the report. Video footage should be saved on to CD
and attached to the completed report. All reports must include a softcopy version.