University affiliation

Business and Society

Student’s name

University affiliation

Business and Society

The person interviewed in the completion of this paper is a small business owner Mary, who deals with the sale of beauty and cosmetic products. The name of her business is Best Ladies, and it is located in California. Informational interviews are considered to be an imperative networking tool, and it assists the students in learning, more about the careers that they are interested in. For one to be a successful entrepreneur, there are some specific characteristics that drive them to it such as passion and they tend to face many challenges in the process. This paper will thus summarize the response of the interviewee; critically analyze the responses of the interviewee, give details on the lesson learned, rate the interviewee and also recommend the concepts or techniques that she should adopt and whether the business opportunity is viable for other students who are seeking employment.

Summary

The main reason why Mary decided to leap into entrepreneurship is the passion towards business and the desire to be her boss (García, Ribeiro, & Roig, 2007). Mary was born in a family of four, and her parents were both entrepreneurs. She thus would join them during the weekend and over the holidays to assist in running the business, and it is as a result of this that her passion to be an entrepreneur grew. Before she ventured into business, she researched the field so that she could identify the gaps existing in the market and avoid investing in markets that are crowded. In the process of research, she realized that in California the area where she lived, she had to travel a distance before she gets to a well-stocked cosmetic shop to buy her desired products.

This is where she derived the idea that a beauty and cosmetic shop would do very well in that area. To add on to this, she was interested in being a make-up artist when she was young, and she thus felt that this would provide great aid in easing access to the various products that she needed when delivering the services to her clients.

From the interview, it is clear that small business owners need to have a high tolerance for risk and they must uphold the ethical standards on a daily basis. Business person’s needs to ready to take risks since some of the elements of a business are likely to let it down leading to losses, and they thus need to believe in themselves more because some instances are likely to discourage them from running the business. A business owner also needs to be hardworking and smart workers because this is key in achieving the desired success. It is not easy to run and manage a business and thus small business owners must remain organized so that they can be in a position to hit their goals and targets. One of the things that surprised I about Mary is that she feels that as a business owner, an individual should take time at least once a week to stop being a manager and assume the role of the business CEO. This entails taking time from the jobs that a small business owner no longer have to do and promoting themselves to jobs that businesses that are growing need the expertise to perform, but in this case, only the business owner can carry out these tasks. This suggests that she knows what she wants her business to look like in the future. Mary attributes her success as a small business owner to having razor focus and being ruthless persistence. She also believes that her success results from the hiring of outstanding individuals who are self-motivated and hence do not require a lot of monitoring and follow up (Krueger, 2002).

Critical analysis

I feel that the interviewee has a clear understanding of the field that she operates in. In small businesses, people have to share responsibility, and a few employees are needed to take the initiative when the need arises and also to assist in the decision making process. Mary understands that at times, she needs to make a quick decision and she always makes sure that she contacts her employees so that she can incorporate their point of view in the decision-making process. Initially, her mission was to offer high quality and the best products to her clients in the area at an affordable price. However, with time, her mission has evolved in that she knows her products both in wholesale and in retail to the clients who come from all over California. She is always intrigued to know how businesses pivot so that they can meet the market, solve the problems that are emerging for the clients and also apply technology to reach a wide scope of customers and also increase efficiency. She thus interacts with the other entrepreneurs who deal with the sale of beauty and cosmetic products who have had a rough start and are headed towards the right direction through the perseverance of the pains encountered so that they can enjoy profitability (Schwartz, 2009).

The other thing that makes me feel that the entrepreneur has a clear understanding of the field that she operates is that she realized that to attract the clients who were shopping in other stores to her store; she had to come up with a marketing approach for enticing consumers and also carry out advertising. In this, she started with a sales and promotion offer after starting the business to ensure the flow of customers.

During this period, she put in place offers which could aid in attracting customers and also made advertisements as well as used her family and friend to spread word of mouth to let people know that there was a new store in town. She also advertised her business on the local radio, and the advert was made during the peak hours to increase the scope of coverage. She realized that is important to keep her customers, okay and she thus ensures that she offers original products from the manufacturer’s to avoid counterfeits which are likely to scare away the customers since ladies are very sensitive.

Lessons learned

One of the lessons that I learned from the interview is that many small businesses have a problem of failing to realize their customers’ expectations keeps on changing. The small business owners should thus ensure that they interact with their customer so that they can know what they need. Business owners should also ensure that they get the feedback from their customers so that they can make the necessary adjustments that are required to increase effectiveness and to ensure satisfaction of all their clients. The other thing that I learned from the interview is that for small business owners to be successful, they need to be patient, professional and proactive (Murdick, 2001). In this, they should not rush to hire so that they can fill a slot. They should rather make sure that they use professional methods and practices in hiring so that they can increase their chances of hiring successfully. In addition to this, they should be more proactive in the grooming of the employees so that they can step up to a key assignment to ensure that every time they are hiring, they always hire to fill the lower positions.

Rating of the interviewee

From the interviewees’ job performance and her mode of hiring among others, using a rating scale of 1-5 which denotes from poor to very good respectively, I rate her 5. This is because she has effective strategies for ensuring that her business performs well. Right from her hiring, I feel that the entrepreneur is very wise in that she ensures that in case an employee at a top position leaves the organization, the gap can be promptly filled by the existing employees in the lower positions, and a new employee is hired according to the best professional standards to fill the position.

Recommendations to the interviewee

One recommendation that I can offer to Mary is that she needs to embark on the internet and social media platforms marketing to increase the level of sales in her business. In this, she should open a Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter account among others for business where she would market her products and interact with her loyal and other potential customers. This will greatly aid in the expansion of her business in that she will attract a wide scope of customers nationally and globally. In addition to this, she will be in a position to get the customers feedback regarding the products and hence make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the needs of the customers are met and that they are fully satisfied (Stokes, Wilson, & Mador, 2010). To add on to this, the business should also embark on the selling of its products through the internet and its website as well as other mobile applications.

This will aid in ensuring that the customers who are located far from the business premises order their services online so that the business can make plans on the delivery of the items ordered.

The other recommendation that I can offer to the interviewee is always to ensure that the product that it sells to its clients are legit and from the original manufacturers. There are a few customers who have at one time, or another doubted whether the product purchased from the store is legit. This is because many of the female clients tend to be sensitive to the products that they use especially on their face as they may cause side effects. In this case, the business should ensure that it makes direct links with the manufactures of the various products to ensure that it gets first-hand products. To avoid any negative reviews in the market which are likely to tarnish the name of the business thereby resulting in the decline in the level of sales and hence profitability.

Recommendations to the colleagues

In my opinion and from the lessons learned from the interview, I feel that this job activity is profitable and I can thus recommend it to my fellow graduates who are seeking self-employment. In this, for the graduates who want to be entrepreneurs and be their own business, I can recommend them to engage in this activity because, it just requires mastery of the skills required such as the interpersonal skills to relate with the customers as well as the employees and also the managerial skills to run the business.

If a colleague is passionate about business, this is a very great opportunity because if the setup location is identified correctly in an area where there exists a gap in the market, a beauty and cosmetics business is easy to start and do not require a lot of legalities especially if it is small.

The other reason why I would recommend a colleague seeking employment to undertake this kind of a business activity is because there is a contact with the customers. In this, working in a beauty and cosmetic stores involves a lot of interaction with the customers who at times need to know the best products in the market or just willing to make suggestions on the things that the business needs to stock. As a business student, interaction with the customers on a face to face basis is very imperative in that it assists in knowing what the customer’s needs and taking the necessary actions to ensure that their needs are effectively and adequately met. This will thus to a great extent assist my colleague in gaining the necessary skills as well as the experience that is required in ensuring effective interactions with the customers.

References

García, A., Ribeiro, D. & Roig, S. (2007). Entrepreneurship : concepts, theory and perspective. Berlin New York: Springer.

Krueger, N. (2002). Entrepreneurship : critical perspectives on business and management. London New York: Routledge.

Murdick, R. (2001). Business policy and strategy : an action guide. Boca Raton, Fla: St. Lucie Press.

Schwartz, B. (2009). 50 interviews : entrepreneurs. Denver, CO: Wise Media Group.

Stokes, D., Wilson, N. & Mador, M. (2010). Entrepreneurship. Hampshire, UK Australia United States: South-Western/Cengage Learning EMEA.

Appendix

What motivated you to take a leap in entrepreneurship?

How did you get the idea or the concept of running a beauty and cosmetics store?

What are some character traits that are common to most successful small business owners?

To what do you attribute your success?

Which is one of the areas that you see most small business owners fail?

What was your business’ original mission? How has that mission evolved in the time since?

What is the biggest problem that small business owners do not think they face?

What advice do you have for small business owners in order to make a successful new hire?

Do you use social media platforms in marketing and the mobile technology in the sale of the products?

Have you ever received complaints from any of the customers regarding the legitimacy of a product purchased from your store?