Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

College of Natural and Social Sciences

Department of Business Management
Individual Assignment
Date: 02/10/2020
Due Date: 28/10/2020
Total Weight (30%)
Course Title: Entrepreneurship
Course Code: BMGT 4162
Instructors: Dr. Geremew Teklu
Email: geremew.teklu@aastu.edu.et

Part I: Address the following activities based on the instructions

Activity 1: The right mix of entrepreneurial competence and environment is essential to entrepreneurial
success. Read your entrepreneurship module from page 7 to 12 and address the following activities.

1) Think about your life so far, and list the five major achievements in personal life. Explain them. (2 pts)
i.___________________________________i.__________________________________
iii.___________________________________iv.__________________________________
v.___________________________________
2) Think about your strengths in running your personal life. Write four of them which you are most proud
of? Justify why. (2 pts)
i.___________________________________ii.________________________________________
iii.___________________________________iv.______________________________________
3) Think about what’s important to you, and where you envision your business in the future.
What should be the goal of your business? Explain. (1 points)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4) Identify the knowledge and skills that you need to succeed. What do you need to know, do or learn in
order to accomplish the business goal stated above? Discuss. (1.5 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5) How do you think you can acquire this knowledge and these skills so that you will be able to move
forward confidently? Explain. (1.5 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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Activity 2: Read your Entrepreneurship Module from page 31 to 39, identify a business idea of yours and,
describe your idea using the following form: (7 pts)

My business idea is:

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Which need will my business fulfill?
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What good/ service will I provide?

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To whom will I sell?
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How will I sell my good/ service?
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How much will my business depend upon and impact the environment?
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Part II: Read the following cases and answer the questions that follow.

Case 1: Janet’s Experience (5 pts)

Janet has a small farm and her husband works in a nearby mine, but even though both of them have jobs,
they do not earn enough money to pay for their children’s education. Janet decides to try and start her own
business by rearing chickens to sell. She knows how to do it and her uncle gives her a loan of $400 to start
the business. However, before she buys the chicks, someone tells her that there is a huge demand for
sunflower oil because of its lack of availability in the market. Traders are knocking on the doors of local
farmers asking them to produce it. Thinking she can earn a lot more money from pressing sunflower seeds
for oil, Janet changes her business idea and starts an oil pressing venture.

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Janet has never grown a large quantity of sunflowers. She spends all the money from the loan to buy seeds,
fertilizer and the oil pressing equipment. Since she uses most of the family farmland to grow sunflowers,
there is less land to grow maize and vegetables for the family to eat. The chemicals from the fertilizer begin
to make her children sick. She now has to buy more food for the family. It takes a lot of time and effort to
process the oil, so, Janet has to employ someone to help her. A lot of other farmers have started growing
sunflower seeds too. Therefore, by the time her oil is ready to sell, the market is already saturated with the
good and Janet cannot find a buyer. To reduce her losses, Janet has to sell the oil at a very low price to a
local shop. As a result, Janet makes very little money and she is not able to pay back the loan.
Reflection question: What is wrong with Janet’s business idea? Why? Explain what you have learnt from
the case.

Case 2: Lily’s Experience (5 points)

Lily had been working in the assembly line of a garment factory for more than five years. Her salary was
low and she was often required to work overtime. Lily’s sister-in-law came to visit her and complained to
Lily that she was unable to find any good clothes for her 12 year-old daughter. She said that the clothes in
the stores all seem to be either made for younger children or for adults. After the visit, Lily decided to go
around to the clothing shops in her town. She saw young teenage girls shopping in the stores, but she
noticed that the number and variety of clothes geared to that age group was limited. She had already been
thinking of quitting her job and opening her own business.
Therefore, Lily decides to design some pretty clothes and dresses for young teenage girls. She makes some
drawings of clothing that would appeal to that age group. She then takes her drawings to the local clothing
shops, asking the owners if they would buy the dresses in the drawings, how much they would pay for
them and how many they would buy. The shop owners seemed to be quite happy with her designs and said
they would display her clothes. Lily then uses her savings to buy a sewing machine and some material to
make her first batch. She works in the evening after getting off from work at the garment factory. All of the
dresses she makes sell very well and the shops are willing to pay her in cash upon delivery. Lily then
decides to quit her job to focus on her own business. Within six months, Lily starts receiving regular orders
from the shops. She plans to buy one more sewing machine and hire one of her friends to work for her.
Reflection question: Why is Lily successful in her own business? What did she do that made her
successful? Explain what you have learnt from the case.

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Case 3: Read this case and answer the question at the end (5 points)
Mrs. Betelhem Tilahun is an Ethiopian woman entrepreneur. She is the founder of Soles Rebels. She and
her colleagues make handmade culture based shoes. To make their footwear, they used recycled tires, roots
and culture. In doing this, Bethlehem used local products, local skills, and local traditions to make great
products. In the process it was cleaning up the environment in every ecological sense. She also creates job
opportunities for the helpless and poor locals who were leprosy survivors and she paid them up to four and
five times the country’s minimum wage. She focused on one thing; Ethiopians are really good at the ability
to make high quality hand made goods and came up with amazing products that people couldn’t seem to
resist. Today, her business is well known in many countries around the world because of the exceptional
quality and price of her products and she has proven that anyone who cares about others and makes good
use of the resources domiciled in their countries can achieve the impossible.
Questions:
a. Identify the personal entrepreneurial competence that you have observed from her and explain how
she dealt with that.
b. Identify the activities that she has made related to ethics that every business owner needs to
consider.

Write up mechanics:
i. Font style – times new roman
ii. Font size: 12
iii. Line spacing – 1.5
iv. Paragraph – justified

Enjoy Your Entrepreneurship Reading!

Stay Safe!

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